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| Obama Names Shady Chinese Group in Terror Cooperation Call |
| 2014-11-12 |
[AnNahar] U.S. President Barack ObamaIf you have a small business, you didn't build that... named a shady group linked to attacks in China's mainly Moslem far west as he called for cooperation with Beijing on anti-terror efforts in an interview with Chinese state media. I think they probably meant "shadowy," versus "shady." Beijing regularly blames an organization it calls the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for a series of deadly attacks in its Xinjiang region, home to the Uighur minority. I'm guessing they know what they're talking about. "Terrorist groups like ETIM should not be allowed to establish a safe haven in ungoverned areas along China's periphery," Obama said in written interview with China's official Xinhua news agency published late Monday. "China's periphery?" What country could his speechwriter have in mind? Violent attacks and festivities in and related to Xinjiang over the past year have claimed more than 200 lives, and China has been keen to link what it calls a domestic fight against snuffies to global anti-militant efforts. It's the same old bad guyz regardless of where they pop up. But Beijing has produced little evidence linking the attacks to organised bully boy groups, and some analysts doubt that the ETIM exists as a significant force inside the region. "Some analysts" do? There was a significant number of Uighars who found themselves in Gitmo. All of them, of course, were in Afghanistan studying Islam or they were aid workers or something. B.O. should probably explain to the Chinese that there is strength in diversity. The U.S., reportedly at Beijing's request, added the group, sometimes also known as the Turkestan Islamic Party, to a list of terrorist organizations in 2004, but has generally said little about it. Perhaps because it's a terror network that never quite got off the ground? Most of the attacks in Xinjiang have been knifings and such. Why? Because the Chinese cops aren't amused when they see somebody lugging a gun around who's not in uniform, specifically a Chinese uniform. Rights groups say that violence in Xinjiang is fuelled by government repression of Uighur religious traditions and culture, and economic discrimination. Really. And the violence in Afghanistan is fuelled by the same thing. And in Pakistain. And in all those other countries where they like to wear turbans and they murder their women when they talk to somebody outside the family. On the same day the interview with Obama was published, a court in Kashgar, a city in Xinjiang near the border with Pakistain, sentenced 22 people to jail on religion-related offenses, state-run media said. Near the border with Pakistain, was it? Wotta coincidence! But I'll betcha the same sorta thing happens near the border with Mongolia. And along the border with Russia. And Vietnam. The 22 were sentenced for crimes ranging from "illegal preaching activities by 'wild imam'" to "engaging in illegal religious activity" to religious staff who had been dismissed from their positions but continued to preach, according to the government-run China News Agency. They were sentenced to prison terms of 5 to 16 years. "Illegal preaching activities?" Betcha they involved spraying the front three rows with spittle whilst denouncing the infidels. And "religious staff who had been dismissed from their positions but continued to preach" sounds like salafists who were tossed but refused to leave. Government constraints on religious practices in Xinjiang, including banning veils and long beards, have sparked violent festivities in the past, residents say. All the outward manifestations of Islamism... Obama added that greater co-operation would depend "on actions China takes at home". The Chinese, meanwhile, were wondering what's for dinner. "As nations, we cannot confuse violent extremism with peaceful dissent," he said. Can't confuse jihad with personal development, either. "A failure to treat people equally or respect rule of law or universal rights can sometimes push people into the ranks of terrorist groups. Upholding these rights and the rule of law can often be one of the most effective long-term weapons against terrorism," he added. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |