Israeli Embassy Staff Members Killed In D.C.

 

The law of unintended consequences is about to kick in on an entire movement because of the insane act of one person:

Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. Lischinsky was a research assistant, and Milgrim organized visits and missions to Israel.

They were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.

The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, was observed pacing outside the museum before the shooting, walked into the museum after the shooting and was detained by event security, Smith said.

When he was taken into custody, the suspect began chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” Smith said. She said law enforcement did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the community...

As much as one might be outraged by the policies of the Netanyahu regime, what happened last night in Washington, DC, was a horrible and unconscionable act of terrorism.  Unfortunately but not unexpectedly, it's already being exploited by the Netanyahu regime and, with the Bondi/ Patel/ Pirro team at the Department of Justice, will soon be exploited here as well:

This is going to be bad for pro-Palestinian activism in the United States. The Department of Justice an the FBI are literally drooling over the prospect of tearing apart this idiot’s life in order to hunt down every contact he has in Palestinian activist networks. They are going to bend every anti-terrorism statute (and probably some organized crime law as well) to try to demonstrate consequential connections with other activists and activist groups, then rip those groups apart. It’s gonna be real fucking bad.

The two young people whose lives have been taken were attending an event described thusly:

“This event was about humanitarian aid,” [attendee Yoni] Kalin said. “How can we actually help both the people in Gaza and the people in Israel? How can we bring together Muslims and Jews and Christians to work together to actually help innocent people? And then here he is just murdering two people in cold blood.”

What a mind-numbing, tragic waste.

(Photo:  Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky / @IsraelinUSA/Twitter)

 

The Right's Surrender to Terrorists

That's the theme of Glenn Greenwald's dissection of the right's reaction to the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other 9/11 terrorists in New York City. Why do they fear American justice, these knee-jerk jerks? Boner, Cheney, noun-verb-9/11 Giuliani, the Fox Nutwork and the rest of the wingnut wurlitzer. Had Dumbya done this years ago, they would have hailed it as a courageous affirmation of the rule of law and the proper way to bring these killers to justice once and for all. What c**ksuckers...

McSame: "I Know How To Catch Bin Laden"

In an interview with CNN, Sen. John McStraightTalk stated that "I know how to catch bin Laden." Well, if you do, why keep our intelligence and military forces in the dark, McJamesBond? We're sure they'd love to hear your ideas ("first, I'd dress like one of those A-rabs and infiltrate their harems. . .uh wait, lemme think about that")

So if McStraightTalk knows how to catch bin Laden, but doesn't want to get specific, is he more interested in winning an election than in protecting U.S. citizens and in capturing the world's worst terrorist?

A Meeting With Terrorist Appeasers

Well, look who's arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet with some folks with terrorist links.

And expect a smackdown from the Saudis when the Decider begs for increased oil production to bring prices down.

Why Do Rethuglicans Hate America?

Former Michigan Rethug congressman Mark Siljander has been indicted on charges of money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction in a scheme to provide money to an al Qaeda and Taliban supporter. In a 42-count (!!) indictment, Siljander, who was also appointed by Ronnie Raygun to serve as a delegate to the U.N., is accused of lying about lobbying Senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that was funneling money to the terrorist groups. Rethug private enterprise.

Guess his endorsement of a Rethug presidential candidate won't be welcomed.

Dangerous Situation in Pakistan

When the Bush Assministration's attention shifted from the 9/11 terrorists in Afghanistan to invading Iraq in order to settle a Bush family grudge while grabbing for more oil, the original attackers have been able to use the distraction to mobilize, recruit and rebuild their network in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now, Pakistan is teetering on the verge of chaos, with the terrorist bombing attempt on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's life. As it was, the attempt killed over 130 of her supporters. As we pointed out over the past year, Pakistan is the sole Muslim country with nuclear weapons, and al-Qaeda is gaining strength there, as the Taliban is gaining strength in Afghanistan. Dumbya's obsession with Saddam Hussein is coming back to haunt us all.

Hey, It's Just Been 6 Years

Nearly 6 years after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush Assministration hasn't figured out how to get U.S. agencies to cooperate on counterterrorism operations overseas. The AP is reporting that a just released GAO study cited several examples of U.S. agencies not cooperating, or even communicating, during overseas missions (obviously, they're practitioners of the Dead Eye Dick Cheney fillosofee of gummint "management"). Among the examples cited by GAO: no agency is in charge of getting everyone to work together. Maybe the Klueless Kops of the Bush Assministration will figure things out in another 6 years (by then it will be into the second term of the next, Democratic administration).

Incompetence trumps experience every time.