Fausta's blog

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The Crusades, the two Jacques, Operation Swarmer, and today's articles from Maria

Via LGF, another sign of change at the Vatican: Vatican change of heart over 'barbaric' Crusades

Pope Benedict reached out to Muslims and Jews after his election and called for dialogue. However, the Pope, who is due to visit Turkey in November, has in the past suggested that Turkey’s Muslim culture is at variance with Europe’s Christian roots.

At the conference, held at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University, Roberto De Mattei, an Italian historian, recalled that the Crusades were “a response to the Muslim invasion of Christian lands and the Muslim devastation of the Holy Places”.

“The debate has been reopened,” La Stampa said. Professor De Mattei noted that the desecration of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem by Muslim forces in 1009 had helped to provoke the First Crusade at the end of the 11th century, called by Pope Urban II.

He said that the Crusaders were “martyrs” who had “sacrificed their lives for the faith”. He was backed by Jonathan Riley-Smith, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge University, who said that those who sought forgiveness for the Crusades “do not know their history”.

If you haven't read it yet, read Robert Spencer's book:

The two Jacques

Jacques Tati:
tall,
funny.

Jacques, tatty:
tall,
not funny.

Today's articles from Maria
Spinning Operation Swarmer: Air assault no "stunt"

Much more than a photo-op, Swarmer was launched as a correct "package" combining U.S. Army airborne, infantry, and cavalry assets along with Iraqi infantry and commandos against a predetermined series of targets. The assault was based on sound intelligence gathered over the past few weeks, and thoroughly developed in the days prior to the first helicopter lifting off the pad.

Swarmer has thus far resulted in the seizing of numerous weapons caches – netting hundreds of mortar-rounds, rocket-propelled grenades, 130-mm artillery rounds, hand-grenades, machineguns, assault rifles, and nearly 2,000 rounds of armor-piercing rifle ammunition – as well as recovering terrorist training manuals and videos, stolen Iraqi military uniforms, and various triggers and devices used to detonate explosives.

Also, a substantial number of insurgents (at least one, as of this writing, is said to be a "ringleader" in the recent bombing of the Golden Dome shrine in Samarra) continue to be captured, and some will no doubt yield solid intelligence for future operations.

Yes, Swarmer is proving-out to be both a bloodless military operation – netting weapons, bad guys, and fresh intelligence – and a successful show of force aimed at energizing Iraqi soldiers and demoralizing insurgents: a tactic often employed by smart, successful armies. A triumph in any military commander’s book: Hardly "under-whelming" or a "media stunt."