More than half the suicide bombers used by the Taleban to launch attacks in Afghanistan are not Afghan nationals, the United Nations says in a report.
Whoa! Never guessed that, did we?
It says more than 80% are recruited, trained or sheltered in neighbouring Pakistan, noting a steep increase in attacks over the past two years.
That could be because Pakistain is making war on Afghanistan, officially or un-.
The UN mission in Afghanistan released the report on the sixth anniversary of the country's first suicide attack. It killed the mujahideen leader Ahmad Shah Massoud.
That wasn't Taliban, dumbasses. It was al-Qaeda. It was a strictly Arab operation.
But it was only after 2005 that suicide strikes became common here, used by the Taleban in their insurgency. Last year there were 123 and this year 103 by the end of August.
Takes a while to get the fatwah machine precisely tuned.
During the first six months of the year, such attacks killed 193 people - 121 of them Afghan civilians, 62 Afghan security forces, and 10 foreign troops.
The Talibs make no pretense they're doing it for the Afghan people. They're doing it for Mullah Omar.
Different bombers
The report says Afghans should accept the fact that their compatriots do mount such attacks.
Though not many of them.
In the past, Afghan leaders have sometimes said Afghans simply do not commit suicide.
We won't discuss what they're full of.
The authors believe many attackers are opium addicts, and many others orphans
Most are brainwashed madrassah sweepings.
Nonetheless, the UN believes more than half the attackers here are foreign, coming mainly from Pakistan and also Arab and Central Asian states. Many are Afghans who have spent much of their lives in refugee camps in Pakistan. It says that in several ways, suicide attackers in Afghanistan differ from those in other countries. They tend to be poor and little educated, very often groomed in madrassas in Pakistan's tribal areas. None have been women, and there have never been pre-attack statements from them or acts to venerate their families. Indeed, often the families are unaware their son has died in a suicide mission.
They're cannon fodder, or maybe we should call them boom fodder. They're cheap and easily replaced. Just because it's a cliche that human life is cheap in the mysterious East doesn't mean it ain't so.
Addicts
President Hamid Karzai recently pardoned a teenage boy who had failed in an attempt to blow up a provincial governor. His father had sent him to a Pakistani madrassa but had no idea he had come back to Afghanistan having been groomed for a suicide attack.
The authors believe many attackers are opium addicts, and many others orphans. The report says the authorities are now preventing many such attacks and that even the ones that succeed tend not to kill many people. However, 80% of those they do kill are civilians, even though all the attacks appear to be aimed at Afghan or foreign security forces, or Afghan government targets.
The authors of the report interviewed more than 20 failed attackers held in an Afghan prison, ranging from a boy of 15 to a man in his 50s. Some were awaiting trial but none, said the UN, had recourse to any legal counsel.
Wow. That's the same recourse to legal counsel their potential victims woulda had. Talk about a finely honed legal ethic!
Of those interviewed, some said they had been duped or even told that that they would not die in the bomb blast and would receive a financial reward. Those coercing them, for instance by threatening to behead them, rarely go on to mount suicide attacks themselves.
Comes as a surprise, dunnit? I know. It floored me, too. Who'da ever guessed that?
But others were willing attackers, angered by the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, by the civilian deaths caused by them, or by what they saw as the corruption of the Afghan government. Many said they were sorry that suicide attacks killed civilians but the attackers believed these ordinary people would go to heaven as martyrs.
In the civilized world we tend to put off going to heaven, and we always try to ask before sending someone.
Publicity
The UN says suicide attacks here tend to diminish people's faith in the Afghan state, and cites polls as saying just over a 10th of Afghans believe such attacks are always or sometimes justified. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, said that while suicide attacks tended to be militarily ineffective, they could have a big propaganda effect, bringing publicity to the Taleban. An example was a bomb outside the Bagram air base in February which killed more than 20 civilians when US Vice- President Dick Cheney was inside.
Umm... Right. It went off within a couple miles and a day of his arrival.
Mr Koenigs said that in order to try to undermine the attackers, it was vital that foreign forces in Afghanistan did their utmost to reduce the civilian casualties they were causing, and that Afghan forces take on more of the burden of providing security. He also said it would be good if more Muslim countries could contribute troops to the Nato-led force, Isaf. Currently, the only Muslim-majority countries in Isaf are Turkey, Azerbaijan and Albania.
Posted by: Fred & john frum ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
It says more than 80% are recruited, trained or sheltered in neighbouring Pakistan
The other 20% are bribed, unwitting accomplices or victims of blackmail.
The Talibs make no pretense they're doing it for the Afghan people. They're doing it for Mullah Omar
And now we know why Rumsfeld was kicking in doors when he found out some idiot asked a lawyer whether it was OK to obliterate Omar when they had him in the crosshairs of a Predator. Guess what the lawyer's response was.
TUNIS (Reuters) - Two Tunisians who spent five years in the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay were released and sent home only to be mistreated by their own government, Human Rights Watch said. Aw, geez, how...ironic, huh, boys?
It's like rain on your wedding day.
Tunisia denied abusing Abdullah al-Hajji Ben Amor and Lotfi Lagha after their return on June 18, saying they were protected by a law forbidding the inhuman treatment of prisoners. Yep, sez so right here. See?
It's a free ride, when you've already paid.
Old Soviet Union had a constitution providing for free speech, if I recall ...
HRW, an international monitoring group of busybodies, cited al-Hajji's lawyer as saying he was slapped, threatened with the rape of his wife and daughters, deprived of sleep and coerced to sign papers he could not read as he needed new glasses. He then spent six weeks in solitary confinement. In early August he was moved to a cell with other prisoners while awaiting a trial on September 26. Hajji was convicted in absentia in 1995 for taking part in a terrorist organisation operating abroad. Lagha, also imprisoned alone, saw a lawyer seven weeks after arriving in Tunisia and told him he was threatened with torture, HRW said. They could go on a hunger strike I suppose. But I doubt the Tunisians would give a shit about force feeding them to keep them alive so that'd probably last about six hours... "The men have told those who visit them that things are so bad they would rather be in Guantanamo," HRW said in a report dated September 5.
It's the good advice, that you just didn't take.
Sorry, boys. Too late. How's the food in Tunisian prison?
It said the U.S. was well aware of torture and unfair trials in Tunisia and could not rely on the diplomatic assurances given by the Tunisian authorities before the men were sent home. So...if we keep them in Guantanamo we're violating their human rights. But if we send them home to Tunisia we're...violating their human rights? Maybe HRW could send us a list of their leadership and we could send these guys to their houses? I'm sure they'll make marvelous guests at the cocktail parties...
And who would've thought? It figures.
Tunisia said the two men were held in ordinary conditions and were not subjected to solitary confinement. "Mr Lagha and Mr Hajji were not mistreated.... They have both enjoyed all their rights as part of the due process of law," an official source in Tunisia said. Hey, they're still breathing...
"Lies! All lies!"
It's like ten thousand spoons, when all you need is a knife
Ten Tunisians remain at Guantanamo, and at least eight of them were convicted in absentia in Tunisia of crimes, according to HRW.
It's meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife
And I'll bet ya can't wait to get home, right, guys?
Posted by: regular joe ||
09/09/2007 7:59 Comments ||
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it's their culture. Who are WE to judge?
/multiculti
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2007 9:53 Comments ||
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he was slapped, threatened with the rape of his wife and daughters, deprived of sleep and coerced to sign papers he could not read as he needed new glasses. He then spent six weeks in solitary confinement.
"The men have told those who visit them that things are so bad they would rather be in Guantanamo,"
Does anybody else sense a recurring theme here? I seem to recall the prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison clamoring for their American keepers to return once they found out about the handover to Iraqi forces. Far be it from HRW to document any of that, though.
National security agents are closely monitoring Iranians at Australian universities, fearing some of the students are doubling as spies and reporting to Tehran.
State and federal security authorities are also keeping a close eye on Iranian students in Australia who are interested in becoming residents or citizens, amid growing suspicions that some may be intent on establishing an espionage foothold.
It is understood their concerns about Iranian students were sparked by calls to the National Security Hotline and information from local Persian leaders.
Some of the students suspected of gathering information on the communities in Sydney and Melbourne are believed to be under electronic surveillance.
The number of Iranian students studying in Australia has multiplied almost five-fold in the past five years. Most study engineering and surveying.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock told The Australian that threats to Australia were investigated by the relevant national security authorities.
Security sources told The Australian they believed some of the students were being used to spy on members of the local community who were hostile towards the regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Australia's Iranian community of 25,000 is largely made up of Shia Muslim migrants who left their homeland after 1979 to escape the Islamic revolution.
Security sources said the Iranian Government was intent on monitoring them, fearing it was being undermined by their ideological and financial support of groups opposed to Tehran's regime.
Persian Cultural Foundation of Australia president Homer Abramian accused the Iranian regime of sending its agents to Australia under the guise of students, in some instances, and in other cases paying students to report back on local community affairs.
In 2005, former Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin, who worked at the Chinese consulate in Sydney, revealed that Beijing had 1000 intelligence operatives working in Australia. A former member of the Chinese intelligence network, Hoa Fengjun, also said China had agents monitoring Australia's business groups, foreign policies and local community members opposed to the communist regime.
"The majority of the students are very nice people and from very good families ... but we know that some of them are spies and they are not here just for education," Mr Abramian said.
Iranian youth leader Nosrat Hosseini said she believed some international Iranian students in Melbourne were spying on local community members opposed to the Tehran Government.
The Melbourne-based secretary of the Iranian Womens Association said the students often used the Faulkner Mosque, a Shia place of worship in Melbourne's north, as an entry point to community affairs and functions.
She said the students were often interested in finding out information about the general sentiment held by the local community towards the Iranian regime.
"They also want to see whether there are anti-Iranian Government campaigns that people are involved in and about how much they know about human rights violations in Iran," Ms Hosseini said.
Mr Abramian said some Australians of Iranian heritage - who were predominantly hostile to Tehran's regime - also feared expressing their opposition to the Islamic republic during community gatherings.
There are 1421 Iranian students studying in Australian universities and other educational institutions this year, up from 307 in 2002, according to the Department of Education.
Most are full-fee-paying students, while a few are in Australia on Iranian Government-sponsored scholarships.
#1
Surely there is no requirement that the government allow foreigners deemed high risk be allowed to study at Australia's universities? I know in the U.S. the universities love their foreign students because they pay significantly higher fees, but cupidity ought not be the deciding factor.
President Bush's war strategy is failing and the top military commander in Iraq is "dead flat wrong" for warning against major changes, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday.
Ahead of two days of crucial testimony by Bush's leading military and political advisers on Iraq, Sen. Joseph Biden indicated that he and other Democrats would persist in efforts to set target dates for bringing troops home. Powerline sez: "don't confuse me with the facts"
"The reality is that although there's been some mild security progress, there is in fact no security in Baghdad or Anbar province where I was dealing with the most serious problem, sectarian violence," said Biden, a 2008 presidential candidate who recently returned from Iraq. "I was dealing..." Now he's stealing Petraeus's lines...
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were scheduled to testify before four congressional committees, including Biden's, on Monday and Tuesday. Lawmakers will hear how the commander and the diplomat assess progress in Iraq and offer recommendations about the course of war strategy.
"I really respect him, but I think he's dead flat wrong," Biden said. "Bushco tool"
Biden contended that Bush's main strategy was to buy time and extend the troop presence in Iraq long enough to push the burden onto the next president, who takes office in January 2009, to fix the sectarian strife. "This president has no planhow to win and how to leave," Biden said.
Stressing that a political solution was the key, he said, "I will insist on a firm beginning to withdraw the troops and I will insist on a target date to get American combat forces out," except for those necessary to protect U.S. civilians and fight al-Qaida.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., agreed. "The problem is, if you don't have a deadline and you don't require something of the Iraqis, they're simply going to use our presence as cover for their willingness to delay, which is what they have done month after month after month," he said.
Whereas if you do set a deadline, all the bad boyz know the surrender date, as do the good guys, and both sides plan accordingly.
"I think the general will present the facts with respect to the statistics and the tactical successes or situations as he sees them," Kerry said. "But none of us should be foolednot the American people, not you in the media, not us in Congresswe should not be fooled into this tactical success debate." Biden and Kerry - not good role models for honest humans with integrity and brains...
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2007 14:20 ||
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Why is Joe bothering with a 'hearing'? He won't listen anyway. If he had a mind, it would already be made up, but since he doesn't have one, the code pinko talking points will have to suffice.
Former US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld has joined the Hoover Institution at Stanford University as a visiting fellow and will serve on a task force focused on issues pertaining to ideology and terror, the California think tank said on Friday.
Rumsfeld was one of the top Bush administration officials involved in responding to the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Democrats critical of the Republican administration and some former high-ranking military officers charged his leadership of the Pentagon contributed to a botched occupation of Iraq. He resigned as secretary of Defence in November 2006.
Rumsfelds experience will assist the Hoover Institutions research into terrorism, said institute director John Raisian. I have asked Don to join the distinguished group of scholars that will pursue new insights on the direction of thinking that the United States might consider going forward, said Raisian. Rumsfeld, a former congressional representative, NATO ambassador and White House chief of staff for President Gerald Ford, has served on the conservative Hoover Institutions board of overseers.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) Republican presidential candidate John McCain warned Saturday that U.S. failure in Iraq would eventually pull America into a "wider and more difficult war" in the troubled region.
"If we set a date for withdrawal, that's a date for surrender."
"To concede defeat as many leading Democrats now advocate would strengthen al-Qaida, empower Iran and other hostile powers in the Middle East, unleash a full scale civil war in Iraq ... and destabilize the entire region," the Arizona senator told activists at a state Republican convention. "The consequences would threaten us for years," he added. It "would eventually draw us into a wider and more difficult war that would impose even greater sacrifices on us."
McCain later told reporters, "If we set a date for withdrawal, that's a date for surrender."
McCain's comments largely echoed his previous remarks on the war: he lashed out at Democrats, criticized earlier mistakes by civilian and military commanders; and asserted the troop increase in Iraq was succeeding. He evoked Ronald Reagan's struggle against communism, saying the U.S. won the Cold War "on our terms."
"The war in Iraq has not gone well and the American people have grown sick and tired of it. I understand that," McCain said. "Like you, I want our troops to come home, but I want them to come home with honor."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's top two military and political advisers on Iraq will warn Congress on Monday that making any significant changes to the current war strategy will jeopardize the limited security and political progress made so far, The Associated Press has learned.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who has been less forthcoming than Gen. David Petraeus in advance of his testimony, will join Petraeus in pushing for maintaining the U.S. troop surge, seeing it as the only viable option to prevent Iraq and the region from plunging into further chaos, U.S. officials said.
Crocker and Petraeus planned to meet on Sunday to go over their remarks and responses to expected tough questioning from lawmakers - including skeptical Republicans. But they will not consult Bush or their immediate bosses before their appearances Monday and Tuesday, in order to preserve the "independence and the integrity of their testimony," said one official.
But [Crocker and Petraeus] will not consult Bush or their immediate bosses before their appearances Monday and Tuesday, in order to preserve the "independence and the integrity of their testimony,"
Petraeus and Crocker did have lengthy discussions with the president, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when Bush visited Iraq on Labor Day.
Crocker, a career diplomat with extensive experience in the Middle East who opposed the war when it began in 2003, is pushing for political change where progress has been elusive and the administration's options are limited under the fragile Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Yet the diplomat will say that as poorly as al-Maliki's government has performed, it would not be advisable at the moment for the U.S. to support new leadership or lobby for a different coalition of Iraq's fractious Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, the officials said.
Crocker also will discuss the challenges of corruption, reconciliation, de-Baathification and the difficulties of enacting wide-ranging legislation such as an oil law, according to officials.
Both Crocker and Petraeus will say the buildup of 30,000 troops, bringing the current U.S. total to nearly 170,000, has achieved some success and is working better than any previous effort to quell the insurgency and restore stability, according to officials familiar with their thinking.
Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and Crocker were in the Washington area on Saturday working separately on final drafts of opening testimony on Capitol Hill. Later in the week, Bush plans a national address.
The assessments by Petraeus and Crocker are intended to be considered equally. But officials expect Congress to focus on military matters, particularly possible troop withdrawals. Unless there are changes, the increase comes to a natural end starting in the spring and continuing through the end of next summer.
At the same time, officials close to Crocker pointed out that any revisions to the military strategy will have a profound affect on the political side. "Clearly, the political, economic and diplomatic elements are directly related to what happens with security and our involvement in it," one official said.
The officials disputed suggestions that either Petraeus or Crocker would recommend anything more than a symbolic reduction in troop levels and then only in the spring.
Petraeus offered some insights into his testimony on Friday. In a letter to troops serving in Iraq, he cited "uneven" but quantifiable progress in the security situation and acknowledged that the political side "has not worked out as we had hoped." "We are, in short, a long way from the goal line, but we do have the ball and we are driving down the field," he wrote. It was perhaps the clearest indication he favors carrying on with the troop increase.
Officials said Crocker is focused on trying to do the best he can with the tools available to him now before completing his tour in Baghdad and retiring. More is at stake for Petraeus because he is believed to have higher ambitions, including possibly elected office.
In their testimony, the two will lay out for Congress the situation on the ground, discuss the merits of possible revisions to Bush's strategy, including troop drawdowns and a reduction in support for embattled al-Maliki and conclude that such changes are unwise, officials told the AP. The testimony will set the stage for an announcement by Bush on how he will proceed in the face of widespread public unhappiness with the war and criticism from congressional Democrats, especially senators seeking the party's 2008 presidential nomination.
Petraeus and Crocker previewed their thoughts to Bush during his stop in Anbar province last Monday. It is one of several regions where the administration has claimed success with the additional troops, with decisions by local leaders to join with U.S. forces against insurgents, the officials said. To that end, the presidential advisers will press lawmakers to recognize achievements at the local level and argue that such results will force Iraq's national leaders into action.
But that development is not covered by any of the 18 military and political benchmarks Congress set out for judging the effectiveness when it approved the new policy that was announced by Bush in January and reached its full strength in July.
In their testimony, Petraeus and Crocker are expected to repeat the assertions made in the White House's July report that progress is being made, official said. A new updated report is due Sept. 15. They also are expected to make the oft-stated case that an independent report by congressional auditors, who found only three of 18 benchmarks fully met, set unfair standards for judging success, the officials said.
As former Premier Nawaz Sharif is set to return here tomorrow along with his brother, Saudi Arabia has offered to keep them in exile again, leaving the option of deporting them back to Jeddah, where they spent six years before shifting to London, with the Pakistan government.
Saudi Prince and intelligence chief Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, who along with Saad Hariri, son of ex-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, met President Pervez Musharraf yesterday to discuss the Sharif brothers' plans to return home, said later that Riyadh was ready to host them again.
Saudi Arabia would welcome the Sharifs if they are deported by the Pakistani government, local daily 'The News' quoted him as saying. To a question, he said Musharraf did not raise the issue of sending the Sharifs back to Jeddah, where they were sent on exile by the Pakistan government. "Saudi Arabia is for all our brothers and sisters all over the Muslim world," Aziz reportedly said when asked whether they could be deported again.
Aziz and Hariri, during a press conference yesterday, asked Sharif, who has been allowed by the Supreme Court to return home, to abide by an "agreement" he signed to stay in ten-year exile. Aziz spoke sternly about consequences of Sharif flouting the Saudi request not to return, saying that the deposed Premier along with Musharraf and "most of the people of Pakistan knows it."
His comments provided the Pakistan government with an option to deport the brothers back to Jeddah. If that happens they may have to live there for another three years in exile.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/09/2007 11:31 ||
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Punjab PPP president Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said that his party was against Talibanisation of the country and believed in democratic process. Addressing a press conference at Punjab PPP general secretary Ghulam Abbass house, he said the party would never compromise on principles. He said the party was trying to restore democracy in the country and was ready to talks to any person or any party for that purpose.
He said PPP was the first and the last party, which admitted that it had been involved in talks with the government. He said nobody asked those who had supported the presidents uniform and helped pass 17th Amendment. He said the party reviewed the position of ticket holders from Lahore division besides welcome arrangements for the party chief on her return.
He said Benazir did not believe in politics of confrontation. Instead, she wanted to promote democracy in the country and for that she had rendered countless sacrifices, he said. He said instead of criticising the PPP, the APDM leaders should first review their attitude as the time would tell who was in contact with the government and who wanted a deal at the earliest. He said when a person called the Saudi government for help; it was obvious that Saudis would interfere in the countrys affairs.
He said the PPP candidates would be finalised after the announcement of the election schedule. He said the party was very much against the arrest of political workers and leaders as every political party had a right to participate in political activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The Iraqi parliament is preparing to debate controversial draft laws on oil and gas, accountability, justice, resources and the provinces.
According to Salim Abdullah, a member in the Sunni Accord Front, the parliament will approve the Accountability and Justice Laws concerning the return of the Baathists to senior administrative and military positions, in addition to the Provinces Law that will regulate this week's provincial elections that is a significant step towards forming federal regions in Iraq.
Abdullah added: "The Oil and Gas and the Resources Laws will be subjected to some [amendments and] yet it is likely that the laws will be approved by the parliament because of some understandings between [major] political blocs inside the parliament to legislate the laws."
The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni religious authority, and Khalaf Al Alian from the Accordance Front issued statements warning against ratification of the laws because it would incite factions.
Sources in the Shiite coalition said that US President George W. Bush urged Iraqi leaders to speed up the ratificaton of oil and gas, accountability, justice, resources and the provinces laws during his last visit to Al Anbar.
Muna Kuba, a researcher in economic affairs at Baghdad University, told Gulf News: "There is US pressure on Iraqi leaders to pass some laws [that will favour] American political and economic interests in Iraq. I believe that Americans seek to create [an environment] to assure them of higher profits before investing in Iraq's oil sector, the largest oil reserve in the world."
After the formation of the Shiite-Kurdish Coalition besides the Sunni Islamic Party, political observers in Baghdad believe that ratification of the laws will not face strong opposition.
