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So glad our troops, including my cousin, helped liberate Iraq. So what do we get in return? Islamic law, a Shi’ite government that is inching toward Iran-style fundamentalism, and NOW, that country supports the Arab Boycott of Israel.
Our friend, Jerusalem Post reporter Michael Freund alerts us to his story, today, about the Iraqi government’s decision to participate in the Arab Boycott:

The US-backed Iraqi government sent an official representative to this week’s meeting of the Arab League Boycott Office in Damascus, The Jerusalem Post has learned, prompting criticism from members of Congress and the Bush administration.
Liaison officers from 14 countries met for four days this week to discuss ways of intensifying the Arab embargo against Israel. Among those taking part were delegates from several ostensible US allies, such as Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
Tom Casey, a spokesman for the US State Department, told the Post that Washington was unhappy with Baghdad’s action. . . .
Contacted by phone, a spokesman for the Iraqi embassy in London declined to comment.

Unhappy? That and $5 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. specifically outlawing the Arab Boycott of Israel. They were passed in 1977, as amendments to the Export Administration Act and the Ribicoff Amendment to the 1976 Tax Reform Act. The federal statute citation is 15 CFR 760 et seq. And there is a federal Anti-Boycott Office to enforce them. Apparently, our State Dept. and Prez see those as mere formalities.
Where is our government and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on this? Too busy telling Bono and The Independent that , apparently.
We should be telling Iraq that if they boycott Israel, they don’t get funds. But we won’t. Just like we gave in and gave our tax $$$ to HAMASastan’s government.
Don’t hold your breath for that to change. Our foreign policy is consistent on one thing: Those who run it simply don’t have the guts. Despite all the self-promotion, PR, and hype about their physical fitness work-outs, when it comes to the real tests of strength, President Bush and are just plain wimpy.

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You never know where the money you pay for shawarmeh or falafel is going.
Today, Talal Khalil Chahine, and his wife, Elfat El Aouar, were indicted for income tax evasion and skimming and concealing over $16 million. Chahine is the millionaire owner of La Shish, a chain of Middle-Eastern restaurants throughout its suburbs.
If you live in Detroit and are schooled in either its Islamic community and world of federal law enforcement, this is hardly news, and you’ve known for years not to eat at La Shish.
That is, if you’re not then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, former DHS official Asa Hutchinson, Michigan/Ohio Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent in Charge ,” Homeland Security “civil rights” advocate Daniel Sutherland, and assorted others. , they and others have supped with Muslim supporters of terror at La Shish’s Dearborn restaurant multiple times.

Convicted Murderer Khalil Chahine (left), Indicted Tax Evader Talal Chahine (second from rt), Hezbollah/Iran Agent Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi
@ the Hezbollah Mosque
As for the rest of us, we know that La Shish owner Talal Chahine is involved with a lot of nefarious things. And we know that La Shish restaurants weren’t making that much money. Most of the $16 mill came from other “activities.” A Shia Muslim, who is a member of the , Chahine was suspected of making his money from drug-dealing, and using his restaurants to launder the money. Relatives of his, got federal prison time for dealing and were believed to have taken the fall for him. His son, Khalil, was twice arrested for drug-related offenses.
Not long ago, that same son, Khalil, was convicted of murder. He murdered Paul Hallis, a Maronite Christian Arab, for the crime of daring to become engaged to a Muslim woman–a woman who reportedly dated the younger Chahine AND his married brother-in-law, Ali El-Ozeir. Yes, there are Islamic honor killings in America. And FYI, prior to his jail stint for murder, Khalil Chahine was the youth leader at the Hezbollah mosque.

