Thursday, October 31, 2002

Muslim Press Release Complains About Western Values



"So what exactly are we being asked to consider as ?universal?? A brief glimpse at any western society, like the USA and UK, run on values of freedom, secularism and democracy will reveal a complete breakdown in the social and moral fabric with homosexuality, paedophilia, adultery, promiscuity, fornication, pornography and abortion rampant, not forgetting all the sexually transmitted diseases that come hand in hand with such liberalism. An overview of the economic infrastructure will show extreme divisions between the poor and the rich oligarchy, a majority of the wealth in the hands of a few individuals and massive investment in useless exploits and so-called ?industries? which only bring degradation, misery and destruction day by day such as alcohol, lottery, pornography, cosmetics, fashion and sports."

Let's take these one at a time. Homosexuality? Talk about hypocrisy ... where does this happen more than the mid-east? Granted, if you are overt about it you will be killed ... so that doesn't speak much for the tolerance of Islam ... but pretending homosexuality does not exist in Islam is silly. Pedophilia? Not much info on that in the US or the mid-east ... but because we have freedom of the press in the US we can hear about it. Where do you hear about it in the mid-east? Nowhere, of course ... for abused children in the mid-east it's just another day. Adultery? So if I pay a fee for a temporary divorce and re-marriage it is not adultery? Yayyy Islam!

Okay, I agree with them on abortion ... there is way too much of it in the west. I don't see how switching to Islam to stop that one problem is a good thing.

But sexually transmitted diseases? The AIDS 'epidemic' is in Africa, which is predominantly Muslim. Divisions between the rich and the poor? Is this the same mid-east run exclusively by rich dictators? Where is the shared wealth there? A majority of wealth in the hands of a few? Yes, a few named Hussein and one named Saud come to mind right away. 'Massive investments' in the lottery? Okay, I never buy lottery tickets. Alcohol? Yes, most Muslims do not drink ... nor do I. Cosmetics, fashion and sports? You love sports!! You were incensed when all of the mid-east football teams got eliminated quickly from the World Cup. As for fashion, the women are completely covered ... so why would they need cosmetics?

It's silly to think that a repressed society is a better society simply because you can control how much make-up a woman wears.

Article Here

London-Based Sheikh Strays From Miltant Ideals



He says certain terms no longer apply because there is no longer a Caliphate, like the Ottoman Empire. Among the outdated terms, according to Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, are Dar Al-Islam on Dar Al-Harb, a war of conversion on non-Mulsim lands. Yet when kuffar ( infidels ) occupy Muslim lands he feels that war is justified. Muslim lands, to him, are Bosnia, Israel and Spain.

Yet even though there is no Caliphate he says that the rules of Dhimmitude must be observed ... non-Muslims can be allowed to live if they pay the tax ... otherwise jihad is declared.

Article Here

Arabs Really, Really Like Canada



As a perfect adjunct to my previous post about terrorists using Canada as a way to get into the US, this survey says Arabs love Canada. No kidding.

Canada was second to France in best places to live, according to Arabs polled. Again, not a huge surprise ... attacks on synagogues in France get nary a mention in their own country.

Further showing how useless this poll was, since we all knew the answers ... Israel was at the bottom of the list.

Article Here

Canada Warns Terrorists In Canada Not To Visit The US



They're upset that the last terrorist we caught coming over the border was deported back to the mid-east rather than to Canada, where he is also a citizen.

This we know. Canada will let anyone in. Canada will let anyone be a citizen. What would be the point of letting a known terrorist go back to Canada, since he could easily sneak in again and perhaps not be caught?

Natives of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan or Syria are now required to be fingerprinted and photographed even if they hold citizenship in another country. They might as well have called this the Canada Law, since that is clearly the country whose lax immigration policy allows that craziness to occur.

Article Here

Hamas 'Activist' Has House Blown Up In Gaza



'Activist' is the term the BBC uses ... notwithstanding the fact that Hamas makes no secret of its terrorism or desire to drive Israel into the sea, Britain's favorite government-sponsored monopoly could only list 'activist' as the strongest term for Salah Nassar, a member of Hamas, whose brother Wael is a leading official in the military wing of the Palestinian militant group.

Apparently the 'activists' in the house were trying to make a bomb and it blew up before they could get it in the hands of a young Palestinian on his way to Israel.

