Television showed chunks of flaming fuselage scattered in a bare forest near Smolensk, where the president was arriving for a ceremony commemorating the murder of more than 20,000 Polish officers by the Red Army as it invaded Poland.
The governor of Smolensk region, Sergei Antufiyev, said the plane did not reach the runway but instead hit the treetops and broke apart. An official with the Russia’s Investigative Committee said possible causes were bad weather, mechanical failure and human error.
The crash came as a staggering blow to Poland, killing what may be a tenth of country’s top leadership in one fiery explosion. In the numb hours after the crash, leaders in Warsaw evoked the horror of the massacre at Katyn, which stood for decades as a symbol of Russian domination of Poland.
Why this is so horrible:
Photo from the crash site In Russia
“It is a damned place,” former president Aleksander Kwasniewski told TVN24. “It sends shivers down my spine. First the flower of the Second Polish Republic is murdered in the forests around Smolensk, now the intellectual elite of the Third Polish Republic die in this tragic plane crash when approaching Smolensk airport.”
“This is a wound which will be very difficult to heal,” he said.
Former president Lech Walesa, who presided over Poland’s transition from communism, cast the crash in similarly historic terms.
“This is the second disaster after Katyn,” he said. “They wanted to cut off our head there, and here the flower of our nation has also perished. Regardless of the differences, the intellectual class of those on the plane was truly great.”
Poland is a good friend of the United States, and President Kaczynski went out of his way to honor Ronald Reagan for the fight to free Poland from communism when he visited the United States in 2007 (photo above right from Reagan Library).
Kaczynski also worked to acknowledge the Holocaust and the extermination of millions of Polish Jews during World War II, including honoring Poles who risked their lives to save Jews, and just recently giving a Polish national medal to the head of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel:
On January 27, 2010, during a ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day held at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, Polish President Lech Kaczy?ski awarded Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev with the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
During the ceremony, which marked this year 65 years since the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Army, speeches were delivered by the President and Prime Minister of Poland, the Prime Minister of Israel, international delegates and figures, and Holocaust survivors. Polish President Kaczy?ski also awarded decorations during the ceremony to United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Director Sara Bloomfield and Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Director Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywi?ski.
The three decorations were awarded for “eminent services in educational and museum work commemorating the victims of the Nazi German labor camps, concentration camps, and extermination centers, and for their accomplishments in the development of the Polish-Jewish dialogue.”
I can only fathom what the people of Poland are going through this day. My prayers are with the families, and with the people of Poland this evening. If there was ever a time, for President Barack Obama to show some class and leadership; this would be that time.
More information will be posted, as it becomes available.
A special message to the people of Poland:
Do dobrych ludzi Polska.
Uprzejmie informujemy, ten pisarz serce jest podzielone na wie?? o swoje straszne straty. Prosz? wybaczy? z?e t?umaczenie, jak ja jestem przy pomocy Google Translate.
Mam nadziej?, ?e ten komunikat ma sens dla mieszka?ców Polska.
Nie mog? tu siedzie? i wyobra?a? sobie co to smutek przechodzi. Jednak wiem, ?e jest to tragedi?.
Uprzejmie informujemy, ?e modl? si? za was wszystkich i ?e modlitwy, Comfort, Wszechmog?cego Boga i Jego Syna Jezusa Chrystusa b?dzie z wami wszystkimi. To jest moja nadzieja i wyrazi? moje osobiste modlitwy, ?e pokój, który pochodzi od Boga tylko w niebie, b?dzie tam komfort was wszystkich, w momencie utraty.
Niech Wszechmog?cy Bóg w niebie, Bless i przechowywa? ka?dego z was.
-Patrick
W?a?ciciel
politicalbyline.com
English Translation:
To the good people of Poland.
Please know this writer’s heart is broken at the news of your horrible loss. Please excuse the bad translation; as I am using Google Translate.
Hopefully this message makes sense to the people of Poland.
I cannot sit here and imagine what sort of sorrow you are going through. However, I do know that this is a human tragedy.
