the world of fundamentalism news

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VI-2005: 03 20 23 23-2 VII-2005: 15 17 22 24 27 29 VIII-2005: 28 IX-2005: 05 19 XI-2005: 12 XII-2005: 01 03 14 21 25 29

muslim organisation calls for boycott of denmark - look upon the horrid reasons
[link to page with all twelve cartoons]

“An Islamic cultural organisation warns that 51 Muslim states will boycott Denmark” ....

How awful, I wonder whether the 51 states have the GDP of Denmark.

.... “unless an official apology is offered for the cartoons of the prophet Mohammed printed in national newspaper Jyllands-Posten.”

Bring out the ducking stool!

“Tensions have run high between Muslims and official Denmark since the newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons in September that depicted the prophet Mohammed. The newspaper said printing the cartoons was a way to ensure the freedom of speech in the face of intimidation from radical Islamists.

“Trade organisation Danish Industry said that so far, none of its members had reported feeling the effects of a boycott, however.”

Meanwhile, a EU loony raves against the Danish free press

“Franco Frattini, the Deputy EU commissioner for Justice, Freedom, and Security, noting the publication as "foolishness and indiscretion" condemned the cartoons Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rassmussen backed up on the grounds of "freedom of speech and thought".

“Such publications, Frattini emphasized, will serve to radicalism by fomenting hostility against Islam and foreigners.

“In response to the "freedom of press" that Mr. Rasmussen used as an excuse, the EU official said the media is not free to make a news story out of anything. Frattini assessing the issue in his personal perspective said if the publication were about his own values, it would hurt him personally as a Catholic Christian and he would have taken great offence [...].”

Further commentary at samizdata.net

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mark twain on the state of syria (1867) - echoes of iraq

“Mark Twain, writing in The Innocents Abroad (1869) about a visit to Syria.

“ "If ever an oppressed race existed, it is this one we see fettered around us under the inhuman tyranny of the Ottoman Empire....These people are naturally good-hearted and intelligent, and with education and liberty, would be a happy and contented race. They often appeal to the stranger to know if the great world will not some day come to their relief and save them. The Sultan has been lavishing money like water in England and Paris, but his subjects are suffering for it now." ”

happy christmas george w

“77 year-old Betty Dawisha [Iraqi citizen and voter] expressed her sentiments towards the historic vote:

“ "Anybody who doesn't appreciate what America has done, and President Bush, let them go to hell!" ”

Video here [.wmv]

“racism is bad - so is self-delusion”, a sober piece by steyn

“These days, whenever something goofy turns up on the news, chances are it involves a fellow called Mohammed. A plane flies into the World Trade Centre? Mohammed Atta. A gunman shoots up the El Al counter at Los Angeles airport? Hesham Mohamed Hedayet. A sniper starts killing petrol station customers around Washington, DC? John Allen Muhammed. A guy fatally stabs a Dutch movie director? Mohammed Bouyeri. A terrorist slaughters dozens in Bali? Noordin Mohamed. A gang-rapist in Sydney? Mohammed Skaf.

“Maybe all these Mohammeds are victims of Australian white racists and American white racists and Dutch white racists and Balinese white racists and Beslan schoolgirl white racists.

“But the eagerness of the Aussie and British and Canadian and European media, week in, week out, to attribute each outbreak of an apparently universal phenomenon to strictly local factors is starting to look pathological. "Violence and racism are bad", but so is self-delusion.”

related material
Steyn website

practising the religion of peace in iran

“Yesterday, the Iranian president reiterated his support for Hamas, which has carried out suicide attacks against Israeli targets, after meeting its political leader, Khalid Mashaal.

“ `We are all obliged to heed our religious and divine responsibilities in offering services to the Palestinian movement,'' ”
—
“ [...] Iran. Friday prayers throughout the country are regularly punctuated by ``Death to Israel, Death to the U.S.'' slogans.”

“and the qur’an is the mein kampf of this movement”- fallaci

“Then Fallaci threw down the gauntlet to the multicultural, politically correct, and fearful. "There is not," she asserted, "good Islam or bad Islam. There is just Islam. And Islam is the Qur'an. And the Qur'an is the Mein Kampf of this movement. The Qur'an demands the annihilation or subjugation of the other, and wants to substitute totalitarianism for democracy. Read it over, that Mein Kampf. In whatever version, you will find that all the evil that the sons of Allah commit against themselves and against others is in it." As jarring as such language is to contemporary sensibilities, Fallaci here made a statement of fact that can be verified or disproved. And indeed: Islamic terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, Zarqawi, and others have never hesitated to quote the Qur'an copiously to justify their actions. It remains for those who identify themselves as moderate Muslims to convince violent Muslims that they are misusing the Qur'an - if indeed they are - and should lay down their arms. They have had no notable success in this so far.”

new vice captain for the church of england!

No idols please, we’re christianists.

“The new Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, Britain's first black archbishop, has been inaugurated. A 20-strong group of dancers - some bare-chested - performed a dance of "rejoicing and thanksgiving" wearing colourful head plumage of red, white and black feathers and leopardskin print skirts and T-shirts. The 3,000-strong congregation was mesmerised by the spectacle. The ancient walls of York Minster echoed to the rhythms of African drumming and high-pitched wailing for several minutes. The majority of the service was dominated by ancient ritual and tradition but the new Ugandan-born Archbishop brought a flavour of Africa to the proceedings with brightly-coloured costumes and African music.”

tracking islam - christianist church in qatar

“The first Christian church in the conservative Muslim state of Qatar since the arrival of Islam in the 7th century is to be built on land donated by the reform-minded Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. In the Monitor The $7 million development of the Church of the Epiphany, which will not have a spire or freestanding cross, will begin early next year.”
—
“Already Qatar has changed from being a remote, secluded, conservative country to one that's much more open to the world,[...] ”

the red crystal

On a proposal to rename the Red Cross, the Red Crystal, as yet another exercise to appease Muslims!

“According to the Daily Telegraph, a Muslim barrister who 'advises' the Prime Minister has said that Mr Blair is the victim of a sinister conspiracy between the Freemasons and the Jews, who control him and took us to war in Iraq. Ahmad Thomson, from the Muslim Association of Lawyers, has previously denied that six million Jews died in the Holocaust: that's a 'big lie', he avers.

There are quite a few people who think along similar lines to Mr Thomson, particularly in the United States. Mr Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber, was one such. These people call the US government ZOG - the Zionist Occupation Government - and they tend to have rather too many canisters of weedkiller in their basements. You might have heard similar sentiments from David Icke, too, although David believes that it is giant lizards rather than Jews pulling the strings. My point is that these people are usually lumped together under the generic heading of 'nutters'. And sometimes 'psychos,' 'weirdoes', 'loonies', etc.

“But in Britain you can believe such paranoid, irrational gibberish and not merely be tolerated and excused the eponym 'barking madman' but actually be invited to divulge your stupidity to the Prime Minister personally. Because you are a Muslim and such poisonous paranoia is sort of expected from you, instead of being sectioned and maybe having a spot of ECT, you
get to have your fantasies indulged.“

And some more to emphasise this particular exercise in human foolishness:

“After devastating attacks on Red Cross personnel in Iraq, the organisation has finally decided it is time to say goodbye to the red cross symbol in the most religiously sensitive areas of the world. Some privately predict that it will eventually be phased out altogether.”
—
“Muslim countries have preferred the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to use a Red Crescent symbol.

“This has not proved a particularly effective solution because some countries - such as Israel - object to both symbols, and other countries have in the past lobbied for the use of their own national symbols.

“But in its attempts to appease some faiths, the Red Cross risks alienating the Christian church.” [Quoted from scotlandonsunday.com]

fundamentalism in italy

“ [...] Across the room are three Petri dishes containing embryos made from your eggs. Given your genetic history, at least one of the embryos probably has a fatal blood disease. You don't want to implant the sick embryo or embryos, but the law says you have to. On a judge's orders, every one of those embryos will be inserted through a catheter into your womb, whether you like it or not.”

the madman of turkmenistan

• banned opera and ballet
• forbade long hair or beards for young men
• banned car radios
• required video monitors in all public places
• closed all hospitals, except in the capital, Ashgabat
• renamed some calendar months after the president and his mother

on european establishment somnolence in face of the growing islamist death cult nuisance- background to the logic of the situation

I shall continue to concentrate on the deeper structural analysis of the problem of fundamentalist ‘citizens’ - the ‘why’, rather than either government irresponsibility, or the day to day increasingly impinging disruptive nonsense of this cult.

I start from the position that only by analysing a problem effectively can reasonable responses be developed. I am most content that the more the problems are understood, the more quickly sane people will take the problems seriously and feel confident to act purposefully.

