With his clenched fists, wild eyes and gnashing teeth he has become the face of Muslim fury, protesting against the enemies of Islam. Shakeel Ahmad Bhat has been on the frontline of political activism in Srinagar, India, for more than a decade. His constant presence, captured by photographers and beamed across the world, has caught the imagination of rightwing bloggers who have dubbed him Islamic Rage Boy and turned him into an internet phenomenon.
But the 30-year-old Kashmiri activist is puzzled, not angered, by his overseas fame. In his first interview with a British newspaper, he says he is carrying out Allah's wishes. From his home in Fateh Kadal, Malik Angan, he says: "I am not happy with people joking about me or making me into a cartoon, but I have more important things to think about. My protests are for those Muslims who cannot go out onto the streets to cry out against injustice. This is my duty and I believe Allah has decided this for me."
Mr Bhat, a school dropout and former militant with a pro-Pakistan rebel group, has been arrested more than 300 times. He spends days away from his widowed mother, four brothers and his sister, travelling to protests or attending court hearings. But his family, he says, is used to it. Neighbours describe Mr Bhat as well-mannered, sincere and dedicated. He walks to a protest if it is within six miles (10 km) of his home and hitchhikes or catches a bus if it is further. Sometimes he is the only protester...Mr Bhat, unaware of the row he has fuelled, vows to carry on protesting. Undeterred by being locked away or being laughed at, he says: "I do not like being called Islamic Rage Boy, it is not nice; but why should I care what people think of me in this life? The afterlife will decide my fate, not a mousemat." More at link, to include quotes from CAIR.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I am not happy with people joking about me or making me into a cartoon, , but I have more important things to think about.
Like why didn't Allah put anything about trademark law or royalty payments in His Holy Qu'ran, huh? What about all the Imam's blah-blah-blah about it being an all-encompassing guide to Mooselimb life?
#2
If you don't want to be called "Islamic Rage Boy", you might go a little lighter on the Islamic rage.
(Reminds me of an article ten or twelve years ago in the Cleveland Pain Dealer high school journalism section. Some Goth girl wrote seven hundred words lamenting that people treated her as weird just because she dressed in all black, adorned herself with symbols of evil and death, and listened to emo music. If the shoe fits....)
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2007 7:06 Comments ||
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#3
the wild eyes in the photos are a cartoon themselves with no manipulation!
Posted by: Jan ||
07/23/2007 10:07 Comments ||
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#4
C'mon, Shakeel! Give me seething!! Seething!!!
click-click-click-click-click-click
Gimmee Crazy eyes! Crazy eyes!! I need 'em, Shakeel!!!
click-click-click-click-click-click
Oh, yeah! Now we're workin it! Upraised fist! Pump it, Shakeel! Pump it! Crazy eyes!!
click-click-click-click-click-click-click
Beautiful! Beautiful! Okay, let's take a break. Get Shakeel some Evian. You're beautiful, man, Beautiful!
#10
Jammu and Kashmir state has the lowest poverty rates in all of India, helped by generous grants from the Indian federal government and the basing of 340,000 troops.
The islamists milk the Indian taxpayer for all they're worth.
Pakistan's ISI spends several billion dollars a year to sustain the jihad in Indian Jammu and Kashmir.
The APHC jihad front organizations get millions from the ISI budget to dole out to the likes of Shakeel Bhat.
Since the Pakistan Military itself is the recipient of billions from the US, Shakeel's rage boy lifestyle is actually sustained by the taxpayers of the USA and India.
Jirzya.....
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/23/2007 11:17 Comments ||
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#14
You know--those little pads for wiping your paws in front of a mouse hole!
Seriously, I think he's referring to a mat used for a computer mouse--there have been mugs, mousemats, and T-shirts with this guy's crazy face on them ("a mug on a mug").
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2007 12:40 Comments ||
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#19
Just close your eyes, for a moment only, and envision IRB at a Hillary rally. Forget it, most of her supporters lokk like that anyway. It was just a thought.
Posted by: Steven ||
07/23/2007 14:29 Comments ||
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#20
Mr Bhat, eat camel shit and die.
Steven the Hillary rally, to funny (and true) for words!
