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April 02, 2008

This Isn’t Freedom of Speech - It’s Freedom to Incite Murder

From Islam Watch via Fox News:

A report posted on Islam Watch, a site run by Muslims who oppose intolerant teachings and hatred for unbelievers, exposes a prominent Islamic cleric and lawyer who support extreme punishment for non-Muslims — including killing and rape.

A question-and-answer session with Imam Abdul Makin in an East London mosque asks why Allah would tell Muslims to kill and rape innocent non-Muslims, including their wives and daughters, according to Islam Watch.

"Because non-Muslims are never innocent, they are guilty of denying Allah and his prophet," the Imam says, according to the report. "If you don't believe me, here is the legal authority, the top Muslim lawyer of Britain."

The lawyer, Anjem Choudary, backs up the Imam's position, saying that all Muslims are innocent.

Click here to watch the interview with Islamic lawyer Anjem Choudary.

"You are innocent if you are a Muslim," Choudary tells the BBC. "Then you are innocent in the eyes of God. If you are not a Muslim, then you are guilty of not believing in God."

Choudary said he would not condemn a Muslim for any action.

"As a Muslim, I must support my Muslim brothers and sisters," Choudary said. "I must have hatred to everything that is not Muslim."

Click here to read the report from Islam Watch. 

This cleric isn't in some Islamic nation. He's in an East London mosque, preaching specifically for the killing and rape of his non-Muslim fellow Brits.

Permitting him to continue isn't permitting freedom of speech - it's permitting a very small subset of freedom of speech, specifically, freedom to incite murder of non-Muslims.

If it's easy to accept the rule against shouting "fire" in a crowded theater, it should be easy to pass a law saying that it's illegal to call for people to kill those who aren't part of one's own organization - in this case, the organization of radical Islamists.  

April 01, 2008

Help Defend Wafa Sultan from the Threats of Those Who Attack Our Freedom of Speech

Dr. Wafa Sultan Speaks at a Private Residence in Los Angeles

Shockingly, on U.S. soil, a citizen of this country has had to go into hiding due to threats from an organized group - radical Islamists:

Dr. Wafa Sultan has been forced to go into hiding with her family following a fatwa (religious edict) from an Islamic scholar, according to Omedia. Sultan faces the fatwa following a recent debate on Al-Jazeera in which she challenged Egyptian Islamist Talat Rheim over Dutch cartoons of Mohammed, who Muslims revere as a prophet. Sultan argued that Denmark had the right to print the cartoons.

Click here to see Sultan's March 4 interview on Al Jazeera.

Last week, at a private residence in Los Angeles, Sultan appeared. Here is an excerpt from her remarks (transcribed from an audio recording, and presented here with the permission of Dr. Sultan):

You need to jump the gap between you and them. Bridge this gap, and begin to understand this mindset. You cannot win this war until you understand the Muslim mindset.

You know, prior to my first interview on Al Jazeera in 2005, I thought I only needed to educate my people in the Arab world. But right after that interview, unfortunately, I found out that the West is lacking knowledge about the realities in the Arabic world. They don't know anything about the Muslim mindset. At a very early age, we are brainwashed to believe, that we are here, to spread Islam. We are here to fight, for Allah's sake, and to kill or to be killed in his army.

They're very different. Their concept of time is so very different from your concept. They are well-trained to be patient. They believe time is at their side. It doesn't matter how long they wait. One day they're going to reach their goal.

And there is a very well-known in Islam called al-Taqiyya. I don't know if you're familiar with it. Al-Taqiyya means Muslims are allowed to lie, to cheat, to deceive, in order to reach their goals.

In my first interview on Al Jazeera, the host asked me the question, "Why are you trying to be American, more than Americans? I said, "Believe it or not, I am American more than Americans. I was born in hell. I know the difference between hell, and paradise. But unfortunately, most Americans don't. [APPLAUSE]. They take their American lives for granted.

Just greeting my next-door neighbor - walking freely down the street - you take it for granted; I don't. So please, defend your life. Defend your values. This war is a very tough war. I have no doubt, that we are going to win this war.

Thank you so much!