Waleed Abdul Sahib, a member of the Shiite Dawa Party led by Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, told Gulf News: "I think we must have a political consensus in the parliament to pass the laws, [which are] important to promote the reconciliation process."
Sahib added: "The government should [make] Iraqi citizens [aware] that these laws will ensure justice to each Iraqi city and that every Iraqi will have his or her share of natural resources. ... the problem [lies] in media inside and outside Iraq which described the laws as illegal [without] being aware of the nature of the ... laws." In other words, the NYT will be working overtime to spin this into bad news.
#1
Muna Kuba, a researcher in economic affairs at Baghdad University, told Gulf News: "There is US pressure on Iraqi leaders to pass some laws [that will favour] American political and economic interests in Iraq. I believe that Americans seek to create [an environment] to assure them of higher profits before investing in Iraq's oil sector, the largest oil reserve in the world."
BAGHDAD - Authorities Saturday released from custody 135 suspects who were rounded-up in relation to deadly clashes in a Shia pilgrimage site in Karbala which killed 52 Iraqis last month. Reportedly, only 15 of the discharged were Sadrists.
On August 28, Shias engaged in a deadly gunbattle near two sacred shrines in Karbala during an annual Shia festival as the holy city hosted over four million Shia pilgrims. According to police sources and witness reports, Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadrs armed supporters - enraged at being held back from visiting the shrines for security reasons - started shooting at Shia security forces, scaring the crowds of visitors. The incident was branded the Karbala sedition and Shia clerics started accusing foreign forces and former Baath party supporters for causing the chaos that lead to the bloodbath.
Al Sadr called for an official probe into the incident after imposing a six-month freeze on his radical armed followers known as the Mahdi Army. But warned of retaliation if the investigation was not neutral or was unnecessarily delayed. When scores of Mahdi army affiliates were rounded-up in Karbala- related arrests later, Sadrs office decried bias and injustice and Sadr himself shot back with another ultimatum.
On Saturday, the head of Karbalas Sadr office Abdel-Hadi Al Mohammedawy said that the authorities released only 15 out of 250 Sadrists held in custody.
Aqeel Al Khazaily, Karbalas governor, said a special committee set to probe the incidents was still investigating, and was releasing only those who were proved not responsible for the acts of violence.
And the ones who are can go to Abu Ghraib.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The troop reduction announcement came as a key British figure in Iraq told how he chatted with 'furious' UK-born Muslims who had travelled to the Middle East to join the insurgency against British and American troops. Canon Andrew White, a close colleague of the ex-Archdruidbishop of Canterbury George Carey, said he spoke to the men from the West Midlands who were on their way to Baghdad to target US soldiers.
White hit the headlines when he revealed that he had warned the Foreign Office about an imminent terror attack in Britain more than a month before the failed attacks on London and Glasgow.
The cleric said the British group, around half a dozen strong, whom he met on the Jordanian-Iraqi border, were passionate about the possibility of murdering Western troops.
The cleric said the British group, around half a dozen strong, whom he met on the Jordanian-Iraqi border, were passionate about the possibility of murdering Western troops. White, who was vicar of St Peter's Church in the Iraqi capital until two months ago - when he fled Iraq following death threats - described the group of British men he met as driven by a perceived injustice against Islam.
Because Islam is soooooo under seige.
His description of the radicalisation of the 'foreign fighters' follows fresh concern over extreme Islam in Europe following the arrests last week in Germany, where intelligence services said they had foiled a potentially huge terror attack. The cleric said: 'There was a sense that these men shared that the West is attacking the Islamic world and the ultimate place where that is happening is Iraq. Therefore, these men felt that they were defending their faith. They were tangibly angry and very animated.'
White, however, said the situation in Iraq was looking quite positive after a deal to end fighting between all the significant religious groups, apart from al-Qaeda, appeared to be working.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Remember: 1 in 6 UK Muslims supported the 7-7 murders on UK soil. Search "islamophobiawatch" if you want to learn something of the mentality that allows jihadism and dar-islamization to flourish in the UK. When stupidity prospers, none are intelligent enough to call it stupidity.
#2
When stupidity prospers, none are intelligent enough to call it stupidity.
Jeebusif that's the casewe're in for some tough times. I mean, can Michael Bolton, Bill Gates, Regis Philbin and several quadrillion flies all be right?
#3
White, however, said the situation in Iraq was looking quite positive after a deal to end fighting between all the significant religious groups, apart from al-Qaeda, appeared to be working.
They don't want us out of Iraq, they just want to kill infidels.
Posted by: Boss Craising2882 ||
09/09/2007 4:32 Comments ||
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How on earth did this man's quotes make it into the main stream press? Even though the most important one was buried in the last paragraph, the fact that his comments were even printed shows IMHO, that there is a shift in the winds.
White, who was vicar of St Peter's Church in the Iraqi capital until two months ago
Britain's military deployment in southern Iraq is to be cut by 500 to 5,000 over the next few months, the Ministry of Defence announced yesterday, just six days after British troops withdrew from their base at Basra Palace. A battle group of 250 men from the King's Royal Hussars have been told they will be returning early to the UK within four weeks. Further reductions will be implemented in the coming months.
The MoD said that yesterday's announcement was part of a long-standing plan outlined in July when the Defence Secretary Des Browne said that troop numbers would be cut to 5,000 once Basra Palace was successfully handed over to Iraqi authorities. British troops are now based at Basra airport. An MoD spokesman said: 'This morning, the Kings Royal Hussars Battle Group - approximately 250 men - were told that as part of these reductions, their tour is being cut short and they will return to the UK over the course of the next four weeks. The remaining reductions will be achieved in the coming months as part of ongoing manpower reviews. Achieving these reductions has long been our stated aim.'
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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A small Sunni Arab political bloc has ended its boycott of Iraq's parliament, even as the senior US commander in Iraq says the country's leaders have failed to capitalise on security gains. The Iraqi National Dialogue Front, which has 11 seats in the 275-member legislature, had suspended its participation in June. The party said in a statement on Saturday that it had returned after the government met its demands. "The government has agreed to allocate funds to displaced families ... and it has agreed to delay negotations on the oil law until after Ramadan," it said.
The Sunni bloc was the last of several boycotting groups to return to the assembly, although the cabinet of Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, remains shaky after walkouts and resignations by 17 of 40 ministers.
Speaking from Amman, Jordan, the Iraqi National Dialogue Front's Saleh al-Mutlaq told Al Jazeera that al-Maliki's government would not be able solve the country's problems. "We need reconciliation, and this government cannot make reconciliation. We need a liberal government and this government is not liberal one, we need a secular government," he said. "Without such a government the violence will continue."
The return of the Sunni bloc will be a boost to the Iraqi assembly as it prepares to tackle several key pieces of legislation that Washington sees as benchmarks to measure Iraq's progress towards national unity.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal criticized an upcoming US-sponsored Mideast peace conference Saturday, saying Washington was trying to impose its agenda and widen divisions between the Palestinians. US President George W. Bush proposed the conference this summer after bloody Palestinian infighting split the Hamas and Fatah movements into two rival governments. His administration sees the bitter internal split as an opportunity to push for a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. "The international conference is a tool to be used by America to impose the US agenda and to embarrass Arabs into taking the side of American policy," Mashaal told Hizbullah's Al-Manar television.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah plans to attend the conference, but Hamas representatives have not been invited, given the group's continued refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. "America wants to engage the service of the conference to strengthen the Palestinian division," said Mashaal.