#21
I'll bet this all goes right to Rage Boy's head. Starts showing up at the latest Seethe fest in a limo, with a posse, with the shades and the scarf, talking to his agent on his Iphone, front page on Pakisani Tiger Beat, his private sex video on the internet, then the DUI's and the rehab...
#23
Mr Hooper says: "I find the term Islamic Rage Boy offensive, as would anyone who applied the term to their own faith. It's an Islamophobic product by Muslim-bashers on internet hate sites."
Well, Ibrahim, when you find Methodist Rage Boy, or Amish Rage Boy, or Presbyterian Rage Boy, you make sure to let us know.
Religious scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi has become a popular figure in Pakistan for his strict reading of the Koran -- which, he says, dictates against gender discrimination, terrorist jihad, and other favorites of modern Islamists
AFTER THE SUICIDE bombing in Islamabad last week that killed 17 civilians, I picked up a slick hardbound book called "The Islamic Shari'ah of Jihad" in a local bookstore. As I read through the first few pages it became clear to me that this was no apology for Islamic holy war. The book analyzed every verse of the Koran that mentions the word "jihad" and related it to its precise social context in seventh-century Arabia in order, it said, to "remove some grave misconceptions."
I opened to the chapter titled "Suicide Bombers." I was disturbed by the events in the city -- the joyous mood of a pro-democracy rally, with thousands swaying to anthems, snuffed away in a moment of scattered body parts -- and I wondered about the Islamic basis for what I had witnessed. The chapter was brief, barely two pages long, and it focused on one verse (5:32) of the Koran: "He who killed a human being without the latter being guilty of killing another or being guilty of spreading disorder in the land should be looked upon as if he has killed all mankind."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"...focused on one verse (5:32) of the Koran: "He who killed a human being without the latter being guilty of killing another or being guilty of spreading disorder in the land..."
I think my head just exploded.
He was disturbed because all those peaceful people were murdered BUT he quotes the exact Koranic verse that says it was the right thing to do. What could spread more disorder in Islamostan than real democracy?
"5.31": Then Allah sent a crow digging up the earth so that he might show him how he should cover the dead body of his brother. He said: Woe me! do I lack the strength that I should be like this crow and cover the dead body of my brother? So he became of those who regret.
"5.32": For this reason did We prescribe to the children of Israel that whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men; and certainly Our apostles came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them certainly act extravagantly in the land.
"5.33": The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement,
"5.34": Except those who repent before you have them in your power; so know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/23/2007 10:25 Comments ||
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#3
5:31 is, in many commentaries, a reference to the Cain and Abel story (with the crow being a Raven from the Noah story).
Persistent poverty and environmental degradation in developing countries, changing global climatic patterns, and the use of food crops to produce biofuels, all pose new and unprecedented risks and opportunities for global agriculture in the years ahead.
Agricultural science and technology, including the indispensable tools of biotechnology, will be critical to meeting the growing demands for food, feed, fiber and biofuels. Plant breeders will be challenged to produce seeds that are equipped to better handle saline conditions, resist disease and insects, droughts and waterlogging, and that can protect or increase yields, whether in distressed climates or the breadbaskets of the world. This flourishing new branch of science extends to food crops, fuels, fibers, livestock and even forest products. . . .
Early crossbreeding experiments to select desirable characteristics took years to reach the desired developmental state of a plant or animal. Today, with the tools of biotechnology, such as molecular and marker-assisted selection, the ends are reached in a more organized and accelerated way. The result has been the advent of a "Gene" Revolution that stands to equal, if not exceed, the Green Revolution of the 20th century. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2007 06:27 ||
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What happens to a nation when a world-changing event occurs of such tremendous magnitude that half the population can't process who caused it?
September 11? Try the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As James Piereson recently told me, "If Kennedy had been killed by a right winger with the same evidence that condemned Oswald, there never would have been any talk about conspiracies. It would have fit neatly into the moral framework of 1950s and '60s-style liberalism. And the liberals would have been off and running with it, and no one would have talked about conspiracies."
That's the subject of Piereson's new book, Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism, in which he argues both that Kennedy was a victim of the Cold War, and that the repression of his killer's ideology caused tremendous psychological damage to the collective health of the nation.
