How 12 media outlets covered the bombing of Iran

Further to "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran!" (WWW 23/6/25 -- includes videos!), we believe our readers will be tickled by the Babylon Bee's summary of the media coverage, as follows... 

Welp, it looks like Trump bombed Iran. The Babylon Bee has assembled headlines from various media outlets here in one place so you can pick a little bit of the truth out of each to learn the whole story. Here’s how different media outlets are covering the historic news: 

New York Times — Quiet Middle Eastern Community Devastated By Unprovoked Trump Attack 

Fox News — Trump Neutralizes Terrifying Iran Nuclear Threat With Mere Seconds To Spare 

New York Post — AYATOLL-YA SO!Iran Out Of Luck As Trump Drops Bodacious Bunker Buster 

CNN — Trump Cruelly Deprives Poor Iranian Children Of Nuclear Weapon They’ve Always Dreamed Of 

MSNBC — Iran Is Now The George Floyd Of The Middle East 

BBC News — REMINDER: Next Call To Prayer Is In One Hour. Allahu Akbar. 

One America News — Yay Trump For Avoiding War - Oh Wait, He Bombed Iran? Really? I Mean, Yay Trump For Bombing Iran 

Vice — I Took Fentanyl And Slept With A Penguin 

Vogue — 5 Kinky Tricks You Can Try In The Bedroom To Show Your Support For Iran 

Not The Bee — Trump Just Bombed The Snot Out Of Iran And The Responses Are STRAIGHT 🔥🔥🔥🤣 

The Babylon Bee — Iranian Nuclear Facility Escapes Bombing By Identifying As Mar A Lago (That’s Right We Just Have The One Joke) 

Al-Jazeera — TRUMP JUST BOMBED OUR HEADQUARTERS!!!

Clicking on the link above will take you to the Bee's home page, where you will always, always give you a good laugh when you get depressed reading the "real" (?) news. Walt recommends you bookmark the Bee and read it daily!

Islamic terrorists strike close to home -- theirs!

While we were waiting to see who was behind this weekends mass murders in El Paso and Dayton -- wondering if it was the work of terrorists (domestic or imported) or maybe just a couple of deranged individuals (as it turned out) -- the real terrorists, the jihadists, were in training in the Middle East. In Cairo, chief shithole of Egypt, to be specific.

Sadly for mearly two dozen Cairenes, their practice run -- moving a car full of explosives to the site of a planned attack -- didn't go off as planned. Or perhaps I should say it went off before it was planned, as the car exploded late Sunday night on the busy Corniche boulevard along the Nile River, setting other cars on fire, killing at least 20 and injuring at least 47, most of them Muslims. No cries of "Allahu akbar!" were heard, just a shout of "Oh shit!"

The massively weaponized vehicle [Hey! You learned a new word! Ed.] exploded near Egypt's main cancer hospital (pictured) shattering parts of the facade and some rooms inside and forcing the evacuation of dozens of patients. The hospital's main gate was damaged, along with several patient rooms and wards, according to a statement from Cairo University, whose medical school uses the institution as an educational facility. Windows and glass doors on the hospital building were shattered.

One patient told the meeja, "Parts of the ceiling of the hospital were collapsing as I got out of my room. People were running everywhere and shouting." The Egyptian Health Ministry did not say whether any patients or hospital staff were among the casualties. Another witness said that several vehicles on the street were damaged, burning those inside.

Inspector Mohammed Mohammed of the Cairo Police initially said the explosion was caused by a multi-vehicle accident. But today the Interior Ministry acknowledged that a car bomb was involved. The authorities accused a militant group known as Hasm, which has links to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, saying it was moving the car, which had been stolen months ago, to carry out an attack, errr, somewhere else.

