A recent visitor to Blogs of War (and the path the visitor followed to get here) serves as yet another reminder of the threat from within:

Search Engine google.co.uk
Search Words how can i train myself for jihad?
IP Address 62.3.65.# (Zen Internet)
Continent : Europe
Country : United Kingdom
State/Region : Rochdale

An intelligence win in the UK reveals a disturbing plot:

The eight people arrested by terror police in Birmingham were allegedly planning an Iraq-style kidnapping and beheading in the UK.

Sky’s Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt says they intended to post a video of the hostage being tortured and killed on the internet.

Their target was a British Muslim soldier in his twenties who is now under police protection.

Sky News has live video.

Herschel Smith takes a depressing look at our military preparedness ahead of the surge:

A number of problems have plagued OIF: the naive trust in the healing powers of democracy, the unreadiness of the new Iraqi armed forces to take over security of Iraq without the necessary training and equipment, COIN doctrine that took its cue from forty year old counterinsurgency strategy flowing from Vietnam rather than looking to the holy war that the jihadists are fighting, and other problems too numerous to mention. This naivety created the milieu for the deployment of a force that was too small to bring security to a country the size of Iraq, and equipped for a conflict that would not last as long as this one has.

The problems run from the preparations for OIF to the present, where senior officers find it implausible that the available equipment will match the needs of U.S. troops in the coming months. It is one thing to support a surge of troops, and quite another to have the national discipline to prepare for it ten years ago.

Discipline and seriousness are exactly what we need from out political class at this moment. However, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction.

Details are sketchy. There are no additional reports detailing how he died or why the death is considered mysterious:

One of Iran’s top nuclear scientists, Ardeshir Hassanpour, a professor at the university of Shiraz, has died under mysterious circumstances. Hassanpour’s death was announced by Iranian state television, a week late, on Thursday. No reason was given for his death. The scientist was proclaimed the best scientist in the military field in the Islamic Republic in 2003. Hassanpour directed the centre for nuclear electromagnetic studies he had founded in 2005.

He had also co-founded the center for atomic research in Isfahan, the most important in the country, Iranian state television reported.

Last year, Ardeshir Hassanpour was awarded Iran’s most prestigious scientific award, the Kharazmi prize.

H/T: Regime Change Iran

Iran can’t manufacture most of the parts it needs to keep it’s aging F-14 fleet flying. Grounding them now, by withholding key replacement parts, will spare us the hassle of having to shoot them out of the sky later:

The Pentagon said Tuesday it had halted sales of spare parts from its recently retired F-14 fighter jet fleet, even as lawmakers pledged tougher oversight of the military’s surplus sales.

Sales of F-14 parts were suspended Friday pending a comprehensive review, Defense Logistics Agency spokesman Jack Hooper said.

“It was the prudent thing to do,” he said.

The review will examine Pentagon policy for handling the spare parts and determine what should be done with them “in light of the current situation with Iran,” Hooper said.

Iran, at odds with the United States and other countries over its suspected nuclear weapons program, among other issues, is still flying the F-14 Tomcat.

John Kerry shares his honest disdain for our country. I guess he feels liberated by the realization that he’ll never be able to run for the presidency.

It’s odd to say the least. He spaces out near the end. I guess the acid was kicking in.

 
My entry. There are more at Israellycool.

Iran continues to dog the inspectors and the U.N.’s response is to call for a “timeout”.

Iran, cranking up a war of nerves with the West, has demanded the removal of the official running U.N. nuclear inspections, diplomats said on Friday.

Warning of a spiral toward conflict, the head of the U.N. atomic agency called on Iran and the West to declare a “timeout” under which Iranian nuclear work and U.N. sanctions would be suspended simultaneously.

Tehran’s move, following a ban on 38 inspectors from four major Western nations announced on Monday, appeared aimed at testing Western resolve over its disputed nuclear activity while stopping short of violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Have no fear. War might still be averted. The U.N. has another 49 possible resolutions to the problem in reserve.

Chuck Hagel’s arrogance and willingness to compromise America’s troops and national security in his pursuit of personal power is stunning:

He said one possibility is forming a presidential exploratory committee and — despite his outcast position within his party — seeking the Republican nomination. Or he may seek a third Senate term. Then again, he might take a more creative path.

Hagel joked during the interview about teaming up with New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a moderate Republican, and also floated the possibility of joining a bipartisan unity ticket with a Democrat — with his name first, of course.

Hagel clearly admires Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and calls him “a star,” but he doubts the two could ever team up given the vast difference in their parties’ principles. “I don’t know if it gets to that point, but there is a shift going on out there, and there’s nothing like a war that does that,” Hagel said.

Our political class is as superficial and self-serving as ever and yet this man manages to stand out. He is the worst of the worst.

Riehl World View: He could get “star” Obama to break ranks with the Dems and run as his VP, or maybe recruit NYC Mayor Bloomberg to form a new party. Call it the Anti-Party - Anti-food, Anti-war, Anti-smoking, Anti-gun! It could be the first political party that isn’t for anything at all except themselves. At least Dems have the socialism thing going for them as a cause. Unfortunately for Hagel, even Bloomberg supports the war.

Blue Crab Boulevard: I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but my contempt for the man just increased. One hopes the people of Nebraska throw this guy out of the office he now holds.

RedState: Make love, not war, maaaan. Truth to power.

Hotline On Call: In Shailagh Murray’s front-page Washington Post profile of Chuck Hagel today, the Nebraska senator mentions the possibility that he’ll join a “unity ticket” with a Democratic running mate. Murray doesn’t say so, but Hagel isn’t just musing–he has a specific outfit in mind. That outfit is Unity08, an internet-based third-party recently founded by veterans of the Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford administrations that’s designed to bring about the kind of bipartisanship that continues to elude Washington.

Wonkette: Chuck Hagel — supporter of the flag-burning amendment, committed foe of abortion, rated 100% by the Christian Coalition, is found “appealing” by “even die-hard liberals,” according to the Washington Post!

Carol Platt Liebau: If the senators want to “take a stand,” let them stand behind some action. Let them propose an action plan for victory, or defund the war. Otherwise, in this craven and poisonous political environment, the only really courageous non-binding resolution would be the one that calls for victory — and nothing but.

Decision ‘08: Hagel has slightly better odds than my beagle, but only slightly…

7.62mm Justice: I wouldn’t piss on this asshole if he was on fire.