A NEW YEAR’S REQUEST

To the Point received the following from a friend in the Pentagon:

CHRISTMAS VISITORS

They came in single file, about 50 of them. Silent ambassadors, to tell us who they were. They moved at a slow pace, passing us for over 20 minutes.

Some walked, while others pushed their wheelchairs as best they could. Some were helped along on crutches by their wives or sweethearts. They were escorted front and rear by US Marines in dress blue uniform. I have never seen prouder Marines. The Amputee Ward from Walter Reed Army Medical Center visited the Pentagon today.

Some wore looks (more…)

IS IRAN JUST WEEKS AWAY FROM BEING A NUCLEAR POWER?

My friend Gary Metz – known as “Doctor Zin” – has a critically important website called
RegimeChangeIran . It’s one of To The Point’s “Liberation Links” listed in the home page left side bar.

Gary and I share the view that the greatest threat in the world right now is Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. It is of the most immediate necessity that Iran’s nuclear facilities be militarily destroyed. In this article, Gary explains why. The Bush White House, however, will do absolutely nothing that might upset the Iraq elections of January 30. The earliest Bush could authorize a strike (or (more…)

THE GLOBAL ELECTRONIC JIHAD

While the West is basking in the tunes of Christmas carols, a different tune is being played by the two leading Jihadi TV channels, al-Jazeera and al-Manar.

The radical Sunni al-Jazeera, broadcasting from Qatar, the flagship of anti-Western Islamist propaganda, is funded and tolerated by the Qatari royal family, reportedly to the tune of $30 million a year. It has become the main conduit of Al Qaeda tapes to the Arab and Muslim world, suggesting an exclusive arrangement with the elusive jihadi leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri.

Al Manar, a Shi’i satellite and cable operation out of (more…)

HALE’S QUADRUPLE

I had dinner with well-known global economist David Hale the other night, and investment guru James Dale Davidson. The conversation was literally all over the map, settling on Ukraine and Romania as two of the brightest prospects for locating brand-new investment opportunities. And Iraq.

David was particularly excited about a small company listed on the Toronto stock exchange that has just made the first private oil deal in Iraq – more precisely, the Autonomous Region of Iraqi Kurdistan. “I know the company’s principals and have been watching it for some time” David explained. “It’s selling for $7 (Canadian, about US$5.60). (more…)

WHO NEEDS A CZAR?

As Tony explains here, the just-passed intelligence reform bill is a dog’s breakfast. The best news about its passage is that Duncan Hunter (House Armed Forces Committee Chairman) managed to neuter it at the last moment. By inserting the wording that the NID – the new National Intelligence Director or Intelligence “Czar” — in carrying out his duties “shall respect and not abrogate the statutory responsibilities of the heads of the departments,” Duncan made sure that a good General Counsel from a subordinate
Agency/Department can drive a Humvee through an NID directive if need be. –JW

So it is to (more…)