Please know, that I am praying for you all and that I prayer that the Comfort, of the Almighty God and his son Jesus Christ would be with you all. It is my express hope and my personal prayer, that the peace that only comes from God in Heaven; would be there to comfort you all, in your time of loss.
May the Almighty God in Heaven, Bless and Keep each and every one of you.
I just wonder, what sort of business was he on? Approving visa’s for terrorists? I mean, they did bust a ring of terrorists out in Colorado. I wonder if he had any connections to them? It is to wonder. But, we’ll never find that out, seeing we have a President who is friendly to these sort of vermin.
I never thought in a million years that I would be absolutely correct! 😯
A Qatari diplomat who caused a bomb scare after sneaking a smoke in an airplane bathroom was traveling for a consular visit to see an imprisoned al-Qaida agent.
A State Department official and another person close to the matter say Mohammed Al-Madadi was going to meet Ali Al-Marri for an official visit. Consular officials frequently visit foreigners held in the United States to make sure they are being treated well.
The two sources spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Officials say the diplomat will be sent home or transferred to another country for touching off the bomb scare.
[…..]
WASHINGTON (AP)—A Qatari diplomat who sparked a bomb scare after sneaking a smoke in an airplane’s bathroom will be sent home or transferred to another country, U.S. officials said Thursday.
The officials said that as a result of his recall, the U.S. government would not take any formal action against the diplomat.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, the officials said they expected Mohammed Al-Madadi to leave the United States later Thursday or Friday in accordance with assurances given to them by the Qatari embassy in Washington and authorities in the Qatari capital of Doha.
So, two for the price of one. First off, he was going to visit a convicted terrorist, which, for what it is worth, is normal protocol. and now he is being expelled out of the Country. Good deal. We don’t need assholes like that in this Country anyhow. Just because he happens to believe terrorism is “Oh so funny! giggle giggle he he he!” does not mean that we do. 🙄
Also this:
Crowley said the U.S. government is satisfied that the Qatari government is taking the matter seriously.
I would imagine this to be very true, as Qatar is one of our biggest Allies on the war on terror, and also in Iraq. As they allowed us to stage aircraft there, during the invasion of Iraq. Something tells me that ol’ giggle-britches here is going to be in some serious hot water when he gets home. 😮
Three explosions, two rocket attacks and subsequent gunfire have been reported in the near vicinity of the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 5. The attack occurred early afternoon local time when the consulate would have been full of both American and local employees. The death toll is reported at 36 but is expected to rise.
There are no assessments yet of the damage that the consulate building has sustained, but reports indicate that the explosions led to the collapse of other, adjacent buildings. Pakistani soldiers are also reported to be engaging militants in gunfire, indicating that militants are actively engaged in an attack near the area — possibly with the intention of breaching the U.S. Consulate.
[….]
UPDATE:
One attacker was able to blow up in the U.S. Consulate premises, AAJ TV reported April 5. The front side of the U.S. Consulate has been totally destroyed. Reports indicate that seven or eight security personnel in the consulate are dead. The consulate’s communication system is down.
Many people are wondering why this has happened. I think I know why. It could very well be because of this here:
KABUL — President Obama’s visit to Kabul last week, intended in part to forge a closer working relationship with President Hamid Karzai, has helped produce the opposite: an angry Afghan leader now attacking the West for what he perceives as an effort to manipulate him and weaken his rule.
Karzai’s relationship with his U.S. backers in the past week has taken a sharp turn for the worse after his two anti-Western speeches in three days, remarks that some officials see as a rehearsed, intentional move away from the United States.
In remarks to parliament members Saturday, Karzai said that if foreign interference in his government continues, the Taliban would become a legitimate resistance — one that he might even join, according to lawmakers present.
“When I heard Karzai’s remarks, it really shocked me. It scared me,” a senior Afghan official who works closely with Karzai said. “We should not take this lightly. This is a golden opportunity to have the West here; we can’t squander it.”
Karzai’s comments have angered U.S. officials and some of his prominent Afghan colleagues in the government, who fear he is jeopardizing international funding and military support because his pride has been injured.