The attack is the deadliest in Cairo since a bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral killed 30 people during Sunday mass in December 2016. That attack was claimed by Egypt's affiliate of the ISIS group. For years, Egypt has battled Islamic militants, led by an ISIS affiliate, in the Sinai Peninsula. That insurgency has at times spilled over into other parts of the country. Smaller bombings, usually by roadside devices, have taken place more often, targeting security forces and in two cases tourists near the Pyramids. Car bombs, however, have been far rarer in the capital.

Port Authority terminal bomber inspired by ISIS - "Allahu akbar!"

While I was writing the ppst about President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel -- scroll down -- Ed. has been following the breaking news of the bombing near the Port Authority terminal in New York City. We hope Fox News won't mind our reposting, almost verbatim, their latest report. (Hey! We're building up your readership here!)

Fox News says that a Bangladeshi national living in Brooklyn prematurely detonated his "low tech device" in an "attempted terrorist attack" inside New York City's Port Authority bus terminal Monday morning -- a blast that rocked the city during rush hour, causing chaos and halting several subway lines.

In a hastily called news conference, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo said that Akayed Ullah, 27, set off the "effectively low tech device" in a subway passageway just before 0730 EST. Mr Ullah suffered burns and wounds to his body and appeared to be the only person seriously injured in the pipe bomb explosion, authorities said. At least three other people suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Said the Gov, "This is New York, the reality is that we are a target by many who would like to make a statement against democracy, against freedom." New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio concurred, saying, "This was attempted terrorist attack." Neither Mr Cuomo nor Mr De Blasio mentioned the words "Islamist", "Muslim" or "ISIS".

However, law enforcement sources told the New York Post that Mr Ullah's attack was inspired by ISIS. The suspect allegedly packed the 5-inch metal pipe bomb and battery pack into the right side of his jacket, but the device exploded earlier than intended. The suspect told police he made the bomb at the electrical company where he works.

This is breaking news. We'll have more later, although to be honest, the only thing I'm waiting for is a statement from the perp that he did it to protest POTUS' recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Stay tuned.

NYC bomb related to POTUS' recognizing Jerusalem as Israel capital?

Fox News reports that several people were injured and one person was in custody after an explosion near New York City's Port Authority bus terminal during this morning's rush hour, prompting mass chaos and halting multiple subway lines, according to a report citing law enforcement sources.

NYPD and the FDNY confirmed to Fox News they are investigating reports of an explosion "of an unknown origin" near 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue. Police tweeted A, C, E subways lines are being evacuated. NYC Office of Emergency Management also tweeted there was "police activity" near West 42nd Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues and advised commuters to expect delays.

I'm listening to the rangdeedio right now, hoping to learn more. Another source says the explosion was caused by a pipe bomb in a walkway or tunnel under the bus terminal. No word yet on the citizenship, ethnicity or religion of the person taken into custody. Of course that person may or not be the bomber, and may or may not be named "Mohammed" something or other.

Regardless of whether or not the perp is an Islamic extremist, I predict the bombing (if that's what it was) will be blamed by the lamestream media, Democrats and other anti-Trumpers on POTUS' statement last week that the US of A officially recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel. (Lifetime pct .986.) A lot of people -- Western politicians as well as bitter Palestinians and fanatical Muslims -- seem to be pretty worked up about this, so let's examine it.

Regular readers should know that I hold no brief for Israel or the Jews. Any reasonably astute observer of the politics and economics of America and the rest of the West should know, too, that the things that really matter -- banks and the monetary system, the lamestream media, even the entertainment industry -- are controlled by international Jewry. One of the most powerful political groups in the USA, and Washington in particular, is the Jewish lobby. Both openly and secretly, Jews provide major funding to both the Democrats and Republicans. No matter who's in power, you will never never find the nominal rulers of America challenging or even criticizing Israel.

Israel is, when you think about it, the creation of Adolf Hitler. Lots of Jews -- maybe not 6 million, but lots -- died or were displaced in World War II, and the victorious Allies, suffering badly from Christian guilt, decided that something must be done for those who survived. Like giving them their Promised Land. Not a chunk of Europe, of course, but some other land, inhabited (if at all) by less deserving people. And so, out of a barren territory called Palestine, the United Nations carved the "Zionist entity" known as Israel.