He argued that the meeting would lead "the Palestinians and Arabs into a tunnel of fruitless negotiations," especially if clear expectations were not established beforehand. "It is dangerous to deal with the American call or the Israeli call in an international meeting without accurate calculations ... as well as the conference's expected results," said Mashaal.
Washington has advertised the conference as a chance for Israelis, Palestinians and some of their Arab neighbors to discuss issues that have blocked restarting peace negotiations and setting up an independent Palestinian state. US officials said it was unlikely that Syria, a main backer of Hamas, would attend. Arab allies of the United States, however, were quick to welcome the proposal for the conference, which is expected to take place in Washington in November.
PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad asked the US government on Saturday to be painstaking in its preparations. The conference should produce "explicit agreement on the establishment of a Palestinian state ... and lay down a binding timetable and international guarantees for the completion of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement." Abbas has been meeting regularly with Israeli officials for several months about ways to revive the peace process. So far, there have been few concrete results, with Israel preferring to focus on general outlines and the Palestinians pressing for detailed talks on the main issues.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Really, I'd love to come back to lovely Gaza! I'd love to! But I've been exiled, dammit! Exiled!
Posted by: Destro in Panama ||
09/09/2007 5:03 Comments ||
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#4
Picked right up on that, did he? Curious how Mashaal continues to divide himself from his troops out of safety concerns. Anyone else sensing a pattern here?
Buoyed by the growing street protests against Hamas, Fatah leaders vowed over the weekend to step up their efforts to end the Islamist movement's rule in the Gaza Strip. Fatah and other PLO groups called for a general strike Sunday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in protest against Hamas. The strike is part of a wider campaign designed to undermine Hamas's power and rally the support of the Palestinian street behind Fatah, explained a senior Fatah official in Ramallah.
Hamas officials, on the other hand, described the protests as an attempt by Fatah to regain control over the Gaza Strip with the help of Israel and the US. They said Hamas would use an "iron fist" policy to thwart any attempt to plunge the Gaza Strip into anarchy.
Representatives of the two parties told The Jerusalem Post that they were expecting a "hot" Ramadan, which begins later this week, as tensions between Hamas and Fatah continue to mount.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Ramallah that Hamas "has dug its grave with its own hands." Referring to Friday's clashes between Fatah supporters and Hamas militiamen, in which dozens were hurt, he said: "The attacks by Hamas on innocent worshipers are painful. One feels ashamed that these Hamas gangs belong to the Palestinian people, who have struggled for decades against the [Israeli] occupation."
He also strongly condemned Hamas for beating a number of journalists who were covering the Friday confrontations. "How can they talk about democracy when they are beating and arresting journalists?" he asked. "The revolution of the masses in the Gaza Strip will continue until Hamas is brought down," said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a senior Fatah official and close aide to Abbas.
Condemning the use of force by Hamas militiamen to disperse Fatah supporters, he said: "These are barbaric acts carried out by Hamas gangs against worshipers and journalists. This proves that Hamas has lost control of the situation and is facing increased isolation."
The Fatah leader expressed confidence that the coming weeks would witness an upsurge in anti-Hamas protests in the Gaza Strip. "The Hamas gangs will pay a heavy price for their crimes," he added. "The day will come when they will be put on trial for their crimes against our people."
Fatah legislator Muhammad Dahlan said Hamas had "descended into moral, political, financial and social corruption." Hamas leaders, he added, are privately admitting that they have made mistakes and deviated from the teachings of Islam. In an interview with a Kuwaiti newspaper, Dahlan, who is currently on a visit to the UK, said many Palestinians have been leaving the Gaza Strip since Hamas's violent takeover last June. "The number of people leaving the Gaza Strip is the largest since 1948," he said. "Businessmen, students and academics are among those emigrating."
PA Minister for Prisoner Affairs Ashraf al-Ajrami said it was only a matter of time before the Palestinians "trampled Hamas with their shoes." Hamas, he said, will eventually "fall into a cup of water like a fly."
Hundreds of Fatah supporters on Friday defied a ban by Hamas and held an open-air Friday prayer in the center of Gaza City, triggering street clashes with members of Hamas's paramilitary Executive Force. The Hamas militiamen used clubs and tear gas to disperse the worshipers, some of whom were admitted to hospital for treatment. Several journalists who were at the scene were also beaten by the Hamas militiamen.
Earlier, the Hamas force rounded up several Fatah leaders in the Gaza Strip, including Zakariya al-Agha, Abbas's top confidant, in an attempt to prevent the prayer. All were released after being held in detention for several hours.
The Hamas government warned that the general strike planned for Sunday would rekindle internecine fighting, particularly in the Gaza Strip. "We won't allow anyone to impose a strike on the people by force," said a top Hamas official in Gaza City. "The strike serves the interests of Israel and poses a threat to Palestinian unity. It will also have a negative impact on all sectors."
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused the Fatah-controlled security forces in the West Bank of arresting hundreds of Hamas supporters and figures over the past few weeks. He also said that the PLO had lost its credibility among the Palestinians. "Why are the PLO leaders making a big fuss out of the brief detention of some Fatah officials while ignoring the crimes committed by Abbas's security forces against Hamas in the West Bank?" he asked. "Only last night Abbas's people torched three ambulances and kidnapped 10 Hamas supporters in various parts of the West Bank."
In a related development, the Fatah security forces in Nablus said they arrested the son of a Hamas legislator for "security reasons." They said the man, Muhammad al-Burini, 21, was arrested while leaving An-Najah University. His father, Hosni al-Burini, is a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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One of the worlds most respected Deobandi scholars believes that aggressive military jihad should be waged by Muslims to establish the supremacy of Islam worldwide.
Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani argues that Muslims should live peacefully in countries such as Britain, where they have the freedom to practise Islam, only until they gain enough power to engage in battle.
His views explode the myth that the creed of offensive, expansionist jihad represents a distortion of traditional Islamic thinking.
Mr Usmani, 64, sat for 20 years as a Sharia judge in Pakistans Supreme Court. He is an adviser to several global financial institutions and a regular visitor to Britain. Polite and softly spoken, he revealed to The Times a detailed knowledge of world events and his words, for the most part, were balanced and considered.
He agreed that it was wrong to suggest that the entire nonMuslim world was intent on destroying Islam. Yet this is a man who, in his published work, argues the case for Muslims to wage an expansionist war against nonMuslim lands.
Mr Usmanis justification for aggressive military jihad as a means of establishing global Islamic supremacy is revealed at the climax of his book, Islam and Modernism. The work is a polemic against Islamic modernists who seek to convert the entire Koran into a poetic and metaphorical book because, he says, they have been bewitched by Western culture and ideology.
The final chapter delivers a rebuke to those who believe that only defensive jihad (fighting to defend a Muslim land that is under attack or occupation) is permissible in Islam. He refutes the suggestion that jihad is unlawful against a nonMuslim state that freely permits the preaching of Islam.
For Mr Usmani, the question is whether aggressive battle is by itself commendable or not. If it is, why should the Muslims stop simply because territorial expansion in these days is regarded as bad? And if it is not commendable, but deplorable, why did Islam not stop it in the past?
He answers his own question thus: Even in those days . . . aggressive jihads were waged . . . because it was truly commendable for establishing the grandeur of the religion of Allah.
These words are not the product of a radical extremist. They come from the pen of one of the most acclaimed scholars in the Deobandi tradition.
Mr Usmani told The Times that Islam and Modernism was an English translation of his original Urdu book, which at times gives a connotation different from the original.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
These words are not the product of a radical extremist. They come from the pen of one of the most acclaimed scholars in the Deobandi tradition.