Article Here

Sharon Government Likely To Swing Right After Coalition Fails



I recommend that the Palestinians accept the 1999 Clinton Plan immediately ... no matter how much the Saud's, Jordanians and Egyptians are willing to continue to negotiate with Palestinian blood.

Monday, October 28, 2002

US Official Assassinated In Jordan



A senior US embassy official has been assassinated in the Jordanian capital Amman in the first known killing of a Western diplomat in the Middle Eastern city.

Lawrence Foley, an executive officer of USAid, the American development agency, was shot dead outside his home in western Amman's middle-class residential area.

Article Here

Saturday, October 26, 2002

Saddam Orders Children Of Iraqi Diplomats Returned To Iraq



It accomplishes two things. It keeps Iraqi officials from defecting and it gives him more human shields to use in the event of an attack. It's unlikely that France sees a problem with this policy.

Article Here

Hard Line Israeli Visits Jerusalem Holy Site



Anyone still believing the Initifada was not simply Arafat trying to pressure Israel into a better deal after the 1999 Clinton peace plan can look to this ... supposedly the Muslims were so inflamed by Sharon's visit in 2000 they started rebelling. Complete rubbish. Israeli parliamentarian Michael Kleiner of the Herut Party, who belongs to the small but radical National Jewish Movement, so certainly much more anti-Palestinian than Sharon, visited Old Jerusalem recently to show he could, and it didn't even get a mention in the Arab press ... nor were there any demonstrations of note.


Article Here

Palestinian Daily Urges Schools To Change Curriculm of Extremism



Al-Quds (Palestinian Authority), September 30, 2002
-- "Following 9/11, all Muslim youth who fought with the Taliban were branded as extremists, although it is a known fact that the majority of them left their countries with the knowledge of their families and their governments. Their plunge into extremism was gradual, but we have to admit that it started out with [their] education and [their] social environment..."

"We must realize that our children, teenagers, men, and women, are always exposed to a [distorted] religious culture that permits hatred of others. [We must realize] that there is some connection between the Islamic culture as reflected in the educational curriculum, at home, and in the neighborhood, and the culture that breeds religious fanaticism... [This Islamic culture] offers partial information, full of unjustified hatred towards other peoples' religions and cultures, as if those peoples do not do anything but plan wars against Muslims."

Read The Rest

Libya Threatens To Exit Arab League Again



Because he doesn't like that other Arab countries make efforts to get along with the US and Israel.

This is the head of your UN Human Rights Commission, of course ... so his advocation of hard line tactics is a little disconcerting.

Article Here

Friday, October 25, 2002

The Aussies Get Bad



Apparently the bombing in Bali was enough for them ... Prime Minister John Howard challenged Muslim governments in OPEC to stop the terrorism. "No amount of international exhortations can substitute for the determination of individual governments who know they have a terrorist problem within their borders to do something about it," Howard told business leaders at a summit in Mexico of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping.

Article Here

Algerian Islamic Extremists Kill 21 Family Members



The Algerian news agency says suspected Islamic extremists have killed 21 people from the same family, including a three-month-old baby.

Article Here

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Yemen, Sudan and Ethiopia Vow To Fight Terrorism




Well, well, well ... at first you might think this is true since a Saudi national immediately tried to hijack a plane in Sudan, but it turns out they really only want a way to call the Israelis terrorists -- which they promptly did.

Now, Sudan has reason to want to label their rebels as terrorists ... because these terrorists want to be rid of the oppressive Arab-Muslim government. Ethiopia would love to declare Sudan a bunch of terrorists, since they have their ongoing border dispute ... and Yemen? Don't even get me started. I'm all for going through that place once we're done with Iraq.

Article Here

At Least 24 Women In Bahrain Want Their Rights



Apparently Islamic jurisprudence isn't regarded as evenly and fairly by the women as it is by the male clerics and dictators in the region. So dozens of women are protesting the latest incarnation of the personal status law because it will have two flavors -- one if you are Sunni and one if you are Shi'ite.

The personal status law would be for civil courts ... currently, family issues such as the marriage, the divorce and custody of the children are decided in Sharia courts.

As you might expect, the judges are against this and no circular reasoning will go unused.

"We are against judging cases in the civil court because the cases follow the religion and should be judged in the Sharia Court," said Judge Ali bin Ahmed Al Jidhafsi.
"We are also against a unified personal status law because it unifies the Shiite and Sunni laws, whilst there are many differences between the two."