“That guy’s erratic, he’s unpredictable. I don’t get him,” said a senior U.S. military official in Kabul.
However, if you read a little deeper, you will see this:
But the next day, Karzai told a gathering of lawmakers that foreign interference fuels the insurgency. One lawmaker said Karzai made the point that if he is compelled to obey foreigners, “I’ll join the Taliban.”
“I know he’s cooperating with the U.S., but he just wants to give us a wrong perception. He’s trying to prove himself as a hero, a nationalist,” the lawmaker said.
Some of the presidents’ supporters said that people overreacted to the statements, and that Karzai is well aware of how reliant he is on the United States and other countries fighting in Afghanistan. The United States pours billions of dollars monthly into Afghanistan, and 30,000 new troops are arriving to fight the Taliban.
Speaking at a meeting of about 1,200 tribal leaders and local officials in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday, Karzai again suggested that U.S. pressure is counterproductive.
“Afghanistan will be fixed when its people trust that their president is independent and not a puppet,” he said. “We have to demonstrate our sovereignty. We have to demonstrate that we are standing up for our values.”
I think this guy needs to make up his mind. Trying to play to his people and be friends with the west is not going to work. The United States of America is NOT interested in owning that Country, no more than it is interested in owning Iraq. We are, or at least we were, there to get rid of Al-Qaeda terrorists who wanted to attack and destroy America. It seems that our focus is shifting and we are now trying to play “Paddy Cake” with Afgan Leaders who want to be friendly with the the U.S. and the Taliban. The President of the United States needs to firm with Karzai, and tell him either choose the Taliban and possibly being killed by the United States in military action or choose true freedom and democracy. You cannot have it both ways, terrorism and democracy cannot co-exist.
Just a personal aside, I had a sinking feeling that this sort of a thing would happen, if we elected a Democrat for a President. For all of his failings, for all of the stuff that I did not like about him; George W. Bush knew exactly how to deal with these sorts of things. He was seen by the Afghan people and the Iraqis as a firm strong leader, who was willing to risk it all to stand against terrorism, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. President Obama just does not have that same stance. President Obama and by default, the Democrats see terrorism as a juvenile criminal behavior; and it is not; it is a war against freedom and democracy in the name of a backward and dangerous religion.
I guess the only hope at this point is that Obama realizes what he is dealing with here and changes his focus. However, I just do not see that happening at all. Needless to say, the next year few years is going to be interesting, when it comes to the war on terror and this entire situation.
Finally, the stupid socialist is doing something right:
The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.
The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.
Under the plan, the coastline from New Jersey northward would remain closed to all oil and gas activity. So would the Pacific Coast, from Mexico to the Canadian border.
The environmentally sensitive Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska would be protected and no drilling would be allowed under the plan, officials said. But large tracts in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska — nearly 130 million acres — would be eligible for exploration and drilling after extensive studies.
The proposal is to be announced by President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Wednesday, but administration officials agreed to preview the details on the condition that they not be identified.
The proposal is intended to reduce dependence on oil imports, generate revenue from the sale of offshore leases and help win political support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation.
My confusion, then, is over the administration’s negotiating tactics. In February, the president cleared the way for the first new U.S. nuclear power plants in more than 30 years. Today, the president will reportedly open up new opportunities for coastal drilling.
In other words, Obama has already effectively given Republicans what they wanted on energy. What is he getting in return?
My question is, why the fuck should he get anything in return, at all?
He better be fucking hoping and praying that we don’t make his origin of birth a big issue when the Republicans take back the house and senate come 2010! What assholes… like the Republicans owe that floppy eared son-of-a- bitch anything at all. 😡 🙄
Again, I say, good on ol’ big ears for finally learning that capitalism is a good thing and that drilling is a good idea. Now if we could just teach the REST of liberal and socialist, and communist America that! We’d have to start in the fucking oval office first!
To wild applause, he labeled this alleged tumor of “community” the supposedly evil “progressivism” — and he told disciples to “eradicate it” from the nation.
The lesson was eminently clear, coming in no less than the keynote address to one of America’s most important political conventions. Beck taught us that a once-principled conservative movement of reasoned activists has turned into a mob — one that does not engage in civilized battles of ideas. Instead, these torch-carriers, gun-brandishers and tea partiers follow an anti-government terrorist attack by cheering a demagogue’s demand for the physical annihilation of those with whom he disagrees — namely anyone, but particularly progressives, who value “community.”
The lesson was eminently clear, coming in no less than the keynote address to one of America’s most important political conventions. Beck taught us that a once-principled conservative movement of reasoned activists has turned into a mob — one that does not engage in civilized battles of ideas. Instead, these torch-carriers, gun-brandishers and tea partiers follow an anti-government terrorist attack by cheering a demagogue’s demand for the physical annihilation of those with whom he disagrees — namely anyone, but particularly progressives, who value “community.”
You know I try to ignore Fox’s favorite idiot pundit but his speech at CPAC keeps coming back to me. He’s gone beyond relatively harmless kooky conspiracy theories into actively, if subliminally, promoting violence again…What motivates this kind of talk and behavior is called eliminationism: a politics and a culture that shuns dialogue and the democratic exchange of ideas in favor of the pursuit of outright elimination of the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and ejection, or extermination.
But the one that really, really blew me away was this one here:
As someone who has been studying far right bigotry for 17 years now, I listen to this compilation of Glenn Beck talking about “progressives,” and I hear the same bigotry used to smear Jews over the years – but instead now the word being used instead of “Jew” is “progressive.”
Wow….. Just….Wow…. 😮 I had thought that John Aravosis was a bit more smarter than that. I guess I was wrong. Which is living proof that Progressive Liberalism is a mental disorder and that Homosexuality is an altered mental state. Anyone who equates Glenn Beck’s hatred of the Progressive movement to Hitler’s madness is idiot, plain and simple. I believe Jews everywhere ought to be screaming from the rafters about this one. I know if I were a Jewish person, I would be! 😡 For the doubters, I can assure you that you will never hear Glenn Beck calling for Progressives to be gassed or burned alive in crematoriums. Voted out of office, perhaps. But nothing more than that. Further more, Glenn Beck also distinguishes between your standard Democrat and Liberal; and the far left Progressives, or as I like to call them; Neo-Marxists.
Just more reasons why I will never vote for Democratic Party candidate, ever again. Because if this is what the Democratic Party voters and their candidates believe, than I want nothing to do with it. The Democratic Party is in fact the National representative of the Progressive movement, and if this is feeling of the Progressive Movement, that they somehow are the “New Jews”, then it is over for me. I could never support a party that is now going to don the oppressed hat. That is idiotic at best.
Further more, the very idea that Glenn Beck himself could even inspire anyone to commit acts of violence is quite preposterous. I sometimes watch Glenn Beck, and I have never been inspired to commit violence against anyone who disagrees with my politics. Otherwise, my own parents would be dead! 😉 The inconvenient truth is, anyone who actually goes out and attempts to or does actually kill someone or a group of people of whom their politics clash has something going wrong in the gray matter upstairs. It is a fact, right after the story broke about Joe Stack, who crashed his plane into the IRS office in Texas, Glenn Beck denounced the man as a “Whack Job” and make it very clear that he did not support any kind of violence at all.
The fact is that the Neo-Marxist, Progressive left is now feeling the heat and are being backed into a corner and they are doing everything in their power now to lash out and discredit those who are against their agenda. Whether this is coming on orders from the White House or not, remains to be seen. In fact, these articles quoted reek of the desperation of the Progressive Left and we can look forward to this sort of thing, leading up to the November elections. The Progressives are scared and are worried that everything that they worked for, could go up in smoke. For freedom loving Americans like me, this is a very good thing. I would love to see jobs back in this State, but as long as Progressive politics is controlling Michigan, we will never see those jobs.
So, to Glenn Beck; Keep sticking it to these bastards. They are running scared and are now playing the victim card.