It's not primarily an attempt to once again prove that Oswald acted alone, as authors such as Gerald Posner, and most recently, Vincent Bugliosi have demonstrated, to the satisfaction of virtually everyone whose name isn't Oliver Stone. But it is an attempt to explain an incredible transformational shift in American culture, which occurred during the years from 1963 and 1968, particularly in the media and on college campuses. . . .
Go read it all. I'm not sure the theory explains everything it purports to, but it's sure worth thinking about.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2007 17:13 ||
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#1
This theme continued into the tearing down of the Berlin Wall era. The biggest mistake made during that 2-3 year period - the biggest dropping of the ball of Bush I - was to blow the opportunity to discredit all forms of socialism in the same fashion that Nazism was discredited at the end of WWII.
Yes, the campus and infotainment left would have howled, but a bigger, better man would have used the bully pulpit to great effect, basically saying that a movement (collectivism) whose evil was as great as or perhaps even greater than that of fascism had been defeated. The populace was happy and interested and a very public airing of the stuff from Venona or the "Black Book" would have discredited communism for all time.
Instead, we defeated the most virulent form while allowing another one the space to flourish on campus and in the infotainment industry. As a result, we have the postmodern left plaguing the West and inhibiting our ability to accomplish much of anything.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
07/23/2007 17:47 Comments ||
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#2
It helps moonbats sleep thinking that Camelot was taken down by some right-wing conspiracy. I mean why would a single person (commie to boot) dislike JFK? Also JFK was not as left-wing as he is made out to be. He disliked commies (see Cuba, Vietnam, etc) so it makes perfectly good sense to me that a commie convert would hate JFK.
A little note for TNR folks -
It's call the Uniform Code of Military Justice [UCMJ]
Art. 78. Accessory after the fact
Any person subject to this chapter who, knowing that an offense punishable by this chapter has been committed, receives, comforts, or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial, or punishment shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Your little Scott failed to comply in reporting incidents. That means he's committed an offense under the UCMJ. Your failure to identify the lad, means that you are obstructing justice. Remember that when you get the summons from the federal Attorney Generals Office asking you to speak before a grand jury. And what ever your lawyer tells you, just remember at the federal level reports et al do go to jail for failing to answer questions before such juries.
#2
Unfortunately, we all know that will never happen.
Another thing this tells us is that despite how vile these stories are, there really hasn't been that big of a stink made over them. I think that tells you all you want to know about the popularity of The New Republic.
#3
This will be a tempest in a teapot in the blogosphere. No mainstream media will report it. Who cares if some liberal magazine made up stories? They've got their heart in the right place, and besides, we all know that US soldiers did something like this at some time. The details might be fake, but the essential truthiness prevails.
#4
From the Weekly Standard -- seems the Army is now getting involved in this...
Monday, July 23, 2007
(Updated) More From FOB Falcon
UPDATED 1:11 pm
We have another statement from Major Ludeke at FOB Falcon regarding the "Scott Thomas" "Shock Troops" story in the New Republic:
I've been watching the events on the New Republic's "Scott Thomas" piece with interest.
As the 4th IBCT Public Affairs Officer- I can tell you unequivocally: there was NO mass grave discovered in this area of operations in conjunction with the building of a coalition outpost anytime in the past 12 months. None. Zero. Zip. And Frank Foer's assertions to the contrary, there is no way that his mystery soldier "Scott Thomas" can prove it. Foer can produce all of the alleged "eyewitnesses" he wants- unless these individuals are willing to back up their claims with real evidence, it's just so much garbage on a computer screen. Some people seem to forget that the burden of proof should be on the New Republic to back up his unsubstantiated claims and not the other way around.
If the story *is* true, then "Scott" and whomever else is purporting to back up his assertions should come forward, identify themselves and submit their report through official channels. We are not in the business of suppressing his right to free speech...on the contrary- he's free to submit whatever he wants, so long as it doesn't put others at risk for operational security (OPSEC). Of course- by putting his name on such outlandish claims, he then has to account for what is clearly a series of false statements. So- obviously- it is left to reasonable people to decide who is telling the truth here.