Muslim Khalil Chahine Honor-Murdered Arab Christian Paul Hallis
(Photos by Millard Berry/Heritage Newspapers)
Last year, the IRS raided La Shish for income tax evasion. It was known that Chahine sent a lot of his money back to Lebanon, where it was believed to fund Hezbollah terrorism. Sources say Chahine also was a loan shark to members of the Islamic community, in addition to the alleged drug dealing.
When agents raided his La Shish headquarters and two homes, reports said IRS agents found fake documents (passports, etc.) and tapes showing that Chahine tried to bribe witnesses to lie at his son’s murder trial.
Chahine’s criminal enterprises and likely funding of Hezbollah has been known for years. Yet, Abu Moskowitz refused to allow his ICE agents to investigate. His best buddy, “former” Islamic terrorist and FBI award revokee, (with ICE agents standing by to watch). And maybe Abu M just didn’t want to upset Hamad buddy and benefactor/lawbreaker Chahine. Leave it to the IRS, which–as with Al Capone–always gets its money, to be less politically correct about Muslims and more focused on enforcing the law.
While the IRS has a photo of Chahine with Hezbollah spiritual leader Mohammed Fadlallah, Chahine’s contributions were not directly to Hezbollah, but to Al Mabarrat Association. It has a Dearborn, Michigan affiliate, Al Mabarat Charitable Organization (note the U.S. version uses one “r”, the Lebanese version–two “r”s). Al Mabarrat is clearly an open front for Hezbollah, and has Fadlallah’s photo on its website front and center. Despite that, U.S. Attorney and the IRS refuse to prosecute the U.S. branch of the charity for apparently violating the law and apparently donating the money to Hezbollah. And the State Department and Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of Treasury refuses to put either the Lebanese or American charity on the State Department terrorist list. On the contrary, the U.S. government allows it to operate and has licensed it as a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible organization, subsidized by American taxpayers.
And, by the way, , Chahine’s imam, Elahi, openly meets in Lebanon with Fadlallah all the time. Al Mabarat Charitable Organization’s Dearborn officers–Fouad T. Beydoun, Ahmad J. Bazzi, and Nazem Baydoun–are from families that all come from Bint Jbeil, the Hezbollah stronghold in the South of Lebanon. Al Mabarat Charitable Organization’s taxes show annual outlays of close to $1 million, but improperly fail to provide a separate schedule listing where the money went. Where is the money going?


Al Mabarrat’s Website Features Hezbollah Spiritual Leader Fadlallah

Talal Chahine with Hezbollah Spiritual Leader Fadlallah (from court records)
Hezbollah’s Mohammed Fadlallah & Chahine Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi
It is interesting to note that Chahine was indicted now, over a year after raids on his restaurant. That gave him plenty of time to flee the country. My sources told me long ago that, just after the raids, he fled to Lebanon and wasn’t coming back.
And maybe that was the point of the raids: to alert Chahine that it was time to go. This has been typical of indictments by Detroit’s on a number of terror cases. He recently indicted several members of the Hammoud family for smuggling cigarettes and money laundering to Hezbollah. Well actually, the indictment was handed down in 2004, but Murphy sat on it for two years, while he allowed most of the Hammouds to flee the country. (Now, finally indicting Chahine, he didn’t bother to charge him with funding terrorists, which it appears Chahine did.)
This whole thing is very embarrassing to Murphy, since—-he appeared at the Hezbollah mosque and joked and laughed about whether Hezbollah was a terrorist group. And he clapped enthusiastically when the mosque’s Imam, Mohammed Ali Elahi, said that “the group in the South of Lebanon [Hezbollah], that’s not terrorism. That’s legitimate resistance.” (FBI Special Agent in Charge , and Abu Moskowitz clapped, too.) That “group in the South of Lebanon” is where Chahine–a key financier of the Hezbollah mosque–was sending his money, according to sources.
The same machinations are present throughout the Justice Department, which, last year, indicted Tareq Hamdi–a Bin Laden associate–while he was out of the country (like he’d come back after that).
War on Terror? Only if you like the PR of indictments. With terror defendants alerted ahead of time by federal officials, they’ll never face justice.
Blame our clumsy, clueless, and weak U.S. Department of (non)Justice for terrorists and terror financiers going free. Yet again.

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Alastair Norcross is a very fancy name. But the teachings of Alastair Norcross aren’t fancy at all.
Norcross is Rice University’s own far-left, moonbat philosophy professor. That is, if you consider courses like, “Philosophy and the Simpsons” and “Animal Rights,” to be philosophy. To the rest of us, they’re just excuses to pay your kids’ tuition to the Howard Dean school of Far Left Voter Trainees.
Then there’s Norcross’ “reading lists.” For his Animal Rights course, there’s “Kant on Masturbation.” I get it. Animals and humans both do it. Therefore, we must be equal. Right?