[APPLAUSE]

Dr. Sultan asked us for our help in defending her against a fatwa issued against her by Al-Qaradhawl, a radical Islamist and resident of Qatar. You can help by submitting the following letter, drafted by one of her many supporters, to the embassy at Qatar. Use this link, and paste the letter into Feedback:

Embassy of Qatar:

As an American citizen I am appalled by the rage, threats and hateful rhetoric leveled against Dr. Wafa Sultan by Egyptian Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Al-Qaradawi does not have the right to issue religious edicts, or "fatwas" against persons residing in the U.S., who express their opinions in an attempt to uphold the truth. In fact, it was this type of hateful rhetoric, threats and rage that compelled Dr. Sultan to speak out in the first place. As a result of al-Qaradawi's actions to exact revenge and incite hatred against Dr. Sultan, she has now been forced into hiding.

These are extraordinary charges against Dr. Sultan made by al-Qaradawi, who states them in a manner which his fellow jihadists understand perfectly. In fact, we all understand exactly what he is threatening.

Given that al-Qaradawi has justified suicide attacks against innocent civilians and American soldiers in Iraq, it is abundantly clear that he encourages violence and threats of death over civil discourse and free speech.

Law enforcement officials should take this latest threat against Wafa Sultan very seriously indeed.

Signed...

I've also drafted a variation on the above letter, which can be sent to the U.S. Embassy in Qatar. Use this email address to reach Michael Alan Ratney, currently the Chargé d'Affaires at the embassy while GWB's nominee for incoming Ambassador to Qatar, Joseph LeBaron, awaits nomination hearings.

Dear Mr. Ratney,

As an American citizen I am appalled by the rage, threats and hateful rhetoric leveled against Dr. Wafa Sultan by Egyptian Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Al-Qaradawi does not have the right to issue religious edicts, or "fatwas" against persons residing in the U.S., who express their opinions in an attempt to uphold the truth. In fact, it was this type of hateful rhetoric, threats and rage that compelled Dr. Sultan to speak out in the first place. As a result of al-Qaradawi's actions to exact revenge and incite hatred against Dr. Sultan, she has now been forced into hiding.

These are extraordinary charges against Dr. Sultan made by al-Qaradawi, who states them in a manner which his fellow jihadists understand perfectly. In fact, we all understand exactly what he is threatening.

Given that al-Qaradawi has justified suicide attacks against innocent civilians and American soldiers in Iraq, it is abundantly clear that he encourages violence and threats of death over civil discourse and free speech.

As an American citizen, I urgently request that the U.S. Embassy in Qatar take every step to protect the lives of American citizens from death threats issued against them which emanate from Qatar.

Signed...

Just yesterday LiveLeak acted courageously in the face of death threats, to post the film, FITNA. We in this country must demand that our government take every step to defend our freedom of speech from threats against our citizens, and we must champion those who courageously defend our freedom of speech - from our soldiers fighting overseas, to LiveLeak, and to Dr. Sultan.

March 31, 2008

How We Know the Government Hasn’t Yet Caught Up with the Tactics of Radical Islam

LiveLeak today courageously restored hosting of FITNA, the powerful film that shows how many Imams, preaching hate per their understanding of the Koran, radicalize Muslims so that individual radical Islamists feel compelled to attempt to kill non-Muslims. I previously posted that only Islam produces such numbers of mass murderers; this video shows why that is.

LiveLeak previously removed FITNA from its servers due to death threats it received from radical Islamists. It restored the video after taking security measures to protect its employees:

On the 28th of March LiveLeak.com was left with no other choice but to remove the film "fitna" from our servers following serious threats to our staff and their families. Since that time we have worked constantly on upgrading all security measures thus offering better protection for our staff and families. With these measures in place we have decided to once more make this video live on our site. We will not be pressured into censoring material which is legal and within our rules.

The primary duty of the government is to protect the safety and security of the citizens.

At this time government is falling short of achieving these goals. Our government is not yet doing enough to protect our rights to free speech. LiveLeak has had to courageously defend our free speech by using it in the face of such threats.

This is becoming like the wild west, when many citizens had to carry guns on a daily basis to defend themselves from attack - because there was little protection for citizens from those who threatened them.

The government must catch up to the strategy used by radical Islam, a strategy which has never before been used to attack the freedom of this country.

As in the first sentence of this post, the strategy is easy to describe:

• Imams preach hatred and death in their mosques and madrassas
• This radicalizes many of those they preach to
• Individual radical Muslims then feel compelled to attempt to kill non-Muslims
  

Relevant supporting links:

According to one FBI agent interviewed in Ronald Kessler's new book The Terrorist Watch, about one in ten of the United States' 2,000 mosques are believed to preach hatred. That number was higher before 9/11, however, as radicals now seek to evade U.S. intelligence agencies.