To me, therefore, this item is a bit of a side issue, summarising articles that show the growing open face of the cult.

While the government offers politically-correct placebos and soma, some of the fossil media are daring to print items such as those selected below, that give examples of how Islamic fundamentalists behave, together with official ostrich position responses.

charles clarke’s hierarchy of rights - no. 3, the right to an id card

“Number One comes at a time when the relevant department, the Home Office, not content with being unable to run its existing records system for foreigners, is determined to inflict an expensive and cumbersome bureaucracy on every non-foreigner in the land. Indeed, the Home Secretary has now upgraded it into a fundamental human right: 'Just let us put in place our hierarchy of rights,' Charles Clarke told MEPs just before the second attacks. 'The right to live. The right to go to work on the Underground. The right to have an ID card.' Human rights-wise, that last one is right up there with the right to be subject to confiscatory taxation.”

The next item is not really worth the time to read in full unless you have been on a desert island for the last few years. It contains the usual excuses and refusal to either face realities or tell the truth to the public in the UK.

“The funeral of British suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer was held in absentia in his family's ancestral village, near Lahore, Pakistan. Thousands of people attended, as they did again the following day when a qul ceremony was held for Tanweer. During qul, the Koran is recited to speed the deceased's journey to paradise, though in Tanweer's case this was hardly necessary. Being a shahid (martyr), he is deemed to have gone straight to paradise. The 22-year-old from Leeds, whose bomb at Aldgate station killed seven people, was hailed by the crowd as 'a hero of Islam'.

“Some in Britain cannot conceive that a suicide bomber could be a hero of Islam. Since 7/7 many have made statements to attempt to explain what seems to them a contradiction in terms. Since the violence cannot be denied, their only course is to argue that the connection with Islam is invalid. The deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Brian Paddick, said that 'Islam and terrorists are two words that do not go together.' His boss, the Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, asserted that there is nothing wrong with being a fundamentalist Muslim.” [Quoted from spectator.co.uk]

We hate terrorism, say the poor victims of Sharm-el-Sheik. Who caused the bombing? Why, it must have been the Israelis and the Americans, say locals, constantly fed this rubbish by local TV and leaders who are supposedly cooperating in the ‘the war on terror’.

“They know the answer, yes: the television said that only the Israelis and the Americans have a real interest in seeing Egypt on its knees; General Fuad Allam said that the perpetrators of the Taba attack of October 2004 were apparently linked to the Israeli security forces, and so, supposedly, it is today. Also Al-Jazeera and even Al-Arabia interviewed "experts" to confirm this point of view. A big, beautiful guy with a red T-shirt just puts it down bluntly: "We know only what the television tells us." ”[Quoted from nysun.com]

If you want to go deeper to real causes and analysis, start at islam melange and follow links.

on appeasing the crocodile in the hope it will eat you last

Either crush it while it remains weak, or stay in denial until you can deny no longer and must take on the crocodile full-armed. This is the very same problem that faced the West with Adolf. It is a resurgence of national socialism and primitivist dogma.

You may not think it is a matter of them or us, but they clearly do; and they are setting the terms of engagement, while much of the ‘intellectual’ West makes excuses for them.

A continual motif of Adolf was how he only wanted peace, though it was, of course, peace on his terms: a piece of France, a piece of Czechoslovakia, a piece of Poland....

“Although terrorists state their jihadi motives loudly and clearly, Westerners and Muslims alike too often fail to hear them. Islamic organizations, Canadian author Irshad Manji observes, pretend that "Islam is an innocent bystander in today's terrorism."

“What the terrorists want is abundantly clear. It requires monumental denial not to acknowledge it, but we Westerners have risen to the challenge.” [Quoted from nysun.com]

[Quoted from telegraph.co.uk]
“The fact is that the Islamists will not be satisfied with the American withdrawal from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan or Iraq, the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza, or the Russian withdrawal from Chechnya. To the Islamist, these are merely restitutions, the recovery of what is deemed to be rightfully Islamic.

“The real project is the extension of the Islamic territory across the globe, and the establishment of a worldwide "caliphate" founded on Sharia law and the temporal reign of ayatollahs and imams. In such a struggle, the "moderate" Muslim leaders in whom Mr Blair reposes his hope are as loathed by the fanatics as Mr Blair himself, George W Bush and Ariel Sharon.

“The fanatics must be defeated. This will require a security operation of great organisation and boldness, though we are hopeful that it will not require the sort of infringements of liberty envisaged by the Government (internment without trial, identity cards and so on).

