July 11, 2011
They are not waiting until they are older to use them, either. "War is deceit," Muhammad said, and the use of child soldiers is a sick win-win situation for the jihadists: they have a better chance of landing a successful attack with a less suspicious-looking bomber, and any potential self-defense undertaken by the target can be spun as the infidel enemy deliberately harming children.
So far, this phenomenon has been cause for no particular outrage in Muslim countries, or at least nowhere near on the level of what, for example, a cartoon can elicit."Video shows children of killed Taliban fighters being trained to kill our troops," by Nick Owens for the Sunday Mirror, July 10:
So far, this phenomenon has been cause for no particular outrage in Muslim countries, or at least nowhere near on the level of what, for example, a cartoon can elicit."Video shows children of killed Taliban fighters being trained to kill our troops," by Nick Owens for the Sunday Mirror, July 10:
Taking aim with AK-47 machine guns – these are children of Taliban “martyrs” being trained to replace their fathers.
The chilling video was shot at an Al Qaeda camp where boys as young as THREE are turned into trained killers ready to wage war on British soldiers.
It shows how, in the wake of its leader Osama Bin Laden’s death in May, his terror group is brainwashing a new generation of child soldiers. British commanders in Afghanistan say children are increasingly used as suicide bombers and human shields during battles.
In the most disturbing sections of the video children appear anxious and unhappy as they are trained with guns. The film also shows a “dentist” pulling a child’s back tooth out with a pair of pliers for an initiation ritual.
The footage, filmed in North Waziristan near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, was obtained by our investigators after it was posted on an underground Al Qaeda website. It was issued by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which acts as a “foreign legion” supplying fighters to wage war alongside the Taliban.
Wherever Sharia begins to take hold, and wherever its proponents become emboldened, similar patterns of behavior follow, whether in Tunisia, Aceh, Kashmir, or Tower Hamlets in London. Tolerance decreases, harassment increases, and basic civil liberties are threatened. More on this story. "Tunisian Secularists Fight Back," by David E. Miller for The Media Line, July 10:
Fearing the gradual religious takeover of a country widely considered the most progressive in the Arab world, liberal and secular Tunisians have begun asserting their country's freedom of faith.
At least 1,000 Tunisians demonstrated in the capital Tunis on Thursday to voice their support for Tunisia's secular character which they feel is now under threat. They waved banners reading "I am free" and "Tunisia for all,” “Extremism out” and "A modern, independent Tunisia."
Many Tunisians fear the growing assertiveness of militant Islam following a June 26 attack on a Tunis cinema which showed a film advocating secularism. A gang of some 100 bearded men shouting "God it great" [sic] stormed Cinema Afrique, smashing windows and attacking the audience of the film Neither Allah, nor Master by Tunisian-French director Nadia El-Fani, a known critic of Islamization.
"A large part of Tunisian society feels it may lose many of its liberties," Rashid Khashana, a former editor in chief of Al-Mawkif, an opposition newspaper, told The Media Line. He said that the attack on the cinema was perpetrated by Tunisian Salafis, or Islamic fundamentalists, whose leader, Saif Allah Bin Hussein, was trained in Afghanistan and shared the ideology of Al-Qaida.
Khashana said that Tunisia has experienced a surge of Islamism since a popular revolution ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January. Women wearing bikinis at the beach have been harassed, while extremists in southern Tunisia expelled musicians coming to entertain Libyan refugees in May on the grounds that music was against Islamic law.Muhammad did not mince words on his hatred of music.
"It's normal for differences to emerge in society after a revolution," Khashana said. "But at the end, Tunisians will return to what they have been for 14 centuries: Muslim, Sunni, moderate and open to other cultures."Two out of four seem like a safe bet...
"... Because they carry the status of ex-service men, they are easily allowed entry into any military and para-military formations."
"War is deceit," Muhammad said. "‘Ex-service men, undergrads are members of Boko Haram strike force’," by Albert Akpor for the Vanguard, July 11:
"War is deceit," Muhammad said. "‘Ex-service men, undergrads are members of Boko Haram strike force’," by Albert Akpor for the Vanguard, July 11:
LAGOS— Revelations emerged, weekend, that the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, has undergraduates, retired and dismissed service men as members of its strike force.
This came as indications also emerged that the lone bomber who attempted to blow off the LouisEdet House, Police Force Headquarters building, Abuja was present at the commissioning of Armoured Personnel Carriers, APCs and other crime fighting aids in Maiduguri by the Inspector-General of Police, MrHafiz Ringim few days before the incident.
Sources said the ex-servicemen and students are those who go into Police barracks and stations including other security formations, gather intelligence reports about the area and report back to their leaders.
According to sources, because they carry the status of ex-service men, they are easily allowed entry into any military and para-military formations. It was gathered that the students go into police stations to lay flimsy reports at the counter with a view to ascertaining the strength as well as agility of men and officers on duty.
According to a source, “some of these undergraduate go into the stations for one reason or the other but what they are actually taking stock of is how many men and officers are in the station. Thereafter, before you know it, their members would appear and wreak havoc.
“Again, those ex-service men, who of course are aware of the weekly activities of the military and para-military, especially the police, would come into police stations on Mondays when they know that the Divisional Police Office would be briefing his men and quickly report back to their members and before you know it, they would strike. That is why it had been difficult to combat their menace.
“This added to the fact that Hajib-wearing [sic] Muslim women are some of those who carry bombs and hand grenades across any police or security checkpoint. You cannot search these women because it will amount to indecent assault.
When they pass, the explosives will be transferred to waiting members or even cripples at the gates of any security formations begging for alms. So you will discover that immediately these women pass checkpoints, explosions will happen.”
Most of the daylight shootings were being perpetrated by the ex-service men, of course, you will agree with me that no untrained man can comfortably handle SMG and even have the guts to stand before police men and start firing. The average illiterate member of Boko Haram strikes at churches and residents of perceived enemies and not security formations.”...
Jihad causes poverty, in an update on this story. "Nigeria: Thousands Jobless After Motorcycle Ban," from the Associated Press, July 8:
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) - A motorcycle ban intended to curb drive-by killings in Nigeria's restive northeast has put thousands of motorcycle taxi drivers out of work, a union leader said Friday.
Kaigama Mohammed, the Borno State chairman of the Motorcycle Transport Union of Nigeria, said the move has affected some 7,000 drivers in the urban centers of Maiduguri and Jere.
The government ban is a last-ditch effort to put an end to regular motorcycle-mounted attacks which have claimed dozens of lives in the area. Authorities blame a radical Muslim sect locally known as Boko Haram for the killings which have targeted police officers, soldiers, clerics and local leaders.
"The governor told me that the security of the state and its citizens take precedence over everything else," Mohammed said. Police have also installed numerous checkpoints in an effort to catch sect members.
Boko Haram, which wants the strict implementation of Shariah law across Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north, has also attacked local beer parlors, churches and engineered a massive prison break. The continued violence in the area has left residents in fear as federal authorities seem unable to stop the group from attacking at will.
The state government promised to provide 5,000 rickshaws and new buses to make up for the motorcycles, but drivers and commuters are unhappy about the sudden move.
"I have lost my only source of income and parked my motorcycle at home. Now, how do I feed myself, wife and my five children?" said Tijani Bulama, a 45-year old driver.
A commuter, John Tize, 34, said his eight children walked for 45 minutes Friday to get to school because he couldn't afford to pay for bus fares.
Boko Haram was thought to be destroyed in 2009 after Nigeria's military crushed its mosque into concrete shards and its leader was arrested and died in police custody. However, the group has been carrying out a series of attacks, including a bombing last month at national police headquarters in the capital of Abuja that killed at least two people.
This story is from more than a few days ago, but the situation in Nigeria has certainly not changed since then. The need for metal detectors is another costly disruption resulting from Boko Haram's jihad. "Churches in Nigeria install metal detectors after bomb threats," by Ayinde O. Chase for All Headline News, June 30:
Churches in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria are now being fitted with metal detectors because of threats of bomb attacks. Worshippers in Christian churches are also having their bags and persons searched over fears of explosives being smuggled inside.
Nigerians, who give gifts frequently, are being warned that the gifts, too, can be rigged to explode.
The unusual measures were precipitated by several bombing attacks against churches in the region attributed to the radical Islamic group Boko Haram.
Last Christmas Eve, more than 80 people were killed in numerous attacks in the region.
Just last weekend, Boko Haram killed 25 people during attacks on several beer gardens in the city of Maidugur.
A week prior to that, eight people were killed when Boko Haram attacked police headquarters in the capital Abuja.
The churches in the northern region are not the only places where heightened security is being put in place. In Abuja, a 10 p.m. curfew was imposed on Wednesday through much of the city.
Boko Haram says it is fighting for Islamic rule, and campaigns against all political and social activity associated with the West.It doesn't just "campaign." It commits murder.
July 10, 2011
Video | News | Weather | Sports 2011-07-09 17:42:20.0
Kirkland 6-year-old patted down by TSA agents
A Kirkland family has filed a complaint claiming their 6-year-old son was singled out by TSA for a hand-search. KING 5’s Tonya Mosley has the story. view full article
There is no distinction within Sharia between what they're asking for below and the aspects of Sharia that are opposed to basic human rights. How will Muslims in Australia make that distinction? Or will they care to do so at all?
"Give us our own laws, say Islamic leaders," by John Masanauskas in the Herald Sun, July 11:
"Give us our own laws, say Islamic leaders," by John Masanauskas in the Herald Sun, July 11:
ISLAMIC leaders want Muslims in Australia to get interest-free loans for religious reasons. The nation's Islamic leaders want recognition of sharia law as it applies to banking practices, according to an exclusive Herald Sun survey of imams.
There was also a call for recognition of sharia law as it applies to family law.
The survey showed some imams are sceptical that Osama bin Laden's death will be of benefit to ordinary Muslims, and they are unhappy with the way US forces disposed of his body.
The survey has also revealed:
STRONG condemnation of MPs who criticise Muslim women for wearing the burqa/nijab.
CONCERN that ordinary Muslims are still being linked to terrorism.
DISGUST that innocent people in Muslim countries are being killed in the "war on terror"....
Let him speak. Let the world hear him preach Islam and jihad and explain that that was why he murdered thirteen people in cold blood. Let the world see a jihadist justifying his actions. "Fort Hood suspect's defense has few options," by Angela K. Brown for the Associated Press, July 9:
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — More than two dozen soldiers have testified about the day they were shot in a crowded Fort Hood building in November 2009. Some told of looking the gunman in the eye as he fired. A Senate investigation has announced its findings about the suspect: before the rampage, the Army psychiatrist had become an Islamic extremist and a "ticking time bomb." Now the defense team for Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, faces what seems like an impossible task of preventing a conviction and potential death sentence in one of the highest profile cases in military history.Akbar was not mentally ill unless jihad is a mental illness.
Hasan, 40, who remains jailed and was paralyzed after police shot him that day, could go to trial later this year at Fort Hood, the Texas Army post about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of Fort Worth. On Wednesday, Fort Hood's commander ordered Hasan, who is of Palestinian descent, to stand trial after reviewing documents from last fall's evidentiary hearing.
For the defense lawyers, "there are huge challenges in this case — challenges that may not be present in other capital cases," said Richard Stevens, a military defense attorney who is not involved in the case....
"People will want to hear the other side during the court-martial, but what could he possibly say in his defense?" said Staff Sgt. Jeannette Juroff, who was working in a nearby building that day and helped wounded soldiers....
A U.S. Senate report released earlier this year charges that evidence of Hasan's radicalization was "on full display" to his military superiors, and that an instructor and colleague "each referred to Hasan as a 'ticking time bomb,'" but no action was taken to discharge him and his evaluations were sanitized.
A joint terrorism task force overseen by the FBI learned late in 2009 of Hasan's repeated contact with U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who encouraged Muslims to kill U.S. troops in Iraq. The FBI has said the task force did not refer early information about Hasan to his military superiors because it concluded he wasn't linked to terrorism....
But Hasan's defense team could argue that he has mental illness without using an insanity defense — especially if he's convicted and they are trying to avoid a death sentence.
"Sometimes one prong of the (mental health evaluation) report will show that a defendant has a mental issue like depression, and the defense can use whatever is in that report at sentencing as mitigating factors," said Greg T. Rinckey, a New York attorney who defends military clients and is not involved with the Hasan case.
That defense tactic was used in the 2005 trial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar. His attorneys didn't dispute that he threw grenades into fellow soldiers' tents in Kuwait in 2003 and then fired on them. But they said he was mentally ill — although legally sane. Akbar was convicted and sentenced to death. His case remains on appeal....
Yesterday's opposition rally in downtown Kuala Lumpur is now history, and in the aftermath is being frantically spun by both sides as maneuvering continues in the court of public opinion. The rally has been proclaimed as a 'victory' by both. The opposition and Bersih managed to get its message of electoral reform a significant amount of publicity, both here and abroad, as well as successfully assemble a large number of protesters in the downtown area (most sources say about 20,000) despite a massive police presence.
On the other hand, the government is spinning this as a victory, having successfully made mass arrests (1600+), arrested major opposition figures, and having kept the thousands who did show up from being able to organize as they had planned. The government is also stressing the disruption, damage, and economic losses taken by downtown merchants who lost an entire day's worth of business on what should normally have been a lucrative day on a weekend.
Now that Prime Minister Najib is back from his European tour and his visit with the pope, which was all about looking 'moderate' to the dhimmis back home, he's back to playing up to his base here in Malaysia. Namely, his not-so-moderate, decidedly Islamic base. "Najib ridicules Bersih, says Umno not afraid of fair elections", from The Malaysian Insider, 10 July 2011:
Consequently, Malaysian government newspapers are busy spinning Bersih as infidels versus Muslims and Islam. One Malay (Islamic) newspaper called Utusan Malaysia has estimated that 70% of those who attended the recent launch of the 'Bersih 2.0' movement were non Muslim. Additionally, Bersih is being reported by the same paper as being funded by unnamed foreign Christian organizations and furthermore, Bersih is inherently against Islam. See! Proof positive that non Muslim Malaysians are plotting war against Islam!
To be a Muslim, in Malaysia or anywhere else, means to see conspiracies and plots behind every rock and tree. Every infidel is suspected, and probably guilty, of plotting corruption in the land, of plotting war against Islam. Conspiracy theories and rampant paranoia are inherent in the DNA of Islam and explain, to a large degree, the intellectual barrenness and stagnation of the Islamic world. It is why Najib can come back from smiles and handshakes with the pope, and then threaten rhetorical fire and brimstone against his own people, and be immensely popular with the Muslim-Malays as a result.
Bersih means well but has made a serious mistake if they think that they can deal with this government in good faith. As it turns out, hardly to my surprise, Najib has just declared war on them. Remember this, the next time a deluded or deceiving talking head goes on about how 'pluralistic and moderate' Islam is. Najib and his Islamic ilk amply demonstrate how Muslims cannot stand criticism, rational or otherwise, no matter how well intentioned it may be.
On the other hand, the government is spinning this as a victory, having successfully made mass arrests (1600+), arrested major opposition figures, and having kept the thousands who did show up from being able to organize as they had planned. The government is also stressing the disruption, damage, and economic losses taken by downtown merchants who lost an entire day's worth of business on what should normally have been a lucrative day on a weekend.
Now that Prime Minister Najib is back from his European tour and his visit with the pope, which was all about looking 'moderate' to the dhimmis back home, he's back to playing up to his base here in Malaysia. Namely, his not-so-moderate, decidedly Islamic base. "Najib ridicules Bersih, says Umno not afraid of fair elections", from The Malaysian Insider, 10 July 2011:
KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak ridiculed and dismissed the impact of yesterday’s Bersih rally, declaring today that Umno was not afraid of fair elections.
In a fiery speech in front of 6,000 Umno members, NGOs and martial arts (silat) groups, the prime minister mocked the turnout of yesterday’s rally, claiming that Umno would have outnumbered Bersih if they had wanted to protest on the streets.
“Don’t doubt our strength. Umno has three million members. If we gather one million members, it is more than enough. We can conquer Kuala Lumpur.
“If we want to create chaos, we can. But we uphold the laws of Malaysia, we like peace,” Najib said to a roaring crowd of Umno members and supporters.'Conquer' sounds so '1Malaysia', doesn't it? And Najib and company surely 'love peace', provided that they are able to maintain their (i.e. Muslim) domination of it. Otherwise, they're ready to go violent "...at the drop of a hat", which keeps in perfect tune with the Islamist playbook.
During his speech, Najib thanked everyone who attended the “Majlis Penerangan Perdana” event, saying that the NGOs present, including silat organisations [martial arts organisations], were waiting to defend the country at a drop of a hat.
“If you mention or question Islam, they will rise up,” he said.Wait an infidel minute, who questioned Islam here? Bersih is very narrowly focused on holding fair and clean elections and has been careful to never attack or criticize Islam. But no matter. In Malaysian politics, the quickest way to discredit and marginalize anyone is to put yourself on the side of 'good' (i.e. Islam) and to make your opponents as apostates, or worse, kufr (i.e. dirty unbelievers).
Consequently, Malaysian government newspapers are busy spinning Bersih as infidels versus Muslims and Islam. One Malay (Islamic) newspaper called Utusan Malaysia has estimated that 70% of those who attended the recent launch of the 'Bersih 2.0' movement were non Muslim. Additionally, Bersih is being reported by the same paper as being funded by unnamed foreign Christian organizations and furthermore, Bersih is inherently against Islam. See! Proof positive that non Muslim Malaysians are plotting war against Islam!
To be a Muslim, in Malaysia or anywhere else, means to see conspiracies and plots behind every rock and tree. Every infidel is suspected, and probably guilty, of plotting corruption in the land, of plotting war against Islam. Conspiracy theories and rampant paranoia are inherent in the DNA of Islam and explain, to a large degree, the intellectual barrenness and stagnation of the Islamic world. It is why Najib can come back from smiles and handshakes with the pope, and then threaten rhetorical fire and brimstone against his own people, and be immensely popular with the Muslim-Malays as a result.
Bersih means well but has made a serious mistake if they think that they can deal with this government in good faith. As it turns out, hardly to my surprise, Najib has just declared war on them. Remember this, the next time a deluded or deceiving talking head goes on about how 'pluralistic and moderate' Islam is. Najib and his Islamic ilk amply demonstrate how Muslims cannot stand criticism, rational or otherwise, no matter how well intentioned it may be.
There is a familiar level of hyperbole in Pakistan's response to a recent New York Times editorial "that said there was evidence of complicity by the ISI intelligence agency in sheltering bin Laden, of ties to the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people and of involvement in the abduction and murder of Asia Times Online journalist Saleem Shahzad." This is the same country where protesters cast Pope Benedict XVI's call for the reform of Pakistani blasphemy laws as "an attack on the hearts of Muslims." Wow. Not even Chuck Norris is that hardcore.
But such language is often not empty rhetoric in Muslim countries, but rather sets the stage to answer such "attacks" with various disproportionate responses. If nothing else, such outrage at one editorial from one newspaper is a sign of weakness and instability, and seriously misplaced priorities. "Pakistan army says New York Times report is a 'direct attack'," by Sheree Sardar for Reuters, July 10:
But such language is often not empty rhetoric in Muslim countries, but rather sets the stage to answer such "attacks" with various disproportionate responses. If nothing else, such outrage at one editorial from one newspaper is a sign of weakness and instability, and seriously misplaced priorities. "Pakistan army says New York Times report is a 'direct attack'," by Sheree Sardar for Reuters, July 10:
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Reports in the New York Times criticizing the Pakistan army and the powerful intelligence agency is a "direct attack" on Pakistan's security, the army spokesman said on Saturday.
Major General Athar Abbas, the Pakistan army's chief spokesman, repeatedly criticized the Times' reporting and said it was part of a calculated plan by "unnamed officials" to "weaken the state."
"This is a direct attack on our security organization and intelligence agencies," he told Reuters in a rare on-the-record in-person interview. "We consider ISI as a strategic intelligence organization, the first line of our defense."
The U.S.-Pakistan relationship has been on a downward spiral since last year, but the decline accelerated after the killing of two Pakistanis by a CIA contractor in Lahore in January and the U.S. raid to kill Osama bin Laden, which Pakistan complains it was not told about and says was a breach of its sovereignty.
Abbas was responding specifically to a July 8 editorial that said there was evidence of complicity by the ISI intelligence agency in sheltering bin Laden, of ties to the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people and of involvement in the abduction and murder of Asia Times Online journalist Saleem Shahzad.
The ISI, or Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, is Pakistan's powerful military intelligence service.
Long suspected of maintaining militant ties it nurtured in the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden in a Pakistan garrison town raised concerns that Pakistan was playing a "double-game" with the Taliban and al Qaeda.
"This whole reporting through media, quoting unnamed officials, anonymous sources, is part of a design to undermine the authority and the power of the organization in order to weaken the state," Abbas said.
He declined to specify exactly who the unnamed officials were, although the New York Times specified they were American officials.
The editorial called for the removal of ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha and said: "The United States needs to use its influence to hasten Mr. Pasha's departure. ... The ISI has become inimical to Pakistani and American interests."...
There's just one small problem: intelligence shared with Pakistan has a funny way of winding up in the wrong hands. "Pakistan urges U.S. to share intelligence on Zawahri," by Zeeshan Haider for Reuters, July 10 (thanks to Ima Freeman):
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani called on the United States on Sunday to share information about new al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri after U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he believed that Osama bin Laden's successor was in Pakistan.
During his first trip to Kabul on Saturday as Pentagon chief, Panetta said he believed that the new al Qaeda leader was living in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border.
The Pakistani military said its troops were already carrying out "intense operations" against al Qaeda and its affiliates as well as "terrorists leadership" and high value targets (HVTs) who pose a threat to Pakistan's security.
"We expect U.S. intelligence establishment to share available information and actionable intelligence regarding Al Zawahri and other HVTs with us, enabling Pakistan Army to carry out targeted operations," a military spokesman said in a statement.
The former CIA chief said the strategic defeat of al Qaeda was within reach if the United States could kill or capture up to 20 remaining leaders of the core group and its affiliates.
He said these militant leaders were living in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and in North Africa.
Panetta said now was the time -- in the wake of bin Laden's killing in Pakistan in May -- to intensify efforts to target al Qaeda leadership, adding that the United States would like Pakistan to target Zawahri in the tribal areas.
Pakistan is an important U.S. ally, but relations have been seriously damaged after U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in a secret raid in the Pakistani military town of Abbottabad without informing Islamabad in advance.Not just to be gauche, but for fear that bin Laden would be tipped off.
The United States has also stepped up missile strikes by remotely-piloted drone aircraft in Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal lands, long regarded as a global hub of militants.
Pakistan publicly criticizes drone strikes and often demands the United States provide intelligence on militant leaders hiding in its tribal regions so it can take action against them.
