Go to Michelle Malkin's remembrance post. Scroll down and click on the "Kevin Cosgrove" youtube video and audio of his 911 call from the 105th floor of the north tower. Then prepare to weep.

We should be doing more, not less, to mock radical Islam. Here is a great cartoon from Cox and Forkum. Here's the story that prompted it: Washington Post Won't Run 'Opus' Cartoon Mocking Radical Islam: A popular comic strip that poked fun at the Rev. Jerry Falwell without incident one week ago was deemed too controversial to run over the weekend because this time it took a humorous swipe at Muslim fundamentalists. The Washington Post and several other newspapers around the country did not run Sunday's installment of Berkeley Breathed's "Opus," in which the spiritual fad-seeking character Lola Granola appears in a headscarf and explains to her boyfriend, Steve, ...

James Taranto, editor of Opinionjournal.com's "Best of the Web," has a great piece on the tortured logic of the left in trying to explain why Germany (who has stayed out of Iraq) was targeted in a terror attack this week: Yesterday we noted an Associated Press story on the arrest of three alleged terror plotters in Germany, which contained the following statement: Germany, which did not send troops to Iraq, has been spared terrorist attacks such as the mass transit bombings in Madrid and London--although its involvement in the attempt to stabilize Afghanistan has led to fears it might be targeted. Several readers wrote to remind us that if Germany has been "spared," it is only because those who tried to attack a ...

. . . his beard, that is.  I want this mole to stick his head up as often as possible. The more he does, the better our chances to whack-a-mole. Groups: Bin Laden Plans Video on 9/11 by Lee Keath CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Osama bin Laden will release a new video in the coming days ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in what would be the first new images of the terror mastermind in nearly three years, al-Qaida's media arm announced Thursday. Analysts noted that al-Qaida tends to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary with a slew of messages, and the Department of Homeland Security said it had no credible information warning of an imminent threat to the United ...

A "profound hatred of U.S. citizens" is what motivated three men in Germany to stockpile enough chemicals to make bombs more powerful than those that killed 191 commuters in Madrid in 2004 and 52 in London in 2005. In Denmark, 8 men with links to leading al-Qaida figures were arrested in another terror plot. Once more with feeling, John Edwards, "There is no global war on terror!"

Fred Kagan has written a thoroughgoing analysis of al Qaeda for the current issue of The Weekly Standard. He reviews their history, tactics, and ideology. One of the places that their recent history and ideology overlap is al Qaeda's great frustration with the growing secularism of Muslim states: When men make laws and judge each other according to secular criteria, they are usurping God's prerogatives. All who obey such leaders, according to Qutb, are treating their leaders as gods and therefore are guilty of the worst sin--polytheism. Thus they are--and this is the key point--not true Muslims, but unbelievers, regardless of whether they otherwise obey Muslim law and practice. This is the defining characteristic of al Qaeda's ideology, which is properly called ...

. . . South Korea just guaranteed that Western nations will have more of their citizens kidnapped by the Taliban.  (H/T Little Green Footballs): The seven remaining South Korean hostages taken captive last July by the Taliban have been released, and insurgents have vowed they will abduct more foreigners. "We will do the same thing with the other allies in Afghanistan, because we found this way to be successful," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press by phone on Thursday. Great. There are two possible solutions: either Western nations stop sending relief workers to help the people of Afghanistan OR the greatest military in the world takes care of the Taliban. I know which way I'm voting. ...

To show what a threat the gospel is to radical Islam, the Korean hostages are set to be released on one known condition: that Korea send no more Christians to Afghanistan. CNN reports: "Under the terms of the agreement, South Korea agreed to stick by its previous decision to withdraw its 200 non-combat troops from Afghanistan, which work mostly in an engineering and medical capacity. In addition, Seoul will halt all Christian missionary work in Afghanistan." Now we know what the jihadists really fear.

The best website on the planet has a couple of great pieces up today. First, a thoughtful piece by Victor Davis Hanson on "The Burdens of General Petraeus". And then Cliff May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, points out that it is getting harder for liberals to deny that we are "Surging" in Iraq. A highlight: I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything.” That was the judgment of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in April — two months before the reinforcements General Petraeus needed to fully implement his new “surge” strategy had arrived in Iraq. In mid-June, just as troop strength ...

Military historian Ralph Peters says that the latest spectacular attacks (4 suicide bombers killing 250 innocent Iraqis) is Al Qaeda's way of "Killing for Congress" (H/T The Corner): August 16, 2007 -- TWO days ago, al Qaeda detonated four massive truck bombs in three Iraqi vil lages, killing at least 250 civilians (perhaps as many as 500) and wounding many more. The bombings were a sign of al Qaeda's frustration, desperation and fear. The victims were ethnic Kurd Yazidis, members of a minor sect with pre-Islamic roots. Muslim extremists condemn them (wrongly) as devil worshippers. The Yazidis live on the fringes of society. That's one of the two reasons al Qaeda targeted those settlements: The terrorist leaders realize now that the carnage they wrought on fellow Muslims backfired, turning once-sympathetic Sunni Arabs against them. The fanatics calculated that Iraqis wouldn't care much about the Yazidis. As far as the Thieves of Baghdad (also known as Iraq's government) go, the terrorists were right. Iraqi minorities, including Christians, have been classified as fair game by Muslim butchers. Mainstream Iraqis simply look away. But the second reason for those dramatic bombings was that al Qaeda needs to portray Iraq as a continuing failure of U.S. policy. Those dead and maimed Yazidis were just props: The intended audience was Congress. Al Qaeda has been badly battered. It's lost top leaders and thousands of cadres.