Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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US: It's time for UN's Richard Falk to go

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Wednesday said that it was "past time" for the U.N.'s Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the Palestinians to be relieved of his position.
On her twitter account, Rice said, "Outraged by Richard Falk's highly offensive Boston comments. Someone who spews such vitriol has no place at the U.N. Past time for him to go."

Flap over Kerry flotilla remarks

I asked the State Department if Kerry wished to clarify and/or if he was making a moral comparison between flotilla participants and innocent Boston victims. A State Department official authorized only to speak on background retreated but stopped short of apologizing for his boss’s gaffe: “In light of the recent events in his hometown of Boston, Secretary Kerry was expressing his own personal connection to the impact of tragedy on a community and was not comparing the two events — only the pain caused by violence. He has long said that both Prime Minister Erdogan and Prime Minister Netanyahu deserve a great deal of credit and he welcomes the restoration of positive relations.”

Douglas Murray: America, like Europe, is dishonest about Islamic extremism

I think of this as ‘Toulouse syndrome.’ Much of the reaction to Boston is very reminiscent of what we saw last year after the shooting of seven people in France. From the first attacks on French soldiers until after the third shootings at a Jewish school, both national and international news focussed on the possibility that the lone gunman had been a far-right extremist. This led to claims that various right wing politicians – including then President Sarkozy – bore at least some degree of responsibility for the attacks. Alleged trails of culpability were sniffed out and fingers pointed.
However, once the gunman turned out to be a radical Muslim called Mohammed Merah, the speculation ceased. Nothing much to see here. Please move along.

IsraellyCool: Lauren Booth Endorses Boston Bombing Trooferism

On her Facebook page, antisemitic convert to Islam Lauren Booth endorses a blog post claiming the Boston bombing was staged.

Norway: Muslims praise Boston jihadis

"The Islamic group Prophet's Ummah has repeatedly and publicly praised terrorist acts carried out abroad. Also the terrorist attack in Boston on Monday is hailed by the leader of the extreme Norwegian group. On his facebook page Ubaydullah Hussain writes, 'To hell with Boston and the U.S., and may Allah destroy America.'
The leader of Prophet's Ummah has also posted pictures of the terrorists on their profile and calls the brothers a pair of 'real lions.'"

Barry Rubin: When Terrorists Fall Out You Know Jihad is Doomed

One of the reasons why the Middle East situation is less fearsome than it might seem is that the radicals and terrorists are not united at all but battle among themselves for tactical, doctrinal, ethnic, and ambition-related reasons.
Despite their daily, bloodthirsty howls for Israel’s destruction, for example, three groups are at odds:

The Indy’s Alistair Dawber whitewashes terrorist crimes of Samer Issawi

Issawi didn’t play merely a ‘supporting role’ in terror attacks, but, rather, was directly responsible for firing an automatic weapon at innocent Israeli civilians with the hope of murdering as many of them as possible – and was responsible for ordering additional lethal attacks on other Israelis.

Hamas’ Drug Lords
Hamas has brought misery, pain and destruction to Gaza, so Hamas’s alleged involvement in narcotics trafficking should not come as a shock to anyone.

A Palestinian news website, Yabous Press reported that the drug trade in Gaza was controlled by Hamas’s Police Counter-Drug Unit, which is supposed to fight drugs. Yabous Press reported Hamas police would arrest drug dealers who don’t work for them, confiscating their drug supplies, and then selling it in the market for themselves.

US Treasury takes action against Hezbollah funders

Lebanese exchange houses accused of scheme involving money from used car dealerships, drug trade going to terror group.

Iranian Minister: Sanctions Are 'Causing a Lot of Trouble'

Iran's Finance Minister says international pushed inflation above 30%, but stresses that nuclear program will continue.

Al-Qaeda Toddlers Filmed Firing Guns At Weapons Training Camp (VIDEO)

A video making the rounds on the internet shows children as young as five shooting weapons at an Al-Qaeda training camp.
The boys stand, sit and lie in rows while taking target practice. The weapons of choice appear to be AK-47s, pistols and, ironically, Israeli-made Negev machine guns.