Pakistan and Afghanistan Thursday declared Al Qaeda and the Taliban "dark forces" and a "joint threat" to the two countries and said they should work together to defeat them, but differed on how to tackle the problem, as the four-day Afghan-Pak Peace Jirga kicked off in the Afghan capital without President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
"Terrorism, militancy, the violent creed preached by Al-Qaeda, extremism and Talibanisation represent pain, intolerance and backwardness in our societies and a phenomenon that has maligned our great and noble faith, Islam. We must fight these dark forces and must do it jointly," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, attired in shalwar-kameez, told the jirga delegates from the two countries, Kabul-based diplomats and civil society members.
He said it was important to take military action against these militants, but added that military action alone was insufficient and political and developmental measures were also necessary to win the war. A banner inside the big white tent hosting the jirga read: "Terrorism common threat to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The remedy is simple ? a common strategy." Scanning machines, sniffing dogs and guards were deployed inside and outside the tent for security.
Aziz said doubt and misgivings would only compound the two countries' problems. "We must move together to achieve successes," he said, and declared categorically: "(Pakistan has) no interest in controlling Afghanistan."
The prime minister said his country could not escape the consequences "if we supported these forces (Al Qaeda and Taliban)". He insisted that most Taliban were from Afghanistan but conceded that some were receiving support from sympathisers in Pakistan's tribal areas. But he added: "The Taliban in our areas are getting support from the other side of the border." Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the two countries could take out the threat of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in a single day if they worked together. "If we want to eliminate this threat we can do it tomorrow," he said.
Aziz said that he did note share Karzai's assertion that the problem could be solved in a day. "It needs efforts and we cannot fix the problem in a single day," he told Daily Times moments before his return to Islamabad. Karzai appeared to differ with Aziz's assertion that most Taliban fighters were Afghans. "Whatever is happening here (in Afghanistan) is not done by the Afghans. They are non-Afghans," he said.
The Afghan leader said he had often asked Pakistan: "Why from your soil and administration is this evil coming to us?" Islamabad had denied involvement, he said, and now it was the task of the jirga to answer these questions.
"Who are they who bother Pakistan and Afghanistan?" he asked. "Who is training them? By whose money are they being trained? We ought to know who these terrorists are and we have to flush them out from the two countries," he said in Pushto. Earlier, Afghanistan nominated a non-Pushtoon ? former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah - as its chairman to the jirga. Pakistan elected Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao Khan as its chairman.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What no Darth Vader picture?
This reminds me - both Pakistan and Afghanistan are talking like they say in Texas, "All hat - no horse". Until they allow US to use all available military means to wipe out the 'dark side' whether in Afghanistan or Pakistan, this means zilch.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/10/2007 6:20 Comments ||
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#2
We save the Darth Vader pic for our John Bolton stories. AoS.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/10/2007 12:51 Comments ||
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Insurgents under the Taliban flag are expanding influence across Afghanistan setting up training camps and establishing "shadow governments" at district and provincial level, Afghan members of Parliament said in debate on law and order situation.
Killing of innocent Afghans in NATO and US airstrikes during operations was seen as main reason for the Taliban to attract ordinary people to their rank, front-page lead story "Taliban threat growing" in independent Kabul Weekly reported in its latest edition. "The security situation in Uruzgan (province) is not under control," MP Muhammad Hashim Watanwal told the Parliament, according to the weekly.
Growing Taliban threat report comes when meeting 700-member Afghan-Pak Peace Jirga was inaugurated without President Gen Pervez Musharraf. Hashim told the Afghan Parliament: "(The) Taliban training camps have been established in the districts of Char Chino, Gayzab and Chora."
"The Taliban recruit young people, and every time civilians are killed in (NATO and Coalition) air strikes, it represents additional incentive to encourage them (civilians) to join the Taliban." Media reports say more than 600 civilians were killed this year in NATO and US airstrikes and Afghan President Hamid Karzai fumed at the UN-sanctioned foreign forces' continued collateral damage.
The Kabul Weekly report quoted local leaders in western Badghis province as saying that the Taliban "form a shadow government there. They collect taxes and extort money from people in the province." Afghan MPs also blasted the security officials for "not doing enough" to prevent insurgents-led activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
How many innocent civilians are actually being killed? Besides those either willingly or unwillingly being used as human shields by the Taliban? I suspect not very many. But the Taliban and their allies claim it's a lot, and that it's all NATO's fault, and work the propaganda angles very effectively.
#2
If I was young and stoopid, I'd surely not want to hide from Bush Bombs in my hut. I'd want to get out in the open, where I could shoot back at the A-10's.
WOuldn't you?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/10/2007 7:27 Comments ||
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#6
I'm beginning to believe it's time for Karzai to "step on a land mine left over from previous wars". Most of the people in Afghanistan just want to live in peace, just as most people in Vietnam just wanted to live in peace. In both areas, the United States failed to ensure the government we backed actually worked toward that end. In both cases, the people we were fighting hid out across a border we refused to cross, for whatever stupid reason. It's time to end the similarities. Crush Pakistan, give the Pashtos a taste of just how nasty the US can be to our enemies, and watch the situation in both Afghanistan and India greatly improve. "War is foreign policy by another means" needs to be revised to "War is crushing your enemies so you can rebuild them as friends". The halfway measures we're using just aren't getting the job done.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2007 14:56 Comments ||
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#7
OP 2008!
Posted by: BA ||
08/10/2007 21:32 Comments ||
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The Ministry of Defence has introduced new guidelines to prevent military personnel talking about their experiences as members of the Armed Forces.
Soldiers, sailors and air force members will be prevented from blogging, taking part in surveys, speaking in public or posting on bulletin boards, according to The Guardian.
They will also be barred from playing multi-player computer games and sending text messages, photographs and audio or video material without permission if they relate to defence matters.
The guidelines say "all such communication must help to maintain and, where possible, enhance the reputation of defence", the paper reported.
They come after the row earlier this year about two members of the Royal Navy selling their stories to the media after being held captive in Iran.
Receiving money for interviews, conferences and books which draw on official defence experience has now been banned.
The rules apparently also apply to Territorial Army members and cadets when they are on duty, as well as to civil servants working for the MoD.
Simon McDowell, the MoD's director general of media communications, told the Guardian: "We are trying to give straightforward, clear guidance that is up to date.
"The existing regulations were confusing and didn't include things like accepting payment. It applies to communicating about defence matters, not personal things. Particular things can impact on operational security; information which somebody can get a hold of."
But they have provoked condemnation from service personnel, some of whom immediately turned to online forums to talk about their incredulity and confusion about the clampdown.
One, named ViroBono, quoted the title of the MoD's update on "rules on communicating with the public and the media" before writing: "Surely 'NOT communicating', since this is the clear intent.
"Clearly they have realised that the veracity of everything Ministers say, and MoD's own media people put out, is doubted, and have decided that rather than cleaning up their own act, they'll try to shift the responsibility."
A spokeswoman for the MoD said that the rules were not new, but had just been updated to include details about receiving payment from the media and about the internet.
She said: "These are not new rules. These or similar have been around for at least a decade. They have been updated to reflect the findings of the Hall report (payment and authorisation of media contacts) and changes in communications technology (eg: the growth of the web).
"Most public and private organisations of any size - in the UK and elsewhere - have rules on the authorisation processes to be followed before people speak publicly or to the media.
"They are not unique to MoD. We want our people to speak about what they do, but they must be properly authorised." I suspect the new PM wants to prevent soldiers from criticizing either an abrupt pullout of Iraq, or how little material support they have received in Iraq and Afghanistan. For example being endangered and humiliated having to rely on US air support since they had none of their own.
Filip Dewinter (of far-right Vlaams Belang) says he will ignore the ban imposed by Brussels mayor Freddy Thielemans on a demonstration planned in Brussels for 11 September protesting the "growing Islamisation" of Europe.
Dewinter even calls Thielemans the "grand mufti of Brussels, who dances to the pipes of the radical Muslims."
The organisation "Stop the Islamisation of Europe" (SIOE) had planned a protest in Brussels on 11 September to demonstrate against the rise of Islam in Europe. Dewinter had called on the public on Thursday to attend the event. But mayor Freddy Thielemans has since announced that he will ban the protest. Thielemans fears the event could lead to incidents between the protestors and the local ethnic population.
Despite the ban, Dewinter refuses to withdraw his urging that people attend the event. Dewinter also lashed out at Thielemans. "The fact that Thielemans was elected mayor by Islamic votes no doubt has everything to do with the ban," Dewinter said.
The Vlaams Belang leader said that the ban shows that "the Islamisation of Europe is fully underway and that the Europeans are no longer boss of their own territory in Brussels either."
#4
Her explanation of the meaning of the tee-shirt seems to be that it was a feminist message. The group of feminists promoting Arab culture ought to be a pretty exclusive club. Maybe the nurse can make sure they all take their meds together.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/10/2007 23:59 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush said on Thursday that shutting down the US war on terror prison camp at Guantanamo Bay was not easy, but US officials were working to make it happen. He said the task of closing the camp was complicated because inmates home nations did not necessarily want them back, and noted delays in setting up trials for those who were incarcerated.
Not want them back? But they're innocent, solid citizens, Dick Durbin sez so!
I did say it should be a goal of the nation to shut down Guantanamo. I also made it clear that part of the delay was the reluctance of some nations to take back some of the people being held there, Bush told reporters. This is a fairly steep order. A lot of people dont want killers in their midst, and a lot of these people are killers.
The president, in a White House news conference before heading to his summer vacation, said the sooner that tribunals could start for inmates of the camp the better it is. Its not as easy a subject as some may think on the surface.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
OK as far as it goes, except not really. Every mention of the detentions at Gitmo, since the beginning, should have elicited a vigorous, comprehensive mini-lecture on the inadequacy of the Geneva Conventions to deal with the current situation, the general legitimacy and quality of the operation, and some swipes at the preposterous attempts to extend US constitutional rights to the worst outlaws the planet has ever seen.
This should have been accompanied by a very hard press on the ICRC, especially after it jumped the rails early on with irresponsible public comments (violation of one of their core principles) and their arrogant and silly bluster about current law being adequate for the situation. Don't care if the outrageous ICRC misbehavior WRT Gitmo and Iraqi detention reports was isolated - the organization should have been punished and pressured, in public, so that they would either become very very careful about criticizing the world's best behaved important country, or perhaps even come to their senses and push to update the Conventions.
#2
There will always be a large vociferous deranged anti-Ameican crowd in Europe, ME and SE Asia that will say anything and believe anything negative about us. We need to ignore them and continue to do what we do best which is to protect and project our national interests. We shut down Gitmo when we are damn ready to do so not when the press, euros, HRC, Amnesty Int. ICRC and others tell us to. I'd like to see us keep it open even if empty as a sign that we continue to mean business.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/10/2007 6:24 Comments ||
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#3
if dogs work then in Gitmo's shark infested waters...
A Pakistan-born British man and his two sons have done what a lot of people have long been demanding: They are Muslims declaring that those who use terror in the name of Islam are wrong.
Waseem Mahmood and his two sons, Khurrum and Khaiyyam, have made this statement via a song and music video. It is called "Yeh Hum Naheen," Urdu for "This is Not Us."
The lyrics say it all: "This story that is being spread in our names is a lie. The name by which you know us we are not."
Taking a page right out of the hugely successful all-star relief song "We are the World," the song is performed by top young singers in Pakistan.
Juxtaposed among the shots of the singers are ugly scenes and headlines about terrorism as well as heart-warming scenes of Pakistanis singing along with passion.
Waseem Mahmood is a TV and media producer who used his contacts in the business to pull the project together. But it was really his sons who pushed to make this happen.
They told their father they were tired of being targeted by extremist Muslims in Britain who thought they were too secular. And they were sick of seeing terrorists cloak their activity in religion.
The reaction has been huge. The song shot to No. 1 in Pakistan. And thanks to the Web, it's gone global. There have been 65,000 downloads thus far.
The video has now been released in the U.K. with subtitles. The U.K., like Pakistan, is no stranger to terrorism. Officials in the two countries think the song is great.
Others arent as thrilled. According to video creator Waseem, extremists here have criticized the song, saying it should target governments they claim are responsible for the terror...not the terrorists.
But that's the very twisted logic the song is trying to knock down.
We played the video to some young people in one British neighborhood and the reaction was uniformly positive. It seems that the Mahmoods have really struck a note, tapping into feelings held by a lot of Muslims.
And to hear them, they have only just begun their mission. The next priority is an Arabic version of the song. Then an English version. Then a "Live Aid"-style concert. And a few other interesting projects they dont want to talk about yet.
It might just be that the drumbeat of the War on Terror could benefit from a little backbeat from songs like "This is Not Us."
NEW DELHI: In a startling revelation, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that his governmnet has prepared a list of politicians who have links with the militants in the strife-torn valley.
According to the Chief Minister, the home department of the state governmnet has narrowed down on the number of politicians and political workers who have been found supporting militant organisations.
CM Azad made this shocking disclosure to the local media, admitting to the nexus between politicians and militants in the state. Azad also added that his govt would act firmly to tackle the problem.
"I have identified some politicians who are supporting the Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of the various militant organizations. We are not going to warn them to leave all this but in coming time we are going to initiate action against these politicians," he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/10/2007 09:50 ||
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#1
In other startling revelations..
Water wet
Fire hot
Posted by: john frum ||
08/10/2007 9:55 Comments ||
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#2
Jeez, I thought by the headline they were talking about Wisconsin. Well, it happens other places to, i guess.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/10/2007 10:05 Comments ||
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US President George W Bush on Thursday urged President General Pervez Musharraf to hold free and fair elections in Pakistan. "My focus in terms of the domestic scene there is that he have a free and fair election, and that's what we've been talking to him about and hopeful they will," Bush said at a White House news conference, according to a transcript received here from the US Federal News Service.
Bush said he and Musharraf had discussed and agreed on the need to go after Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the Pak-Afghan border region. "I have made it clear to him that I would expect there to be full cooperation in sharing intelligence and I believe we've got good intelligence sharing," he said.
He expected "swift action if there's actionable intelligence on high-value targets inside" Pakistan. "We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan talking about what we will do with actionable intelligence," he said. "Am I confident they (terrorists) will be brought to justice? My answer is, 'Yes I am."'
Bush was careful to express respect for Pakistan's sovereignty, following Islamabad's publicly expressed anger over calls for unilateral US action against Al Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal areas. "I recognise Pakistan is a sovereign nation, and that's important for Americans to recognise," he said. Bush said he had seen reports that Gen Musharraf was about to declare emergency rule, but saw no evidence that the Pakistani president had made such a decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Then maybe we can work on Chicago.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
08/10/2007 9:34 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah, maybe we can get the Islamonuts fairly elected just like Hamas was.
I'm getting tired of this elections = democracy crap.
Muslim activists on Thursday attacked controversial and self-exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen at a book launch in southern India, police and witnesses said. Nasreen was on the stage at the press club in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state, when about 60 protesters from a regional Muslim political party forced their way in.
The Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen activists, led by three state legislators, broke up the function, police said.
The Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen activists, led by three state legislators, broke up the function, police said.