Like I said yesterday, I didn't realize there was a difference.
And who's the starry eyed dunce who wrote this that thinks that there is?
#4
It is with great sorrow that I have had to add Osama bin Laden's name back onto the same list that I have cheerfully added that of Muhammad Taqi Usmani.
Kill these less than two score of big turbans and we will have made huge strides in winning the war on global terrorism:
1. Osama bin Laden
2. Ayman al-Zawahiri
3. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
4. Ayatolla Kahmeini
5. Mullah Muhammad Omar
6. Abu Bakar Ba'asyir (Bashir)
7. Moqtada Sadr,
8. Abu Hamza al-Masri,
9. Mullah Krekar (AKA: Abu Sayyid Qutb),
10. Khaled Meshal
11. Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
12. Ismail Haniya
13. Mohammed Abbas
14. Yusuf al-Qaradawi
15. Tariq Ramadan
16. Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilali
17. imam Omar Bakri Mohammed
18. imam Abdel-Samie Mahmoud Ibrahim Moussa
19. imam Sheikh SyeSyed Mubarik Ali Gilani
20. Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal
21. Sheik Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi
22. Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar
23. Prince Sultan Ibn Abd al-Aziz
24. Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz
25. Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz
26. Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Once again, a bottom-up strategy against Islam WILL NOT WORK. Only a top-down approach will yield any results.
#6
Kill these less than two score of big turbans and we will have made huge strides in winning the war on global terrorism:
Bull. The root of the problem will still be there. I'm not saying these people should be allowed to live, but I doubt we'd make any meaningful progress with their deaths.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/09/2007 10:37 Comments ||
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#7
Even in those days . . . aggressive jihads were waged . . . because it was truly commendable for establishing the grandeur of the religion of Allah.
Ergo, you're objection to the "Crusades" was that it was done upon you rather than you doing it upon other? Seems clear to me.
Nowhere do I argue otherwise. The fact still remains that terrorist organizations rely heavily upon personal networks and secretive contact structures. Quite often all of these pivot upon the trust of one specific individual. By their very nature terrorist organizations are not transparent. Leadership intentionally does not share knowledge or resources save on a need-to-know basis. Decapitating these central figures cripples the daily operations of these organizations. Wretchard's observations about Palestinian terrorists apply as a whole to Islamic terrorism in general:
The Israeli strike against the terrorist top tier exploits the weakness inherent in terrorist organizations which are unstable alliances based on a delicate balance of internal intimidation. None of them, the Palestinian Authority included, are either transparent or accountable. They are exceptionally vulnerable to changes in their leadership. They can stand the loss of any number of teenage fighters or youthful suicide bombers without much damage but are rocked -- as Yassin's death illustrates -- by death at the top.
Islamic societies are high context cultures. Vital information is treated as arcane knowledge in order to eliminate competition while maximizing personal advantage and prestige. For Westerners in low context societies, these concepts often seem alien and incomprehensible. The crippling effects of high context culture are visible wherever it manifests. China and Japan both suffer from debilitating superiority complexes and institutionalized xenophobia which confer few benefits in exchange. The authoritarian structure of both societies historically has limited their scope of innovation and creativity. Islam takes high context culture to its pinnacle nadir. Violence substitutes for problem-solving, lies and deceit displace honest negotiation, xenophobia is expanded to include Abject Gender Apartheid and all of this is used to prop up a societal construct so brittle that political or religious freedom cannot be tolerated for an instant.
It is precisely this "brittleness" that I propose we should take advantage of. Witness howsince Yassin and Rantissi's deaththe Palestinians are fragmented and utterly adrift politically. High context cultures center upon strongman-style leadership. Eliminating those political centers of gravity has an intensely destabilizing effect. One need only to examine post-Saddam Iraq for proof of this.
No, killing the above list of Islam's elite will not uproot the central problem, which is Islam itself. However, it will certainly take a huge amount of wind out of terrorism's sails and leave it rudderless at a very vulnerable point in time. Either we deal strategic body-blows to Islam's aristocracy or we carpet bomb entire nations into bloody mud. I'd prefer that we try terminating terrorism's kingpins before moving on to more drastic measures.
#9
Killing a few islamic leaders will have almost no effect. Nazi Party peak membership was 7 million. Not coincidentally, that's also the number of Germans killed on WW2. Islam membership is 98+% in most muslim countries. In other words they have a hell lot more depth that the Nazis or Commies could ever dream of. Victory means pushing the muslims into smaller and smaller territory until none exists. Welcome to the Hundred Years War, Part II.
Posted by: ed ||
09/09/2007 12:02 Comments ||
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#10
Killing a few islamic leaders will have almost no effect.
How do you reconcile that with the way Yassin's death induced Palestinian chaos?
In other words they have a hell lot more depth that the Nazis or Commies
In light of how the vast majority of Muslims subsist in poverty level conditions, their ability to participate or contribute cannot be compared with low context Nazi Germany. Germany's general WWII population represented "interchangable parts" to a far greater degree than an average Muslim does for modern terrorism. The overall education and income levels of Nazi German citizens made them highly useful towards achieving party goals. Nowhere does that apply to the world's Muslim population as a whole. Consider how Islam's clerical elite routinely monopolize wealth and knowledge. It is this lopsided aspect of high context Muslim culture that I seek to capitalize upon through targeted killings.
Make no mistake, I agree that Islam is the real problem but we owe it to ourselves to try summary executions over mass annihilation. If you recall my own prediction of a Muslim holocaust, then it should be clear that I do not hold out a lot of hope either. If only for the sake of moral clarity, we need to try this as a precursor to far more destructive measures.
#11
Killing a few islamic leaders will have almost no effect
fine. How about killing a lot of Islamic Leaders. Think that would? I do
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2007 12:43 Comments ||
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#12
Islamo-fascism is not driven from below... it is a creation of the educated elite of certain Muslim states, a reaction to loss of political, military and economic power.
Islamism survives because the hard core shelters within a larger population that is easily influenced by mullahs and political leaders. This is the mass base that guarantees that other groups cannot threaten the Islamist core elite.
Also essential to the survival of the hard core is another group, one that presents a 'moderate' westernized lifestyle to the outside. If this group did not exist, open conflict with militarily superior states would destroy the Islamists.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/09/2007 13:05 Comments ||
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#13
Zenster, the 26 on your list are not even a drop in a sea. In the islamic world there are more mosques than gas stations and just about every imam in them would be a bin Laden or Khomenei if given the opportunity because that is what the koran tells them to do. Now are you advocating dropping a 2000 pounder on each and every mosque during Friday prayers? I do believe it will come to that and more, but the political conditions are not yet set for that.
Posted by: ed ||
09/09/2007 13:09 Comments ||
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#14
just about every imam in them would be a bin Laden or Khomenei if given the opportunity because that is what the koran tells them to do.
Desire does not equate to actuality. As john frum notes:
Islamo-fascism is not driven from below... it is a creation of the educated elite of certain Muslim states [snip] Islamism survives because the hard core shelters within a larger population that is easily influenced by mullahs and political leaders.
The garden variety mullah or imam commands nowhere near enough power or economic might to assume the stature of those I have listed. If you want the sea to be safer, you don't kill the mudsharks. You go after the great whites, hammerheads and makos. The same applies to Islam, go after the big predators.
are you advocating dropping a 2000 pounder on each and every mosque during Friday prayers?
Not yet. I'd like to try something a little less drastic. Like I said, if only for the moral clarity.