“What is required is a far bolder, but less illiberal measure. The Prime Minister must follow through on his rhetoric, distinguishing between those who believe that Islam is compatible with liberal democracy and those who do not. Individuals such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who may be coming to the UK next month, must be banned summarily. And those who blame Britain for the tragedy of 7/7 must be anathematised.”

And it is not just the West that pussyfoots about fundamentalists in their midst.

“Sheikh Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, imam of Islam's most holy mosque, Al-Haram in Mecca, holds one of the most prestigious posts in Sunni Islam.”
—
“A month before his visit to London last year, Sheikh Al-Sudayyis had been barred from Canada, where he planned to give a series of lectures. The ban followed a report about his sermons by MEMRI that included Al-Sudayyis calling Jews "the scum of the earth" and "monkeys and pigs" who should be "annihilated." ”
—
“In his Friday sermon of July 15, 2005, Sheikh Al-Sudayyis said: "Oh Allah, liberate our Al-Aqsa Mosque from the defilement of the occupying and brutal Zionists… Oh Allah, punish the occupying Zionists and their supporters from among the corrupt infidels. Oh Allah, scatter and disperse them, and make an example of them for those who take heed."

“It should be noted that the website www.alminbar.net, which regularly posts Al-Sudayyis's sermons, edited out the above segment, as did the Saudi Gazette, which regularly reports on his sermons.” [Quoted from MEMRI, July 21, 2005]

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#islam_reality_290705

atta comes to town seeking government subsidies for a ‘crop duster’

“Kennedy appears to be arguing that our tolerance of our own tolerance is making us intolerant of other people's intolerance, which is intolerable.”

“Fortunately, Bryant's been on the training course and knows an opportunity for multicultural outreach when she sees one. "I felt that he was trying to make the cultural leap from the country that he came from," she recalled. "I was attempting, in every manner I could, to help him make his relocation into our country as easy for him as I could."

“So a few weeks later, when fellow 9/11 terrorist Marwan al-Shehhi arrived to request another half-million dollar farm subsidy and Atta showed up cunningly disguised with a pair of glasses and claiming to be another person entirely - to whit, al-Shehhi's accountant - Bryant sportingly pretended not to recognise him and went along with the wheeze. The fake specs, like the threat to slit her throat and blow up the Pentagon, were just another example of the multicultural diversity that so enriches our society.”

P.S. I wonder what Atta wanted to spray from the crop duster, and why he believed he had access to the right infidelicide?

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#atta_270705

saudi teen girls face old fossils with the 60s revolution

“Needless to say, the clamor in the lobby was noticed by nearby agents of the "Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," who quickly rushed to the scene determined to stop the "immoral acts" taking place. They told Hisham to beat it. He refused - hey, he was a star, already learning the international rules of being a celebrity, which include being above the law. But the Moutawa, the religious police, are used to being obeyed.

“They grabbed Hisham to pull him away but the girls fought back. They grabbed Hisham, too, and there was a literal tug of war between the old and the new. Back and forth it went - but finally the Moutawa won, possibly to Hisham's relief, and he was carted off with his clothes in tatters. Can't you just imagine the joy of the lucky girls who went away with a cuff or a button to cherish?

“Hisham was packed off with a one-way air ticket out of Riyadh and back to his hometown of Jeddah, which is generally thought to be less restrictive than the capital.”

“there is a deeply rooted ideology of violence in islam - a military psychology”

Anglican shaman and lecturer at the London School of Economics:

“The Koran is a very "us and them" book.”

“ 'I wish that I could sound more positive, but the bombings don't come as any surprise to me. There is a deeply rooted ideology of violence in Islam - a military psychology. Of course most Muslims don't want to go around bombing people, but those few who do turn to violence are able to find a certain amount of justification in the Koran. I suppose that might not be the most helpful thing to say, but it seems undeniable.'