Television footage showed activists hitting Nasreen with a bunch of flowers, throwing a satchel at her and threatening to lob chairs. Activists also snatched copies of her translated book lying on a table and threw them at her, witnesses said.
The Bangladeshi author has been living in India since fleeing her homeland in 1994 after radical Muslims decried her writings as blasphemous and demanded her execution.
A visibly shaken Nasreen was shielded by several organisers and escaped when police arrived and bundled her into a car, witnesses said. They reported slight bruising. One of the men protecting Nasreen sustained injuries, police and witnesses said.
The Bangladeshi author has been living in India since fleeing her homeland in 1994 after radical Muslims decried her writings as blasphemous and demanded her execution. The activists shouted slogans against Nasreen, condemning her for allegedly un-Islamic writing, as they overturned chairs and broke flowerpots and vases at the venue, witnesses said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Following a meeting with Pakistan's leader, the Senate's second-highest ranking Democrat on Wednesday defended Pakistan's efforts to battle Al Qaeda along its mountainous border with Afghanistan.
Speaking with reporters in a conference call from Iraq, Senator Dick Durbin said President General Pervez Musharraf voiced concern over news reports that portray him as not doing enough to eradicate Al Qaeda. "It would be a mistake to conclude that they are not making the effort. I believe they have," Durbin said, citing the deaths of 600 Pakistani soldiers. "I just believe they can be more effective in the way they're doing it."
Durbin is such a tool.
Durbin, the Senate's second-highest ranking Democrat, said Musharraf did not talk about fellow Illinois crank Senator Barack Obama, who has been criticised by the Pakistan government for suggesting he was prepared to send US military forces into Pakistan if that is what it would take to eliminate Al Qaeda as a terrorist threat.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, yes - the fellow that wants to put me in a prison, "reeducation" center, or psychiatric facility (I'm an NRA member). What a nice man! So photogenic too!
#3
Between Hillary praising lobbyists and Obama waffling on Pakistan, the democrats are screwing themselves faster than the republicans can even keep up with.
#4
You know, when you hear pols like Obama, Durbin, Levin, Murtha, et. al. speak, you have to wonder if it was such a good idea to make the military answer to civilian control. I think it is but boy do I ever hope that not one of these idiots gets close to CIC. It also reminds me that when you listen to what they say and play it up against what Bush says, Bush sounds like he got a PHd from MIT and the others went to some community college.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/10/2007 6:29 Comments ||
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#5
It also reminds me that when you listen to what they say and play it up against what Bush says, Bush sounds like he got a PHd from MIT and the others went to some community college flunked kindergarten.
There, corrected it for ya, Jack!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2007 15:14 Comments ||
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Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, referring to the Indo-US nuclear deal, on Thursday said that Pakistan was a nuclear state and would take every step to maintain strategic balance in the region. "Let me assure the House that we'll continue developing our nuclear programme and will not allow shift in the balance of power in South Asia," said Kasuri while winding up speech on the country's foreign policy with special focus on the Pak-US relations.
He strongly condemned the statements of US presidential hopefuls on bombing Muslims' declaring them imprudent. "These are insane and foolish remarks. I have conveyed to our counterparts in the US Congress and the administration as well that these remarks and the bill linking US aid to Pakistan with its anti-terror performance will prove counterproductive," he said.
He said not even a single individual of the 1.25 billion Muslim population could tolerate such irresponsiblestatements and threats issued by Tom Tancredo and Barrack Obama. "Let me also make it clear that the defence of our sacred places is not only the responsibility of the Saudi Arabia. Muslim living across the world will get united if anybody tries to cast an evil eye on our holy places," he warned. He called for legislation at international level to safeguard religious sentiments of all communities in the world.
He said that he had already made it clear to the US administration that their elections should not be held at the cost of Pakistan. The foreign minister strongly refuted US claims of Pakistan's tribal areas being safe havens for Al-Qaeda terrorists and ruled out the possibility of unilateral action by the US or NATO inside Pakistan. "Let me state it categorically that there is no safe haven for terrorists in Pakistan. There could be some individuals hiding in tribal areas and we're taking action against them. We're ready to take action against anyone if provided with any credible information," he said.
Declaring any US military action inside Pakistan would be unacceptable, Kasuri said that Pakistan was a sovereign state and would not allow any unilateral action on its soil, as its own forces were capable enough to deal with any challenge.
He said he had conveyed it to the US administration that linking Pakistan's aid with its performance in anti-terror war was also disappointing and could prove counterproductive in war on terrorism. Defending the country's foreign policy, Kasuri said that Pakistan had decided to join the war on terror in the best national interests and not on US dictates. "Terrorism is a great concern not only for the US but also for our friends like China and Saudi Arabia," he said.
Rejecting the opposition's claims of Pakistan following the US diktat, the foreign minister said that the government had opposed the US stand on several international issues. To support his point, Kasuri referred to Iraq war, nuclear issue of Iran, Iran-India-Gas Pipeline, UNSC's resolution on weapons of mass destruction, nuclear proliferation by non-state actors and comprehensive convention against terrorism. "We have also successfully halted the entry of some states in the UNSC during its reforms against the US policy," he further said.
Responding to some MNAs' call for halting ties with the US and some other countries, Kasuri said that Pakistan could not afford isolation at a time when the world had turned into a global village. "Our policies are based on two principles, national economy and defence. We're trying to get free access of our products and services to the US and the EU markets so that our economy could grow. We've achieved some success too," he said.
He said Pakistan's policy was not US-centred as it enjoyed exemplary relations with China, Muslim world, Europe and East Asia. "We're also members of all effective regional and
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Americans have started believing in the theory of the clash of the civilisations and are suffering from Islamophobia, said Senator SM Zafar while addressing a meeting on US Threats and Pakistan's Reaction organised by the Old Ravian Association on Thursday.
You're prob'ly wondering why we feel that way. Searched for 'root causes' yet?
Zafar said Pakistan should revise its foreign policy, especially after the US had threatened to attack Pakistan to eliminate militants allegedly hiding in tribal areas. He said the US and Pakistan ties had strengthened after the 9/11 attacks because Pakistan had been on the frontline against terrorism.
He said US politicians should avoid hurting Pakistanis sentiments. He said Muslims should unite to cope with the negative propaganda against them.
How about uniting to kill the terrorists in your midst?
He said the society had broken the shackles of indolence and emerged as more dynamic and active after the chief justice of Pakistan's reinstatement. He said the government should set up a committee, consisting of politicians and experts, which would revise the foreign policy so that national interests could be protected without damaging relations with other countries. He said the government should negotiate with the dissidents in FATA because permanent peace could be established in country through dialogue.
Zafar said using the threat of a US attack to justify the imposition of emergency in the country. He added that president Gen Pervez Musharraf was not in favour of the proclamation of emergency in the country. He also urged political parties to form consensus on national issues though negotiations.
Yeah, do something you've never done before in your lives.
ORA member Riaz Ahmed Gardezi said Gen Musharraf was the root cause of all these problems. He added that the president should hold general elections in time and hand over the government to elected representatives.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Before the chief minister of Sindh departed for Umrah or pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, he responded to US presidential hopeful Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo's recent remarks that the US could "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons. "If the heathens commit a mistake by attacking Mecca and Madina," said CM Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, "it will be their last blunder". He argued that while a Muslim's faith could be weak, Almighty Allah was never feeble and would continue to help Muslims and protect their places of worship. Rahim's statement came just as he left for the pilgrimage amid rumours of the likely imposition of a state of emergency in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
So Allan will protect Mecca from us? Makes me want to blast the place just to disprove it. But I won't. For now.
#2
"If the heathens commit a mistake by attacking Mecca and Madina," said CM Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, "it will be their last blunder".
If just cause is ever given us for nuclear retaliation and we limit it only to destruction of Islam's shrines, our only "blunder" will have been in being so merciful that we did notwith a single strokereduce the entire MME (Muslim Middle East) to smoking black glass.
As Glenmore properly notes, the time rapidly approaches where it will become necessary to make a few vivid and undeniable demonstrations of just how infantilely helpless against Western military might the MME really is. Little else will ever serve to truly convince Muslims of how egregious they are in the error of their ways.
If anyone actually doubts just how monumentally blind Islam's refusal to recognize this reality is: Consider how Iran and Iraq fought to a standstill over eight solid years of grueling warfare whereas it took American forces all of two short weeks to sieze Baghdad. It is this sort of towering yet wholely unwarranted Muslim hubris that necessitates an almost inevitable smackdown of profound proportions.
#3
The Israelis have been proving just how incompetent the Arabs are as modern militaries since the Israeli War of Independence, where the Israelis were out-manned, out-gunned, had no air force, and a total of 5 tanks {3 that worked at any one time} and still managed to fight off the combined armies and air forces of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
The worst thing in the Iran-Iraq War was that the Iranians were willing to use young boys and old men for human wave assaults through mine fields, promising them Paradise if they died fighting for the "Islamic Republic". The Iraqis could just sit there, with their artillery, tanks, and heavy machine guns dialed in and just mow down the oncoming waves. If the Iraqis had had a competent military leadership, the war would have ended in total victory for them since they had the element of surprise and made such deep gains in the first couple of months. But then, Saddam did not takeout Khargh Island and that let the Iranians pump all their oil out to the waiting world - which enabled the Iranians to buy all the weapons they needed.
#6
...A friend of mine wrote a story about an Islamic nuclear attack on the US, and one of the characters said, "We do not fear the Americans - Allah will protect us from them." To which another character replies:
"But who will protect Allah from the Americans??"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/10/2007 7:27 Comments ||
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#7
And with global warming, dark glass will be useful. Reduces the load on the A/C ...
#10
Lots of moral equivalency nitwits like to whine "Christianity was a violent religion in the past, but they grew out of it..." Forget that the whiners grasp of history is shaky but realize while the US has SSBNs, ICBMs and stealth bombers RIGHT NOW, islam does not have the luxury of spending the next 400 years "growing up." Also, the first "islamic bomb" used will certainly be the last, and our stockpile, OTOH, is mighty deep.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/10/2007 9:45 Comments ||
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#13
We really don't have to nuke anybody right now (I'll refrain from conjecture on the eventuality of it at this time), all we have to do is to take 40 old "D" model Buffs out of mothballs, refurbish them, and send them as one wave against Riyadh, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, or Qom. The (VERY few)survivors will tell tales that will make most muzzie visions of hell seem tame by comparison, especially if we use a mixed weapons load.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2007 15:24 Comments ||
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#14
Although really, REALLY, REALLY fun to think about, t'would be best to keep this "plan" locked in the basement with the crazy aunt and Tom Tancredo.
Bombing the false idols of Islamitude would serously galvanize a huge number, albeit possibly small in percentage, of the "permanently pissed-off" who would then have absolutely no restraints on their internal Jihadist. Better that we should:
1. Convince them that we are NOT out to get (convert) them;
2. Demand mutual respect of our non-Muzzie beliefs and customs,
3. Marginalize CAIR and like organizations to irrelevancy; and
4. Seriously restrict the importation of ME whackos via effective immigration policy (let 'em grow their own Doctors and Engineers.).
Of course, a "super-attack" would require a "super-response," and I would then support the glassification solution. Until then, let's keep the six-pack away from the guns....
#15
Actually, the last blunder that the Heathens will make will be the intelligence blunder that allowed the terrorist attack against the Heathens that proves to be the "last straw".
#16
1. Convince them that we are NOT out to get (convert) them;
This is a hopeless task. The mere existence of any other religion is an egregious affront and total menace to this cult's ultra-fragile sense of identity.
2. Demand mutual respect of our non-Muzzie beliefs and customs,
Even more futile. You are asking people who are absolutely furious that we allow men and women to mingle openly, play at the beach in revealing outfits and make public displays of affection to accept things like smut, coed dorms and [gasp!] democratic elections. Our way of life is both an insult and virulent threat to their entire ingrown world. Islam will never concede "mutual respect" for what it perceives to be a wholely decadent and evil culture.
3. Marginalize CAIR and like organizations to irrelevancy; and
Now you're talking. I prefer "illegalize" but let's not quibble.
4. Seriously restrict the importation of ME whackos via effective immigration policy (let 'em grow their own Doctors and Engineers.).
Again, you're getting warmer. Unfortunately, the fact that items number one and two have a snowball's chance of success make numbers three and four totally inadequate to the task.
#18
If the heathens commit a mistake by attacking Mecca and Madina
I was just getting used to the term "infidel." Oh well, heathen will do. Why does this dipwad think it would be a mistake; it would be intended. There would be dancing in the streets here a$$hole.
#20
Eohippus: Don't get me wrong. I'd love for them to become the sociological and anthropological equivalent of the M. Primigenius, if it could be accomplished quickly and totally. As the required speed and totally, would, however, not be likely, the remainders would pose a hyper-threat to you, me, our families, friends, and co-Rantburgers. I've lived amongst Muzzies, and find them to be a most, er, resolute bunch...
#23
OyVey1, that post was mine. It's really tragic contemplating the need to speedily dispatch a chunk of this world's population. As you can see from my posts, I still hope for and seek to devise some sort of functional deterrent orlacking thatan appropriate demonstration of might that will stop Islam dead in its tracks.
As you yourself noted, Muslims display some extremely resolute mulish behavior that trends away from successful low impact resolution of this issue. Such stubborn opposition indeed indicates that "the remainders would pose a hyper-threat" and thereby bridges into some truly unpleasant scenarios of total annihilation.
I'll ask that all who read this please keep in mind how it is Islam's intransigenceand not any Western over-reactionthat would bear ultimate responsibility for such devastation. Islam simply will not have it any other way.
Enhanced radiation weapons.
When the neutron bomb's existence was first revealed, a political cartoon showed two mad scientists gleefully cackling over a warhead labeled "N-Bomb"", and saying:
"Now we can destroy the world without destroying the world!"
#25
So long as Mecca and Medina stand, the hardcore Muzzies will continue to insist that Allah will protect them (even though Allah is doing a piss poor job everywhere they engage the US in battle). Knocking those popsicle stands over would be a nice start in myth-busting.
#26
I think we're on the same page. I just don't get yelled at!
I think so too and really appreciate your observation of just how selective criticism can be around here. Still, there's no other place I'd rather be.
Knocking those popsicle stands over would be a nice start in myth-busting.
While I was attempting to put it a little more diplomatically, you've cut to the chase in admirable fashion, Crusader.
Islam is so superstitious that it may well prove more productive to assail it in those terms instead of the usual military format. Irrefutably proving that Allah is incapable of protecting his marauding hoardes could easily end up solving our problems with equal alacrity.
#27
He argued that while a Muslim's faith could be weak, Almighty Allah was never feeble and would continue to help Muslims and protect their places of worship.
Uhhhhh...if Mecca and Medina are slags of glass, how does that prove the allan is almighty? And, if Allen is so mighty, why y'all gotta dance around a big black rock here on earth (which is akin to a graven image in the Judeo-Christian arena) and declare every God-forsaken city as a "holy spot"?