But the problem extends beyond mosques. Islamic schools play a role, too. According to scholar Daniel Pipes, a Saudi textbook at the Islamic Saudi Academy of Alexandria, VA, teaches first graders that, "all religions, other than Islam, are false, including that of the Jews [and] Christians," while books used by New York City's Muslims schools include, "sweeping condemnations of Jews and Christians."

A new report issued by the New York Police Department indicates that radical Islam continues to have an appeal among Manhattan's Muslims, often through "informal groups or clusters of young men…usually associated with a particular venue - community center, non-governmental organization, university group, housing project, café or even a particular mosque." NYPD also noted the, "growing trend of Salafi-based radicalization that has permeated some Muslim student associations (MSA's)."

This environment has undoubtedly impacted America's Muslims. According to a Pew Research Poll, roughly one-quarter of young Muslims (ages 18-29) in the United States believe that suicide bombing is justified under certain circumstances.

We as a people are coming to grips with the fact that under the guise of religion many mosques house preachers of mass murder.

There can be no tolerance for such preaching in a civilized society.

There can be no tolerance for such preaching in a society that seeks to protect its freedom of speech.

There can be no tolerance for such preaching in a society that protects its civilians from death threats.

The answer: our government must prosecute, expel, ban, arrest, and jail Islamist leaders who preach that the Koran says Muslims must kill non-Muslims, and who preach that the Koran says that our freedoms must be overthrown, and that Shariah must replace the American Constitution; and our government must do so regardless of whether such preaching is done under cover of freedom of religion.

 

See also this previous post:

To Eradicate the Islamist Killers, We Must Destroy the Mechanism that Produces Them

March 07, 2008

When It Won’t Say Those Who Kill in Public Places are The Bad Guys, MSM Proves It Can’t Be Trusted

Once again, we've seen a case in which a Palestinian killer goes into a public place and murders whoever he can.

JERUSALEM -- A man concealing an assault rifle and handgun in a box slipped into a cherished Jewish seminary here and opened fire in the library Thursday night, killing eight people in the deadliest attack in Israel in nearly two years.

Witnesses said the assault lasted more than 10 minutes before a seminary student and an off-duty army officer killed the gunman, identified by police as a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem.

And just in case anyone might think this was some sort of random, isolated killer, whose actions were not supported by the broader Palestinian people, the Palestinians had public demonstrations celebrating the brutal murder.

Killings in public places have been carried out by the Palestinians whenever possible throughout this decade:

Such attacks killed hundreds of Israelis during a Palestinian uprising in the early part of this decade but declined sharply in recent years as Israel began sealing itself off from the West Bank with walls and fences.

Yet MSM coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is determined not to overtly pick a side. From LGF commenter Dar ul Harb:

Or from the front page of last week's LA Times (February 28):

"Rockets follow Israeli airstrikes?" That is shocking. Many people who care about this subject are aware that Hamas has been hammering the Israeli city of Sderot with rockets for the entire decade:

Sderot lies one kilometer from the Gaza Strip and town of Beit Hanoun. Since the beginning of the Second Intifada in October 2000, the city has been under constant rocket fire from Qassam rockets launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Despite the imperfect aim of these homemade projectiles, they have caused deaths and injuries, as well as significant damage to homes and property, psychological distress and emigration from the city. The Israeli government has installed a "Red Dawn" alarm system to warn citizens of impending rocket attacks, although its effectiveness has been questioned. Thousands of Qassam rockets have been launched since Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September 2005.

The AP article just linked also misrepresents the facts with its headline, "Israelis, militants trade deadly strikes."

The MSM has one core product: accurate information. And headlines like this tell the American people that the MSM is adulterating its core product, by hiding and misrepresenting the truth.

When we buy stuff, we like to get the genuine article we're paying for, not some adulterated ripoff fake product.

The American people are appalled that the MSM would support Palestinians who like to blow up or shoot up cars, buses, trains, restaurants, and in this most recent case, a yeshiva. If the MSM can't tell that people who do that are the bad guys, then MSM can't be trusted.

And so MSM circulation continues to decline.