I do believe it will come to that and more, but the political conditions are not yet set for that.
I agree. I also think that one of the precursors to those "political conditions" involves firing an unmistakable shot across Islam's bow. Capping their board of directors is that sort of message. If such a measure does not give Islam some sort of pause, then that will be a clear signal to the West that Islam is incorrigible and requires sterilization.
I want a world free of Islam's threat. Period. While I do believe in incremental escalation, I do not think that the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq even qualify as part of that scheme. The immense scope of this issue requires much more specific measures with exceptionally vivid consequences. Nothing to date has provided Islam with such an unequivocal object lesson. Should the loss of their aristocracy give Islam not even the least pause, then that will be all the justification we need for escalating to whatever degree that delivers indisputable victory.
#15
I disagree "islamo-fascism" (I call it islam-in-action) is a top down enterprise. It's not like there is a Hitler leading and making it up as it goes. Islamic ideology has been frozen in amber poop for near 1400 years and is available to any muslim who can read. Anyone who calls islam a peaceful ideology has not read the koran is is lying his ass off. So assassinating a Yasin has little effect. There are many Mashaals or Haniyas waiting for their chance to try on the golden turban. Taking away land, resources, breeding stock is what will defeat islam, not letting them colonize our lands or shoveling money at them.
Posted by: ed ||
09/09/2007 15:01 Comments ||
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#16
I disagree "islamo-fascism" (I call it islam-in-action) is a top down enterprise. It's not like there is a Hitler leading and making it up as it goes.
Islam's lack of a central authority figure in no way prevents if from being a top-down operation. The absence of a Pope or Führer does not change how an elite class dictates much of Islam's current direction. Witness how petro-dollar driven Saudi Wahhabism has installed itself at Islam's helm. I think it's a very worthwhile experiment to scrape away this gang of überthugs and see if Islam makes any course correction.
So assassinating a Yasin has little effect.
I would hardly call the current Palestinian chaos a "little effect". Yes, there are plenty of other pretenders to the throne but look at how few of them wield the "moral" authority or even sheer popularity of Yassin. I'll also ask you to please imagine the non-trivial amount of bloodshed that would likely ensue from consequent squabbling over the positions vacated on my list. That fallout alone would be worth the price of admission.
Taking away land, resources, breeding stock is what will defeat islam, not letting them colonize our lands or shoveling money at them.
Agreed, completely. Unfortunately, the hot wars required to achieve those goals you mention simply are not affordable. What's more, I no longer place sufficient value on Muslim lives where I'm willing to have our military suffer the huge casualties involved in delicately winnowing out Islam's gangsters. If Islam does not clean its own house, the "moderate" Muslim baby will be thrown out along with the jihadist bathwater. After all, if Muslims refuse to clean house, that is a tacit admission of support for jihad.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/09/2007 15:45 Comments ||
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#18
Wipe out ALL muslim leaders you can name. Hell, wipe out the top 10% of the muslim socio-economic elite. Abra-cadabra. Now would jihad, muslim imperialism, islamo-fascism, islamic supremacy, islam-in-action, whatever, disappear? Of course not. It would still menace the non-muslim peoples just as soon the muslims can reorganize their never ending schemes to conquer the world. It is a bottom up ideology because the muslims' lust for domination is embedded in the hearts of the muslim masses. Just because leadership arise to try and take advantage of this desire does not make it a top down enterprise. Otherwise by this definition, there is no such thing as a bottom up mass movement. The evil lurks in the hearts of the muslims themselves.
Posted by: ed ||
09/09/2007 16:32 Comments ||
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#19
Ever heard of Sayyid Qutb? Sayed Maududi?
Were Sayyid Qutb still alive, he would top the list before Osama bin Laden.
Now would jihad, muslim imperialism, islamo-fascism, islamic supremacy, islam-in-action, whatever, disappear?
Nobody is insisting that it will. What I am saying is that such a move would certainly buy the West a much-needed bit of breathing room. It would also generate some well-deserved chaos amongst Islam's own ranks. Further, it would providewhat would probably bea last and only opportunity for moderates to somehow sieze Islam's tiller.
More than anything, it would be a crystal clear message to all Islam that the West's patience has reached an end. While that may sound obvious, nowhere has there been sufficiently serious rhetoric plainly spelling out to Islam the severe consequences that await any refusal to reform.
While I am in no way optimistic about this matter, some billion people certainly deserve at least one last chance to realize the error of their ways. Furthermore, we in the West must obtain sufficient moral certainty to act with determination and finality once all options have been exhausted. Such clarity will only derive from having given Islamnot every but at leastone solid last chance to rehabilitate itself.
If we were to clear Islam's stage of all its leading radical lights only to watch Muslims cheer to the podium another round of jihadist players, that would serve as final notice to the West of what we could expect. Sad as it may seem, we currently suffer from so much uncertainty that such a demonstrative scenario will most likely be required.
I propose we enact that scenario right away. It makes no sense to piddle around with in-country conflicts when the actual issue at hand crosses so many international borders. Add to this Islam's love of stateless proxy aggressors and the need to move up the time-frame of any resolution becomes obvious.
Finally, we simply do not have the luxury of time. Iran's race towards nuclear empowerment is emblematic of an overall proliferation of atomic weapons amongst Muslim majority nations. This is wholly unacceptable in every respect and warrants immediate action all by itself.
It is a bottom up ideology because the muslims' lust for domination is embedded in the hearts of the muslim masses. Just because leadership arise to try and take advantage of this desire does not make it a top down enterprise.
ed, here you make a damn fine point. While I could try and show how this lust for domination largely results from radicalization, at day's end the bulk of this globe's Muslim community DOES NOT reject such imperialism and thereby proves your point.
More than anything, ed, please permit me to express some real appreciation for your willingness to constructively engage on this topic. It is odd in the extreme to note how so few of Rantburg's heavy hitters have bothered to weigh in on this very timely issue.
Againall said and doneI believe rather firmly that we share quite similar goals and hopes for this world. Rest assured that both of us look forward to a time when airline security will no longer be so critical and not one single woman on earth worries about genital mutilation.
#20
Were Sayyid Qutb still alive, he would top the list before Osama bin Laden.
Actually that was directed at Ed.
Point is Islamofascism is NOT 7th century Islam.
The ideology as developed by Qutb and Maududi is a fusion of post-enlightenment western ideas, especially fascism and fundamentalist Islam.
It has an ideology and very powerful patrons.
It can be decapitated. It can be discredited by humiliation and military defeat, leaving others the space to create a version of Islam compatible with the modern civilization. The Muslim masses will follow.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/09/2007 20:24 Comments ||
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#21
Actually that was directed at Ed.
I knew that, john. Thank you, anyway.
It can be decapitated. It can be discredited by humiliation and military defeat, leaving others the space to create a version of Islam compatible with the modern civilization.
We should all hope he's right. Otherwise doing what's needed to rid the world of Islamofascism will be expensive for everyone, even if most expensive for the ummah.
Major General Torgeir Hagen says that the Intelligence Service is charting Iran's possible nuclear weapons program, registering threat against Norway's allies, and at the same time securing Norwegian interests in the country.
Researcher at the the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), professor Daniel Heradstveit, says he is deeply shocked by the news that Norwegian intelligence is operating inside Iran.
As a small state we rather ought to take on the role of bridge builder towards Iran. But here we stand as a small nation and do the work that could be done by the larger nations, Heradstveit says.
It is known that Norway has for years contributed intelligence to US and British military operations around the world.
According to NRK, Norway has mounted extensive intelligence operations in the Balcans, Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan.