Prof Alastair Norcross: Wears Moonbat Politics on His Sleeve AND Shirt
Apparently, Norcross thinks so. Here’s the propaganda, er . . . course description for the class:

It is commonly assumed that animals, if they have any moral significance at all, are subordinate in importance to human beings. Not only do we eat animals for our enjoyment and perform experiments on them for our benefit, but it is morally permissible that we do so. This is an assumption that most of us make without trying to justify it. In this course we will examine both attempts to justify and to challenge this assumption. We will consider both the utilitarian approach of Peter Singer that animals deserve equal consideration with humans, and the deontological approach of Tom Regan that animals have equal moral rights with those of humans. We will focus on the ethical issues raised by existing practices of factory farming and scientific experimentation.

The course text is “The Animal Ethics Reader.” Hmmm, let me guess: Professor Norcross is a vegan. Attention, students: If you wear leather or eat meat, don’t look for an A in this course.
But while he’s opposed to killing animals, this crazy academic is not so worried about abortion or euthanasia of humans. According to his curriculum vitae, he edited “Killing and Letting Die,” an anthology of that view, and has written articles and made several presentations on “Torturing Puppies and Eating Meat: It’s All in Good Taste.” He’s also written on “Disability, Marxism and Ecofeminism.” He’s not agains the latter two.

Prof Alastair Norcross Lets You Know His Views on Iraq
Then there’s Norcross’ course on my favorite cartoon show. I like “The Simpsons” just as much as the next person. But come on, are Bart and Homer really subjects for a college philosophy course? If you’re Alastair Norcross, it’s the creme de la creme of intellectual pursuit. Check out the reading list for the course–all articles from “The Simpsons and Philosophy”–and decide for yourself(I swear I did not make these up):

* “Homer and Aristotle,” by Raja Halwani
* “Lisa and American Anti-intellectualism,” by Aeon Skoble
* “Marge’s Moral Motivation,” by Gerald Erion and Joseph Zeccardi
* “Thus Spake Bart: On Nietzsche and the Virtues of Being Bad,” by Mark Conard
* “The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life,” by Carl Matheson
* “Simpsonian Sexual Politics,” Dale Snow and James Snow

[DS: “Simpsonian”? There’s actually a pretentious word for the study of “The Simpsons”? Incredible.]

* “The Moral World of the Simpson Family: A Kantian Perspective,” by James Lawler
* “The Simpsons: Atomistic Politics and the Nuclear Family,” by Paul Cantor
* “Springfield Hypocrisy,” by Jason Holt

[DS: Hypocrisy? Dude, it’s a cartoon.]

* “Enjoying the so-called ‘Iced Cream’: Mr. Burns, Satan, and Happiness,” by Daniel Barwick
* “Hey-diddily-ho, Neighboreenos: Ned Flanders and Neighborly Love,” by David Vessey
* “The Function of Fiction: The Heuristic Value of Homer,” by Jennifer McMahon

In case there was any doubt about Norcross’ politics–or what a student needs to spew back at him in order to get an A–he’s posted photos of his politics on his Rice University personal webpages. They include a t-shirt comparing President Bush to a chimp, and his face superimposed on the now imfamous Bush declaration of the end to combat in Iraq on the ship.
Learning about an animated cartoon show or someone’s bizarre thesis that a Americans killed in a terrorist attack are equal to animals killed for dinner isn’t the only problem with profs like Norcross.
The problem with far-left professors and nutjobs like Norcross is not just their politics. It’s that they teach our nation’s kids not HOW to think, but WHAT to think. And they are the ultimate recipients of your college tuition dollars.
Unfortunately, the Alastair Norcrosses and Ward Churchills of the academic world are not the exception.
They’re the rule.

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Hmmm . . . We always thought “NBA” stood for “National Basketball Association.”
But maybe we were wrong about which nation this is. If you’re watching the ongoing NBA Play-offs, you may actually be watching “Los Play-offs.” That’s what one NBA promotion calls it. And we’re sure our friends at MEChA and the rest of the illegal alien lobby just loves this:

NBAztlan: Are You Watching Los Play-offs?

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On this site, we repeatedly express our sadness that since 9/11, American has fallen asleep again. We constantly lament the U.S. corporations and institutions that sell their souls just to make a buck–whether it’s hiring illegal aliens or selling out to terrorists and Islamic supporters of terror.
But not every company is like that. Some do have moral courage. Yesterday, two companies risked Islamic anger by remembering American teenage victim of Islamic terrorism, (more about him , , and ). According to The Jerusalem Post, last night,

A moment of silence in his honor was also observed before tip-off of game 5 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Miami Heat and the New Jersey Nets.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported:

During the Miami Heat’s basketball playoff game against the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night, a moment of silence was held in Daniel’s honor, as the Heat was his favorite team. His photo was shown on the overhead scoreboard.
“Basketball was Daniel’s passion,” public address announcer Mike Baiamonte said. “He was a big Miami Heat fan. The Miami Heat send condolences to the Wultz family.”

When Danny Wultz was struggling to stay alive, the Miami Herald also reported that Miami Heat players sent the dying 16-year-old basketball fan signed paraphernalia to cheer him up in his fight.
We salute the NBA and the Miami Heat for their strength and courage in recognizing Danny Wultz in this age of political-correctness-uber-alles, not to mention ultra-kowtowing to Islamists.
Linda Maurice, whose daughter went to school with Daniel Wultz, has a touching op-ed about her anger not just over his murder, but–a point we’ve made–the lack of American media coverage (until now, after his death).
The Sun-Sentinel reported that hundreds (The Jerusalem Post: over 700) turned out for Wultz’s funeral, yesterday. Danny’s father’s and rabbi’s eulogies:

“Fathers are supposed to guard and protect their sons,” he said. “Daniel, you protected me with your beautiful body. I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” . . .
“I can tell you the murderer who killed [Daniel] died on the spot a coward,” he said. “Daniel fought for 28 days. He was my hero.” . . .
“Daniel’s last words were, `I want to live,'” said Rabbi Yisroel Spalter of Chabad Lubavitch, one of two rabbis Daniel would call via speed dial on his cell phone during happier times in South Florida. “Let us celebrate his life.”

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We’re fans of the , but we’re especially fans of the Rocky statue for a number of reasons, but particularly because it makes hoity-toity art “experts” angry.
Remember the statue from the movie? Rocky star Sylvester Stallone donated the 8-foot, half-ton statue of Rocky to the City of Philadelphia in 1982. But snooty Philadelphia Museum of Art officials and the Philadelphia Art Commission claimed it was not art because it was “commercial” in nature and had no “artistic worth.” Whatever. There are plenty of things in that pretentious art museum of less artistic value than Rocky.
The statue ended up on the stops of the Museum for a few months, in front of a sports arena, and now is in storage. Now, Stallone, who has completed “” (set for release, late this year), wants the statue prominently displayed again, and it soon will be–in a park just east of the Museum steps.

Snobby Philadelphia Park Commissioner E. Harris Baum was upset. He sarcastically asked AP:

If a film about Donald Duck in Philadelphia comes out, do we put a Donald Duck statue in our park?

But Rocky is not Donald Duck. He’s a character who represents everything great about America–a man who rose from nothing and triumphed, a man who rose from poverty and the underclass to great wealth and success. That is the opportunity that there still is in America.
And that’s why the Rocky statue has more merit than any anthropological find or old canvas gathering dust at any museum.

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So the most pretentious, self-righteous pop star in the world (no, not you, Madonna), , is the “guest editor” of Great Britain’s Independent, today. And most of the stories are about AIDS and Africa. That’s too bad, because we were really hoping for some investigative stories about:
* How much in taxes he pays in his native Ireland (zero) while he continues to soak American taxpayers to fund
* Why he , while he continues to soak American taxpayers to fund his pet African debt relief project
* How much he personally has given to fund his pet African debt relief project (VERY little), while he continues soak American taxpayers to fund his pet African debt relief project
* How soaking American taxpayers to fund his pet African debt relief project

Low Class: Why Clueless Condoleeza Likes “Rocket Man”
Also, in the paper, Bono asked Secretary of State Condoleeza Clueless to tell us the top 10 songs in her IPod while she works out. For someone who’s supposed to be dealing with the problems of the world as they affect the U.S., she spends an awful lot of time giving media interviews about her work-outs (on TV, in the now-defunct George Magazine, and now this, etc., etc., etc.).
We don’t care for Rice because of–among other things– like, “The Palestinian people’s . . . aspirations for peace and a peaceful life remain unchanged,” right after they chose HAMAS in their elections. And . But one of her music choices makes her even less worthy of respect, Elton John’s “Rocket Man.”
It’s not the song. It’s her low-class editorial comment about why she likes the song:

It brings back memories of . . . my first boyfriend.