March 05, 2008

“Declaration Against Genocide” Offers Universities the Opportunity to Support Tolerance

This week the David Horowitz Freedom Center is launching a Declaration Against Genocide, with a call "to student governments, to campus human rights organizations, to Muslim Students Associations and to individuals in the academic community, to join us in drawing a collective line in the sand against barbarism and to declare ourselves for civilization and hope." From an email distributed by the Center:

David Horowitz Freedom Center Announces Declaration Against Genocide

The David Horowitz Freedom Center announced that it will distribute a Declaration Against Genocide and ask individuals and groups, particularly those on American college campuses, to sign it. The Declaration notes that the Sudanese and other Africans have been victims of a slow motion genocide, and that Islamo fascists in the Middle East are preparing a new genocide against the Jews and can be found here: http://terrorismawareness.org/petitions/140/declaration-against-genocide .

In describing the objectives of this new initiative, David Horowitz, President of the Freedom Center, said: "We are asking all campus groups to repudiate the genocidal passage in the Islamic Hadith which reads: "The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: 'The time [of judgment] will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews and kill them; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!'"

Horowitz continued: "We are also asking all campus groups, including the Muslim Students Association, to condemn the Hamas Charter which says: `Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.' Signers of the Declaration will also be asked to repudiate the Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has said `The accomplishment of a world without America and Israel is both possible and feasible.' And Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, who called the Jews `a cancer which is liable to spread again at any moment,' and has said, "If the Jews `all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.' These are hateful doctrines that threaten the lives not only of Jews, but of all Americans."

In addition to condemning the genocidal agenda of these leaders and organizations, the Declaration calls on campus groups to affirm "the freedom of the individual conscience and the right to change religions or have no religion at all; the equal dignity of men and women; and the right of all people to live free from violence, intimidation and coercion."

"Although a Declaration Against Genocide should be seen as a document with universal appeal," Horowitz notes, "a coalition of groups with ties to the Islamo-fascist jihad are bound to protest this effort. Our goal is to test universities' claims that they support religious and ethnic tolerance, and to challenge the campus left, which consistently overlooks statements by Islamic radicals which are nothing less than an invitation to mass murder."

Click here to sign the Declaration.

Islamic and leftist organizations on university campuses, will have the opportunity to show that they support tolerance and stand against genocide. Will they sign the Declaration?

February 19, 2008

Ex-Radical: How to Force Islamic Organizations to Reveal Whether they are Truly Moderate

Dr. Tawfik Hamid addresses an audience at Pepperdine University

Last week at Pepperdine University, a panel event was held to focus on the work Dr. Tawfik Hamid. Panelists included  Frank Gaffney, former Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy; Robert G. Kaufman, Professor of Foreign Policy, Pepperdine University and former instructor at the Naval War College; and Larry Greenfield, a former Naval Intelligence serviceperson and now California Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Hamid grew up in Cairo. He reports from his own personal experience how he, as a child, was radicalized - how, in his own words:

The love in my heart had changed into hatred. Not because of American foreign policy. It is because of the teaching that they gave me when I was child.

Dr. Hamid has written an article detailing the astonishing way in which this is done to many Islamic children, as he personally experienced it:

When I was nine years old, I learned the following Quranic verse during one of our Arabic lessons:

But do not think of those that have been slain in God's cause as dead. Nay, they are alive! With their Sustainer have they their sustenance. They are very happy with the reward they received from Allah (for dying as a shaheed) and they rejoice for the sake of those who have not joined them (i.e., have not yet died for Allah). (Quran 3:169-70)¹

It was the first time I was exposed to the concept of shaheed (martyr), and naturally, I began to dream of becoming one. The thought of entering paradise very much appealed to me. There I could eat all the lollypops and chocolates I wanted, or play all day without anyone telling me to study. What made the concept of shaheed even more attractive was its power to quell the fear I experienced as a young boy-for we were taught that if we were not good Muslims (especially if we did not pray five times per day), a "bald snake" would attack us in the grave. The idea of dying as a martyr provided a perfect escape from the frightening anguish of eternal punishment. Dying as a shaheed, in fact, was the only deed that fully guaranteed paradise after death.