“Is it not a religion of peace? 'Well, it seeks peace, but on its own terms. As Rowan Williams has said, it's a fine religion, but it places a high premium on victory. And I think that's right, and I fear that many young men will see violence as the means to that victory. There's a large enough mood of militancy in Islam for it to be a real problem [...].”
—
“ [...] Islam does have a strong peace-loving element and it's obviously a good thing when that's emphasised. A process of selectivity does go on in any religious tradition, [...] ” [Quoted from spectator.co.uk]

related material
the nature of cult recruitment - jihadi bombers

youth and islam

political costs of fighting the corruption of islamic youth

“Britain's approach to tackling domestic extremism has sought to mix vigilance with openness, on the principle that militants are least dangerous in places where they and their followers can be closely watched. The domestic intelligence service, MI5, has expanded and moved its lens away from Irish terrorism; these days, about half its attention is directed at Islamist activities. But nobody, not even the spooks, believes wiretaps and infiltrators alone are enough to defeat Islamist extremism. To achieve that end, Muslims must learn to police themselves.”
—
“As both Britain and France have found, such tactics can involve hard trade-offs. As liberal French Muslims see things, their government, in its haste to find Muslim friends, has needlessly given some crypto-fundamentalists a bigger say in the nation's affairs than their numbers warrant. In Britain, too, the government has found that offering sops to the MCB ties them to policies (such as the bill to outlaw religious hatred that is going through Parliament) to which other citizens object.

“But these days, European governments have few higher priorities than draining the waters in which incorrigible Muslim extremists can so easily swim. If wooing moderate European Muslims and, in the process, offending others is the necessary price, they will gladly pay it.”

This factoid interested me, more for the 75% figure!

“ [...] Just 48% of British Muslims reported that they were economically active in 2001[this is heavily influenced by the low economic activity of muslim females, 4/10 as against 1/10 overall are not economically active according to the article], compared with 65% of Christians, 67% of Hindus and 75% of those who professed no religion.”

i’m against terrorism, but....it was them that done it, probably....

“The two young men, both clean-cut in neat trousers and well-ironed shirts, both studying computer science at a university in Pakistan, their homeland, have, perhaps unsurprisingly, the same views about their religion and its relation to the events of 7 July. 'Islam is a religion of peace and no one who does this is a true Muslim,' they say.

“Then they start talking about civilian deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq: 'Every action has a reaction. An action against Muslims causes a reaction by Muslims such as this. This is not unjustified.' There is a pause as we all consider the patent contradiction in their responses. 'Anyway,' they say almost together, 'it was probably the Americans or the Israelis.' ”

how to persuade a naive young person to be a killer and suicide

“Since 1982, I have been an international relief worker, and after 1987 my job brought me regularly to the Middle East, especially to the Palestinian territories. In 1996, I was posted in the Gaza Strip during one of the most vicious cycles of suicide bombings. To understand why certain young men voluntarily blow themselves up in the name of Islam, I began, without official sponsorship, to research their backgrounds and the beliefs that had led them to such extreme tactics.”

related material
the nature of cult recruitment - jihadi bombers | briefing document

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#islam_youth_170705

“there is no connection between irak and al-qaeda”, claim the moonbats
page 1 page 2

From a long and detailed report.

"1. From 1987 to 1989, the detainee served as an infantryman in the Iraqi Army and received training on the mortar and rocket propelled grenades.
2. A Taliban recruiter in Baghdad convinced the detainee to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban in 1994.
3. The detainee admitted he was a member of the Taliban.
4. The detainee pledged allegiance to the supreme leader of the Taliban to help them take over all of Afghanistan.
5. The Taliban issued the detainee a Kalishnikov rifle in November 2000.
6. The detainee worked in a Taliban ammo and arms storage arsenal in Mazar-Es-Sharif organizing weapons and ammunition.
7. The detainee willingly associated with al qaeda members.
8. The detainee was a member of al qaeda.
9. An assistant to Usama Bin Ladin paid the detainee on three separate occasions between 1995 and 1997.
10. The detainee stayed at the al Farouq camp in Darwanta, Afghanistan, where he received 1,000 Rupees to continue his travels.
11. From 1997 to 1998, the detainee acted as a trusted agent for Usama Bin Ladin, executing three separate reconnaissance missions for the al Qaeda leader in Oman, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
12. In August 1998, the detainee traveled to Pakistan with a member of Iraqi Intelligence for the purpose of blowing up the Pakistan, United States and British embassies with chemical mortars.
13. Detainee was arrested by Pakistani authorities in Khudzar, Pakistan, in July 2002.”
—
“Saddam Hussein openly encouraged these attacks. "It remains for us to tell all Arabs, all militant believers . . . wherever they may be that it is your duty to embark on holy war. You should target their interests wherever they may be," he said on January 20, 1991.”
—
“In 1993, at Turabi's urging, bin Laden came to an "understanding" with Saddam Hussein that the al Qaeda leader and his followers would not engage in any anti-Hussein activities. The Clinton administration later included this development in its sealed indictment of bin Laden in 1998. According to the indictment: "Al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq.”
—
“On August 27, 1998, Iraq's Babel newspaper, published by Uday Hussein, labeled Osama bin Laden an "Arab and Islamic hero." ”

civilians trapped in the middle as jihadis and socialists vie for power

Killing for money and power.....