Posted by: BA ||
08/10/2007 21:44 Comments ||
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All charges have been dismissed against two Marines accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, the Marine Corps announced Thursday. Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, 22, of Canonsburg, Pa., was charged with murdering three brothers. Capt. Randy Stone, 35, a battalion lawyer from Dunkirk, Md., was charged with failing to adequately report and investigate the Nov. 19, 2005, combat action in which women and children were among the dead.
In his decision to dismiss charges, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general with jurisdiction in the case, said he was sympathetic to the challenges Marines on the ground face in Iraq. "Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield," Mattis wrote in his letter to Sharratt.
The decision to drop charges against the two Marines follows earlier recommendations by investigating officers who listened to evidence against them, though it was recommended that Stone face an administrative hearing.
Mattis met with Sharratt and Stone at Camp Pendleton early Thursday to tell them the charges were dismissed.
I appreciate him doing that in person.
Sharratt's mother, Theresa, said her son called home immediately afterward. "He says, 'Mom, it's over,'" she said. "Those are the words I couldn't wait to hear."
Theresa Sharratt said that her son's four-year enlistment ended last month, but that he had been kept in the service on a legal hold. He is now free to become a civilian and may go back to school.
Sharratt's attorneys, Gary Myers and James Culp, released a brief statement from their client, who said he knew he had done nothing wrong. "Though I am glad I will be able to move on with my life, my heart is still heavy for my fellow Marines ... who continue to face serious charges," Sharratt said in the statement.
Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder, and four officers were charged with failing to investigate. Prosecutors dropped charges against one of the enlisted men, Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz of Chicago, and gave him immunity to testify against his squad mates.
The central figure in the case remains squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., who faces 18 counts of murder. He is scheduled to attend a preliminary hearing Aug. 22. The other enlisted Marine, Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum of Edmond, Okla., has attended a preliminary hearing, but no recommendation has been made about whether he should stand trial for murder.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani of Rangely, Colo., is the only other officer aside from Stone to attend an initial hearing, known as an Article 32 investigation. The investigator for Chessani recommended he face a general court-martial on charges of dereliction of duty for failing to investigate.
The two dozen Iraqis died after a roadside bomb killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, of El Paso, Texas, who was driving a Humvee. In the aftermath of the blast, Marines shot a group of men by a car and cleared several houses with grenades and gunfire. The Marines have said they believed the houses were occupied by insurgents, but the victims included elderly people, women and children, including several who were slain in bed.
At his preliminary hearing in June, Sharratt said he had helped clear several houses without incident. Then he noticed a group of Iraqi men looking at him suspiciously by a house close to where the bomb went off. Along with three other Marines, including Wuterich, Sharratt went to look for the men. Sharratt said he opened fire in the house because he saw an Iraqi point an AK-47 at him and heard another loading an AK-47 in an adjacent room.
The women and children died in a different house, and Sharratt was not charged in their deaths.
Prosecutors alleged that Sharratt and other members of his squad did not properly identify their targets before opening fire, but Mattis concluded Sharratt acted within the rules of engagement. "Our nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely draws fire toward civilians," Mattis wrote.
Stone was the lawyer for the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines who taught troops about combat law and rules of engagement. The investigating officer at Stone's hearing recommended dropping the charges against him but pursuing a lesser, administrative charge for failing to investigate.
Prosecutors said Stone, a newcomer to the Marines who joined the battalion in Iraq several weeks behind his comrades, overlooked the killings to curry favor with other Marines, rather than objectively reporting the deaths. Again, Mattis found no fault in Stone's actions, and said the captain would continue to serve as a lawyer in the Marines. "Stone's experience in this incident offers many hard learned lessons that I am confident will serve him well in the future," Mattis wrote in a statement.
#1
Geez, another RoE and lawyers-in-warzone incident. But this one is costing a young man's integrity and future opportunity. I just pray that he reconciles his life and pursues "life, liberty and happiness". As for the DoD and the Marines, please get the lawyers out of the battlefield and war plans and allow our military to operate at peak killing efficiency. I wonder if AQ and the insurgents and the Talibunnies have lawyers on their side? If so, its an even fight. If not, we are in big trouble.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/10/2007 6:35 Comments ||
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#2
But...how can this be. I declared him guilty!
Another coverup by the BushitlerCheneyHalliburton gang!
#8
More of General Mattis's words from the Navy Times:
Sharratt, he wrote, has served as a Marine infantryman in Iraq where our nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war, and routinely targets and intentionally draws fire toward civilians.
The challenges of this combat environment put extreme pressures on our Marines, Mattis wrote. Notwithstanding, operational, moral and legal imperatives demand that we Marines stay true to our own standards and maintain compliance with the law of war in this morally bruising environment.
With the dismissal of these charges, LCpl Sharratt may fairly conclude that he did his best to live up to the standards, followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made in a matter of seconds in combat, Mattis added. And as he has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law and in my eyes innocent.
Mattis, in issuing his decisions, acknowledged the difficulties that infantrymen face in a combat zone, particularly in a counterinsurgency environment. The experience of combat is difficult to understand intellectually and very difficult to appreciate emotionally, he wrote, citing the writings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., an infantryman during the Civil War, who described war as an incommunicable experience.
Holmes, Mattis wrote, has also noted elsewhere that detached reflection cannot be demanded in the face of an uplifted knife. Marines have a well earned reputation for remaining cool in the face of enemies brandishing much more than knives. The brutal reality that Justice Holmes described is experienced each day in Iraq, where Marines willingly put themselves at great risk to protect innocent civilians.
Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield, he added. Our way is right, but it is also difficult.
Attacks on U.S.-led forces using a lethal type of roadside bomb said to be supplied by Iran reached a new high in July, according to the U.S. military. The devices, known as explosively formed penetrators , were used to carry out 99 attacks last month and accounted for a third of the combat deaths suffered by U.S.-led forces, Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, second in command in Iraq, said in an interview.
Such bombs, which fire a semi-molten copper slug that can penetrate the armor on a Humvee and are among the deadliest weapons used against U.S. forces, are used almost exclusively by Shiite militants. U.S. intelligence officials have presented strong evidence that the weapons come from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, although Iran has repeatedly denied providing lethal assistance to Iraqi groups.
In recent weeks, the U.S. military has focused on mounting operations in sanctuaries used by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a Sunni group that is predominately made up of Iraqis but which has foreign leadership. But, as the information provided by Odierno shows, Shiite militias remain a major long-term worry.
In focusing on Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the U.S. goal is to reduce the number of car bomb and spectacular suicide attacks that have aggravated sectarian tensions, encouraged Shiite retaliation and undermined efforts to encourage political reconciliation.
While the group is seen by the U.S. military as the most serious near-term threat, there are other indications that Shiite militias remain active. According to Odierno, who serves as the day-to-day commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, 73 percent of the attacks that killed or wounded U.S. troops in Baghdad in July were carried out by Shiite militants.
Although explosively formed penetrators account for a small fraction of roadside bomb attacks in Iraq, they cause a disproportionately large number of casualties. Of the 69 U.S.-led troops killed in action in July, the lowest toll in months, 23 died as a result of attacks with the devices, according to data supplied by Odierno's command. Of the 614 coalition troops who were wounded that month, 89 were hit in penetrator attacks. "July was an all-time high," said Odierno, referring to strikes with such devices.
Penetrator attacks have been a worry for years. In 2005, the United States sent a private diplomatic protest to Tehran complaining that Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah had been training Iraqi Shiite insurgents in Iran and providing them with bomb-making equipment.
U.S. intelligence says that its report of Iranian involvement is based on a technical analysis of exploded and captured devices, interrogations of Shiite militants, the interdiction of trucks near Iran's border with Iraq and parallels between the use of the weapons in Iran and in southern Lebanon by Hezbollah.
