This is an interesting story that might get buried in everything else that is happening in Washington this week.

It looks like Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has invited Geert Wilders, the Dutch film maker and politician, to present the film Fitna to the United States Senate later this week.

For those of you unaware with this film, it has stirred up international controversy, as it explores Qur’anic motivations for terrorism in the Netherlands and beyond.

If you have yet to see Fitna, here is some of it:

It should be expected that this will draw some protest in Washington and beyond.

Update: Glad to see this story has recieved a good deal of attention!

With the news that President-elect Barack Obama has named Leon Panetta to serve as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), many in Washington have found themselves confused, wondering why Obama would pick such a person for this position.

First, here is a quick rundown of the political experience that Leon Panetta has:

• In 1971, Leon Panetta switched parties, officially becoming a Democrat
• In 1976, Leon Panetta was elected to the United States House of Representatives, representing California’s 16th congressional district
• In 1994, Leon Panetta was appointed as the White House Chief of Staff by former President Bill Clinton.

Based on political positions alone, it’s quite obvious that he doesn’t have the credentials to serve in such a capacity. Even looking back at his committee assignments, the only one he held any leadership on was the House Committee on the Budget. Again, by no means a post that qualifies someone to lead the one of the worlds foremost advanced intelligence gathering agencies.

However, some may find rationale for this appointment by citing his military qualifications. While Leon Panetta did receive the Commendation Medal, his tenure in the United States Military only lasted from 1964 to 1966.

Even looking at his more recent accomplishments, it’s quite evident that he has done very little in the intelligence field. Here is a profile from his organization’s website regarding his activities since he left public life:

Panetta is currently co-directs with his wife Sylvia the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay – a university he helped establish on the site of the former U.S. Army base, Fort Ord. The Institute serves as a nonpartisan, not-for-profit study center for the advancement public policy, seeking in particular to attract thoughtful men and women to lives of public service.

In addition, Mr. Panetta serves as Distinguished Scholar to the Chancellor of the California State University system. He advises the Chancellor on national issues affecting higher education and teaches a Master’s course in Public Policy at the Panetta Institute.

In 1997, he was also appointed Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University, teaching a course called Studies in Public Policy

Mr. Panetta has served as a leader in numerous community and national public policy organizations throughout his career. In March 2006, he was chosen to serve on the Iraq Study Group, a bi-partisan committee established at the urging of Congress and organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and the James A. Baker III Institute. Since 2005, he has served as member of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future. In November 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed him co-chair of the Council on Base Support and Retention.

While I understand why President-elect Barack Obama tapped Retired Admiral Dennis Blair to serve as the Director of National Intelligence, I can’t find anything in Leon Panetta’s past that makes him even remotely qualified for this position.

I’m going to keep looking for things that might qualify him for this position, but it appears that this might be nothing more than an attempt by Barack Obama to satisfy his supporters on the far-Left, while still being able to maintain more moderate foreign policies.

On Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran has increased its capacity to enrich uranium dramatically. Without a doubt, this will bring them one step closer to having the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

From the Islamic Republic News Agency:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Iran’s nuclear program belongs to all humanity.

Speaking in the special ceremony marking Iran’s National Nuclear Day, he said the country’s nuclear program is regarded as the most significant event in the contemporary era.

Iran has successfully tested new cheaper nuclear devices in smaller dimensions that are five fold faster than the present models, he said.

The news on installations of several thousands of centrifuges is minor than the technological breakthrough Iran has made, said the president.

“We have attained remarkable achievements and success in production of magnetic alloy with new devices,” he said.

“Our new technological achievements will make a breakthrough in the country’s industrial sector in the near future,” said the president.

All are well aware of the fact that Iran’s nuclear program has turned to the most significant event in the contemporary era which goes beyond geographical borders to which the world calculations have tied up, he said.

Big powers believe that they have monopolized the nuclear energy and they can trample upon the rights of other nations, he said.

Iranian nation did not pay attention to their hue and cry and overcame all sanctions and with reliance upon almighty God and the youth fully mastered the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, said the president.

Iran’s nuclear technology is totally indigenous and no one can deprive us from such blessing because it is in the mind and heart of our scientists, he said.

The global arrogance have resorted to hue and cry to force us to give up our legitimate rights, underlined president Ahmadinejad.

After the world war II, the triumphant countries draw up a new relations to govern and dominate the whole world in order to plunder the wealth and natural resources of the world nations, said the Iranian president.

He said the reason why they create obstacles on our path of success and developments.

“The enemies for many times threaten to take military action against Iran to urge us suspend our nuclear program but to no avail”, said the president.

At a later event, Ahmadinejad also stated:

“In addition to installation of 6,000 new centrifuges, there are also reports about other new achievements which would be announced tonight at TV news program,” Ahmadinejad said.

With these advancements, I don’t think that there is anyone that can argue Iran’s threat to the West, but more importantly one of our closest allies, Israel.

A few days ago I made a post about a Hamas video and discussed how many people think American politics is ugly, when in reality compared to many parts of the world, our politics is quite civil.

A great deal of my political interests (in the foreign realm) lay in the politics of the Middle East, so I’ll probably tend to keep most of my international political discussions on those topics, however if you have something you’d like to submit, I’d be more than willing to post it.

Today’s video comes from Lebanon. This is by no means a new video, but it is extremely powerful in showing how a little propaganda can make such a destructive organization like Hezbollah seem like it is only protecting the best interest of the Lebanese people.

There are some things that have to be pointed out about this video.

First, this video was featured on Al-Manar (translation: The Beacon), which is one of the Hezbollah propaganda networks (the other being Al-Nour, which is their radio arm).

This is important to note, because this isn’t just an internet video. Following the 34-day fight with Israel, this video was an extremely important tool for boosting Hezbollah’s credibility, making them appear to be the party that will stand up for the Lebanese people and take on the Israelis.

Second, take note of the Katyusha rockets displayed throughout their video. It’s quite interesting how they can take such a primitive piece of Iranian weaponry and make it appear to be the tool that under Hezbollah leadership, can protect them from anything.

There are a lot of messages within this video that could be elaborated on further, including the music, the location in Lebanon and even the people in the video. However, if people want to give their takes on those items, I’ll leave that to the message board.

However, the one thing I want anyone who watched this video to take away is an understanding of how terrorist organizations like Hezbollah are using these sugar-coated propaganda videos to promote their cause and gain credibility amongst their people.

Whenever I watch videos like these (I have watched well over 300 different propaganda videos from the Middle East alone) I cant help but reflect on how thankful I am that we have media that will challenge other media sources, without having to worry about getting killed.

But more importantly, this video should serve as a reminder of how dangerous Iran (who funds Hezbollah) already is. Just imagine how powerful Hezbollah will be, should Iran fully develop a nuclear weapon. Not only would our key ally in the region (Israel) be in danger, but I have no doubt that our ties with the more friendly Arab nations would be put in serious jeopardy.

I welcome your thoughts on this.

Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said that his terrorist army’s targeting of Israeli civilian centers has made it possible for the Jewish state to be “eliminated,” The New York Sun reported. “Can Israel be eliminated?” Nasrallah asked Hizballah supporters during a rally in Beirut. “Yes and a thousand yeses, Israel can be eliminated.” During the summer of 2006, Hizballah fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israeli civilians in fighting ended by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for the terrorist army’s disarmament. The Security Council has since expressed “grave concern” over reports of continued arms smuggling to Hizballah. Click here to learn more about Hizballah’s threatening behavior (source: AIPAC)