However, there have been persistent suspicions in Washington that Pakistani intelligence agencies maintain ties with these militants.
U.S. media last month reported that Panetta confronted Pakistan with evidence that militants had vacated bomb-making factories in Waziristan after the Unites [sic] States shared intelligence with Pakistan, suggesting that it had tipped off the insurgents.
The Pakistan army denied the reports.
Here's a thought: perhaps the niqab is "culturally insensitive" to Australians. In the West, the female face is not a private part. Carnita Matthews' case in Australia was an unfortunate demonstration of how the niqab can be used to game the system: her conviction and prison term were overturned because she could not be positively identified. The proposed laws support a recent revision in regulations for New South Wales police, who now have the authority to ask women to remove their face veils for identification.
The niqab is the product of a society where women are segregated, always under the control of male "guardians," and live as perpetual minors. Australia is no such society, and pressuring it to be "sensitive" to a practice incompatible with its values of equal rights and responsibilities of men and women before the law is absurd.
"New Australian law to make Muslims lift veils," by Rod McGuirk for the Washington Examiner, July 10 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):
Forced sex? Muhammad said: "If a husband calls his wife to his bed [i.e. to have sexual relation] and she refuses and causes him to sleep in anger, the angels will curse her till morning." -- Sahih Bukhari 4.54.460
And: "By him in Whose Hand lies my life, a woman can not carry out the right of her Lord, till she carries out the right of her husband. And if he asks her to surrender herself [to him for sexual intercourse] she should not refuse him even if she is on a camel's saddle." -- Ibn Majah 1854
But, cue the claims of persecution:
The niqab is the product of a society where women are segregated, always under the control of male "guardians," and live as perpetual minors. Australia is no such society, and pressuring it to be "sensitive" to a practice incompatible with its values of equal rights and responsibilities of men and women before the law is absurd.
"New Australian law to make Muslims lift veils," by Rod McGuirk for the Washington Examiner, July 10 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):
Muslim women would have to remove veils and show their faces to police on request or risk a prison sentence under proposed new laws in Australia's most populous state that have drawn criticism as culturally insensitive.
A vigorous debate that the proposal has triggered reflects the cultural clashes being ignited by the growing influx of Muslim immigrants and the unease that visible symbols of Islam are causing in predominantly white Christian Australia since 1973 when the government relaxed its immigration policy.
Under the law proposed by the government of New South Wales, which includes Sydney, a woman who defies police by refusing to remove her face veil could be sentenced to a year in prison and fined 5,500 Australian dollars ($5,900).
The bill — to be voted on by the state parliament in August — has been condemned by civil libertarians and many Muslims as an overreaction to a traffic offense case involving a Muslim woman driver in a "niqab," or a veil that reveals only the eyes.
The government says the law would require motorists and criminal suspects to remove any head coverings so that police can identify them.
Critics say the bill smacks of anti-Muslim bias given how few women in Australia wear burqas. In a population of 23 million, only about 400,000 Australians are Muslim. Community advocates estimate that fewer than 2,000 women wear face veils, and it is likely that even a smaller percentage drives.
"It does seem to be very heavy handed, and there doesn't seem to be a need," said Australian Council for Civil Liberties spokesman David Bernie. "It shows some cultural insensitivity."
The controversy over the veils is similar to the debate in other Western countries over whether Muslim women should be allowed to wear garments that hide their faces in public. France and Belgium have banned face-covering veils in public. Typical arguments are that there is a need to prevent women from being forced into wearing veils by their families or that public security requires people to be identifiable.
Bernie noted that while a bandit disguised with a veil and sunglasses robbed a Sydney convenience store last year, there were no Australian crime trends involving Muslim women's clothing.
"It is a religious issue here," said Mouna Unnjinal, a mother of five who has been driving in Sydney in a niqab for 18 years and has never been booked for a traffic offense.
"We're going to feel very intimidated and our privacy is being invaded," she added.
Unnjinal said she would not hesitate to show her face to a policewoman. But she fears male police officers might misuse the law to deliberately intimidate Muslim women.
"If I'm pulled over by a policeman, I might say I want to see a female police lady and he says, 'No, I want to see your face,'" Unnjinal said. "Where does that leave me? Do I get penalized 5,000 dollars and sent to jail for 12 months because I wouldn't?"
Sydney's best-selling The Daily Telegraph newspaper declared the proposal "the world's toughest burqa laws." In France, wearing a burqa — the all-covering garment that hides the entire body except eyes and hands — in public is punishable by a 150 euro ($217) fine only.
The New South Wales state Cabinet decided to create the law on July 4 in response to Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione's call for greater police powers. Other states including Victoria and Western Australia are considering similar legislation.
"I don't care whether a person is wearing a motorcycle helmet, a burqa, niqab, face veil or anything else — the police should be allowed to require those people to make their identification clear," State Premier Barry O'Farrell said in a statement.
The laws were motivated by the bungled prosecution of Carnita Matthews, a 47-year-old Muslim mother of seven who was booked by a highway patrolman for a minor traffic violation in Sydney in June last year.
An official complaint was made in Matthews' name against Senior Constable Paul Fogarty, the policeman who gave her the ticket. The complaint accused Fogarty of racism and of attempting to tear off her veil during their roadside encounter.
Unknown to Matthews, the encounter was recorded by a camera inside Fogarty's squad car. The video footage showed her aggressively berating a restrained Fogarty and did not support her claim that he tried to grab her veil before she reluctantly and angrily lifted it to show her face.
Matthews was sentenced in November to six months in jail for making a deliberately false statement to police."War is deceit."
But that conviction and sentence were quashed on appeal last month without her serving any time in jail because a judge was not convinced that it was Matthews who signed the false statutory declaration. The woman who signed the document had worn a burqa and a justice of the peace who witnessed the signing had not looked beneath the veil to confirm her identity. [...]
Government leaders have also condemned some Muslim clerics who said husbands are entitled to smack disobedient wives, force them to have sex and for suggesting that women who don't hide their faces behind veils invite rape.Hitting disobedient wives? That's Qur'an 4:34.
Forced sex? Muhammad said: "If a husband calls his wife to his bed [i.e. to have sexual relation] and she refuses and causes him to sleep in anger, the angels will curse her till morning." -- Sahih Bukhari 4.54.460
And: "By him in Whose Hand lies my life, a woman can not carry out the right of her Lord, till she carries out the right of her husband. And if he asks her to surrender herself [to him for sexual intercourse] she should not refuse him even if she is on a camel's saddle." -- Ibn Majah 1854
But, cue the claims of persecution:
"I wouldn't like to go and say this is Muslim bashing," said Ikebal Patel, president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, of the proposed New South Wales laws.
"But I think that the timing of this was really bad for Muslims," he said.If we wait for you to tell us when a good time will be, we'll never stop waiting. Of course, that's the idea, isn't it?
Such an event would be an imitation of a non-Muslim celebration. The festivities also included music, which ample ahadith record Muhammad as detesting. This report serves to demonstrate again the consistency of restrictions that arise wherever Islamic supremacists gain sufficient strength to impose Sharia on any level. "Jammu & Kashmir: Trouble over radical Islam," from NDTV, July 10 (thanks to Simon):
Srinagar: Hours before the golden jubilee celebrations at Government Medical College in Srinagar, three doctors were picked up from the campus for asking students not to attend the programme in the name of "religion and culture".
A campaign was unleashed declaring the music events, which were to be staged, to be anti-Islam by a group of doctors in the college; posters were put up castigating the celebrations.
"We had got a complaint from hospital administration that certain people are trying to vitiate the atmosphere and they may sabotage the golden jubilee function. When we went there we saw three people pasting posters," said Abdul Gani Mir, DIG, Central Kashmir Range.
The administration did not want to take any chances and there was tight security in and around the medical college.
With Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as the chief guest, the golden jubilee was attended by hundreds of doctors & college alumni from all over the world.
The college alumni say a lot has changed since the time they were students.
"In our times back in 1960s we didn't see any sort of politics. It was strictly academics. Out and out academics," said Dr Javid Iqbal, alumnus, Government Medical College, Srinagar.
Just a week ago a charity music concert was declared anti Islam by an online extremist group and now the campaign terming golden jubilee of an institution un-Islamic is a clear sign of growing extremism in Kashmir.....
Honestly, a few solid gold toilets ordered stateside might be a better investment of that $800 million. There are also more practical uses. "U.S. Is Deferring Millions in Pakistani Military Aid," by Eric Schmitt and Jane Perlez for the New York Times, July 9:
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is suspending and, in some cases, canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military, in a move to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to fight militants more effectively.
Coupled with a statement from the top American military officer last week linking Pakistan’s military spy agency to the recent murder of a Pakistani journalist, the halting or withdrawal of military equipment and other aid to Pakistan illustrates the depth of the debate inside the Obama administration over how to change the behavior of one of its key counterterrorism partners.
Altogether, about $800 million in military aid and equipment, or over one-third of the more than $2 billion in annual American security assistance to Pakistan, could be affected, three senior United States officials said.
This aid includes about $300 million to reimburse Pakistan for some of the costs of deploying more than 100,000 soldiers along the Afghan border to combat terrorism, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in training assistance and military hardware, according to half a dozen Congressional, Pentagon and other administration officials who were granted anonymity to discuss the politically delicate matter.
Some of the curtailed aid is equipment that the United States wants to send but Pakistan now refuses to accept, like rifles, body armor and night-vision goggles that were withdrawn or held up after Pakistan ordered more than 100 trainers in the United States Special Forces to leave the country in recent weeks.
Some is equipment that cannot be set up, certified or used for training because Pakistan has denied visas to the American personnel needed to operate the equipment, including some surveillance gear, a senior Pentagon official said.
And some is assistance like the reimbursements for troop costs, which is being reviewed in light of questions about Pakistan’s commitment to carry out counterterrorism operations. For example, the United States recently provided Pakistan with information about suspected bomb-making factories, only to have the insurgents vanish before Pakistani security forces arrived a few days later.
“When it comes to our military aid,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a Senate committee last month “we are not prepared to continue providing that at the pace we were providing it unless and until we see certain steps taken.”
American officials say they would probably resume equipment deliveries and aid if relations improve and Pakistan pursues terrorists more aggressively. The cutoffs do not affect any immediate deliveries of military sales to Pakistan, like F-16 fighter jets, or nonmilitary aid, the officials said.
Pakistan’s precise military budget is not known, and while the American aid cutoff would probably have a small impact on the overall military budget, it would most directly affect the counterinsurgency campaign. The Pakistani Army spends nearly one-quarter of the nation’s annual expenditures, according to K. Alan Kronstadt of the Congressional Research Service....
What remains to be seen is whether there is any political will to hold the four accountable in Lebanon, which is now under a Hizballah-dominated government. Left unchallenged for far too long, Hizballah's parallel state has become a sort of suicide vest wrapped around Lebanon, and an instrument of blackmail whereby Hizballah can threaten to blow the country apart. An update on this story. "'Interpol issues 'red notice' for Hariri suspects'," from the Jerusalem Post, July 9:
Interpol issued "red notices" for the four suspects named by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, Lebanon's Daily Star reported on Saturday.
The notices, which are not international arrest warrants, are a request that the wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition. The four Lebanese men who were named in an STL indictment last week are wanted for trial in the Netherlands, where the STL sits.
The UN-backed tribunal handed indictments and arrest warrants to Lebanon just over a week ago, that officials said accused Hezbollah members of involvement in the assassination of Hariri.
The long-awaited move was hailed as a "historic moment" by Rafik Hariri's son, Sa'ad, but poses an immediate challenge to the new government of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose cabinet is dominated by Hezbollah allies.
Prosecutor Saeed Mirza gave no details of the indictments. Lebanese officials said four warrants were issued for Hezbollah members including senior leader Mustafa Badreddine, who was jailed in Kuwait in 1983 over a series of bombings and is a brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh....
Conspiracy theories are a handy thing in that they don't have to make sense, and they allow one to abdicate responsibility for a situation, because it is ultimately in the hands of the supposedly hidden puppeteers. Bad economy? Blame Israel. "Sectarian strife?" Blame Israel. Bad hair day? There's probably a way to pin that on Israel, too, even if you live in across the border in Gaza and Hamas put your hairdresser out of business.
"Great darkness in Egypt," by Eldad Beck for YNet News, July 9:
"Great darkness in Egypt," by Eldad Beck for YNet News, July 9:
[...] The Islamists are careful not to voice overly zealous sentiments in respect to Israel. They know that after the elections they will have to swallow some bitter pills. Some of the people interviewed for this article estimated that the Islamists will expel Israel's ambassador from Cairo should they win the elections but that they still realize they must show some flexibility.
However, the Islamists don't need to make much effort on the Israel front. The supreme military committee, the transition government and the secular democratic parties are doing the job for them by spreading hateful anti-Israel propaganda and erasing any sign of peace, with the exception of the business normalization. In the days of the previous regime, anti-Israel propaganda was the only area where almost absolute freedom of speech was allowed, but now we are seeing reckless abandon.
Israel is accused of everything – causing the "civil war" between Muslims and Christians, causing the terrible Egyptian economy's terrible state, and of course, engaging in reckless espionage. The best way to eliminate someone politically is to accuse him of having ties with Israel. Egyptians are eagerly reading reports about Israel's "secret takeover" during Mubarak's era; most of the stories are pure inventions meant to implicate former top officials in the gravest crime of all: Normalization with Israel.
Meanwhile, businessmen associated with the previous regime are accused of planning to sell Cairo's main streets to the Jewish Agency, "which is planning to take over Cairo as it took over Palestine." If this hysterical witch-hunt, which is replete with anti-Semitic tones, wasn't enough, Egyptian daily al-Wafd reported this week that Israel also stole the opera Aida from Egypt.Do Sharia's punishments apply for stealing an opera?
"Israel, as usual, is exploiting events in Arab states in its favor…as it considers itself a Middle Eastern state, it organized several Aida shows at the Dead Sea on June 5th and 6th. It appears Israel chose those dates in order to celebrate our defeat in the 1967 war. Aida was written especially for Egypt, yet Israel is always trying to take over the property of others."....There is much more at YNet News. What is posted above is the last section of a more extensive report.
July 9, 2011
The Republic of South Sudan is independent today. But the jihad against it is sure not to let up. This new nation deserves the support of all free nations. "Jihad In Sudan Redux," from Christian News Today, July 9:
On July 9, the mostly Christian South Sudan will legally and officially separate from the Muslim north and become a new, independent and free country. Fearing loss of its iron clad grip of other non-Arab regions in the north, whose people likely envy the freedoms won by the South, Arab/Islamist leaders in Khartoum have launched a military assault on the Nuba Mountains, a mixed Christian, animist and Muslim region. Reports from the area are gruesomely reminiscent of the decades-long assault Khartoum waged on the South. These include forced conversions to Islam, mass displacement, bombing of civilians and mass slaughter. Anticipating the effects of Christians winning freedom from his rule already in December of 2010 Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity, laid out a vision for the future of his nation:Read it all.
"If south Sudan secedes, we will change the constitution and at that time there will be no time to speak of diversity of culture and ethnicity... Sharia (Islamic law) and Islam will be the main source for the constitution, Islam the official religion and Arabic the official language", he told a group of supporters.
Al-Bashir made his statement as the people of Southern Sudan were preparing to vote in the referendum that secured their imminent independence. With less than a week left before South secedes, al-Bashir is determined to fulfill his promise not by changing the constitution, but through murder and ethnic cleansing.
After concluding a military occupation of the disputed border region of Abyei, which resulted in the expulsion of more than 100,000 (non-Arabs, mostly from the Dinka tribe), Sudanese army and government-sponsored Arab militias attacked the African tribes of Nuba Mountains, a region situated in the Northern state of Southern Kordofan. Reports indicate indiscriminate bombings of civilians and a systematic killing of the black-skinned Nuba, which forced estimated 100,000 to abandon their homes. One report described "door to door executions of completely innocent and defenseless civilians, often by throat cutting." Another suggested the government might be using chemical weapons. The Bishop of Nuba Mountains described the events as genocide: "Once again we are facing the nightmare of genocide of our people in a final attempt to erase our culture and society from the face of the earth." A well-respected Sudan analyst concurred.
Nuba embody the diversity of culture and religion that al-Bashir wants to destroy. Numbering some 1.5 million, Nuba people are Christians, Muslims and the followers of traditional faiths. It is not uncommon to find the adherents of all faiths within a single family. Comprising from more than fifty tribes and speaking an equal number of languages, the Nuba have an incredibly diverse culture.
What did Joseph Adams say that was inaccurate? What did he say that was false? If Muhammad was not "the first terrorist of Islam," did he not say that he was, according to Islamic tradition? "I have been made victorious through terror" (Bukhari 4.52.220).
"Lib adviser sacked after anti-Islam web posts," by Heath Aston for the Sydney Morning Herald, July 10:
"Lib adviser sacked after anti-Islam web posts," by Heath Aston for the Sydney Morning Herald, July 10:
THE O'Farrell government has been embarrassed by a Liberal adviser who posted anti-Islamic comments online, including a description of the Prophet Muhammad as ''the first terrorist of Islam''. Joseph Adams, who worked in the electorate office of the Smithfield Liberal, Andrew Rohan, was sacked on Friday. Mr Adams, pictured, had angered some of his 1000 Facebook friends - which include 15 state government MPs and four ministers - with selected excerpts from the Koran which he said prove Islam promotes killing, not love.What race is Islam again?
He was labelled a ''bigot'' and the ''biggest f---ing racist ever'' by shocked friends.
A record of his posts between March 24 and June 17, obtained by The Sun-Herald, show the criticism only spurred him on to make more offensive remarks. ''The religious babble you refer to is Islam,'' he commented on June 4. ''There was no war. It was terrorism. Muhammad was the first terrorist in the name of Islam.''Do Islamic jihadists not kill in the name of Islam? They consistently and unanimously explain and justify their actions with references to Islamic texts and teachings.
He followed up with: "Why are you getting upset? I'm not the one who is teaching others to kill in the name of Islam. Mohommed is not my hero.''
On March 24, he taunted ''friend'' Faten Dabs with the comment: ''If you leave Islam it is HALAL for you to be EXECUTED. Lol. No wonder people are afraid to leave Islam.''Does Islam not have a death penalty for apostasy? Do not all the sects of Islam and schools of Islamic jurisprudence teach this? Did not Muhammad say, according to Islamic tradition, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him" (Bukhari 9.84.57)?
After being branded a bigot on Facebook , he responded: ''Your biblical quotes are as ridiculous as your comparisons. I guess you never paid attention at Sunday school. Jesus spoke in parables. Mohommed on the other hand gave orders to kill.Did not Muhammad say, according to Islamic tradition, "If you gain a victory over the men of Jews, kill them" (Sunan Abu Dawud, 19.2996)?
''You seem to like standing up for killers and murderers. Is Ivan Milat a good person too? Perhaps you think Hitler was a great Prophet too? After all he did put a book together called Mein Kampf. Don't waste our time here Aaron. The only bigot here is someone with an uninformed view.''Indeed.
Mr Adams, who identifies himself as an Australian of Assyrian Christian descent, told The Sun-Herald on Friday that he was not ''thinking politically'' when he made the remarks. ''Rather than listen to what people say about the Koran I decided I would read it myself,'' he said.Indeed.
''It was nothing political, it was out of pure emotion. I didn't think it would be used against me and people would accuse me of being racist.
''What I did was a mistake, I did not think it would be used for political purposes. In my mind I was living in a free society where we value free speech. Why should religion be a taboo subject?''
But the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, did not agree. Late on Friday a government spokesman said in a statement: ''The comments were totally inappropriate and the staff member has already been terminated.''Gutless dhimmi.
South Sudan's hopeful creation as a new nation is a glorious moment, as well as a sobering one. We should remember as to why South Sudan's existence became necessary in the first place. We must remind the world over and over that the birth of South Sudan as a independent state was long required precisely because Muslims cannot long live amicably with followers of other belief systems. As Islamic scripture teaches quite explicitly, and as Muslim repeatedly tell themselves, devout Muslims cannot treat the unbelievers with anything approaching equality.
South Sudan's secession from Sudan is in many way a mirror image of another 'secession' that took place over 60 years ago. In the waning days of the British Empire, British India was to be divided into two countries, a Muslim one and a Hindu one, and India was to be cleaved forever into those two parts. The pain and agony of the partitioning process aside (hundreds of thousands are estimated to have died in the resulting forced migrations, associated pogroms, and resettlement), how should history judge the British decision to partition India?
While the larger Hindu India has found a modicum of political stability, has enjoyed decades of economic success, and exports its vibrant culture via its booming film industry worldwide, its Muslim counterpart Pakistan flirts with failed-nation status.
Pakistan is in fact a nightmare of state-sponsored jihadist terrorism inside and outside of its borders. Except for a tiny elite, the country only offers unimaginable squalor and poverty for its people. It has featured a string of unbelievably incompetent and corrupt governments that have exported Islamic terrorism to distant continents, as far as the UK and the USA. Pakistan harbors the world's top terrorists who are allowed to live inside its borders with impunity, free to continue conspiring and plotting mass murder. Pakistan has launched three wars of aggression in its blood-soaked history, all against India, all of which Pakistan lost. Pakistan builds nuclear weapons and nuclear-capable missiles, which it sells the technology for to any and all comers, no questions asked. Pakistan sucks up gifts such as weapons and supplies, intelligence data from the US, and especially financial aid packages from the rest of the world, and either squirrels the money away into various numbered accounts, or passes along as loot to jihad terrorists and other enemies of the Free World. Barbarous shariah laws viciously run riot and leave an ever-growing pile of broken and dead bodies in its wake. Pakistan's police and military murder journalists who question how and why such a horrid state of affairs has come to pass. And on and on.
Over sixty years of ignominious history has not been kind to the decision to create Pakistan. Pakistan itself is a bleeding sore in South Asia, and its continued existence is a shame if not an ongoing crime against humanity. If the past 64 years have proven anything, they prove that, quite unlike South Sudan, Pakistan does not deserve sovereignty, nor does it deserve to be treated as a member of the family of nations.
Given these incontrovertible facts, may I humbly suggest that Pakistan no longer be referred to as "Pakistan", the so-called 'Land of the Pure". Merely mentioning the name is, in a way, tacitly accepting its existence, which right-thinking people everywhere should instantly reject. So, from this point onwards, let us call that place by a more culturally and historically correct name: "Muslim-occupied India". For India was a Hindu land for thousands of years before the invading barbarians of Islam appeared to seize Hindu lands and slaughter its inhabitants, which laid the groundwork for the eventual Muslim calamitous maladministration of that same land.
In a just world, such mistakes would be reversed. One day, let us hope, let us work towards the day that Muslim-occupied India becomes India once again.
South Sudan's secession from Sudan is in many way a mirror image of another 'secession' that took place over 60 years ago. In the waning days of the British Empire, British India was to be divided into two countries, a Muslim one and a Hindu one, and India was to be cleaved forever into those two parts. The pain and agony of the partitioning process aside (hundreds of thousands are estimated to have died in the resulting forced migrations, associated pogroms, and resettlement), how should history judge the British decision to partition India?
While the larger Hindu India has found a modicum of political stability, has enjoyed decades of economic success, and exports its vibrant culture via its booming film industry worldwide, its Muslim counterpart Pakistan flirts with failed-nation status.
Pakistan is in fact a nightmare of state-sponsored jihadist terrorism inside and outside of its borders. Except for a tiny elite, the country only offers unimaginable squalor and poverty for its people. It has featured a string of unbelievably incompetent and corrupt governments that have exported Islamic terrorism to distant continents, as far as the UK and the USA. Pakistan harbors the world's top terrorists who are allowed to live inside its borders with impunity, free to continue conspiring and plotting mass murder. Pakistan has launched three wars of aggression in its blood-soaked history, all against India, all of which Pakistan lost. Pakistan builds nuclear weapons and nuclear-capable missiles, which it sells the technology for to any and all comers, no questions asked. Pakistan sucks up gifts such as weapons and supplies, intelligence data from the US, and especially financial aid packages from the rest of the world, and either squirrels the money away into various numbered accounts, or passes along as loot to jihad terrorists and other enemies of the Free World. Barbarous shariah laws viciously run riot and leave an ever-growing pile of broken and dead bodies in its wake. Pakistan's police and military murder journalists who question how and why such a horrid state of affairs has come to pass. And on and on.
Over sixty years of ignominious history has not been kind to the decision to create Pakistan. Pakistan itself is a bleeding sore in South Asia, and its continued existence is a shame if not an ongoing crime against humanity. If the past 64 years have proven anything, they prove that, quite unlike South Sudan, Pakistan does not deserve sovereignty, nor does it deserve to be treated as a member of the family of nations.
Given these incontrovertible facts, may I humbly suggest that Pakistan no longer be referred to as "Pakistan", the so-called 'Land of the Pure". Merely mentioning the name is, in a way, tacitly accepting its existence, which right-thinking people everywhere should instantly reject. So, from this point onwards, let us call that place by a more culturally and historically correct name: "Muslim-occupied India". For India was a Hindu land for thousands of years before the invading barbarians of Islam appeared to seize Hindu lands and slaughter its inhabitants, which laid the groundwork for the eventual Muslim calamitous maladministration of that same land.
In a just world, such mistakes would be reversed. One day, let us hope, let us work towards the day that Muslim-occupied India becomes India once again.
A demoralized, economically strangled, and terrified population is more susceptible to submitting to the jihadists' demands, or pressuring their leaders to do so in order to resume a normal life; thus, an extended ban that is not part of much broader measures against the group runs the risk of playing directly into Boko Haram's hands. "Nigeria's Maiduguri bans motorbikes to stop Boko Haram," from BBC News, July 8 (thanks to Kenneth):
Motorbikes have been banned from the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri to prevent drive-by attacks by the radical Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
Officials said no-one would be able to ride motorbikes at any time in the city, Boko Haram's stronghold.
The group's trademark has been to use gunmen on motorbikes to assassinate security officers and politicians.
Boko Haram is fighting for Islamic rule and has rejected talks with the government.
At least 40 people have been killed in Maiduguri, the main city in Borno state, in the past two weeks in attacks blamed on the group.
Last month, the group said it had carried out an attack on the headquarters of the Nigerian police in the capital, Abuja, which killed at least six people.
Soldiers attacked
The Borno state government said it was now imposing a 24-hour ban on motorbikes in the city.
"The ban includes private as well as commercial motorcycles of all categories that operate within Maiduguri metropolis," Usman Ciroma, spokesman for the Borno state governor, said in a statement.
Correspondents say motorbikes are one of the most common forms of transport in Maiduguri, as most people cannot afford cars.
The AFP news agency reports that the governor, Kashim Shettima, warned that the ban could be extended.
"If the security situation does not improve following this ban, the government will extend the ban to cover the whole state," he was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, Boko Haram fighters threw an explosive device at a military patrol in Maiduguri, wounding three officers.
And what constitutes a threat? More threats of murder from the mullahcracy: "Iranian commander: US carriers target if attacked," by Ali Akbar Dareini for the Associated Press, July 9 (thanks to Bill):
TEHRAN, Iran—A senior Revolutionary Guard commander threatened Saturday that U.S. aircraft carriers would be targeted if Iran came under attack amid a standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran has often warned of major retaliation if they faced a military strike from Israel or the West, but the latest comments appear tailored to emphasize the expanding range of Iranian missiles following 10 days of war games. The exercises included unveiling underground missile silos that Iran says is capable of multiple launches.
"Aircraft carriers ... are moving targets. If the enemy threatens us, we will target them," said Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Guard's aerospace force, in comments broadcast on state TV.
Hajizadeh also confirmed that Iran secretly conducted missile tests in February that he claimed hit targets at the "mouth of the Indian Ocean"—an apparent reference to areas near the Strait of Hormouz at the southern end of the Gulf. Hajizadeh gave no further details. In April, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard said Iran's arsenal is capable of striking "remote regions outside the Persian Gulf."...
"Amanullah worked as a bodyguard for the second-ranking official in Afghanistan's intelligence service—Gen. Assam Din Assam, the deputy director for National Directorate for Security, the police chief said."
I have said many times in the context of many similar incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no reliable way to distinguish a peaceful Muslim from a jihadist. This is yet more fruit of the unwillingness to make even a cursory attempt to take that fact into account.
"Afghan guard shoots dead NATO soldier, civilian," by Solomon Moore and Heidi Vogt for the Associated Press, July 9 (thanks to Bill):
I have said many times in the context of many similar incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no reliable way to distinguish a peaceful Muslim from a jihadist. This is yet more fruit of the unwillingness to make even a cursory attempt to take that fact into account.
"Afghan guard shoots dead NATO soldier, civilian," by Solomon Moore and Heidi Vogt for the Associated Press, July 9 (thanks to Bill):
KABUL, Afghanistan—An Afghan guard opened fire at a NATO-escorted reconstruction convoy after an argument Saturday, killing a service member and a civilian working for the coalition before being killed by return fire, a provincial police chief said. The convoy was traveling in the northern Panjshir province, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the capital, Kabul, when it came under attack, according to provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh.And those training and screening techniques will never work as long as no one in command is willing to face the reality of the jihad doctrine.
The Afghan guard, who goes by the name Amanullah, was standing outside his home when the convoy passed by, the police chief said.
The guard stopped the convoy, started arguing with the NATO troops and then opened fire, killing the service member and the civilian, Jangalbagh said. A third coalition service member was wounded in the shooting, the police chief added, and another NATO service member fired back, killing Amanullah.
Amanullah worked as a bodyguard for the second-ranking official in Afghanistan's intelligence service—Gen. Assam Din Assam, the deputy director for National Directorate for Security, the police chief said.
Assam was not at the scene of the shooting in Panjshir. No one at the intelligence agency could be reached for comment. [...]
Since September 2007, more than 70 people have been killed in incidents involving Afghan security forces, or attackers disguised as security personnel, who have turned their weapons against Afghan or NATO troops.
Such incidents have become more common over time. Out of about 25 attacks, nearly half took place in 2011. NATO officials have said that the incidents have taken a toll on the morale among coalition forces and recently have implemented additional training and screening techniques to identify problems among Afghan recruits....
An update on this story. Christopher Hitchens' useful discussion of semantic engineering in the use of terms like "activists" for the participants in these recent spectacles can be found here. "Israel blocks pro-Palestinian 'flytilla' activists," by Yolande Knell for BBC News, July 8:
Palestinian groups have criticised Israel after activists planning to visit the West Bank were barred from flying and others were deported.
Israeli officials said airlines blocked some 200 blacklisted travellers from flying to Tel Aviv.
The Welcome to Palestine group says the action shows restrictions on access to Palestinian areas.
The so-called "flytilla" comes after Greece blocked an aid flotilla trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Two American women originally involved in the flotilla were among the first to be deported from Ben Gurion Airport after flying in from Athens to try to join the latest protest.
A group from Switzerland was also expected to be expelled.
Airlines with flights from France, Germany and Switzerland prevented ticket-holders from boarding planes after being notified by Israel that they would be refused entry.
Many passengers turned away decried what they said was an abuse of power. Israel argues it is ensuring public order at its main gateway to the world.
Palestinian civil society organisations who make up Welcome to Palestine expected 600 to 1,000 foreign activists to take up their invitation to head to the West Bank for a week
They say they have planned a full itinerary of peaceful activities, starting with events in Bethlehem and Ramallah on Saturday for those able to make it there....
Surely the Taliban jihadists' hearts and minds were deeply touched by this gesture of "courageous restraint." "Soldier killed after Army bosses barred him from opening fire on Taliban insurgents planting roadside bombs," from the Daily Mail, July 9:
A widow revealed how her soldier husband was blown up in Afghanistan days after senior officers had apparently ‘laughed off’ his complaints that insurgents were being allowed to plant explosive devices unchallenged. [...]
Mrs Rayner told Bradford Coroner's Court her husband, who joined the Army at 17, had feared his own death.
She said: ‘He was concerned about the number of explosive devices being planted in the area they were patrolling and had told higher ranks because he feared one of them would be killed.
‘He said they could see people planting these devices but could do nothing about it. [...]
Sergeant Rayner told his wife that officers told him that he and his men could not open fire on insurgents planting bombs or make contact with them.
His complaints were rejected by a Sergeant Major and a Captain, the inquest heard.
‘I think that if more notice had been taken of him, then he might not have died,’ she said.
‘Peter loved his men and would have done anything to stop them being killed.’
Mrs Rayner told the coroner, Professor Paul Marks, the Army had promised that her concerns would be dealt with, but she said: ‘I have been fobbed off.’
The widow said: ‘I thought about it long and hard and I think he deserves his last words to be heard.’ Adding: ‘Now it's my day, people will listen because I'm in court.’
Mrs Rayner rejected the offer by the coroner to adjourn the hearing so that officers involved could be called to give evidence. The coroner recorded a verdict that Sergeant Rayner was unlawfully killed.
Outside Bradford Coroner’s Court Mrs Rayner fired a further broadside at the Ministry of Defence, calling for rules of engagement to be changed to protect soldiers.
‘They are not allowed to return fire unless they are fired upon. But all the lads have expressed concern because the patrol area was filled with IEDs.
‘They can shoot at us and take us out but the lads can’t do that to them.
These terrorists and Taliban can do what they want yet our soldiers try to do their job and get persecuted by the law.
‘If they are going to be soldiers let them be soldiers and do their jobs. The job is hard enough as it is.
‘There will be an internal investigation, but I think the rules of engagement need to be looked into if someone is planting IEDs and threatening lives.’ [...]
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘The whole point of a counter insurgency operation is to protect the civilian population.’ He said soldiers had to go through a series of stages before opening fire and were sometimes asked to exercise ‘courageous restraint’ even when shots had been fired.There it is:
‘It is all about winning hearts and minds and using the least force possible,’ the spokesman said.
Of course they do. Admiral Mullen is obviously privy to far more information, but among other things, the fact that Shahzad's cell phone records were completely wiped back to nearly three weeks before his death shows someone powerful enough to secure such a measure had something to hide.