Speaking yesterday at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, (((Benjamin Netanyahu))), the President of Israel, said that Jerusalem has for 1000s of years been "the capital of the Jewish state." You could look it up, he said. "It's in the Bible." That is true if one speaks of the homeland of the Jews in the religious sense, but only partially true if one looks at world politics and international law.

A century ago, as World War I drew to a close, the territory in question was part of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish-ruled "sick man of Europe". When the sick man lay dying, the Great Powers -- Britain and France, in this case -- carved up the Middle East between them. You can find a reference to the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 in the movie Lawrence of Arabia. Britain's share included the land of Palestine, which had been a southern part of Syria. (The French got the northern part of Syria -- lucky them.) The British mandatory territory of Palestine was established by the League of Nations, and existed from 1920 until 1948, with its capital at Jerusalem.

Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, Jerusalem was meant to be placed under international sovereignty and control. It was granted special status based on its importance to the three Abrahamic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. As so often happens in that awful part of the world, war broke out following the UN's recommendation, and in 1948 Zionist forces took control of the western half of Jerusalem and declared the territory part of its state.

Not quite two decades later there was another war between the Arabs and Israelis, worse for the Arabs than the first. During the Six-Day War, Israel captured the eastern half of Jerusalem, which was under Jordanian control at the time, and effectively annexed it by extending Israeli law, bringing it directly under Israeli jurisdiction. This is what lawyers call de facto jurisdiction, meaning an administration or government that holds power as a matter of fact, not necessarily as a matter of law.

Having thus had de facto control of all of Jerusalem since 1967, the Israeli government, in 1980, Israel passed the "Jerusalem Law", stating that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel", thereby formalising its annexation of East Jerusalem. And that's how the situation stands today, as far as the state of Israel is concerned. Until President Trump's announcement, no other country -- well, none that counts -- acknowledged... or denied... the validity of the Jerusalem Law. Most countries -- the ones that count -- maintain their embassies and other missions in Tel Aviv, the capital ordered by the UN Partition Plan, which still remains Israel's commercial capital.

What the anti-Trumpers aren't admitting is that the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is not an idea that sprang fully formed out of President Trump's mind. Egged on by the powerful Zionist lobby (see above), the 104th Congress passed, on 23 October 1995, the Jerusalem Embassy Act, signed into law by the unimpeachable President William Jefferson Clinton.

The purpose of the Jerusalem Embassy Act was to initiate and fund the relocation of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That was to be done by 31 May 1999, at the latest. The Act also calls for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel. You can look it up!

For reasons which we can only guess, Presidents Clinton, Bush II, and Obama, ignored the wishes of Congress and the law of the land, and refused to implement the Jerusalem Embassy Act. Their excuse was that the Act was a Congressional infringement on the executive branch's constitutional authority over foreign policy. All three of them consistently claimed the presidential waiver on national security interests.

President Trump signed the waiver in June 2017, but apparently changed his mind some time later and decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital -- which it is, as a matter of fact -- and begin the relocation of the US embassy, as required by American law. If any political scientist or constitutional scholar can advance a good argument for doing otherwise, I would like to hear it.

Footnote: Quod scripsi, scripsi. But I still like the illustration Ed. chose for this piece. My preference would be to see Jerusalem declared an international city, the capital of neither Israel nor the proposed separate Palestinian state. I fear that solution is too sensible, too peaceful to be accepted by the extremists, whether Zionist or Islamist. I expect the war of words... and worse... to continue.

Why no-one wants to take in Somali "refugees"

When President Trump issued his latest proclamation, "Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by Terrorists or other Public-Safety Threats" last month, the usual gang of do-gooders, SJWs and bleeding hearts denounced it as "racist", "Islamophobic", yada yada yada, since all but one of the countries named are Muslim majority states. One of those is Somalia, a failed state which has been exporting "refugees", including Islamic terrorists, to Europe and America for decades.

Use the search feature at the right to get a complete list of the many times Walt has written about "Somalis", and you will soon see why people from that wretched shithole of a "nation" should be at the top of the list of prohibited visitors or immigrants. Here are links to some of the more recent posts.

"Had enough Muslim immigrants yet?", WWW 20/9/16
"The Muslim invasion of Canada has begun (but not where you think)", WWW 6/1/17 - Most of the asylum-seekers mentioned in this piece wound up in Toronto, in the "Dixon" neighbourhood, which will be mentioned in a moment.
"Somali tribesmen of MN (!) fall for anti-vaxxers' BS, get sick and die", WWW 8/5/17
"Edmonton Muslim terrorist attack: Walt told ya so!", WWW 2/10/17
"Somali-Canadian Muslim convicted of planning terror attack on NYC", WWW 7/10/17.

Apparently no-one made the connection between the Islamic terrorist wannabe mentioned in the first post on my list, and the one mentioned in the last post. They are both Somali Muslims. So is the guy charged with attempted murder in the Edmonton "incident". He was first described by Canadian "authorities" and the lamestream media as a "refugee". Turns out his refugee claim was actually made in the USA, where he lived for some time until he was ordered deported. One step ahead of ICE, he then fled to the Great No-longer-white North, where he was welcomed by the gullible Canucks. The Mounties probably helped him with his luggage, as they have with the 1000s of illegals who have crossed the border at Emerson MB and Lacolle QC.

Speaking of those who crossed at Emerson -- see second story on the above list -- Torontonians may be dismayed, but will not be surprised to learn that almost all of them took the welfare and resettlement money given to them by the soft-hearted and soft-headed Canadians and made their way to Toronto, where they were welcomed into the ghetto known as "Dixon", in northern Etobicoke. That area is largely inhabited by Somali refugees, countrymen and perhaps kinsmen of Canada's Minister of Immigration and Refugees (sic), Ahmed Hussen.

Walt has e-mailed the Honourable Mr Husssen for comment on a spate of recent shootings in his community. Last week The Economist released a new index ranking Toronto as the safest city in North America. This comes as news to the residents of Dixon, who held a protest meeting last week (attended only by women and children -- the Somali men were elsewhere) to call for government help (= money) to deal with the seemingly relentless violence that cut short the lives of two young Somali "refugees" last this week alone.

Abdulkadir Bihi, 29, of Toronto was fatally shot last Thursday afternoon when police located him in a vehicle in front of an apartment building on Dixon Road. Police have since charged two suspects with first-degree murder in connection to the homicide. Four days later, a 16-year-old boy died of his injuries in hospital following a triple shooting in the parking lot of Kingsview Village School on Dixon Road and Islington Avenue.
The two other victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The deceased was identified as Zakariye Ali of Toronto. All involved -- victims and shooters -- are Somalis.

Now we come to this weekend's bloody atrocity in the place those people came from -- Somalia, first and foremost among the world's failed states. It is hard to argue with the proposition that Somalia is a dangerous place, even for natives. Not only political conflict, but tribal and clan warfare have raged there since early 2009 -- and that's just the current phase of yet another Muslim civil war into which the West got sucked in the name of peace-keeping. Remember Black Hawk Down? That was about the Battle of Mogadishu, way back in 1993, in which American forces took on Somali militia fighters, with predictable results. (I wrote earlier today about the latest phase of the war in Iraq. See the pattern?)

Mogadishu this weekend was the scene of two massive truck bombings. The death toll is now (Monday morning) over 300, with a like number wounded and injured. Somalia's alleged government -- whose writ does not run even in the country's capital city -- is blaming the al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda. The Islamic terror attack was one of the worst in the world in recent years, and the worst in Somalia ever. Al-Shabaab, Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group, often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu. Earlier this year, it vowed to step up attacks after both the Trump administration and Somalia's recently elected president announced new military efforts against the group.