One of the most significant parts of Dr. Hamid's talk at Pepperdine, discussed a methodology for forcing a determination as to whether Islamic organizations are truly moderate. Transcribed from an audio recording:

I will start my talk tonight, by setting definitions. I feel that talking about radical and moderate Islam without defining, what do we mean, by the word "radical" - what do we mean by the word "moderate" Muslims - can end into just discussions followed by discussions that again end in nothing. We have to set definitions. What do we mean by "moderate" Muslim? I can put it in these alphabets - A B C D E F G.

A - Killing the Apostate. I don't think that anyone who believes that an apostate or a converter from Islam to Christianity should be killed, could be considered moderate. (laughter)

B - Beating women. The same applies, to beating women.

C - Calling Jews "pigs and monkeys."

D - Declaring wars against non-Muslims to spread Islam.

E - Enslavement of female war prisoners, and raping them, as what is happening in Darfur now.

F - Fighting Jews before end days, and killing all of them, which is _the_ main cause of problems in the Middle East now. It is this belief that Muslims have to kill all Jews.

G - Is killing girls.

So, when someone believes in such beliefs, we should not consider them moderate. If an organization here in America cannot stand clearly, and unambiguously, against such barbaric values, then there is something wrong in this organization. So I truly believe that we in the free world, should insist that the organizations that declare that they are moderates, to prove these words, by standing clearly against these violent edicts of Sharia law. (APPLAUSE).

This is an actionable methodology. We should demand that Islamic organizations such as CAIR, MPAC, etc., should stand, in Dr. Hamid's words, "clearly, and unambiguously, against such barbaric values." If they refuse, then their claims of being "moderate" organizations, are a sham, and will be exposed as such.

January 09, 2008

The Hard Truth for Islam: No Other Religion Produces Such Numbers of Mass Murderers

People frequently try to excuse Islam by saying that those who commit murder in its name are radicals who are corrupting the true teachings of that religion. Islam bears no responsibility for the actions of such radicals, claim the apologists.

But what is not even remotely debatable, is that Islam is the only religion that produces such numbers of mass murderers who kill in the name of their religion. It is time for the apologists for Islam to be held to account for this.

I was recently having a discussion on the comments section of this site with a poster who argued that with regard to the subject of abortion, Christianity was comparable to Islam. I responded:

Per the site religioustolerance.org, the total number of murders or attempted murders committed with regard to abortion clinics, from 1989 to 2004, was 24. Compare this to 4,989 killed an injured by radical Islamists in just the past two months.

Compare it to the 142,174 (56,000+ killed, 85,000+ injured) killed or murdered by radical Islamists since 9/10/01. (Link to source - and supporting spreadsheet).

Citing numbers from the same link (http://www.thereligionofpeace.com), Say Anything posts:

More people are killed by Islamists each year than in all 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition combined. (source)

More civilians were killed by Muslim extremists in two hours on September 11th than in the 36 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. (source)

Islamic terrorists murder more people every day than the Ku Klux Klan has in the last 50 years. (source)

19 Muslim hijackers killed more innocents in two hours on September 11th than the number of American criminals executed in the last 65 years. (source)

The notion that Islam is not unique among religions in the number of such extremists it produces is comforting, but inaccurate. Only Islam produces mass murderers in such numbers. This is a hard truth for which apologists for that religion must be held to account.

November 27, 2007

Mosques in the UK and in America Teach Hatred of Christians and Jews

A year-long investigation in England has documented (once again) that mosques there teach hatred towards Christians and Jews.

An authoritative new report by Policy Exchange, the UK's leading centre-right thinktank, entitled The Hijacking of British Islam: How extremist literature is subverting Britain's mosques, reveals the worrying extent of extremist penetration of mosques and other key institutions of the British Muslim community. The report is the most comprehensive academic survey of its kind ever produced in the UK and is based on a year-long investigation by several teams of specialist researchers into the availability of extremist literature and covers more than a hundred mosques and Islamic centres throughout the UK.

Among the reports findings are:

* Most of the extremist literature is published and distributed by agencies linked to the Saudi Arabian government.

* Some of the most high-profile and prestigious mosques in Britain are among the worst offenders; in many of them, it is openly available.

* Separatist literature is distributed at the East London Mosque - which is closely associated with the Muslim Council of Britain (which purports to be the main body representing British Muslims).

Shocking statements

Pamphlets, books and leaflets obtained from mosques and Islamic centres contain an assortment of shocking statements including:

* "Jihad against a tyrant, oppressors, people of bid'ah [Muslim innovators], or wrongdoers. This type of jihad is best done through force if possible."