Errrr ... okayyyy ...

Article Here

Saudis Foil Plane Hijacking



Not how you're thinking ... they didn't escort the gun-toting Muslim off their plane and over to the nearest El-Al counter ... they actually tackled the Saudi national and took the gun away ... we think. The Saudis version is more heroic because they said there were three hijackers whereas the Sudanese police say there was only one.

Article Here

Funniest US Ally Quote Of The Day



"The Kurds have prepared a constitution as a ploy and we cannot let that happen."
---Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit on the prospect of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq.

Iraqi People Choose Hussein In Surprising Vote



You heard it here first ... the startling prediction I made many months ago has come true. The Iraqi people have voted overwhelmingly to retain beloved despot Saddam 'Chip' Hussein.

Hussein supporters are hoping to surpass the 99.96% he got in 1995.

Government officials refuse to speculate what percentage of the vote Hussein would have gotten if someone else had actually been allowed to run.

Article Here

Monday, October 14, 2002

Saud's Will Not Participate In Iraq Strike



What happened to the UN being the supreme body? If the UN says there is to be a strike Arabia will not help? But just a month ago they were saying no strike could happen unless the UN said so, and of course they would do whatever the UN wanted.

That was when there was no chance the UN would agree to such a thing.

Now: Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said. "But there is no doubt -- on no country can it impose participation in a possible operation."

In remarks published Monday, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz echoed Prince Saud's comments, saying: "The kingdom has a special status in the Arab and Muslim worlds as it is home to the two holy mosques (in Mecca and Medina) and will not sacrifice this status for the sake of anyone."

Article Here

Saudis May Respond With US Fingerprinting



It seems they don't like having their citizens fingerprinted so they may respond by doing the same with US visitors. No problem, since US visitors are outnumbered by Saudi visitors somewhere in the hundred-to-one range and no US passport holders have crashed any planes into buildings.

Stop supporting terrorism ... it's no coincidence that 15 of the 19 hijackers came through your country. Or are the Saud's contending they are not supporting terrorism, it's simply that their immigration officials are so incompetent that bribes can get a visa from Arabia?

Article Here

Bin Laden To 'Appear' On TV



Osama bin Laden is alive and will appear on a videotape soon, a man claiming to be a senior al-Qaida member says. Abdel Rahman al-Rashed told London-based magazine Al Majalla that bin Laden is in good health and has been putting on weight.

Yeah, I'll be he put on so much weight he looks like he's four or five years younger ... since the tape was probably made in 1998. If it's the same old one with him lamely firing a rifle, please save it for CNN.

Article Here

Saturday, October 12, 2002

Jordan Set To Remove Children From Christian Widow And Give Them To The Muslim Brother She Does Not Speak With



The London-based organisation Christian Solidarity Worldwide says the woman, Siham Qandah, was told on Monday that she had seven days to hand over her teenage son and daughter. It is the latest round in a bitter custody battle that highlights the pitfalls awaiting Christians caught up in the workings of Jordan's Islamic courts.

No kidding. If Islam wants to be taken seriously outside of the repressive dictatorships that give people no choice, they need to be fair toward all religions.

Conveniently, the Court in Jordan ruled that the husband of Siham Qandah, a UN peacekeeper in Kosovo, had switched to Islam before his death so the children were Muslims. Mrs. Qandah knew nothing of this, of course, the children are baptized Christians and Mr. Qandah had been given a Christian burial and death certificate.

Mrs. Qandah had simply applied for the transfer of his Army pension ... the court ruling meant that the children would only be able to receive their inheritance through a Muslim guardian. Mrs Qandah's brother - who converted to Islam as a teenager - agreed to act as their legal guardian so they could get their money. Then he decided he wanted to keep the children and the court in Jordan agreed because, it said, she had distanced them from Islamic ritual and doctrine.

Well, they are Christian so that makes sense. Of course, if a Muslim court says her husband switched despite any evidence Mrs. Qandah will have to remain in hiding.

Religious rights activists are urging King Abdullah of Jordan to intervene. This is a chance for the King to show Islam in a positive light ... let's see how he does.

Article Here

Wednesday, October 09, 2002

Fatah Squares Off Against Hamas



Good luck finding a good guy in this one. Arafat is so incompetent they are now reduced to fighting amongst themselves ... which in some ways is better than looking for ways to obliterate people of other countries but not really a positive sign for the immediate future.