Some critics of Bush administration policy, saying there is no proof that the top echelons of Iran's government are involved, accuse the White House of exaggerating the role of Iran and Syria to divert attention from its own mistakes.
According to U.S. military data, penetrator attacks accounted for 18 percent of combat deaths of Americans and allied troops in Iraq in the last quarter of 2006. The number of such attacks declined in January, and some U.S. officials thought at that time that this might be a response to their efforts to publicly highlight the allegations of an Iranian role. But in recent months such attacks have steadily risen. The July figure is roughly double the number for January. The July total is also 50 percent higher than in April, when there were 65 penetrator attacks, according to U.S. military officials.
Many of the penetrators encountered by U.S. forces are difficult to counter. Because they fire from the side of the road, the militants do not need to dig a hole to plant them, making them well suited for urban use. Because they are set off by a passive infrared sensor
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: IRGC
#1
WORLDTRIBUNE > US SURGE IS WORKING BUT SO IS IRAN'S; and STRATEGYPAGE > Iraqi Govt believes Iran is behind a nationwide campaign/program inside Iraq of assassination targeted agz anti-Shia andor pro-US-Western anti-Iran politicos, be they Shia or not. Iran denies it.
#2
If we're not going to bomb the hell out of Iran we might as well arm the opposition groups so Akmed-dinnerjacket can get a real taste of his own medicine. We'll just deny we're doing it. Maybe they will get the hint.
#4
IRAN is one place I'd be willing to nuke, especially Qom, Isfahan, Natanz, and a couple of other, less-well-known sites. We'd then have to take out everything along the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf. That includes quite a number of artillery sites, about 30 SILKWORM missile sites, hundreds of small boats, submarines, and other dangers to civilian shipping, and quite a few of the Revolutionary Guards. Bushire and Kharq Island can be neutralized by conventional weapons. The entire coastline, however, will have to be captured and held by military forces. We need a substantially bigger Army and Marine Corps for that - about double what we have now.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2007 15:31 Comments ||
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#5
OP, as you grow increasingly selective about whom you would nuke and when, you grow evermore persuasive. Pakistan and Iran remain the only two legitimate first use targets I can readily confess to. Both of them have earned it in spades, if not positively begged for it on bended knees.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave to journalists as they attend an official meeting in Tehran August 8, 2007. An end to violence in Iraq depends on the United States withdrawing its troops, Iran told Iraq's prime minister on Thursday, seeking to deflect the blame for bloodshed that Washington directs at Tehran.REUTERS/Fars News
Posted by: Elmigum Gonque3914 ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
Let's not forget the traditional Shiite greeting. That's Mahmoud in the white sleeves.
Posted by: ed ||
08/10/2007 8:33 Comments ||
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#3
When I first got off the plane and observed ME male duos holding hands while walking I thought it pretty weird. It was, after all, WAY before the Dems Libs Progs Goofs began pandering to the gays and this kind of stuff was on Saturday morning cartoons...
EL ARISH, Egypt - About 400 Palestinians, the last of thousands seeking to return home after being stranded in Egypt, crossed back into Gaza on Thursday, an Egyptian security source said. More than 6,000 Palestinians had been stuck in Egypt after Israel closed the main Rafah crossing point to Gaza in June. Many had been living in concrete shelters or low-budget hotels in northern Sinai as their money dwindled.
"... and we'll leave the light off for ya."
The last batch of about 400 crossed back into Gaza through the Awja border crossing south of Rafah, more than a week after Egypt began moving them out of Sinai, the source said.
Clashes broke out last month between Egyptian police and Palestinians detained at El Arish airport in northern Sinai. The Palestinians had tried to break free after complaining of dwindling funds and lack of food and medical supplies. Egypt sent hundreds of additional police to reinforce its border last month in case Palestinian militants tried to storm it. Palestinian demonstrators in El Arish had demanded it reopen.
They didn't do anything, however, to help make things work. Wouldn't be, you know, Paleostainian of them.
While the stranded Palestinians included some holidaymakers, most were Gazans who had sought medical treatment abroad and could not return after Israel closed the Rafah crossing in June.
Maybe the polyclinic in Mauritania is a better deal right now. Just sayin'.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
This is a propaganda defeat for Hamas.
Hamas demanded the returnees to come through Rafah (on the Egyptian border). Egypt and Israel said "no - you get them through Al Arish" which is about 1 mile inside Israel on the Gaza/Israel border.
Hamas bitched up and down about this and got no support from anyone (even Iran didn't back them on this issue).
(AKI) - The Palestinian Authority (PA) has opened an inquest on why some 3,000 Hamas militants serving in the illegal Executive Forces in the Gaza Strip were paid salaries with public money, an Arab satellite television reported Thursday.
The PA government headed by prime minister Salman Fayad has named a commission of inquiry to investigate the incident and to prevent it from happing in the future, the Dubai based al-Arabiya channel said.
By law, the PA's constitution security forces come under the command off the president, but Hamas formed the Executive Forces to act as a foil to security forces allied to President Mahmoud Abbas' rival Fatah faction.
In June the Hamas-linked militants overran the offices and barracks of the security forces loyal to Abbas in Gaza and have controlled them ever since.
While admitting salary payments were made, PA financial officials have downplayed the report.
Said Karnaz, an undersecretary in Fayad's government said that only 300 of the Hamas-linked militants actually received the money, because the payments on the bank accounts of the others were cancelled before withdrawals were made.
Asked to comment on the payments, an unidentified Hamas militant said in an interview with the Arab newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi: "We thought it was a sign from Allah, and also that the Fayad government (which Hamas does not recognise) was in any case considering the unity of the Palestinian people".
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
We thought it was a sign from Allah
Yeah, sure. I'll bet ya think that one works all the time.
The Internet, satellite television and even the telephone are increasingly being used in the Muslim world to issue fatwas religious decrees on issues as varied as whether women can pluck their eyebrows or good Muslims should read Harry Potter.
A fatwa is a ruling by a recognized Islamic scholar, often on a weighty matter. But the traditional definition is becoming blurred as Muslims turn to Islamic Web sites and "tele-imams" for advice on how to live their lives. For example, going online turns up the fatwa on British author J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, banning reading about the boy wizard because of his ties to witchcraft. Another says plucking women's eyebrows is "haram," or forbidden, because it alters God's creation. One exception: if the lady's bushy brows displease her husband.
Religious rulings have often been on grave topics. Many Westerners first heard the word "fatwa" when the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued one in 1989 condemning British writer Salman Rushdie to death, accusing him of blasphemy in his book "The Satanic Verses."
More recently, fatwas have dealt with the question of whether suicide bombing is accepted under Islam, producing dueling opinions not surprising given that Islam has no single, universally recognized source. Muslims across the world seek advice from various authorities representing different sects and schools of Islamic law.
But now the growth of so-called new media fatwas has upset Egypt's religious establishment, which fears an erosion of its authority to people without solid theological credentials. Others applaud the increasing diversity of opinion and believe it is critical to updating Islamic theology and helping Muslims cope with modern life.
Traditionally, fatwas were issued by a mufti, a scholar such as Ali Gomaa, Egypt's chief Sunni Muslim authority, known as the Grand Mufti. Gomaa heads Dar al-Iftaa, or the House of Fatwas; it and Al-Azhar University are Egypt's most important institutions for issuing fatwas and have influence with Sunnis everywhere. Now, however, the proliferation of alternative outlets for religious advice offers Muslims the opportunity to seek guidance elsewhere and some fear to shop around until they find an opinion that may sanction questionable behavior. "There is an opinion for every occasion and context, and evidence of people shopping around for the opinion that suits their particular need," said Gary Bunt, author of the book "Islam in the Digital Age."
