snapped shot

It would seem that the entire ummah is on fire in protest against the farce of a conference in Annapolis. Finally, I am in agreement with the ummah on something (though I'd imagine for far different reasons). The highlight of today's protests? Perhaps the coolest portrait of Condoleeza Rice ever published, even outshining my previous fave:



I'll be rounding up the other highlights from around the world following the fold. Stay tuned for more!

Update: Someone has definitely been very busy spreading the propaganda about the Annapolis conference. Notice how all of these protests suggest that somehow, the United States and Israel are either conspiring to revoke the "right" of return, or how we're conspiring to seize Al-Aqsa. Very interesting coincidences, no?

(Regarding the "right" of return:—Keep in mind that with respect to any "peace" conference assembled, Palestinians demand an independent state of their own on one hand, yet they demand that Palestinian "refugees" maintain the "right" to return to Israel on the other. Sound confusing? Yeah, it might be—until you take a look at which map they are working from... It's all about "conquest," people. Nothing more, nothing less.)

UPDATE: According to the latest captions coming in, a man has been killed by Fatah security forces in Hebron, after being shot point-blank in the chest. Reports are that 15 other protesters have also been injured in the area—no specifics or details on them yet. Continue reading »

A couple of things to point out in this picture:



1. Yes, that is Sheikh Yassin in the background. You know, the one who called repeatedly for the total destruction of Israel?

2. The green map/blob/statue thing you see in front of our Gesturing Old Lady is the state of Israel. Which, of course, the locals in this picture would refer to as "Occupied Palestine."

As soon as they push the Jews into the sea, of course.

As translated by my pal Jeha (via low-bandwidth e-mail), the poster in the background reads "the martyrs of freedom," and the map, along with naming the (Arabic) towns there, declares that "palestine is ours."

When local populations support the terrorists amongst themselves—be they called "martyrs," "freedom fighters," "guerillas," "militants," or whatever else your imagination fancies—bad things happen. When civilians are cynically used as human shields, the civilians are destined to get hurt.

This is a reality of war. A reality, apparently, that is too advanced for our more "tolerant" and "understanding" denizens of the press to come to grips with.

Our press is still hard at work today, presenting the terrorist point-of-view from the Palestinian human shield "refugee" camps in Lebanon.



I'll be tracking the photos as they come in, so be sure to check back periodically for new updates. Continue reading »

Pity the poor fools at the UN, who've been told by the Lebanese Army that they may not enter the Palestinian camp hiding Fatah al-Islam (and thusly re-arm the terrorists who are currently surrounded within its confines):



News flash for the UN: Stop supporting people who support terror. An increase in world peace will follow. Continue reading »

It seems that the Lebanese army is starting to inspect and neutralize all of the unexploded artillery and other ordnance that Shamnesty is so worried about. This photograph is rather odd, though. It's extremely grainy, due to high levels of jpeg compression, but it purports to be two members of the Lebanese Army inspecting an unexploded missile. What's odd is that the object they're studying doesn't readily appear to be a missile to me—Could it be an external fuel tank? Some other piece of artillery? Humpback whale? Beats me. As usual, if you have exceptional eyesight and vast stores of military knowledge, be sure to chime in and let me know what you think.

UPDATE 15:38 EST: Commenter Mean Gene Dr. Love writes, "As an F-16 crew chief in the USAF photo #1 looks like it is quite possibly the aft section of a centerline external fuel tank. Photo #3 looks like what we call a travel pod (used to be napalm canisters until Viet Nam), possibly used to distribute leaflets. I have removed and installed hundreds of both of these items in my career. The pilot can jettison them when they are no longer needed. If anyone has access to the uncompressed photos and can pass them on to me, I could give more definite answers.

Photo #2 looks like a home-made piece of crap. I have never seen any (unemprovised) munitions that look like that.

Photo #4: If that is indeed a UXO, the man is a fool and lucky they are all still alive.

Photo #5: Looks like an external fuel tank for a smaller (than an F-16) aircraft like say, an A-4 Skyhawk, which the Israelis do have. See this photo courtesy of the USMC. Those cigar shaped things under the wings are fuel tanks. In combat, they are "punched off" when empty."

InfoJunkie adds, "I have 5 years experience loading bombs and 8 years experience watching them fall on a bombing range.

#1 looks like a stuffed marlin with the head cut off.
#2 looks like nothing I have ever seen.
#3 looks like a 1000 lb bomb (with a looter... is this New Orleans?)
#4 looks like an artillary round (what a moron!)
#5 looks like a 500 lb bomb (with another moron!)"

Our own local commenter brian (no relation!) notes, "That -thing- among the sewer pipes.... wtf? LOL!! I mean... seriously... who built that? Hezbollah H.S. metalshop class? The shipping charges must've been a bitch!! Am I to beleive that this thing was dropped from an aircraft going 500+knots at 8-30k feet? Sucker is tough!! Not a scratch on it!!"

My sincerest thanks to all of you for this fascinating info!

UPDATE 21:57 EST: Reader captainfish writes, "That last photo, photo#5,.... isn't that the site of the bridge that was said to exist in two different places, the site on the border with the guard station, blasted out bridge with an antenna and an upside down truck some thought was "moved around". The antenna and the vegetation in the background in this picture sure looks like that scene."

This is a very astute observation! It appears that Powerline had the dirty on the bridge, and from the looks of things, we may be dealing with the same scene. See the full article for details.

UPDATE 24-AUG-2006 08:58 EST: The Associated Press has posted a slightly higher-quality copy of our original image. There's less jpeg compression in this image, but it's still not entirely clear what we're looking at. There's a possibility that the object the soldier is standing on is in front of the missile, though I don't see anything clearly missile-like in the background.

UPDATE 24-AUG-2006 12:48 EST: Reader SBW notes that the item in Photo #2 is a known weapon in use by the IDF—the Carpet Mine Breaching System. After reviewing the websites he links, I concur. There is, it seems, still a question of what a canister which has been fired would look like:—whether it would have scorch marks, scuff marks, or anything else to indicate that it had actually been used. The technology seems to involve a fuel-air explosive, so it would seem that this is, indeed, a failed canister, though it certainly doesn't appear to be anywhere near a minefield. Does anyone know if "dud" fuel-air weapons are as dangerous as "unexploded missiles?"

UPDATE 25-AUG-2006 09:40 EST: Reader captainfish informs us that the photograph he was refering to was this one. I'll update the comparison, but it definitely could be a closer match than the one I referenced earlier! Continue reading »

Allahpundit has presented some very compelling evidence that this photograph is not authentic. For comparison, he shows photos of car vehicles damaged by less powerful Katyusha rockets. I'd say it's a very compelling argument - good job, Allahpundit!