* "The Jews and the Christians are the enemies of the Muslim."

* "Whoever changes his religion, kill him."

Although some of the hate literature is in English, a proportion is written in Arabic. The translations commissioned by Policy Exchange have been independently verified.

Many of the publications encourage British Muslims to segregate themselves from non-Muslims. So-called unbelievers are to be treated as second-class and avoided wherever possible.

There are also repeated calls for gays to be thrown from mountains and tall buildings and for women to be subjugated.

Radical Islamists are using the same tactics here in the U.S.

It's happening here, but to a lesser extent. According to one FBI agent interviewed in Ronald Kessler's new book The Terrorist Watch, about one in ten of the United States' 2,000 mosques are believed to preach hatred. That number was higher before 9/11, however, as radicals now seek to evade U.S. intelligence agencies.

But the problem extends beyond mosques. Islamic schools play a role, too. According to scholar Daniel Pipes, a Saudi textbook at the Islamic Saudi Academy of Alexandria, VA, teaches first graders that, "all religions, other than Islam, are false, including that of the Jews [and] Christians," while books used by New York City's Muslims schools include, "sweeping condemnations of Jews and Christians."

A new report issued by the New York Police Department indicates that radical Islam continues to have an appeal among Manhattan's Muslims, often through "informal groups or clusters of young men…usually associated with a particular venue - community center, non-governmental organization, university group, housing project, café or even a particular mosque." NYPD also noted the, "growing trend of Salafi-based radicalization that has permeated some Muslim student associations (MSA's)."

This environment has undoubtedly impacted America's Muslims. According to a Pew Research Poll, roughly one-quarter of young Muslims (ages 18-29) in the United States believe that suicide bombing is justified under certain circumstances.

The British report makes the following excellent recommendations:

i) The Saudi Arabian government must be told to stop distributing extremist literature in Britain or else risk its good relations. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is currently on a state visit to the UK and the British government should address this matter directly with him.

ii) Mosques and other Islamic institutions must act immediately to remove extremist literature from their premises.

iii) The government, local authorities, police forces, other institutions and prominent individuals should have nothing to do with mosques that continue to sell or distribute extremist literature.

iv) Islamic schools must be subject to clear and rigorous regulation and made part of a genuinely shared system of national education.

Teaching of hatred isn't tolerated in America with regard to any ethnic or cultural heritage. It must be wiped out of the mosques here.

Why We Can’t Let Iran Get the Bomb: If Iran Nukes Israel, It Could Be the End of the Oil Age

Today Iran is bragging that it has new missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers:

Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Mostafa Muhammad-Najjar announced on Tuesday that his country had developed a new ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers, capable of reaching Israel and US Army bases in the Middle East.

If Iran nukes Israel, Israel will have no choice but to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike. The results would be devastating to everyone on the planet:

...in clear, concise and chillingly forensic style, Cordesman ["top strategic guru at the Center for Strategic & International Studies"] spells out that the real stakes in the crisis that is building over Iran's nuclear ambitions would certainly include the end of Persian civilization, quite probably the end of Egyptian civilization, and the end of the Oil Age. This would also mean the end of globalization and the extraordinary accretions in world trade and growth and prosperity that are hauling hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indians and others out of poverty.

Iran must be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons and using them to seek it's often-stated goal of eliminating Israel from the map. The result would be the destruction, not only of Israel, but also of Iran, and of the entire global economy.

September 18, 2007

A Definitive Answer to Those Who Say They Support the Troops, But Want Them Out of Iraq ASAP

We've heard it so many times - the statement by someone who wants U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, that they "support the troops."  

Many feel that there's some logical flaw there - something that renders it sickeningly absurd.

And there is.

There are those in Iraq who are trying - and, in some cases, succeeding in their efforts - to kill our troops in that country.  We win when enough of those enemies (the ones still standing) give up.

Every time someone in the U.S. calls for our troops to leave before we win, it encourages those enemies not to give up.  It encourages them to keep trying - and in some cases succeeding in their efforts - to kill our troops.

That is not supporting our troops.  It encourages the enemy to keep fighting, and contributes directly to more of our troops getting attacked.