While we’re not going to ask what she means by that, we will say this: Get some class, Condo-girl. We figure that she made this sexual reference about a boyfriend to stop the everlasting rumors that the single, 51-year-old Rice is gay. But why dignify those by trying to respond with this VERY undignified response?
Then, she throws in that her all-time fave music is Mozart. Whatever. That’s not gonna bring her back from the gutter.
Great if she wants to be a phone sex operator, but not exactly the appropriate for a Secretary of State. Yet another reason why we laugh whenever anyone suggests this woman for Prez. Also in her music choices is Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” but Condoleeza gets no R-E-S-P-E-C-T from us. Her other favorites:
* Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” (Well, now we know she likes corny Bar Mitzvah party music.)
* Something she calls “Acid Rock” (What is that? Is that like the “Acid Jeans” which were in style for a day in 1983?)

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Yesterday, , the 16-year-old American victim of Islamic terror was buried in suburban Miami.
We wrote about Danny ( and ) and how he was one of 11 fatal victims of (more than 60 were seriously injured). A typical American teen, he loved basketball and wanted to become a rabbi. He was visiting his grandparents in Israel and had the misfortune of eating at Mayor’s Falafel, where the homicide bomber detonated himself. It was a joint operation between Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terrorist groups.
After losing his leg, spleen, a kidney, and a lot of blood, he miraculously awoke from a coma, but the pain was too great, and he died on Sunday. Also on Sunday, Elias Ashkar, the Palestinian terrorist who masterminded the attack that resulted in Danny’s murder was killed by Israeli soldiers. An Islamic Jihad member who planned many such homicide bombings, he was Israel’s most wanted terrorist.

Danny Wultz’s Father Says Good-Bye to His Young Son
Danny fought for 27 days to survive. As we approach the fifth anniversary of 9/11, we must recognize that Israel is facing 9/11s on a regular basis. And giving up land has not put an end to it.
The Jerusalem Post has a moving article on the memorial service held for him in Israel before he was flown home for burial:

“Our biggest revenge is showing that we are not stopping our lives,” said Yuval Wultz, Daniel’s cousin. . . .
“Daniel was 16 years old, and I need 16 years to tell you about Daniel, because every day was different,” said his father Tuly, who suffered wounds to his legs when the bomber blew up meters from where he and Daniel sat for lunch. “You left us, Daniel. You did a heroic, unbelievable fight, the fight of your life. But it was too much. I was honored to be your father, and privileged and lucky to have you for 16 years.”

Also remember, (also spelled Enidzer), buried on Sunday in Israel. Just 26 and married two weeks when the bombing occured, he was a poor, working-class Jewish auto mechanic, whose family emigrated from the Arab world to escape Islamic violence against them. But he could not escape it.

Lior Anidzar’s Wife of 1.5 Months Says Good-Bye to Her Husband
The New York Times, in a surprisingly well-done piece, profiled his funeral and the connection that grew between the families of these two young victims, whose lives by terrorists. Their lives connected only by their last meal at a falafel joint on Passover:

Lior Anidzar worked in a garage, for a dealer of car parts. He was a gregarious young man, and he wanted to open a restaurant of his own.
He was in the north on April 17, during the Passover holiday, but then stopped by the shop near the old Tel Aviv bus station where his wife, Maya, worked. They had been married two weeks, and had lived in their new apartment here for four days.
He wanted to take her to lunch, she said, but she was busy and not hungry. He went to the Rosh Hair restaurant, a working-class place of falafel and shwarma. . . .
Then Sami Salim Khamad, himself only 21, from Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, walked into the restaurant and blew himself up on behalf of a Palestinian militant group called Islamic Jihad. . . .
“I give myself,” Mr. Khamad said in the video issued by the militant group after the bombing, “for the sake of God.” . . .
Mr. Anidzar, with internal injuries and serious burns, but young and strong, held on for a month. He died early on Saturday.
“It’s been a horrible month, full of ups and downs,” said his brother, David, 35, known as Dudu. “I like to think we had him for another month.” He added: “And then he did say goodbye. He opened his eyes two weeks ago, and he said goodbye to us with his eyes.”
Even as his family and friends gathered on Sunday afternoon for the funeral, there was news, whispered among family members and the rabbi, that Daniel Wultz, a 16-year-old tourist from Florida who had been eating in the same restaurant with his father, was the 11th victim of that bombing to die.
Daniel’s father, Yekutiel, called Tuly, was lightly wounded, but Daniel had severe internal injuries, and his aorta was torn. More than 40 of his classmates at the David Posnack Hebrew Day School recently came to Israel on a class trip and visited the hospital where he lay to pray for his recovery. His body will be flown home to Weston, Fla., for burial on Monday.
David Anidzar said the two families had grown close. “We tried to encourage them, and they tried to encourage us,” he said. For Maya, “it was love at first sight,” said Drora Shimony, a friend of Maya’s family, the Halfons. Lior Anidzar and Maya Halfon dated for eight months, then decided to marry. At the traditional “henna” engagement ceremony, the couple, two Israelis of North African descent, were rapturous, Ms. Shimony said.
“I never knew he had so many friends,” David Anidzar said Sunday. “He was a naughty guy, and loved to party. I didn’t know how he was going to pay for so many people.”
They were all here again on Sunday, at the cemetery – fit young men, some in military uniform, most in T-shirts and jeans, some carrying motorcycle helmets, their hair slicked back, under their skullcaps, eyes hidden by sunglasses.
Maya has not picked up the wedding pictures yet, the family said, and she has stopped eating. In a black shirt and trousers, she looked terribly thin and lost, as her family hovered around her.
Lior Anidzar’s sister, Dalia Amar, is six months pregnant. She said she had been depressed about the pregnancy. “It was unplanned, I was unhappy,” she said. “Lior said, ‘Are you crazy? You’re depressed? You should be delighted!’ ”
She will name the baby Lior, she said. The name, common for either sex, means light. Asked what she hoped for the child, she said, “That he will be born in peace and security, and not be afraid all the time.”
At the funeral, the former chief rabbi of Israel and now chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, Israel Meir Lau, said Lior Anidzar “had fought for his life, and fought for his bride,” and the mourners wailed, and “now he’s gone to the gates of Heaven, and that’s a separation forever.” Here Rabbi Lau himself began to cry, and said, “A father saying Kaddish,” the prayer for the dead, “for his son!”
Then he shouted, “Who are these savages who do these things, and no one takes the hand outstretched for peace?” He stopped, then said: “Heaven is not for such people. For what do they give their lives? To kill innocents? This is religion? No, this is a distortion of all mercy and all religious feeling, and I want the Muslim clerics to tell the truth, that murder doesn’t bring paradise.”
The new health minister of Israel, Yaakov Ben-Yizri, intoned, “The people of Israel pay a heavy price, to hold onto our lives and our country.” He added: “We won’t just take it and be silent. We have a strong army. We have no choice: to see it, and hit them a real shock.” Lior Anidzar’s friend Alon said, “How did we get to this place?” Then he broke down: “We’ll never forget you, Lior, Lior. We all loved you. It’s hard to separate ourselves from you, Lior, Lior, Lior!”
The Hebrew word for sand is hol, and in this poor town of Holon, the cemetery, too, is sun-blasted sand, broken by headstones.
They brought Lior Anidzar out in a shroud, a prayer shawl and an Israeli flag, with no coffin, in the Israeli way, and mourners screamed as they put him into the sand.
His sister, Dalia, leaned down, rubbing her belly, then kissed a small stone and put it among the wreaths of flowers from the state and the city and the garage where he worked.

Daniel Wultz and Lior Anidzar, Blessed Be Their Memories. We will not forget them.

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Only in America do we help and promote those who help and promote our enemies.
Today’s Detroit Free Press has a report on a “Spiffed Up Gas Station,” by consistently clueless reporter Julie Edgar.
What’s she clueless about, this time? Well, she does a whole story promoting a new Shell gas station right near where I live, owned by Shakir Alkhafaji.
As I’ve written numerous times–and as has been reported in her own newspaper (check the Free Press database, Julie)–. He’s one of only three Americans to do so (one is Samir Vincent, who already pled guilty to Federal charges, and the other is oil billionaire Oscar Wyatt). Not a peep about this in the story, though.