Yasser Arafat's Fatah group warned the Islamist group Hamas it would react with "an iron fist" to any threats to Palestinian security, following the murder by members of the radical group of a riot police chief. "We strongly warn against this kind of actvity, which goes against the national interest, and Fatah will not allow anyone to lead the Palestinians into an internal fight and divert them from the struggle against Israeli occupation," it added.

According to the police, around 20 armed Hamas members disguised as national security officers on Monday kidnapped the head of the Palestinian riot police at a roadblock in Gaza City and then tortured and killed him.



Article Here

Monday, October 07, 2002

US Aggression May Be Helping Reform In Iran?



I was skeptical of Mr. Bush when he lumped Iran in with his 'Axis of Evil' ... I felt like they had made some efforts, I felt like they had tried to help in Afghanistan ... and that chastising them further would lead hard-liners in that country to contend that the velvet glove was getting them nowhere.

Azadeh Moaveni writes from Tehran that US interests in the region are causing hard-liners to side with President Mohamed Khatami because of self-preservation. What they have may not be perfect but it is better than democracy -- for them anyway -- so change in Iran to something more moderate is good for everyone.

Article Here

Saudi Arabia Calls For More Tourism



This was always inconsistent, of course ... Islam encourages travel in the quest for exploring the mysteries of the universe and its inherent knowledge yet I cannot visit Mecca because I am an infidel.

Arabians say they do not sponsor terrorism yet many terrorists come through Arabia ... and all of them are biased against non-Muslim countries.

Opening up the borders to outsiders, while maintaining regard for Islamic and cultural values, will lead to understanding. The average American is not likely to go there, most who go would be sympathetic to Arabians anyway ... but more importantly this would open up the Arabian people to other cultures and increase their tolerance.

Article Here

UN deplores Israeli attacks in Gaza



Of course they do. We all do. What don't they deplore the suicide bombings? Why is it they're always trying to criticize democracies that might listen to them while coddling the dictatorships that ignore them ... because they have no power over dictatorships so they need to lord it over the countries that actually listen ... or used to ...

Article Here

Isrealis In Gaza - Up To 14 Dead



Palestinian hospital officials say 14 people have been killed during an Israeli incursion in the Gaza Strip. Most of them were civilians, according to the Palestinians.

A force of 40 Israeli tanks supported by Apache helicopters entered the Palestinian city of Khan Younis and its adjacent refugee camp in the early hours of Monday morning.

The Israeli army said the operation had been launched to destroy "terrorist infrastructure" in the area - and that soldiers discovered explosives and bomb- making equipment, and made one arrest.

Article Here

Sunday, October 06, 2002

A Marine's Take On Preparing For War



Gunnery Sargent Bob Howard on why the political bickering, ridiculous senators visiting Iraq, and leaks by Capitol Hill are bad for morale.

I couldn't have written it better myself.

The sad fact -- he's probably going to get into trouble for writing it. His truth is clear ... for him to do it is a criminal act ... for a Democrat Senator to do what they are doing is 'freedom of speech' ... but the Senators aren't the ones at risk. If only they could see the damage they are causing.

Article Here

The Ghost of Bin Laden



This guy has more sightings than Elvis, and they're just as likely to be true. This time, a phone call intercepted between Mullah Omar and an aide, in which Omar said 'the sheikh sends his salaams [greetings]' is proof enough for hysterical wishful thinkers to speculate Bin Laden might still be alive ... which will lead them into Bush being a failure, of course.

'It shows he was alive recently at least,' said a senior Afghan intelligence officer. 'Some people might like to think he is dead, but that's just wishful thinking.'

Well, we know Afghans always know what they're talking about.

Bin Laden will next be seen partying with the Loch Ness monster.

Article Here

Explosion On French Ship In Yemen - The Ship Owner Says The Attack Is Deliberate



French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau said, ""We don't have enough elements to allow us to formulate a ... hypothesis which would point to a terrorist attack."

Except Jacques Moizan, director of Euronav, which owns the tanker said the explosion was a "deliberate act." He said a smaller ship struck the starboard side of the Limburg. Moizan said it was not sure that the smaller vessel was a fishing boat. "I cannot provide details about the description of the small boat that hit the starboard," Moizan told The Associated Press, adding, "We believe it was a deliberate act. It was not an accident."