The "we support the troops" crowd used to claim that the war is unwinnable, so the sooner we get the troops out, the better. And what an encouragement to our enemies that was, to hear U.S. elected officials claiming that the war was unwinnable! How many more American troops were killed because of the encouragement provided to the enemy by such officials? But General Petraeus' testimony before Congress last week cut the legs out from under the proposition, that the war in Iraq is unwinnable.

So let's have an end to this lunacy, that you can help to keep the enemy attacking our troops, and still claim to "support our troops."  

Anybody who clamors for our troops to get out of Iraq before we win, is contributing to getting more of our troops killed. 

September 12, 2007

Ramirez on the Actions the Dems have Taken to Protect Us From Another 9-11

September 11, 2007

The Sphere - A Sculpture That was Damaged in the 9-11 Attack - Now Stands as a Memorial

Photographed last month in New York - near the Ellis Island ferry: 

 

 

September 07, 2007

Today’s 911 Zogby Poll

Widely reported today is the new Zogby Poll, the report for which states that 26% of Americans believe that "certain elements in the US government knew the attacks were coming but consciously let them proceed for various political, military and economic motives."

Here's the question asked in the poll:

402. There are three main schools of thought regarding the 9/11 attacks. The first theory is the official story, and maintains that 19 Arab fundamentalists executed a surprise attack which caught US intelligence and military forces off guard. The second theory known as Let It Happen argues that certain elements in the US government knew the attacks were coming but consciously let them proceed for various political, military and economic motives; and the third theory Made It Happen contends that certain US government elements actively planned or assisted some aspects of the attacks. Based upon your knowledge of 9/11 events and their aftermath, which theory are you more likely to agree with?

We concluded the conversation in a friendly manner.

I found Mr. Wenzel's point of view compelling. To investigate further, I Googled the phrase "official story" to see in what sort of context it is usually found.

The results appeared to confirm my point of view. While a number were innocuous (e.g. an article on the "retirement" of fictitious character Jeeves, from AskJeeves.com), quite a few used the phrase in a context that implied skepticism. From the first 30 entries found by the search, in the order reported by Google:

• Links to a film called "The Official Story." The Wikipedia link states that the film is in part about how "'government approved' history books ... were written by government 'assassins.'"
  
• Actor Charlie Sheen Questions Official 9/11 Story
• A link to 911truth.org
• FAIR MEDIA ADVISORY: Official Story Vs. Eyewitness Account
• Former Top German Minister Rejects Official Story Of 911 Attacks
  
• The 9/11 Cell Phone Calls - a site headlined "More Holes in the Official Story: he 9/11 Cell Phone Calls"
• Another link to 911truth.org.
• A site on the Jonestown Massacre, containing this: "Although the official explanation of the events at "Jonestown" has been widely accepted by the American people, there are many that question its truth."
• A link on the 7/7 bus bombing, headlined: "7/7 Bus Bomb Survivor Contradicts Official Story."
• A Wikipedia entry titled "9/11 conspiracy theories"
• Another site on the London bombing, stating: "You can practically hear the click at that moment in the life of every conspiracy when the police investigation turns into the Official Story. At that point, the investigation is intended to 'fix the facts' to the Official Story, and the cover-up begins."
• A link to a site called 9-11 Research, another site with views similar to those of 911truth.org.

So of the first 30 links found by Google on a search for the text, "official story," over 12 of them - i.e. over 40% - use the phrase in a manner that implies that the view being expressed is not true.

Additionally, 7 of the 12 links are to sites belonging to, or expressing views similar to those expressed by, the study's sponsor, 911truth.org. This shows that the phrase "official story" is strongly associated with those views and with that organization. It appears likely that the question was drafted by 911truth.org, and approved by Zogby, which is consistent with what I learned from Mr. Wenzel, and with what I speculated might be the case, upon first reading the question.

Given the dictionary definition of the word "story," it would be difficult to imagine that the phrase "official story" does not imply that the view expressed is not true. From dictionary.com:

sto·ry [stawr-ee, stohr-ee] Pronunciation Key - noun, plural -ries, verb, -ried, -ry·ing. -noun

1. a narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader; tale.
2. a fictitious tale, shorter and less elaborate than a novel.
3. such narratives or tales as a branch of literature: song and story.
4. the plot or succession of incidents of a novel, poem, drama, etc.: The characterizations were good, but the story was weak.
5. a narration of an incident or a series of events or an example of these that is or may be narrated, as an anecdote, joke, etc.
6. a narration of the events in the life of a person or the existence of a thing, or such events as a subject for narration: the story of medicine; the story of his life.
7. a report or account of a matter; statement or allegation: The story goes that he rejected the offer.
8. news story.
9. a lie or fabrication: What he said about himself turned out to be a story.