Saddam’s Gas Station: Shakir Alkhafaji (Right)
Stands in Front of the Gas Station that “Oil for Food” Built
, in 2004, about Alkhafaji (in my review of “Fahrenheit 9/11”), and it’s just the Cliff’s Notes version:

Jim McDermott was on the take from Saddam Hussein. McDermott was one of three Congressmen who went on Saddam’s propaganda tour of Iraq in Fall 2002. The trip was funded by Life for Relief and Developmen (LRD), a “charity” which laundered money to terrorist group Hamas’ Jordanian operation. LRD is funded in part by Shakir Al-Khafaji, a man who did about $70 million in business with Saddam through his Falcon Trading Group company (based in South Africa). LRD’s Iraqi offices were raided by US troops last week, and the Detroit-area “charity” is suspected of funding uprisings, such as the one in Fallujah. Its officials bragged of doing so at a recent private US fundraiser.
Mr. Alkhafaji, one of two [DS: since I wrote this, the number has risen to three] Americans named in Iraqi newspapers as a participant in Saddam’s “Oil for Food” scam, gave Congressman McDermott $5,000 in October 2002 for McDermott’s legal defense fund in a lawsuit against him.

(LRD and Alkhafaji were under investigation by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in Detroit, until Special Agent in Charge came to town and ended these investigations. Something to do with , “former” terrorist and FBI Award Revokee . Ditto for FBI Special Agent in Charge , whose Detroit office was also investigating Alkhafaji.)
The gas station, which I previously knew was an Alkhafaji enterprise, is one of many of his Saddam-profits-financed projects I see on my daily drives around town. He also owns an Italian restaurant nearby and numerous other ventures. All of them paid for by Saddam’s money. His various campaign contributions, mostly to liberal Democrats, were seen as Saddam’s contributions. Alkhafaji was Saddam’s Democrat in America (his Republican was another Detroit area Iraqi expat).
In 2003, I asked Alkhafaji to do an interview on my radio show, but he insisted on seeing the questions. After I faxed them, he was suddenly “at a funeral in Iraq,” even though I saw him at a local gas station pumping gas into his car. (Since he is a Shi’ite who betrayed Shi’ites for money from Saddam, he cannot go back to Iraq. The Shias would kill him for being a traitor. Of note, his brother was murdered by Saddam, but he continued to do biz with Saddam, anyway.)
Again, not a hint of any of this in Julie Edgar’s Detroit Free Press article. She’s more interested in his fancy

Syrian limestone and columns on the facade, granite-topped, custom-made cabinets throughout, ceramic-tiled bathrooms . . . .

Gee, sounds just like one of Saddam’s palaces. Only he’s on trial. And Shakir Alkhafaji is free, living just miles from me. Thanks to our hands-off feds. And reporters who are dazzled by luxe architecture, but not phased by financial dealings with a mass murderer enough to mention it.
But many of his fellow former Iraqis in Detroit are angry. They keep pointing me to his Alkhafaji’s many ventures asking why. Why has he escaped prosecution, when he made millions in blood money from Saddam, in violation of our laws?
That’s the question the Detroit Free Press needs to revisit. But they’re too busy writing about palatial gas stations.
So, Julie, will that be regular or unleaded?

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Calling all Americans who’ve fallen asleep after 9/11. Read this report by WBEN reporter Tom Connolly about Muslim Arabs detained at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, last night–and listen to the audio, which has even more, scarier details:

A traveler stopped at Buffalo Niagara International Airport last night lead to some tense moments when the young man claimed he had a bomb.
The teenager and his father were stopped by airport security and while the father was cooperating with authorities, his son allegedly started praying loudly in Arabic and then announced “I have a bomb”, “I wanna die”‘ and “We’re all gonna die”.

[DS: The audio report says he said “that he is prepared.”]

With guns drawn on him, the 16-year-old then tore off its backpack and reached into it. Officers wrestled him to the ground and found he had no weapons or explosives, but several cell phones.

[DS: The audio report says he had five cellphones. Cellphones can be–and have been–used as bombing devices and detonators.]

The FBI questioned the young man, who was then taken to Erie County Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation.

The audio report said the 16-year-old was flying home to Nassau County, Long Island, New York, and would not tell police why he was in Western New York for ten days.
Psychiatric evaluation? This kid should be prosecuted for issuing a terrorist threat, as non-Muslim kids all over America are, every day, when they make threats at school.
Now we know what they mean when they say “Flying While Arab” or “Flying While Muslim.” Clearly, this father and son were testing the system for vulnerabilities. They are not nuts at all.
But we are for blowing this off as a psychiatric event.