France, which has a large number of Muslims within its borders, is almost certain to dismiss this as a 'fire' caused by oil leaks. To do otherwise would enrage the militants within its borders and put them on a course of confrontation with the very people they insist the US should not be attacking.

Article Here

Thursday, October 03, 2002

Egypt Disbands Peace Organization In The Name of Peace?



The Cairo Association for Peace had as its pretext normalization of relations with Israel. This could not be allowed, according to the article in Al-Usbu' (Egypt), September 30, 2002, because "considerations of public interest require caution towards any activity that concerns Israel, out of fear for the well-being of the land and [for the sake of] state security. This matter makes the decision to [found] the association null and void..."

Considerations that involve peace with Israel, that is.

According to the plaintiff attorney, Ibrahim Yusri, "the political circumstances of the region, Israel's acts of aggression, the siege of the Palestinian president, and the slaughter of dozens of defenseless Egyptian [sic] people on the occupied land, all call for the non- recognition of anybody calling for normalization of relations or making contact with the Zionist enemy."

Yusri went on to stress "that the [Egyptian] political leadership decided to freeze all forms of normalization except for what could serve the [Palestinian] issue. The activity of the Cairo Association for Peace deviated from this framework, because it calls for a culture of so-called peace at the height of a sweeping tide of blood pouring out onto the land of Palestine."

Article Here

Iraq Says It Won't Attack Other Nations If US Invades



Of course, the only nation they had threatened was Israel .. except Israel does not show up on their maps and is not considered a nation by Arab countries.

So once again Iraq is saying something they know will be interpreted one way in the west, while giving a secret nod and a wink to its Arab brethren.

Article Here

Wednesday, October 02, 2002

Democrats Defend Visit to Iraq



Yeah, yeah, they can rationalize all they want about this. They said Wednesday their mission to Iraq succeeded in impressing on Iraqis that war was likely if they did not agree to unfettered inspections of weapons stockpiles. What patriots they really are!!

I have two words for them:

Jane Fonda.

Article Here

Arafat Anger Over US Endorsement of a Jerusalem Capitol



His window of opportunity is closing. He should be nervous when he makes Sharon look like a hero. He had a chance three years ago to settle an amicable peace, with Jerusalem shared between them. His handlers then insisted he demand more, talks broke down, and he assumed that by turning the dogs loose on Israeli civilians they would push things over the edge in their favor.

Instead, even after the UN Durban conference on racism attempted to paint Israel as the bad guy, even after UN officials tried to make Jenin a massacre, even after the UN Human Rights Commission has named known terrorist Gaddafhi their next leader, the moral capital of the Palestinians is slipping away.

Now he's protesting that the US is going to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capitol anyway ... just as was planned in 1999. Whether the Palestinians can control themselves is up to them ... they can either share the land or be marginalized. The UN no longer has any credibility ... their weakness on Iraq for the past four years has shown that body to be a paper tiger ... so no one will listen to them on Palestine.

Norway and France are the only ones loudly insisting they should be involved. Norway is 90% pro-Palestine so that's no surprise. France has to pretend the UN is valid ... if the permanent members of the Security Council were drawn up today, they certainly wouldn't be on it ... nor would Russia.

If France wants to be a factor, if Norway wants the Oslo Accords to be less of a joke, they need to pressure the groups they're coddling.

Article Here

Tuesday, October 01, 2002

Deal On Iraq?



Now the UN can go anywhere except "Presidential sites" ... whatever Hussein decides that means. Clearly this is UN capitulation -- the talks resulted in "assurances from the Iraqis that we will have unconditional access to all sites," except the presidential sites, said Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the Vienna-based Atomic Energy Agency, where the talks were held.

The Iraqi chief negotiator, Gen. Amir al-Sadi, said the issue of surprise inspections of Saddam's palaces and other presidential sites was "not a subject on the agenda."

No kidding. Saddam is rushing to get an inspection team on the ground before any new UN resolutions demanding compliance can be drafted. The UN is rushing to look like they matter at all. That's always a recipe for disaster.

I'm a skeptic but let's see how this plays out ...

Article Here

US To Fingerprint Visitors From Four Muslim Countries



Egyptian nationals and men from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen are the latest group of travelers who will be fingerprinted and questioned upon arrival in the U.S., as part of an expanding INS national security plan.

Men ages 16 to 45 from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen who are visiting America will be required to register upon arrival starting Tuesday, according to a September memo drafted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and obtained by The Associated Press last week.

Article Here

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