I invite Mr. Foer and the New Republic to actually give us something to go on. Proof. Any kind will do- and something more than one anonymous soldier's claims and a nebulous "we've heard from others who can corroborate it," kinds of responses he provided Howard Kurtz. It's kind of hard to take these allegations seriously, when you're hiding behind the cloak of anonymity. Just about every Soldier these days has his or her own digital camera or video camera. Talk to anyone here- every unit down to squad level in our brigade is *required* to have a camera on every mission. It's all part of being prepared for such a discovery. Surely- there would be photos of the skulls and mass grave if it truly existed, would there not? The reason there isn't any photos, is because simply- the story isn't true.
There may be small grains of truth to what Scott Thomas has written. But, I can tell you that at least one event he's described as "fact" could not have occurred. To claim that an entire chain of command was complicit in keeping quiet such a grisly and important discovery of such magnitude stretches the realm of believability and is a grave insult to the professionalism and dedication of so many fine Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines serving here.
I know that if my organization claimed to have unearthed a sizeable cache of hundreds of explosives, rockets, nitric acid and other key components to make roadside bombs, otherwise known here in these parts as a "good news story," media outlets would rightfully demand some kind of proof to subtantiate our claims. That's why we take pictures of such things and provide them along with our press releases. The inability of the New Republic and Scott Thomas to provide any kind of photographic evidence whatsoever, and the fact that "Scott" isn't willing to come forward and identify himself, pretty much says it all, doesn't it?
If he is in fact speaking the truth- he should have no problem putting his real name next to it. It's called integrity, and it'[s one of the seven Army Values. That neither he nor the New Republic want to do that, and then hide behind the need to protect him from "retribution" (when I would add that he *is* in fact breaking a DoD directive with his actions) merely underscores the dubious nature of this whole story.
I invite Scott Thomas to come by the Dragon PAO shop at FOB Falcon- Bldg 301, Rm 119, and I'd be happy to share the DoD media policy with him. While he's here, I'd love to discuss with him the mass graves, Bradley IFV dog hunting and IED burn victim he's so intent on stating is fact. If he can provide the evidence, I will gladly retract every word I've posted on the subject. If he's not willing to do that, then it kind of makes you wonder about his credibility, and that of the New Republic's doesn't it?
Best regards,
Major Kirk Luedeke
Public Affairs Officer
4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division DRAGONS FOB Falcon
#6
A commenter at the link's website sums it up nicely:
To believe this crap, you have to want it to be true.
The Liberal Left is rapidly abandoning all sense of intellectual honesty or moral integrity in its attempts to skew reality over to their increasingly warped slant. Few things can so quickly invalidate a group's overall stance as fabrications of this sort. Especially so when the intended target of its smears are brave young men and women who are placing their lives on the line for our own sake. This isn't just shameless ingratitude, it is treason.
#7
Because everything about the "Shock Troops" stories were so flagrantly wrong, and so easily debunkable (is that a word... why, yes it is!) I am wondering if it was a set-up from the start. I wonder if "Scott Thomas" isn't a very clever young troop who made up a perfect s**t sandwich for TNR to chow down on. I speculate that somewhere in a dining facility in-country, a party of creative and politically savvy troops are even now laughing themselves sick at the sight of egg all over the face of TNR's editor.
#8
Sounds like the most plausible scenario, Sgt. Mom. It is easy to catch a hungry fish. I only hope the perps don't hurt themselves laughing.
Disclaimer: I am completely willing to believe reporters are essentially clueless buffoons who would sacrifice facts and their grandmothers for a story that supports The Narrative.
#9
Sgt. Mom: Either that, or he's a member of Kos or DU (who's earned the "10,000 posts!" gold star) sitting in Mom's basement in his 'jammies, pounding out the stories on his good old 1972 IBM Selectric word processor.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2007 15:42 Comments ||
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#10
PS: Sgt. Mom, congratulations on being mentioned in Gates of Vienna!!!
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.
With his clenched fists, wild eyes and gnashing teeth he has become the face of Muslim fury, protesting against the enemies of Islam. Shakeel Ahmad Bhat has been on the frontline of political activism in Srinagar, India, for more than a decade. His constant presence, captured by photographers and beamed across the world, has caught the imagination of rightwing bloggers who have dubbed him Islamic Rage Boy and turned him into an internet phenomenon.
