Missing foreign students and WWIII

I'm sure this is nothing...I mean the government authorities say so.

[FBI Special Agent Richard] Kolko said there is no reason to believe the missing students, all men around 20 years old, represent a threat.

What missing 20-year old male students?

Eleven Egyptian students who were supposed to travel to a Montana university after flying to JFK airport late last month disappeared in New York, spurring federal authorities to issue a nationwide alert, officials said yesterday.

The students - who were traveling with six classmates from Mansoura University in Egypt - had their student visas revoked for failing to show up at Montana State University in Bozeman, the officials said.

The other six students made it to the college.

"The FBI and ICE [Immigration and Custom Enforcement] would like to locate these 11 students in order to speak with them," said FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko after the "be-on-the-lookout" alert was issued to all police in the United States.

Now, that is nothing to worry about? Really? At what point do we worry?

"At this point, all they have done is not show up for a scheduled academic program, and their visas have been revoked," Kolko said.

"We do not know of any association with any terrorist or criminal groups. There is no threat associated with these men. We have simply asked law enforcement's assistance in locating them so that the FBI and ICE may interview them."

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said the situation "has to be taken very seriously."

"Having a number of students from an Arab country arriving on student visas and disappearing is cause for concern," he said.

Montana State University Provost David Dooley said 17 Mansoura University students signed up for a 32-day cultural-exchange program to intensively study English, learn about Montana history and go on several field trips.

They arrived at JFK on a flight from Egypt on July 29, but only one managed to clear immigration in time to make a connecting flight, Dooley said.

By July 31, five others had arrived in Bozeman, but the rest were unaccounted for.

I remember the outrage at various colleges and from the Left when the Student Visa programs were beginning to clamp down on their requirements. Again, it is proven that compromise on the issue was compromising our security. In all seriousness there is nothing preventing this from happening with scores upon scores of foreign students. Perhaps some more national-background profiling is necessary to help diminish the risk of this happening.

Why is this posting also listed under the WWIII category? Because this story is fishy AND it ties very nicely with my unease since the beginning of the Israeli defensive that August is going to be a very troublesome month at best.

This from Yahoo News (no link--it will be dead in a few days anyway)

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has renewed calls on Muslims to rally to the defence of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah in its war against
Israel, state television reported.

"Today it is the entire Muslim community's duty to defend Hezbollah," Khamenei told a meeting Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Shiites' first Imam, Ali.

I have no doubt that Iran is behind the whole mess right now.

Iran helped to create and arm Hezbollah in 1982 in response to Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and Tehran stands accused by the United States and Israel of fomenting chaos in the region by channelling weapons to the guerrillas.

Iran denies the allegation, saying it provides only moral support to the movement.

Nevermind the fact that each rocket fired from Hezbollah right now must have the express approval from Iran...we are simply jumping to conclusions that Iran has an active hand in this offensive against Israel.

Wait, there's more.

The all-powerful Iranian leader lashed out at the
United Nations for what he called its "incompetence", and also attacked some Arab countries for "looking on in silence".

"Some Arabic states that have kept quiet should know that the United States will never consider their interests," Khamenei said.

More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians have been killed in the Israeli offensive unleashed after the capture of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid from Lebanon on July 12.

Khamenei also accused the US and Britain on Tuesday of encouraging the "Zionists' crimes" and "seeking to eradicate Islam in this region".

Let me explain how this works. These guys believe that it is OK to have a stated goal of the "extermination" or "annhilation" of Israel, and any resistance to that is "seeking to eradicate Islam". Quite honestly, if these guys are the representatives of Islam in that region then the world will be a better, more tolerant, more peaceful place after their eradication. The ONLY question is if these angels-of-satan are representative of Islam.

And further proof that the end of the world is near...I agree with a Princeton professor (Bernard Lewis to be exact). Some of you have been critical of me for (1) calling this WWIII...and maybe it is not YET WWIII, but I think the liklihood of it is stronger than the liklihood it is not/will not be WWIII, and (2) of having the heebie-jeebies about August.

According to a Flash Report from Drudge I am not too far off.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "and his followers clearly believe that [the time of Armegeddon] is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the US about nuclear development by Aug. 22," which this year corresponds "to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to 'the farthest mosque,' usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1).

"This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind."

Now some smaller minded people have decided to use this as political fodder. Essentially, the end of the world may be beginning this month so 'vote for my party' in November. Logic...they don't need no stinkin' logic. Rationality...won't find that from them either.

Domestically what is important in all of this is that the USA is not going to do much in all of this and it is the fault of the partisans...all of them. Two general groups are to blame.

First, the Left for weakening the resolve of the nation to fight evil which threatens us. Also the Left for putting very short-sighted lenses on the whole issue of terrorism, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, etc. Rather than look at these issues as a "what is best for the survival of the United States against evil" they turned it into a "how can we dennigrate Bush on this topic?" The Democrats turned it into a "what do we need to do to make this a political chip in our favor?" Health of the country be damned. Survival of the country be damned...because the party comes first.

Second, the Right for many reasons. They (Bush in the forefront) failed to make the brazenly honest case about Iraq...it has always been primarily about Iran. Failing to make the ABSOLUTELY HONEST case allowed the partisan Left to turn the survival of America into a political gambit. Next they failed by getting weak in the spine on national security. Yes, many of them will come back and say they were strong...but when they failed on so many fronts that are equally tied to security (border security, immigration reform, illegal immigration lockdown, etc) they hold the blame ticket as well. By having so many of the Right and the Republicans start wavering on Iraq specifically it perpetuated the domestic reality that America's survival is just another campaign issue again in yet another campaign year. Being strong on national security is more than just supporting Bush in fighting "terrorism" and "on Iraq"...it is more than repeating the talking points on those narrow topics.

Shame on 100% of the party members and partisans on both sides. And I guarantee they will continue to do it through November.

Most importantly is this: Keep your eyes firmly planted on Iran. They are the root of all that is going on right now...they are on the verge of nuclear weapons, and all the negotiations in the UN is playing into Iran's advantage.

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