#3
Traitor and Saboteur Researcher at the the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), professor Daniel Heradstveit, says he is deeply shocked aggrieved by the news that Norwegian intelligence is operating inside Iran.
"Top [Syrian] political and military men are examining a series of potential responses. The results will come soon enough," Syrian Vice President Farouk a-Shara said Saturday evening, referring to the alleged IAF foray into Syrian airspace undertaken, so Syria claims, Wednesday overnight. A-Shara, speaking to the Italian La Republica, revealed no other details, saying the matter was of "top national security."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
If it's Israeli, and it can fly, I'd have it up over Syria this afternoon...
Hezbollah has been often accused of imposing a forceful monopoly over its Shiite followers. On Saturday, thousands attended the launching of an anti-Hezbollah (and anti-Amal) democratic Shiite movement called the "Lebanese Choice". More than 5,000 people took part in the inauguration of Lebanese Choice. The crowds came from the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, as well as from Hermel, Zahle and the Western Bekaa Valley to attend the launching of the Lebanese Choice, a movement that finally gives people from outside the Shiite Hizbullah and Amal parties a voice.
Personalities and tribes from renowned families like al-Masri, Jaafar, Hamiyeh, Nassereddine, Laqqis and Meqdad were also present at the opening ceremony which took place at a restaurant in Baalbek late Friday. "The Lebanese Choice is a reflection of our firm belief in Lebanon's unity," said a statement by the group. "The Lebanese Choice does not declare that it can change the Lebanese equation But it hopes to be able to propose a Lebanese viewpoint," the statement added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Finally, a political party that will oppress and maim for the RIGHT reasons!
Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun hinted at the formation of a parallel government if the country's competing political camps fail to agree on the next president for Lebanon. "The second government will include members of all (the country's) religious sects in line with the proposal of President (Emile) Lahoud," Aoun told Dubai Satellite Channel.
Lahoud has said he would name army commander General Michel Suleiman as his provisional successor if Parliament fails to elect a head of state by Nov. 24. Aoun said the Hezbollah -led opposition was seeking to unify its ranks in a new government, stressing that he will not "abandon Hezbollah for the sake of March 14 Forces."
According to the constitution the head of the government should be a Muslim Sunnite. Since Aoun is a Christian Maronite , any government he may try to form will be considered illegitimate and won't be recognized by the world community and the Arab countries. The only 2 countries that could recognize such an illegitimate government would be Syria and Iran.
Aoun accused the United States of political discrimination. "The blind American support for the Siniora government is obvious America became a party in the conflict between (government) opponents and followers," Aoun said.
US ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman said Aoun sounded just like Syrian minister Buthaina Shaaban in his criticism of the United States. Ms. Shaaban is the minister of expatriates and an outspoken critic of the US.
Meanwhile, Maronite Patriarch Boutros Sfeir told LBC television that "we want a president who is at an equal distance from all the political parties," stressing that the new head of state has also go to be "accepted by all." Sfeir's remarks came following talks in the Vatican with Pope Benedict XVI, who was reportedly praying for Lebanon to appoint the next president in line with the constitutional deadline. "The new president has to be a fair and just man, who will be the pride of the nation and not come on the throne to fill his pockets or cause any trouble," Sfeir stressed.
This obviously rules out any chances for Aoun, because he is viewed by political analysts as the most polarizing politician in Lebanon. Aoun's alliance with Hezbollah is considered by most analysts "as the cause of Lebanon's ills add to this his obnoxious character which has gained him many enemies".
The summer war and the occupation of downtown Beirut by Hezbollah and Aoun's FPM has angered many Lebanese and forced the emigration of many who no longer see a future for them in Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Ah, the people of Lebanon are getting just what they voted for. Cheers!
Iran on Saturday said a US federal court decision to fine Tehran 2.65 billion dollars for the 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut was baseless and aimed at plundering Iranian assets.
This decision is baseless. Unfortunately some courts in the United States, without listening to the other sides views and without investigation, issue verdicts that are not legally defendable, Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.
These decision show political pressures to plunder Irans assets in the US, he said, adding that Tehran would follow up the case through its representative at the United Nations. On Friday, a US federal court ruled that the Islamic republic should pay out the sum to the families of 241 soldiers killed in the 1983 bombing. The victims families hope to get restitution from Iranian funds blocked in US banks since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Tehran that overthrew the US-backed shahs regime.
A previous court ruling in 2003 held that Iran provided financial and logistical help for the lethal 1983 attack allegedly carried out by Lebanons pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah. While Iran denies responsibility for the bombing, it played an instrumental role in the founding of Hezbollah in the 1980s.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The United States voiced irritation on Friday with the head of the UNs nuclear watchdog body after he rebuked critics of a cooperation deal with Iran as well as those beating war drums against Tehran. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters he was tired of back-seat drivers putting in their five cents by criticizing an agreement the IAEA has made with Iran.
Under the Aug. 21 deal, the IAEA and Tehran agreed on a rough timetable for addressing lingering questions about Irans nuclear activities.
Asked about ElBaradeis criticism, which appeared targeted at the United States, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said he hoped the IAEA chiefs words were not aimed at Washington. I would certainly hope that those kind of comments would not be referring to the United States. They certainly would not be true, Casey told reporters.
I would certainly hope that everyone - Dr ElBaradei included - would focus on what the real issues are here, added Casey, referring to Western powers demand that Iran give up its sensitive nuclear work.
Tensions have risen in recent months between the Bush administration and ElBaradei, who angered the United States when he said in June that the world risked a war because of new crazies pushing for military action against Iran. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has had sharp words for ElBaradei, accusing him in June of muddying the message to Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
ElBaradei needs to do something that rhymes with his name's last syllable.
#2
A native Eygyptian, ElBaradei explained to the Cairo Times (October 23, 2003): "You remember that book called 'All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?' Well that's very much true. I find a lot in common in the way I manage things and the way she [Aida Elkachef] manages three-year olds. We humans are the same when we are three years old and when we are 50!"
Posted by: Boss Craising2882 ||
09/09/2007 4:44 Comments ||
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#3
ElBaradei needs to do something that rhymes with his name's last syllable.
His name would have to be ElBaradiyya for what I'm thinking to work. I guess I'll have to settle for "lie".
I find a lot in common in the way I manage things and the way she [Aida Elkachef] manages three-year olds.
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.
President Bush's war strategy is failing and the top military commander in Iraq is "dead flat wrong" for warning against major changes, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday. 
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) Republican presidential candidate John McCain warned Saturday that U.S. failure in Iraq would eventually pull America into a "wider and more difficult war" in the troubled region.
The troop reduction announcement came as a key British figure in Iraq told how he chatted with 'furious' UK-born Muslims who had travelled to the Middle East to join the insurgency against British and American troops. Canon Andrew White, a close colleague of the ex-Arch
Buoyed by the growing street protests against Hamas, Fatah leaders vowed over the weekend to step up their efforts to end the Islamist movement's rule in the Gaza Strip. Fatah and other PLO groups called for a general strike Sunday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in protest against Hamas. The strike is part of a wider campaign designed to undermine Hamas's power and rally the support of the Palestinian street behind Fatah, explained a senior Fatah official in Ramallah. 
The United States voiced irritation on Friday with the head of the UNs nuclear watchdog body after he rebuked critics of a cooperation deal with Iran as well as those beating war drums against Tehran. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters he was tired of back-seat drivers putting in their five cents by criticizing an agreement the IAEA has made with Iran. 