In the wake of the massacre, the one-worlders, bleeding hearts and chattering classes will be calling on President Trump to "temporarily" except Somalia from the list of countries whose nationals aren't allowed to enter the USA. "Be human!", they will clamour, pissing and moaning about those poor people whose lives are in danger, who want to come to America (and maybe onward to Canada, or the other way around) to find peace and security.

At the risk of appearing hard-hearted, Walt would suggest that the only threats to the lives and well-being of most Somalis are threats posed by other Somalis! If you don't believe me, look at Dixon. They bring their political and religious strife with them, as part of their psychological baggage. Better, for us at least, that they stay at home.

Footnote: Oh... Forgot to identify the three Somali "refugees" in the pix above. Check out "Minneapolis: Somali 'refugees' terrorize neighborhood", a story completely ignored by the Star-Tribune since it happened in July of 2016, during the election campaign. Briefly, a group of 20-30 Somali "refugees" terrorized a small neighbourhood filled with million dollar homes, screaming about "jihad" while waving Somali flags, shooting off fireworks and driving their cars onto sidewalks and lawns. They also threatened to kidnap women and rape them because "Sharia law says it's legal."

UK cops arrest two in terrorist bombing, won't name names

Two men have now had their collars felt (North American readers please read: been arrested) by Inspector Knacker for "possible" roles in Friday morning's terrorist bomb attack on a rush-hour subway train at Parsons Green station in west London. 29 passengers were injured, but the amateurish IED failed to explode as planned, and no-one was killed. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the fifth terrorist attack in the UK this year.

On Saturday, police arrested an 18-year-old man in the departure area of the port of Dover, where ferries leave for France. Late Saturday night, a 21-year-old man was arrested in Hounslow in west London and is being held under the Terrorism Act at a south London station, where he is helping police with their enquiries.

Neither man has not been charged or identified. It wouldn't do to provoke Islamophobia, you know. But sooner or later someone will have to be identified as a perpetrator of the jihadist attack, or a conspirator at least. Walt predicts his name will be Mohammed, or some variant thereof. Lifetime pct .977.

Aussies foil Islamic terrorist plot to bring down an airliner

Walt takes off his hat -- the one with the corks dangling from the rim -- to the Australian rozzers (= police) and government for their candour in saying, right off the bat, that they believe "Islamic-inspired terrorism" is behind the plot to bring down an airplane, foiled by the arrest of four men in raids on Sydney homes this weekend.

Aussie Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that security has been increased at Sydney Airport since Thursday because of the plot. "I can report last night that there has been a major joint counterterrorism operation to disrupt a terrorist plot to bring down an airplane," he told reporters. "The operation is continuing."

Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said he didn't yet have a lot of detail on the specifics of the attack, the location and timing. He could say only that "in recent days, law enforcement has been become aware of information that suggested some people in Sydney were planning to commit a terrorist attack using an improvised device." But, when asked if ISIS was behind the plot, Mr Colvin was politically incorrect enough to say, "We believe it's Islamic-inspired terrorism."

AP quoted Greg Barton, a "security expert" with Deakin University in Melbourne, as saying that the first plot to target aircraft in Australia, which is the highest aspiration of many extremists, was a "pretty big threshold moment." He went on to say that the plotters were apparently making a peroxide-based explosive device rather than using nitrate-based chemicals that can be detected by airport security swab tests.

Islamic fanatic Salman Abedi used a peroxide-based explosive, triacetone triperoxide, better known as TATP, to kill 22 concert-goers in Manchester, UK, just over two months ago. According to Prof. Barton, "TATP is called 'Mother of Satan' because it often kills the bomb maker because it's very unstable as it's mixed. But if it's mixed well, it can be very potent and a small amount can be enough to bring an aircraft down if it's done very, very expertly."