Numerous Web sites issue online fatwas in response to personal questions, including IslamOnline.net, Fatwa-Online.com and Ask-Imam.com. These sites are similar to ones that have sprung up in the West allowing people to seek opinions from rabbis or ministers. Some of the Islamic sites are run by recognized religious figures, such as Sunni cleric Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi, founder of IslamOnline. Several operate in English only, targeting the large number of Muslims outside the Middle East who don't speak Arabic.
Fatwas also are issued by satellite television programs and over the telephone, forcing traditional organizations like Dar al-Iftaa into a race to keep up. Gomaa's media adviser, Ibrahim Negm, said the institution has doubled the number of fatwas it issues daily through a year-old telephone hot line, and it is now developing a Web site to answer queries. Negm said modern communications have helped fuel a growth in fatwas by making it much easier for people to solicit religious opinions. The some 1,000 fatwas that Dar al-Iftaa pumps out every day are more than six times the number it issued per year a century ago.
Gomaa has been highly critical of individuals who issue fatwas independently, especially "tele-imams" who have grown in popularity on Arabic television. But many Egyptians complain the close ties between Dar al-Iftaa and the government compromise the religious institution, making it necessary to turn to other sources for guidance.
The reputation of Egypt's religious authorities was further clouded recently when a lecturer at Al-Azhar issued a fatwa saying work colleagues of the opposite sex could escape the ban on unmarried men and women being alone together if the woman breast-fed her male colleague five times. The lecturer's rationale was breast-feeding established a maternal rather than a sexual relationship.
Goran Larsson, an expert on religion and new media, said that history provides good reason for Dar al-Iftaa to be concerned about fading influence, noting the introduction of printing meant old theologians who depended on the oral tradition lost their sway over the masses. "With today's new technology, we also see the rise of new kinds of theologians," Larsson said. One such figure in Egypt is Amr Khaled, a popular "tele-imam" who eschews religious garb and is good at connecting with young people."
#2
The court explained its actions by stating that Egypt's constitution guaranteed the principle of equality of public rights and obligations and freedom of belief and worship, which are also anchored in the international conventions, without discrimination as to gender, origin, language, religion, or belief, as long as this did not harm the public order. At the same time, the court decided that shari'a law took precedence over international convention and the Egyptian constitution in establishing freedom of belief, stating that "there is no coercion in religion [Koran 2:256]."
Islam undergoes preposterously absurd levels of exertion in making itself both a laughingstock and utterly unappealing to converts. Its ossified and adamantine rigidity only guarantees how it will one day shatter upon the anvil of reality.
The West must summon forth sufficient self respect and confidence in itself whereby it no longer concedes the least shred of credibility to Islam's totalitarian nonsense. Once we have secured our culture against terrorism's predations only then will finally have the luxury of appropriately greeting Islam's strident demands for recognition. Namely, with hysterical
laughter.
#3
I wonder if there's anyone in Egypt that can affect ;) change in how its Sharia Supreme Court views other religions?
In the words of Zen, Fat Fucking Chance!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/10/2007 7:15 Comments ||
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#4
We got any theologists here?
If a man souls his soul to the devil, can he be redeemed?
Since "Allah" is a demon, it's basically the same thing.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
08/10/2007 9:37 Comments ||
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#5
If a man sells his soul to the devil, can he be redeemed ?
Only if he breaks the contract in a way in which the devil is aggrieved. i.e. Releasing deadly anthrax into the crowds at Mecca, or blowing up the annual Imam's convention. The man must go to hell to fetch his castaway soul and escape to plead his case for redemption.
It wouldn't hurt to clean up and wear new clothes.
Posted by: Marilyn Jolet8164 ||
08/10/2007 15:43 Comments ||
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#11
Just another instance that shows the difference between Islam and other religions: God gave man free will, so that man could come to God of his own choice, and worship as they see fit. Islam DEMANDS that everyone worship according to its edicts, in the way it prescribes, and that everyone be converted, either by persuasion or by force. Islam is not a religion, it's a death cult that worships Satan. It should be contained to those that refuse to convert to other religions even after being given a choice. The sooner this happens, the better.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2007 16:23 Comments ||
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President Bush charged Thursday that Iran continues to arm and train insurgents who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and he threatened action if that continues.
At a news conference Thursday, Bush said Iran had been warned of unspecified consequences if it continued its alleged support for anti-American forces in Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker had conveyed the warning in meetings with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad, the president said.
Bush wasn't specific, and a State Department official refused to elaborate on the warning.
Behind the scenes, however, the president's top aides have been engaged in an intensive internal debate over how to respond to Iran's nuclear program and its support for Shiite Muslim groups in Iraq. Vice President Dick Cheney several weeks ago proposed launching airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iraq run by the Quds force, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in Iran policy.
The debate has been accompanied by a growing drumbeat of allegations about Iranian meddling in Iraq from U.S. military officers, administration officials and administration allies outside government and in the news media. It isn't clear whether the media campaign is intended to build support for limited military action against Iran, to pressure the Iranians to curb their support for Shiite groups in Iraq or both.
Nor is it clear from the evidence the administration has presented whether Iran is a major cause of the anti-American and sectarian violence in Iraq or merely one of many. Iran has long-standing ties to several Iraqi Shiite groups, including the Mahdi Army of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Organization, which is allied with the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. At other times, administration officials have blamed the Sunni Muslim group al-Qaida in Iraq for much of the violence.
For now, however, the president appears to have settled on a policy of stepped-up military operations in Iraq aimed at the suspected Iranian networks there, combined with direct American-Iranian talks in Baghdad to try to persuade Tehran to halt its alleged meddling.
Cheney, who's long been skeptical of diplomacy with Iran, argued for military action if hard new evidence emerges of Iran's complicity in supporting anti-American forces in Iraq; for example, catching a truckload of fighters or weapons crossing into Iraq from Iran, one official said.
The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about internal government deliberations.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice opposes this idea, the officials said.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has stated publicly that "we think we can handle this inside the borders of Iraq."
Bush left no doubt at his news conference that he intended to get tough with Iran. He also appeared to call on the Iranian people to change their government.
"My message to the Iranian people is, you can do better than this current government," he said.
Bush's efforts to pressure Iran are complicated by the fact that the leaders of U.S.-supported governments in Iraq and Afghanistan have a more nuanced view of their neighbor.
Al-Maliki is on a three-day visit to Tehran, during which he was photographed Wednesday hand in hand with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Media reports said al-Maliki had told Iranian officials they'd played a constructive role in the region.
Asked about that, Bush said he hadn't been briefed on the meeting. "Now if the signal is that Iran is constructive, I will have to have a heart-to-heart with my friend the prime minister, because I don't believe they are constructive. I don't think he in his heart of hearts thinks they're constructive, either," he said.
Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai differed on Iran's role when they met last weekend, with Karzai saying in a TV interview that Iran was "a helper" and Bush challenging that view.
The toughening U.S. position on Iran puts Karzai and Iraqi leaders such as al-Maliki in a difficult spot between Iran, their longtime ally, and the United States, which is spending lives and treasure to secure their newly formed government.
#1
Hell, I would argue anything in Iraq is fair game. Camps, blown.
Trucks with arms coming across border, blown.
Incursions into Iraq, blown.
They keep tugging at our tail,
Refineries in Iran, blown.
High value targets in Iran, killed.
Minorities in Iran, armed to the fucking teeth with US weapons.
#2
Until i see vodeo of JDAMS, cluster bombs or FAE over Tehran, GW is 'All rev, no torque' on this issue. he's just taking ombert pussy lessons.
prove me wrong, pul-lease....
