Dean's World

Four years ago I founded the Campaign for Democracy and Human Rights in Iraq.

Not long after that, I helped found the charity known as Operation Give.

I have no regrets over any of that, except for the fact that a lot of that work led to a nervous and physical collapse into alcohol and exhaustion that it took me some time to recover from.

My stepdad, and more than one friend, served over there. I'm proud of them too, and humbled by their sacrifice. More than I can say.

On this day of final justice being delivered to the Butcher of Baghdad, I am reminded of this Flash video, which I posted more than once on Dean's World. I first posted it on February 17, 2003. Much to my dismay, the old Dean's World archives are still completely broken, but here was my original posting.

Since those old archives are frustratingly broken, I present it here again:

In the intervening years my attitude has not changed in any way I can think of, except that I'm much more jaded about the American political system. But I have not one drop of remorse over my support of the effort to finally, after more than a decade of keeping the Iraqi people in agony, to excise the cancer on the world that was Saddam Hussein.

Was the sacrifice worth it? I have no doubt at all about the answer. I'm just bitter over the fact that some American politicians have conveniently forgotten why they also supported that action.

The video, by the way, was created by the Dissident Frogman.

Meryl Yourish notes, quite correctly, that I did not repudiate some obscure remarks by Dean's World commenters that have appeared here from time to time over the years. Which is quite true. But she then suggests that I was "ignoring" such things. Hahahaha. Riiiiight. [Eyes roll]. Leave it to Meryl Yourish to try to worm out of her shameful Kahanist apologism with a lame tu quoque response.

Truth: I didn't even remember those obscure remarks by my commenters, but if if a civil, decent person were to have asked I would have said, "I assume those commenters didn't know any better. I certainly didn't at the time. Now that I do know better, however, it's a different story."

For reference, here once again is the terrorist whom Meryl Yourish and others proudly allow to speak for the people of Israel:

I considered linking this video on Dean's World with a minor hat-tip, on the order of "Hey, this is pretty cool" when I first spotted it. But a friend asked if I knew all I should about the terrorist Kahane.

"Terrorist? No way!" Then I researched, and I realized: "Oh sh*t. Yes he was." In fact, he was convicted more than once of terrorist activities by the United States government. When he learned that he was almost certainly going to be indicted again for his ongoing terrorist activities, he finally fled to Israel--where he continued his terrorist activities with pride.

I initially posted a very mild, non-confrontational article about it. Here it is in its entirety. Please read what I wrote carefully and tell me where there was a single ad hominem attack on anyone besides the terrorist thug Meir Kahane and his violent movement.

Later in the day, I sent an even more polite, and utterly non-confrontational, email to Meryl Yourish about it, since it had appeared on her site. I'll happily re-post that email in public by the way. The whole exchange, every word of it. There was nothing in the least bit nasty about it.

The whole exchange from my perspective was, in essence: "Are you sure you want to be associating yourself with this guy? He was not a good guy."

Although I did not say so at the time, I don't think it right that anyone should let an avowed theocrat, an avowed terrorist, and a thug speak for the people of Israel, with little more than a weak "I don't agree with everything BUT..." description of the man.

Let us review:

Kahanists approve of stabbing homosexuals for being homosexuals and still hate homosexuals. And applaud the death of innocents as "holy".

Respected pro-Israel Jewish scholars recognize Kahanism as quasi-fascist and violent criminal terrorist.

Kahane wanted to make it a crime punishable by law for a non-Jewish man to have sex with a Jewish woman

The Anti-Defamation League calls Kahanism terrorism.

So does the US State Department.

So does the Israeli government, especially after the Kahanist murder of Yitzhak Rabin.

The Council on Foreign Relations calls Kahanism terrorism.

The Center for Defense Information calls Kahanism terrorism.

Even David Horowitz's Front Page Magazine declares Kahanism terrorism.

Note, please, that aside from the US State Department, the Center for Defense Intelligence, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Washington Times, I have not named a single source that is not a Jewish source.

Ehud Sprinzak's expose of Kahanism remains the single best source I have found so far on Kahane and his thug followers. These people terrorized not just Arabs or Muslims but also Americans. Christians and even Jews.

For the record: I hereby officially declare that I utterly repudiate Kahanism. I don't believe that any prior positive comments about Kahane that appeared from Dean's World commenters were made with full understanding of his record, and they certainly were not made with my full understanding. But now that I am fully aware (and the rest of us are too), I utterly repudiate them. Are you pro-terrorist or anti-terrorist? If you're pro-terrorist then I want nothing to do with you.

Will Meryl Yourish make make such an unequivocal statement? Just curious.

I get a lot of people who tell me I should let this go. They even tell me that I should stop because I'm being "emotional." You know what? I am emotional: I f*cking hate terrorists. I don't want to reason with them or try to rationalize their behavior. I want the military and law enforcement authorities of free democracies to hunt them down and kill them, or lock them in a dungeon and throw away the key.

Just so you know where I stand.

I still have two questions I am waiting to have answered by Meryl Yourish and her apologists:

1) Do you unequivocally condemn terrorism or do you not?

2) Do you think it's okay for a Jew to murder Christians, Muslims, and even Jews--Americans as well as Arabs--if it's done in the name of Israel?

I await unequivocal answers to these questions which do not involve attacks upon my person, my sex, my motives, my friends, my faith, or my family. Just answer the questions.

I for one have no more olive branches to offer to terrorist apologists. I just want to know who the enemies of terrorism are.