5 of the 9 definitions (1,2,3,4 & 9) are for cases in which the narrative referred to is, or may be, fictional, or is a lie or fabrication.

It appears that the phrase "official story" is not suitable for use in a poll of this nature.

September 05, 2007

To Eradicate the Islamist Killers, We Must Destroy the Mechanism that Produces Them

Weekly, sometimes daily, new plots - and often, new successful attempts - by radical Islamists, to kill people, are reported. Just to take the ones from the past 5 days:

Germany: "BERLIN (AP) - Three suspected Islamic terrorists from an al-Qaida-influenced group nursing "profound hatred of U.S. citizens" were arrested on suspicious of plotting imminent, massive bomb attacks on U.S. facilities in Germany, prosecutors said Wednesday."

Norway: "Three Muslims have been indicted in Norway in connection with attacks on a synagogue and a plot to attack the US and Israeli embassies."

Pakistan: "Twenty-five dead and at least 70 wounded in mass murder attacks in Pakistan: Suicide bombers kill 25, wound 70, in Pakistan."

Denmark: "Danish authorities have arrested eight Al Qaeda-connected Muslims planning a bomb attack..."

Thailand: "Three more dead in the south Thailand jihad."

America: "Those two Egyptian students at the University of South Florida who were caught with pipe bombs near a South Carolina Navy base have been indicted, and one of them turns out to have a history of involvement in terrorism."

We're all mad as hell about it. All over the world, people feel paralyzed about how to deal with this, saying that it's impractical to expel all the members of a religion. But Daniel Pipes has identified a workable strategy so that we can start to say, as one of writer Paddy Chayefsky's characters did in the movie Network, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this any more."

Before we get to Pipes' strategy, let's recall that radical Islam doesn't work, as the mafia did, by direct instruction to specific Islamists to commit specific attacks. The radical imams don't address their audiences and single out someone and say, "You, go out and blow up a bus next Tuesday." Instead, Islamist religious, government, and media leaders routinely address their audiences in a manner so as to fill them with rage and hatred toward everything in the non-Islamic world. The result is that their mosques constantly produce Islamists who independently come up with specific plans to go out and kill - thus providing their mosques with legal cover. For example:

Fox News: "American-Born Imam Spews Message of Hate in England"

From a NY Police Dept. Report:

The jihadist ideology combines the extreme and minority interpretation [jihadi- Salafi] of Islam with an activist-like commitment or responsibility to solve global political grievances through violence. Ultimately, the jihadist envisions a world in which jihadi-Salafi Islam is dominant and is the basis of government.

...Two key indicators within this self-identification stage that suggests progression along the radicalization continuum are:

• Progression or Gravitation Towards Salafi Islam

• Regular Attendance at a Salafi mosque [emphasis in original]

British TV exposed the hate-filled preachings of the Green Lane mosque in Birmingham, England.

The Society of Americans for National Existence exposed similar events at mosques in the U.S.

Imam of the "Red Mosque" in Islamabad, Pakistan Threatens to Send Students to Anti-Government Suicide Operations

Egyptian Cleric Hazem Sallah Abu Isma'il on the Rewards of the Martyr

Children of Palestinian Suicide Bomber Rim Al-Riyashi on Hamas TV: Mama Killed Five Jews and She Is in Paradise

Dr. Muhammad Salim Al-Awa, Secretary-General of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, Explains the Rationale for Supporting Female Suicide Bombers

Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi Justifies the Killing of Israeli Women and Children in Suicide Operations

Palestinian Minister of Religious Endowment Speaks in Praise of Martyrdom at Friday Sermon in the Presence of Abu Mazen

This is the precise mechanism that produces the Islamist killers that we must eradicate. To eradicate the killers, we must destroy the mechanism that produces them.

Now, let's review Pipes' strategy for doing just that. He writes:

I understand the security-based urge to exclude the Koran, Islam, and Muslims, but these efforts are too broad, sweeping up inspirational passages with objectionable ones, reformers with extremists, friends with foes. Also, they ignore t