Posted by: ed ||
08/10/2007 15:25 Comments ||
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#7
GW said: "My message to the Iranian people is, you can do better than this current government," he said.
George is talking tough to dinnerjacket and the mad mullahs. Hope he sticks with the line and gets tough when the time comes. There chain should have been jerked hard in 1979.
#10
President Bush charged Thursday that Iran continues to arm and train insurgents who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and he threatened action if that continues.
#12
President Bush charged Thursday that Iran continues to arm and train insurgents who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and he threatened action if that continues.
#15
Ugh! This article is just dripping with patronizing elitist MSM-speak, BDS and terminal PC-itis.
drumbeat - warmonger imagery: check.
... U.S. military officers, administration officials and administration allies outside government and in the news media.
No one reliable, you see - just warmongers and administration stooges.
... if it continued its alleged support for anti-American forces in Iraq.
Not proven in a court of law, so only alleged.
The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about internal government deliberations.
So they felt free to bravely violate their oaths by speaking anonymously.
Bush's efforts to pressure Iran are complicated by the fact that the leaders of U.S.-supported governments in Iraq and Afghanistan have a more nuanced view of their neighbor.
Unlike the knuckle-dragging cowboy in the White House.
#16
After Maliki's "brokeback" moments this week with the Mahdi's poison dwarf, maybe it's time for GWB to arrange to have some fish wrapped in newspapers delivered to Amadinowhackjob - preferably starpped to na cruise missile of JDAM.
Or - turn the Iranian navy into artficial reef artifact - just to, you know, send a message to the Mullahs.
It appears that we are doing pretty well at draining the cesspool that is Iraq. The Arab interlopers are rapidly being attritted away to nothing. That leaves the Persian contingent.
The Persians are the biggest mole sticking its head out - begging for a "whack". The only thing left is to decide what our opening move will be. We should make ist clear that we have a 15-step plan in place, to reduce Persia to pristine, uninhabited wilderness. Play the first card - and make it something breathtaking, but targetted solely at military assets. That won't be enough. Then hit a significant government target. That won't be enough. Then take out a handful of significant economic targets. Destroy every port apparatus capable of unloading gasoline.
Alongbthe way, take out Maliki with a "false flag" attack blamed in Iran.
None of thsi will ever happen - but its fun to dream of it.
Lebanon's controversial president Emile Lahoud intends to hand over the presidency to the army when his term expires on November 23, in the event his replacement is not elected by the parliament, Arab sources told Al Hayat newspaper The same sources reported that Lahoud said that he will under no circumstances hand over the presidency to the government, because Siniora is a sunni Muslim and the presidency is for the Christian Maronites. Lahoud did not disclose how he intends to hand over the presidency to the army, specially since the constitution stipulates that the government should take over the presidency in case the position becomes vacant and until a president is elected.
The same Arab sources told al Hayat that the western allies of Lebanon prefer to have the election on time and also prefer not to name any favorite candidate, since they want to leave this to the Lebanese , even though they may oppose certain names if they are proposed as consensus candidates.
The army chief, General Michel Sleiman has been mentioned by several sources as a consensus candidate for the presidency for a reduced term of 2 years and until new elections for the parliament take place , but the March 14 majority alliance are insisting on having a president from their alliance. General Michel Aoun is the only one who has announced his candidacy so far and Syria seems to be backing him all the way.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs David Welch said Washington would not cut a deal with Syria or any other country at Lebanon's expense. The daily An Nahar on Thursday quoted Welch as saying that a conference in Damascus aimed at restoring security in Iraq does not reflect a change in policy towards Syria.
Welch was referring to a two-day meeting which opened in Damascus on Wednesday and which groups delegates from Iraq's neighbors and the global community, including the United States and its arch-foe Iran. Welch assured the Lebanese that there was "no need for concern" over the possibility that the U.S. would discuss Lebanon during the Iraqi conference. "There is no deal at Lebanon's expense," Welch told An Nahar's Washington correspondent Hisham Melhim in Arabic.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"There is no deal at Lebanon's expense
Cause we all know at whose expence the deal will be.
Former minister Wiam Wahab, a staunch ally of Syria and its mouthpiece , proposed on Wednesday Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun for president of Lebanon to follow the path of present head of state Emile Lahoud. If such a successor could not be elected, better leave the office vacant for a while, Wahab stressed.
The state-run National News Agency said Wahab, who heads the Lebanese Unification Movement, made the proposal in an address at a Hezbollah-sponsored rally in the southern village of Qsaibeh marking the party's "victory" over Israel in last summer's 34-day war which killed 1280 Lebanese citizens, displaced one million and demolished the nation's infra structure. "Henceforth, Gen. Aoun is a serious candidate for president," Wahab said, using the same words Hezbollah uses in describing Aoun.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2007 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Insurgents under the Taliban flag are expanding influence across Afghanistan setting up training camps and establishing "shadow governments" at district and provincial level, Afghan members of Parliament said in debate on law and order situation.
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush said on Thursday that shutting down the US war on terror prison camp at Guantanamo Bay was not easy, but US officials were working to make it happen. He said the task of closing the camp was complicated because inmates home nations did not necessarily want them back, and noted delays in setting up trials for those who were incarcerated.
Muslim activists on Thursday attacked controversial and self-exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen at a book launch in southern India, police and witnesses said. Nasreen was on the stage at the press club in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state, when about 60 protesters from a regional Muslim political party forced their way in. 
Following a meeting with Pakistan's leader, the Senate's second-highest ranking Democrat on Wednesday defended Pakistan's efforts to battle Al Qaeda along its mountainous border with Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, referring to the Indo-US nuclear deal, on Thursday said that Pakistan was a nuclear state and would take every step to maintain strategic balance in the region. "Let me assure the House that we'll continue developing our nuclear programme and will not allow shift in the balance of power in South Asia," said Kasuri while winding up speech on the country's foreign policy with special focus on the Pak-US relations.
Before the chief minister of Sindh departed for Umrah or pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, he responded to US presidential hopeful Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo's recent remarks that the US could "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons. "If the heathens commit a mistake by attacking Mecca and Madina," said CM Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, "it will be their last blunder". He argued that while a Muslim's faith could be weak, Almighty Allah was never feeble and would continue to help Muslims and protect their places of worship. Rahim's statement came just as he left for the pilgrimage amid rumours of the likely imposition of a state of emergency in Pakistan.
EL ARISH, Egypt - About 400 Palestinians, the last of thousands seeking to return home after being stranded in Egypt, crossed back into Gaza on Thursday, an Egyptian security source said. More than 6,000 Palestinians had been stuck in Egypt after Israel closed the main Rafah crossing point to Gaza in June. Many had been living in concrete shelters or low-budget hotels in northern Sinai as their money dwindled.
(AKI) - The Palestinian Authority (PA) has opened an inquest on why some 3,000 Hamas militants serving in the illegal Executive Forces in the Gaza Strip were paid salaries with public money, an Arab satellite television reported Thursday.
Lebanon's controversial president Emile Lahoud intends to hand over the presidency to the army when his term expires on November 23, in the event his replacement is not elected by the parliament, Arab sources told Al Hayat newspaper The same sources reported that Lahoud said that he will under no circumstances hand over the presidency to the government, because Siniora is a sunni Muslim and the presidency is for the Christian Maronites. Lahoud did not disclose how he intends to hand over the presidency to the army, specially since the constitution stipulates that the government should take over the presidency in case the position becomes vacant and until a president is elected.
Former minister Wiam Wahab, a staunch ally of Syria and its mouthpiece , proposed on Wednesday Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun for president of Lebanon to follow the path of present head of state Emile Lahoud. If such a successor could not be elected, better leave the office vacant for a while, Wahab stressed.