An update on this story. "Pakistan rejects US claims over Saleem Shahzad murder," from BBC News, July 8:
An update on this story. "Pakistan rejects US claims over Saleem Shahzad murder," from BBC News, July 8:
Pakistan has reacted angrily to the US army's top officer's suggestion that the government "sanctioned" the killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad.
Information minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that Adm Mike Mullen's statement was "extremely irresponsible and regrettable."
She said it would cause difficulties in relations between the sides and prove a setback to the war against terror.
US-Pakistan relations have been extremely fraught in recent months.
But Adm Mike Mullen's remarks are the most explicit yet in a downward spiral in recent US-Pakistan relations.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says that for a senior American official to say that he believes the authorities were involved heaps further pressure on Islamabad at a time when the Pakistani government's relationship with Washington - on which it has become so reliant for support - is under serious strain.
Mr Shahzad was kidnapped near his home in Islamabad in May. His body was found two days later in Punjab province. At the time, many in the Pakistani media blamed Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), for the murder. The ISI has denied involvement in the case.
Adm Mullen said he could not confirm if the the ISI was involved.
"I have not seen anything that would disabuse that report that the government knew about this," Adm Mullen told journalists in Washington on Thursday.
"It was sanctioned by the government, yeah," he said.
Adm Mullen added that he did not have a "string of evidence" linking the death to the ISI.
Downward spiral
Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, said an independent inquiry was evidence that the government was taking the journalist's killing seriously. The government-appointed commission to investigate the killing began work last month.
"Any evidence that our American friends have should be shared with that commission," Mr Haqqani told the New York Times newspaper.....There's just the small problem that intel shared with Pakistan has a funny way of finding its way into the wrong hands.
AQ Khan was not the only one. "Pakistani generals 'helped sell nuclear secrets'," by Julian Borger for the Guardian, July 7:
The story of the world's worst case of nuclear smuggling took a new twist on Thursday when documents surfaced appearing to implicate two former Pakistani generals in the sale of uranium enrichment technology to North Korea in return for millions of dollars in cash and jewels handed over in a canvas bag and cardboard boxes of fruit.
The source of the documents is AQ Khan, who confessed in 2004 to selling parts and instructions for the use of high-speed centrifuges in enriching uranium to Libya, Iran and North Korea. Extracts were published by the Washington Post, including a letter in English purportedly from a senior North Korean official to Khan in 1998 detailing payment of $3m to Pakistan's former army chief, General Jehangir Karamat, and another half-million to Lieutenant General Zulfiqar Khan, who was involved in Pakistan's nuclear bomb tests.
Both generals denied the allegations. "What can I say. [These are] bits of old info packaged together. [There is] not an iota of truth in the allegations against me. [There is] no reason on earth for anyone to pay me for something I could not deliver," Karamat wrote in an email to the Guardian. Lt Gen Khan told the Washington Post that the documents were "a fabrication".
The issue is seen as critically important by western governments. Seven years after Khan, the godfather of the Pakistani nuclear programme, made his public confession on Pakistani television, there is still uncertainty over the extent to which he was a rogue operator or just a salesman acting on behalf of the Pakistani state and its army. Western officials are also unsure whether the covert nuclear sales are continuing.It seems like "rogue operator" might as well be a military rank in Pakistan.
One of the documents published on Thursday was allegedly a copy of a 1998 letter in English to him from Jon Byong Ho, then the secretary of the North Korean Workers' party, who is believed to have masterminded the state's covert trade in nuclear and missile technology. The document states that "the $3m have already been paid" to Karamat, and "half a million dollars" and some jewellery had been given to Lt Gen Khan, who went on to run the national water and power company. The Washington Post interviewed senior US officials who said that the document contained "accurate details of sensitive matters known only to a handful of people in Pakistan, North Korea and the United States", and that the substance was "consistent with our knowledge" of the same events....
He should never have made it into Britain in the first place. Now, he will needlessly tie up time and resources with his courtroom jihad. "Leader of Islamic Movement in Israel to remain in U.K. jail after court denies appeal," by Jack Khoury for Haaretz, July 8:
A London court on Friday denied the appeal of Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.Comparative tolerance: Where is the Jewish Movement in Iran?
Salah was arrested in England in late June after he entered the country despite an exclusion order barring him from the United Kingdom. A deportation order was issued subsequently. Salah remains in detention because he refused to comply with the order.
Salah appealed his arrest and the order that bars him from entering the UK. He demanded that he be released immediately and unconditionally and be allowed to continue to his visit in the UK.
The appeal was denied and he will remain in detention until an additional appeal, which is expected to be filed next week.
Salah's attorney and spokesman Zahi Nujeidat told Haaretz that "the Sheikh is insisting on his right to fight the arbitrary decision by the British government to deport him and therefore he has decided to remain in detention and wait for the appeals proceeding."
On Saturday afternoon, the Islamic Movement, backed by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, will hold a large demonstration in Nazareth, expected to be attended by thousands of people, protesting Salah's detention.
On Friday, Islamic Movement activists held a protest outside the UK embassy in Tel Aviv.
July 8, 2011
Munawar Hasan is the President of Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan, the country's largest and most powerful pro-Sharia party. This video is not in English, unfortunately, but in it he says that a woman should not report being raped unless she has four male Muslim witnesses who saw the act. In this he is on solid Qur'anic ground: "Why did they not produce four witnesses? Since they produce not witnesses, they verily are liars in the sight of Allah" (Qur'an 24:13).
The Malaysian Islamic reformist group Sisters in Islam has pointed out the injustice of this:
The Malaysian Islamic reformist group Sisters in Islam has pointed out the injustice of this:
In Pakistan, it is reported that three out of four women in prison under its Hudud laws [these are the laws of what it forbidden and permitted by Allah himself], are rape victims. Because rape is equated with zina [unlawful sexual intercourse] under Hudud law, rape victims are required to produce four pious male witnesses. It is of course nearly impossible for the rape victims to produce the four male witnesses required to prove their allegation. Therefore their police report of rape was taken as a confession of illicit sex on their part and they were duly found guilty.(Video thanks to Axel.)
A pledge to stand firm against attempts to erode the freedom of speech and the principle of equality of rights of all people before the law. "Update: Bachmann is first to sign Family Leader’s pro-marriage pledge," by William Petroski for the Des Moines Register, July 7 (thanks to Benedict):
The Family Leader, a prominent Iowa group that promotes Christian conservative social values, said Thursday it is asking all presidential candidates to sign a pledge regarding their personal convictions on traditional marriage. The pledge is entitled, “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family.” [...]
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, quickly signed the pledge Thursday, while an aide to to former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said he never signs any pledges. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, said the congressman has reservations, while a representative of President Barack Obama’s Democratic campaign committee declined comment.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, is reviewing the pledge, a spokesman said Thursday night. Several other GOP presidential candidates didn’t respond to requests for comment, including former Michigan Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and retired Georgia businessman Herman Cain.
Presidential candidates who sign the pledge must agree to personal fidelity to his or her spouse, the appointment of “faithful constitutionalists” as judges, opposition to any redefinition of marriage, and prompt reform of uneconomic and anti-marriage aspects of welfare policy, tax policy and divorce law.
The Marriage Vow also outlines support for the legal advocacy for the federal Defense of Marriage Act, humane efforts to protect women and children, rejection of Sharia Islam, safeguards for all married and unmarried U.S. military service members, and commitment to downsizing government and the burden upon American families....
May this new nation, born out of the resistance to jihad, last 5000 years. "South Sudan Becomes New Nation Saturday," from CBNNews.com, July 8:
The Republic of South Sudan will join the community of nations on Saturday. After the military celebrations and parades, the South will have to face up to the realities it faces.
It will be one of the most underdeveloped countries on the planet. Only 15 percent of its citizens can read and fears of renewed conflict abound.
The people of the South have endured a half century of civil war and oppression by the Islamic rulers of northern Sudan that left more than 2 million dead.
The South's population is heavily Christian and black African, two groups targeted by Omar Bashir's regime.
An eerie calm is hanging over Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur (KL) tonight. Traffic is light on the streets and the distant din of police sirens is nearly constant. Is it the proverbial calm before the storm?
Tomorrow, Saturday afternoon at 2pm here near central KL, a group banned by the government, a group known as 'Bersih' ('Clean'), is promising to assemble en masse. No one has any idea how many may show up. Perhaps 30,000, perhaps 100,000. The throng is expected to rally for clean and fair elections, and also, not to put too fine of a point on it, to protest against the entrenched ruling party's increasingly authoritarian brand of government.
The Muslim government is doing everything in its power to prevent the rally and disrupt the organization behind it. All the supposed guarantees of civil liberties in the Malaysian Constitution have been swept away in the name of 'harmony' and 'national security'. The police are at this moment cordoning off the downtown area, major thoroughfares, and all possible rally venues. Mass transit systems are being shut down, bus stations closed and buses rerouted to distant suburbs. Any and all public gatherings are forbidden and authorities promise instant arrest to anyone who does not disperse as ordered. Even the characteristic yellow 'Bersih' t-shirts are banned -- anyone wearing one in public faces immediate arrest.
The last week has seen increasing tension as Bersih and the government have maneuvered for advantage and favorable public sentiment. When the government offered to put the group's rally into one of KL's stadiums in exchange for canceling the street rally, Bersih gracefully accepted, only to have the government renege on its offer. The latest word is that the rally is still 'on'.
This is all well and good, you might be thinking, but what does any of this have to do with Islam, or Islamic supremacism? The Malaysian media wouldn't think of it, let alone hear of it, but in my view, this looming confrontation on the streets has everything to do with the ideology that shall not be named.
The reality is this. While 'Bersih' is a multiracial organization, with members coming from all of Malaysia's ethnic groups, the majority of this group's membership is non Muslim. Bersih's members are universally disgusted with this increasingly unjust government that has ruled this country uninterrupted since 1957, longer than any other political party on the planet has run a nation state. Interestingly enough, Malaysia's pro Sharia and pro Jihad political party known as PAS has sided with Bersih, no doubt hoping to use the group as an opportunistic means to advance their own agenda.
PAS notwithstanding, most Malays, and therefore most Muslims, believe Bersih and its upcoming demonstration are a threat to peace and public order, no matter how reasonable Bersih's agenda may sound. Therefore the majority of Malays can be expected to faithfully back the Muslim-controlled government, no matter how draconian its crackdowns may prove to be. You can probably see where this is going, and it is not going to end well for the non Muslims. Not when the Muslims have all the guns.
Normally, the 'dhimmis' of Malaysia are well cowed and compliant, but the Muslim overlords of Malaysia have ruled this land with an iron hand for so long, that it appears that the 'infidels' have finally lost their patience. The list of injustices and grievances of this government, which has Islamic supremacy AKA 'Malay supremacy' at the heart of its dark agenda, has grown so high and emanates a stench so vile that even Malaysia's reticent dhimmis have belatedly woken from their slumber, at least for a short while.
Bersih may possess the moral high ground, but in practical terms is totally outgunned and therefore has no chance of achieving its core demand of 'clean and fair elections.' And even, if by some miracle, Bersih got its way, then it would be for naught. No election, no matter how clean or fair, can make a meaningful difference in a land dominated by Islam. Lands dominated by Islam are, by definition, lands without liberty. Elections, and by extension democracy, mean little without guarantees of personal liberty. America's prolific and wasteful expenditures of both blood and treasure in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven this beyond all reasonable doubt.