The plan most likely was to take the explosive on board in carry-on luggage unless there was a baggage handler involved who could ensure that a stowed bomb exploded near the fuselage where it would be most damaging. This may be the method used to cause the crash of Egyptian Airlines flight MS804 in May of 2016. French investigators called it an accident, but Walt suggests taking their findings cum grano salis. See "MS804: Where there's smoke there's fire", WWW 21/5/16.

Names of the four Mohammeds ["men", shurely! Ed.] arrested (but not yet charged) have yet to be released. Walt presumes they are, at this very moment, "helping police with their investigations". May I suggest that before the coppers put the rubber hoses away, they ask the detainees what they know about MS804, and, while they're at it, MH370. Sooner or later, the pieces of the Islamic jigsaw puzzle must fit together!

"Allahu akbar!" again; German soccer team targeted

Muslims aren't very good at football (= soccer, for North Americans who prefer real football). Their Islamically correct clothes impede mobility, and make it difficult for them to move easily as well. And, because of Angela Merkel's discredited Willkommenskultur policy, Germany is full of anti-Western, anti-soccer, jihadis. So when three (count 'em, 3) bombs exploded beside the bus carrying the Borussia Dortmund soccer team, Walt immediately thought "Ach du lieber! Muslime!" Today comes the confirmation. (Lifetime pct .991.)

German police say the soccer team were on their way to their Champions League quarter-final match against Monaco when three explosive charges, hidden in a hedge, detonated. Not much damage was done. Some of the bus's windows were broken and a couple of tires burst. One player underwent an operation after breaking a bone in his wrist. No other players were hurt, but a police officer on a motorbike escorting the bus was also wounded.

Today, the head of Dortmund police said the attack was targeted. His minions -- zey haf vays of making people talk! -- are investigating a possible Islamic extremist link to the bombing, according to German media. A letter found near the scene cites the Berlin Christmas market attack and denounces German military operations in Syria. Süddeutsche Zeitung said the letter found nearby began with the phrase "In the name of Allah", and mentioned Germany's use of Tornado jets in the coalition forces fighting ISIS. German federal prosecutors, who now have plenty of experience with terror investigations, are taking over the probe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the bombing a "revolting act". Her spokesthingy said, "The Chancellor was, like the people of Dortmund and millions of people everywhere, appalled by the attack on the BVB team bus." He carefully avoided the use of the words "Islamic" or "Muslim" or "terrorist". Another coat of whitewash is expected soon.

"We don't know who did it, or why..."

The words of President Barack Hussein Obama in response to the Boston Marathon bombings, which the White House is calling "an act of terror". But why would "they" do that... to Americans??!! Walt will tell you why.

Let's assume that the bomber is not just one deranged Unabomber wannabe. There were two bombs, suggesting at least two terrorists acting in concert. And let's assume, from the somewhat lame and amateurish quality of the attacks, that they were amateurs, not professionals. Walt believe what we have, then, is an act of domestic terrorism with an international connection.

Putting it another way, if the identities of the bombers are ever learned, they'll likely turn out to be local Muslims acting in sympathy with their co-religionists in the Middle East and Africa. Lifetime pct .980.

Most of the ROTW (Rest Of The World) hates Americans, but none more so than the Muslims of Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Iran [That's enough. Ed.] Why? It's not just envy of America's riches. Other countries -- Norway for instance -- enjoy larger per capita incomes and better standards of living. But you don't see the Islamic extremists targetting Norwegians.

Walt suggests that the main reason why Muslims -- especially the Islamic fundamentalists -- hate Americans is because the government of the USA keeps trying to impose its versions of democracy, justice, "culture" and the other blessings of the American way of life on the Islamic society which rejects those ideals.

Worse, America keeps trying to extend its economic and cultural empire by force of arms. The USA keeps on bullying and attacking smaller and weaker countries -- every country other than Russia and China -- whose politics or social systems it disagrees with: Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Libya [That's enough. Ed.], yet Americans wonder why they are hated. 

Three Americans were killed yesterday, and the Prez promises those responsible will be brought to "justice". But just over a year, an American soldier decided to shoot up an Afghan village, for target practice or just for the hell of it. 16 Afghans, including women and children, were killed. Has he been brought to justice yet?