Bersih's protest is doomed to go down in history as a noble, if futile, gesture against the increasing Islamization of this country; as long as there are Muslims in Malaysia, there is no chance that they will not rule political affairs. However, if there is anything that the outside world should learn from this latest episode of repression in this 'moderate' land, let the world be reminded anew, that civil liberties and Islam decidedly do not mix.
UPDATE: Thousands entered the downtown area for the rally and to send the Malaysian government a firm message that their corruption and dirty tricks are unacceptable. This happened despite the massive police presence and sweeping 'preventative measures'. Exact numbers of protesters who came are impossible to obtain at the moment. Most of the Bersih leadership, along with leading figures from opposition political parties (DAP, PKR, PAS) have been arrested. 600-700 others, perhaps more, have been arrested or 'detained'. The throngs seem to be finally dispersing now, albeit slowly. I've been listening to sirens and police helicopters hovering overhead for hours. The protest and the resulting government crackdown is major news in the international mainstream media.
Tomorrow, Saturday afternoon at 2pm here near central KL, a group banned by the government, a group known as 'Bersih' ('Clean'), is promising to assemble en masse. No one has any idea how many may show up. Perhaps 30,000, perhaps 100,000. The throng is expected to rally for clean and fair elections, and also, not to put too fine of a point on it, to protest against the entrenched ruling party's increasingly authoritarian brand of government.
The Muslim government is doing everything in its power to prevent the rally and disrupt the organization behind it. All the supposed guarantees of civil liberties in the Malaysian Constitution have been swept away in the name of 'harmony' and 'national security'. The police are at this moment cordoning off the downtown area, major thoroughfares, and all possible rally venues. Mass transit systems are being shut down, bus stations closed and buses rerouted to distant suburbs. Any and all public gatherings are forbidden and authorities promise instant arrest to anyone who does not disperse as ordered. Even the characteristic yellow 'Bersih' t-shirts are banned -- anyone wearing one in public faces immediate arrest.
The last week has seen increasing tension as Bersih and the government have maneuvered for advantage and favorable public sentiment. When the government offered to put the group's rally into one of KL's stadiums in exchange for canceling the street rally, Bersih gracefully accepted, only to have the government renege on its offer. The latest word is that the rally is still 'on'.
This is all well and good, you might be thinking, but what does any of this have to do with Islam, or Islamic supremacism? The Malaysian media wouldn't think of it, let alone hear of it, but in my view, this looming confrontation on the streets has everything to do with the ideology that shall not be named.
The reality is this. While 'Bersih' is a multiracial organization, with members coming from all of Malaysia's ethnic groups, the majority of this group's membership is non Muslim. Bersih's members are universally disgusted with this increasingly unjust government that has ruled this country uninterrupted since 1957, longer than any other political party on the planet has run a nation state. Interestingly enough, Malaysia's pro Sharia and pro Jihad political party known as PAS has sided with Bersih, no doubt hoping to use the group as an opportunistic means to advance their own agenda.
PAS notwithstanding, most Malays, and therefore most Muslims, believe Bersih and its upcoming demonstration are a threat to peace and public order, no matter how reasonable Bersih's agenda may sound. Therefore the majority of Malays can be expected to faithfully back the Muslim-controlled government, no matter how draconian its crackdowns may prove to be. You can probably see where this is going, and it is not going to end well for the non Muslims. Not when the Muslims have all the guns.
Normally, the 'dhimmis' of Malaysia are well cowed and compliant, but the Muslim overlords of Malaysia have ruled this land with an iron hand for so long, that it appears that the 'infidels' have finally lost their patience. The list of injustices and grievances of this government, which has Islamic supremacy AKA 'Malay supremacy' at the heart of its dark agenda, has grown so high and emanates a stench so vile that even Malaysia's reticent dhimmis have belatedly woken from their slumber, at least for a short while.
Bersih may possess the moral high ground, but in practical terms is totally outgunned and therefore has no chance of achieving its core demand of 'clean and fair elections.' And even, if by some miracle, Bersih got its way, then it would be for naught. No election, no matter how clean or fair, can make a meaningful difference in a land dominated by Islam. Lands dominated by Islam are, by definition, lands without liberty. Elections, and by extension democracy, mean little without guarantees of personal liberty. America's prolific and wasteful expenditures of both blood and treasure in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven this beyond all reasonable doubt.
Bersih's protest is doomed to go down in history as a noble, if futile, gesture against the increasing Islamization of this country; as long as there are Muslims in Malaysia, there is no chance that they will not rule political affairs. However, if there is anything that the outside world should learn from this latest episode of repression in this 'moderate' land, let the world be reminded anew, that civil liberties and Islam decidedly do not mix.
UPDATE: Thousands entered the downtown area for the rally and to send the Malaysian government a firm message that their corruption and dirty tricks are unacceptable. This happened despite the massive police presence and sweeping 'preventative measures'. Exact numbers of protesters who came are impossible to obtain at the moment. Most of the Bersih leadership, along with leading figures from opposition political parties (DAP, PKR, PAS) have been arrested. 600-700 others, perhaps more, have been arrested or 'detained'. The throngs seem to be finally dispersing now, albeit slowly. I've been listening to sirens and police helicopters hovering overhead for hours. The protest and the resulting government crackdown is major news in the international mainstream media.
Over at Atlas Shrugs yesterday I wrote about some things I've come across in researching for my next book:
In the course of research for my forthcoming book, Did Muhammad Exist?, I have been in contact with a European researcher who has given me some extraordinary information about the origins of the rituals that Muslims perform during the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Mecca is central to Islamic worship, as all Muslims must face Mecca while praying, and are obligated to make the hajj once in their lifetimes if they are able to do so. Muslims call the Kaaba “albayt alharaam” (Qur’an 5:97). It is considered the inviolable institution of obedience to Allah’s Sharia, the pure mosque: “Al-masjid al-haraam” (see Qur’an 2:196, 5:97, 9:19, 48:25).There is more.
Yet only one verse of the Qur’an seems to refer to Mecca by name: “And He it is Who hath withheld men’s hands from you, and hath withheld your hands from them, in the valley of Mecca, after He had made you victors over them. Allah is Seer of what ye do” (48:24). And we know that the Ka’aba predates Islam, as Muhammad is said to have entered it, cleansed it of its pagan idols, and transformed it into a Muslim shrine. Muslims believe that Abraham and Ishmael built it: “And as Abraham raised the foundations from the house with Ishmael: ‘Our Lord accept this from us, You are the Hearer, the Knowledgeable’“ (Qur’an 2:227).
What is the real story? What was the Kaaba originally? Where do the hajj rituals come from?
At first glance, they manifest an impressive similarity to Hindu rituals: bowing and prostrating, shaving the hair, wearing a white robe, circumambulating around a square cosmological symbol (Mandala), counting holy names (dhikr) with a rosary (the tasbih or masbaha, sibha, sousha), kissing a stone, revering sacred water -- all the distinctive Meccan rituals have Hindu counterparts.
The Muslim historian Firishta writes, “Before the advent of Islam, the Brahmans of India were always going on pilgrimage to the Ka’aba, for the worship of the idols there.”
And historically, Arabia has many connections with the Indus Valley. The presence of India in the region, up to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, is well documented. Some have speculated that even the Arabic language as such has many Sanskrit roots. The very word “Arab” may derive from ara-vat or arva, meaning a horse in Sanskrit. The “land of the horses” gives us Aravasthan, from which may come Arabia.
There are records of Arabo-Indian trade with Egypt as far back as 2743 B.C. There were, for instance, land routes through Basra or along the sea that appear to have gone through Arabia. Klaus K. Klostermaier states that “for several centuries a lively commerce developed between the ancient Mediterranean world and India, particularly the ports on the Western coast. The most famous of these ports was Sopara, not far from modern Bombay, which was recently, renamed Mumbai. Present day Cranganore in Kerala, identified with the ancient Muziris, claims to have had trade contacts with Ancient Egypt under Queen Hatsheput, who sent five ships to obtain spices, as well as with ancient Israel during King Solomon’s reign. Apparently, the contact did not break off after Egypt was conquered by Greece and later by Rome.”
Even now, ruins of a shrine to Shiva have been discovered on Socotra, an island belonging to Yemen. Hindu Yemenites are still there, and they are not Indian emigrants. In a very recent statement, Maulana Nabiullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islamia complains: “We were surprised to discover that there are some Hindus in Yemen. These ancient Yemeni Hindus are not Indians. In my opinion, these Hindus are descendants of traders from India in ancient times. I was also surprised to learn that they have a Shiva temple in Yemen. Qazi was very unhappy over this. When he talked to the Yemen leaders, he broached this subject. But the Yemeni leaders refused Qazi’s suggestion of forced conversion of these people to Islam.”
Muhammad’s first biographer, Ibn Ishaq, provides evidence that the Hindu presence in Arabia on the eve of Islam was fairly strong. When Yemen was invaded by the Abyssinians, Sayf b. Dhû Yazan, a chief of the dominant Himayrite clan of Arabs, went to Chosroes (Khusrû), the king of Persia, for help. “He said: ‘O King, ravens have taken possession of our country.’ Chosroes asked, ‘What ravens, Abyssinians or Sindhians?’ ‘Abyssinians,’ he replied.” “Ravens” meant black people, who were identified with Indians and Abyssinians in the minds of Arabs and Persians at that time.
Later, a deputation from the Banu al-Harith waited on Muhammad. “When they came to the apostle he asked who the people who looked like Indians were, and he was told that they were the B. al-Hãrith b. Ka’b.” Muhammad, it seems, was quite familiar with Indians -- or at least his eighth-century biographer was.
There is also a good deal of evidence, by the way, that muhammad was not a name, but a title usually given to victorious warlords, just as Mahatmat (great soul) was not the name of Gandhi, but his title. Sanskrit etymology offers an elucidation of this: Muhammad comes from Mahan Madah: “a person of great inspiration.” But it can also be understood in a hostile sense, implying “a person of a proud and haughty temperament.”
The “kaaba” is usually translated as a dice or a cube, as derived from the Greek “kubos.” It is less commonly linked to the Sanskrit word Gabha (Garbha + Graha), which means Sanctum. Even in the Tamul (or Tamil) language, which is part of the most ancient Dravidian civilization of the Indus Valley, a similar word exists: Kabaali, one of Shiva’s names. Shiva temples in South India are still called Kabaalishwaran.
“What's most worrying is how little de-radicalisation can happen in this time." Indeed, especially since British authorities don't have a clue about what really causes "radicalization" -- i.e., the teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah -- and so couldn't possibly have formulated an effective response to it.
More on this story. "Islamic terrorists spend less than three years in UK prison: Survey," from ANI, July 8 (thanks to Twostellas):
More on this story. "Islamic terrorists spend less than three years in UK prison: Survey," from ANI, July 8 (thanks to Twostellas):
London, July 8 : A majority of Islamic terrorists in Britain spend less than three-and-a-half years in prison, a new survey has revealed. According to the survey, a third of the terrorists go free after less than 16 months. The survey has warned that Britain is now a ‘hub for the development of terrorists’.
The survey conducted by the Henry Jackson Society, studied 138 Islamic terror convictions from 1999-2010. It found 54 per cent resulted in sentences of between one and nine years - and those defendants spent a maximum of three-and-a-half years in jail.
Mohammed Kabashi, who got nine years for helping the failed 21/7 bombers but served just two years and three months, The Sun reports.
Hassan Tabakh got seven years for having bomb-making equipment, but was freed after less than three years.
“What''s [sic] most worrying is how little de-radicalisation can happen in this time. The question remains, will they return to terrorist activities once released,” Expert Hannah Stuart was quoted as saying....