It seems to the ROTW that Americans regard non-Americans as some lesser form of life. If Americans kill unarmed civilians -- men, women and children -- in large numbers, it really doesn't matter, as long as they're foreigners, like "gooks" (Vietnam) or "towel-heads" (the Middle East).

Just one (particularly egregious) example of American disregard for others. This is taken from the chapter headed "Friend or Foe" in Christopher Dickey's recommendable book Expats: Travels in Arabia from Tripoli to Teheran (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990).

Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian airliner, an A300B2, flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran to Dubai on 3 July 1988. That's a 140-mile, 35-minute milk run. Conditions in the Gulf were such, at the time, that civilian aircraft were restricted to a 20-mile-wide commercial air corridor, within Iranian airspace. Flight 655 was flying right down the middle of that airway, at the correct height and in the approved manner, when it was shot down by a guided missile fired from the US Navy cruiser Vincennes.

All 290 on board including 66 children perished -- the highest death toll of any aviation incident in the Indian Ocean, and the ninth-deadliest disasters in aviation history. The ensuing enquiry determined that the crew of the Vincennes somehow mistook the jumbo jet, which was climbing, for a much smaller F14 Tomcat fighter diving to attack them.

The commander of the Vincennes was exonerated. American investigators -- Iranians had no say in the matter -- recommended that one junior officer receive a "nonpunitive letter of censure", the mildest reprimand in the US military. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US Secretary of Defense rejected that recommendation. Officially, no-one was to blame.

Dickey quotes Iranian Brigadier General Mansour Satary (who was trained in the USA) as saying that he didn't think the Americans actually intended to shoot down an unarmed civilian aircraft. They just didn't care enough to be careful enough not to do it.

It is that attitude -- that nothing matters except the security and prosperity of America -- that rankles the ROTW. It makes the ROTW feel threatened and insecure. In Walt's opinion, the goal of the terrorists is to make Americans feel equally threatened and insecure. As well they might.

Canadian takes personal responsibility for bombing Libyans

In one of those "oops moments" that seems to characterize the West's forays into Arabia, NATO admitted that its warplanes [Any particular country's? Ed.] bombed a residential neighbourhood in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Sunday. Nine civilians, including two children, were killed.

The incident gave supporters of Colonel Moammar "Mo" Gadhafi's régime a new rallying point against the international intervention in Libya's civil war. The Libyan foreign minister called for a "global jihad" on the West in response to the killings.

Of course NATO says it was an unfortunate accident. One of its pilots missed his target. One of its bombs "went astray". Very regrettable. So sad. But will they stop the bombing runs? Errr... no.

Now here's the Canadian angle. The deputy commander of NATO’s "prestigious but hardly over-worked regional command in Naples" is none other than Canadian General Charles "Call me Charlie" Bouchard. [Not kidding about "Call me Charlie". See the article referred to below. Ed.]

According to a Globe and Mail puff piece, which unfortunately appeared just a couple of days earlier, "Charlie" "personally signs off on every last preselected target. [My emphasis. Walt]

"It’s not just attention to detail, it’s a visceral sense of personal accountability. [My emphasis...again. Walt]

"General Bouchard...is careful, deliberate and worries deeply about how to apply the big hammer of air power in the small circumstances of a brutal dictator clinging to power by indiscriminately killing and terrorizing his own citizens.

"'I must meet rules, the mandate, the political guidance,' but, he adds, and grows quietly pensive, 'I look at every target … at the end of the day it’s a judgment call … and I’m accountable, I’m accountable to Canada, I’m accountable to NATO, and more importantly I’m accountable to myself,' he says.

"Make the wrong call and the wrong people, or maybe too many people, die. And, Gen. Bouchard adds: 'I want those who know me best to be able to look at me and say, "you did the right thing".'"

Charlie has yet to comment on Sunday's little incident.