At the beginning of the Tunisian uprising, I noted that it was dominated by pro-Sharia Islamic supremacists. For this I was condemned as an "Islamophobe" who refused to recognize the glorious flowering of human rights and democracy that the "Arab Spring" represented. Some mocked my concern about Tunisia's Ennahda, saying that it was "fearmongering" and "ignorance," since Ennahda represented a minuscule minority and would be insignificant in post-uprising electoral politics. Now we're told it is one of the favorites in the next election.
I tried to tell you. "Tunisians demonstrate against Islamist influence," by Tarek Amara for Reuters, July 7 (thanks to Twostellas):
I tried to tell you. "Tunisians demonstrate against Islamist influence," by Tarek Amara for Reuters, July 7 (thanks to Twostellas):
TUNIS, July 7 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 people took to the streets of the Tunisian capital on Thursday to demonstrate against religious violence and what they say is the rise of radical Islam in the north African country. The demonstration, which included secular political parties and human rights groups, came days after Islamists attacked a movie audience and smashed the doors of a cinema to protest against the film "No God, No Master" by Tunisian-French director Nadia El-Fani, an outspoken critic of political Islam.
Protesters carried banners reading "Free Tunisia, extremism out" and "Religious freedom, freedom of thought".
Six months after an uprising toppled President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, tension is rising between Islamists and liberals as Islamic purists increasingly try to assert their influence in what was once a citadel of Arab secularism.
Ennahda, Tunisia's main Islamist party, was legalised after the revolution and, although still in its infancy, it is tipped as one of the favourites in the October election.
Its popularity unnerves the many Tunisians who want to keep religion separate from the state....
It was thrown out because the plaintiffs couldn't prove they were injured by the minaret ban. So watch for the Islamic supremacists to cover that angle next time. "Legal move against minaret ban thrown out," from SwissInfo, July 8:
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected appeals against a ban on the construction of new minarets in Switzerland. Judges ruled that the plaintiffs – three Muslim organisations and a private citizen – were not victims of an alleged human rights violation.Why is it "rightwing" to oppose the spread of a triumphalist and repressive political ideology that will extinguish the freedom of speech and deny women basic rights?
The Strasbourg-based court on Friday announced that the complaints by the applicants were not admissible.
“The main complaint was that a disputed constitutional provision offended their religious beliefs. However, they did not allege that it had had any practical effect on them,” the statement said.
The applicants could not prove either that they were indirect victims because none of them was planning on building a mosque with a minaret in Switzerland in the near future, it added.
The appeals were lodged in December 2009 following approval of a controversial rightwing initiative in a nationwide vote.
A majority of 57.5 per cent of Swiss voters came out in favour of the rightwing initiative in November 2009.
Convicted of misunderstanding Islam"High school dropout convicted of trying to join terrorist group so he could kill U.S. troops," by John Marzulli for the New York Daily News, July 7 (thanks to all who sent this in):
A Brooklyn high school dropout was convicted Thursday of conspiring to join a foreign terrorist group so he could kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Betim Kaziu faces life in prison for the jihadi adventure that took him to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and finally Kosovo - where he was arrested in 2009. [...]Oh, that makes it all right, then.
Kaziu, 23, wanted to become a member of the Taliban or the Somali-based Al Shabbab so he could die a Muslim martyr on a battlefield in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine or Africa.
"The defendant desired to wage jihad," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Kazemi said in his closing argument.
"He never intended to return to the United States. He hoped to die a martyr. "
Flush with cash from a court settlement for a playground accident, Kaziu traveled overseas with a buddy from Mill Basin who chickened out of the scheme and returned to Brooklyn to eventually became a government cooperator.
Defense lawyer Joshua Dratel argued that a trove of militant videos - including some from hate-spewing Osama bin Laden and Anwar Al-Awlaki - found on Kaziu's laptop computer don't make him a terrorist.
"Millions of people watch these videos and don't fight jihad," Dratel said.
Kaziu had made a so-called martyrdom video in Albania before he was arrested. "I came here with the brothers to chill before I, God willing, depart," Kaziu said as he stood on a cliff above the sea.
When will the European Union allow European countries to defend themselves against the Islamic immigrant influx?
The EU works hard to stop its member states from reinstating control of their national borders. Several countries have been working hard to find loopholes in the directives from Brussels -- and Norway has found one. From a Norwegian news report:
The EU works hard to stop its member states from reinstating control of their national borders. Several countries have been working hard to find loopholes in the directives from Brussels -- and Norway has found one. From a Norwegian news report:
The Norwegian Justice minister wants more police officers to patrol along the country's border, and claims that more border controls will reduce asylum growth further. Last year there was a reduction in the number of arrivals by 42 percent compared with the year before. Østfold Police District's commitment to cross-border controls should be given a lot of credit for this, said Justice Minister Knut Stortberget to TV 2. ... After Norway joined the Schengen Agreement, the checking of EU citizens at the borders came to an end. But the police are allowed to carry out checks near the border to enforce immigration rules. In the first half of this year the border team at Østfold Police District 344 arrested asylum seekers. Most were illegal immigrants. Border police also uncovered 24n attempts at human trafficking in the same six months.
"O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust." -- Qur'an 5:51
The penalty for apostasy in Islamic law is death, per Muhammad's own orders. Below, Boko Haram marks everyone who collaborates with Christians or with the existing Nigerian government as apostates, of being "of them" for turning to them for friendship or cooperating with them. "Stay Away from Christians, Boko Haram warns Muslims in Nigeria," from PointBlankNews, July 6:
The penalty for apostasy in Islamic law is death, per Muhammad's own orders. Below, Boko Haram marks everyone who collaborates with Christians or with the existing Nigerian government as apostates, of being "of them" for turning to them for friendship or cooperating with them. "Stay Away from Christians, Boko Haram warns Muslims in Nigeria," from PointBlankNews, July 6:
The Boko Haram menace has taken a dramatic twist with its call on all Muslims in Nigeria to stay away from Christians, Security Agents, Government institutions and functions or face death.What? An apology won't cut it?
It maintained that since the present Federal Government is not Islamic, every employee is considered an infidel marked for elimination.
This came on the heels of reports that the group just stormed the divisional police headquarters in Toro Local Government area of Bauchi state, carting away arms and ammunition. It was not clear if any police officer was murdered.
The deadly group urged Muslims to stay away from Christians, their houses, businesses and churches because they are targets of attacks.
This warning is contained in a statement issued by the spokesman, Abu Zaid and exclusively obtained by pointblanknews.com.
According to Zaid "The only dialogue in this crisis is as follows: Stop abiding by the constitution in our land (Dualan Usmaniyya), and government must be sincere and stop terrorizing Muslims in Maiduguri and parts of the North, then there should be a time limit for ceasing fire to gauge Government commitment in keeping to its promise, which cannot be more than ten years."In accordance with Islamic law, that is the maximum length of a ceasefire.
The group boasted that it was yet to employ 5 percent of its military might and weaponry.No, an apology won't cut it:
Said Zaid "What is holding us back is the innocent civilian population, but as soon as people stay clear from security agents we will launch a full-scale attack. Unarmed Muslims were picked up from their homes and from their hospital beds and summarily executed; the world saw it on AlJazeera. Yet the same Government wants to forgive us for the wrongs they meted on us. In actual sense, we are the ones that should give amnesty to the Borno State Government."Shut up and take one for the team:
According to Boko Haram "We as a group don't kill people who are innocent. What we are trying to tell people is that, in regaining the pride of the people in Islam, people have to endure in losing their properties and sometimes lives are also involved and this can fall on everyone, including us."
The statement continued "This is a government that is not Islamic. Therefore, all its employees-Muslims and non-Muslims are Infidels. This is a Government which naturally fights Islam because Muslims were killed were killed in Zagon Kataf, in Jos and Southern Kaduna but the perpetrators have never been prosecuted by the so-called existing laws of the land. Mosques were destroyed and punishment for this is death. Therefore, we have the right to kill them all. But if there are people who profess Islam and do not take part in Government or Western Education, their blood and wealth are sacred unless otherwise."
"The report, Islamist Terrorist: The British Connections, also found most of those convicted of terror-related offences (54%) served less than three-and-a-half years in jail." "UK 'terrorist development hub'," from the Belfast Telegraph, July 7 (thanks to Kenneth):
The UK is "something of a hub for the development of terrorists", the Government's former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation has said. Lord Carlile QC said Islamic extremism "remains far and away the greatest, and the least predictable" terrorist threat to the UK and most terrorists were home-grown.
He highlighted several cases from 2010 where British citizens were accused of terrorist activity in the UK and abroad.
Writing the foreword to an overview of the UK's links to Islamism-inspired terrorism worldwide, Lord Carlile said: "We should not lose sight of the clear evidence provided by the report that a majority of terrorists in the UK are 'home-grown', and have not been trained abroad.
"Unfortunately the evidence reveals the UK to be something of a hub for the development of terrorists who export their activities to other countries: several examples are given from 2010."
He added: "Islamic extremism is not the only terrorist threat to the United Kingdom, but it remains far and away the greatest, and the least predictable."
According to the report, published by the Henry Jackson Society, seven out of 10 Islamism-related offences last year were perpetrated by British nationals, with almost half of those living in London.
It comes after a series of British citizens were involved in attacks. Suicide bomber Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, 28, who studied at the University of Luton, blew himself up and injured two people in an attack in Stockholm's shopping district in December last year.
A terrorist suspect killed in a drone attack in Pakistan in September last year was reportedly Abdul Jabbar, a British man tasked with leading an al Qaida group in the UK. And terror suspect Mahmoud Abu Rideh, who was previously under a control order in the UK, was killed in a missile strike in Afghanistan last year.
The report, Islamist Terrorist: The British Connections, also found most of those convicted of terror-related offences (54%) served less than three-and-a-half years in jail.
They already have more than Britain, even though they are not self-sufficient in protecting what they have, but reliant on U.S. help. "'Pak will have 200 N-warheads in a decade'," from the Press Trust of India, July 7 (thanks to S):
Washington: Pakistan has the world's fastest-growing nuclear stockpile and it could achieve 150-200 warheads in a decade despite the political instability in the country, two top American atomic experts have said.
Pakistan is in the process of building two new plutonium production reactors and a new reprocessing facility to fabricate more nuclear weapons fuel, wrote nuclear experts Hans M Kristensen and Robert S Norris in the latest issue of Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
In their paper 'Pakistan's nuclear forces, 2011', the authors estimate that if Pakistan's expansion continues, its nuclear weapons stockpile could reach 150-200.
"Despite its political instability, Pakistan continues to steadily expand its nuclear capabilities and competencies; in fact, it has the world's fastest-growing nuclear stockpile," they wrote.
"We estimate that Pakistan has a nuclear weapons stockpile of 90-110 nuclear warheads, an increase from the estimated 70-90 warheads in 2009," the paper said.
"It is also developing new delivery systems. Enhancements to Pakistan's nuclear forces include a new nuclear capable medium-range ballistic missile, the development of two new nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles, and the development of two new nuclear-capable cruise missiles," they wrote.
"With four new delivery systems and two plutonium production reactors under development, however, the rate of Pakistan's stockpile growth may even increase over the next 10 years," they warned.
"The Pakistani government has not defined the number and type of nuclear weapons that its minimum deterrent requires. But Pakistan's pace of nuclear modernization and its development of several short-range delivery systems indicates that its nuclear posture has entered an important new phase and that a public explanation is overdue," the experts said....
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