“What we find is that there's monetary value assigned to attacks against the coalition," he continued. "In some cases, as little as $150 is paid to someone to put in an improvised explosive device, to put perhaps a mine or two or three artillery shells into a hole with a remote detonator."

“General Vines says his information comes from people who have been captured. "When we detain persons who were involved in that, they're sometimes forthcoming and they tell us exactly what they were paid and why they were doing it," he said. "And so in many cases we find that it has no ideology. Those who seek to regain power hire people for money to attack the Iraqi security forces, as well as the coalition."

“General Vines, who commands all coalition forces in Iraq, says the foreign fighters are a small but deadly group, who get help from elements in Syria who facilitate the arrival in Iraq of an estimated 75 to 150 insurgents every month. He said there is no evidence the Syrian government itself supports the insurgency, but he called on that government to do more to prevent its territory from being used in that way. According to the general, the foreign fighters' main countries of origin include Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#jihadi_taliban_230605

background item on the taliban and pak

“The outgoing US ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmad Khalilzad, has repeatedly made controversial comments suggesting that top level Al Qaeda and Taliban members are not being pursued as actively in Pakistan as in Afghanistan.....”
—
“Afghan Defense Minister Rahim Wardak said Friday that Al Qaeda is regrouping in Afghanistan....”
—
“The defense minister said Al Qaeda and the Taliban were receiving support from "regional powers" who were rattled by Afghanistan's request for a long-term US and NATO presence,....”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#taliban_pak_230605

leftist lies contradicted by jihadis - surprise

“(8) That once Syria felt U.S. pressure, there was some temporary cosmetic change of heart: "The security agents said the smuggling of fighters had to stop. The jihadists' passports were taken. Some were jailed for a few days. Abu Ibrahim's jailers shaved his beard."

“(9) that supporters in Saudi Arabia always played a key role: "Our brothers in Iraq are asking for Saudis. The Saudis go with enough money to support themselves and their Iraqi brothers. A week ago, we sent a Saudi to the jihad. He went with 100,000 Saudi riyals. There was celebration amongst his brothers there!"

“Note how in this one Washington Post story how almost every one of our Western myths promulgated by the antiwar Left is shattered by a candid jihadist himself. First, there was always radical Islamic anti-American hatred that preceded Iraq. Indeed, celebrations were spontaneous immediately after September 11 on the mere news of slaughtered Americans.”

Meanwhile, Iraqis and Americans root out more Jihadis and rescue tortured hostages

“ARRAF: The insurgents who had presumably held them hostage had fled. And this is what they're finding as they come into cities like this. They've so far killed perhaps about 40 insurgents or foreign fighters. But there are many more out there, as you can hear from the sounds of gunfire and the explosions.”
—
“Marines also found four people who appeared to have been taken captive and beaten.”
—
“They found quite a lot of weapons. This is thought to be an area where foreign fighters have really taken hold. They still come from the Syrian border, which is just five miles away. And there were thought to originally be at least 100 of them here. ...

“We were in a school, a girls' school just next to the place we are now, and there were weapons stockpiled there, land mines. ... But on the blackboard, somewhere where schoolgirls would normally be learning their ABCs, there was a diagram for a relay system for homemade bombs.”

For the first time for decades, Western leaders (or at least Anglo- leaders) have attenuated greatly their willingness to tolerate the bestiality of the Middle East dictators in exchange for a quiet life and cheap oil. My impression is that this is going down rather well with much of the local populations, but is rather unpopular with the local fundies of left and right.

The antiwar Left does not think - they follow this process:

1. start
2. mostly they just make excuses
3. and suggest that if it is ignored it will go away
4. and anyway it’s not their fault
5. and anyway it’s the fault of America
6. and anyway it’s because of ‘capitalism’
7. return to 1.

According to the antiwar Lefties, the numbers of America-hating radical Islamists has nothing to do with Middle-Eastern fundies preaching hatred for decades, or with local satraps hiding behind and funding such fundies; and anyway it is not the antiwar Lefties’ fault. Return to 1).

Naturally, the hate-mongering of decades will not disappear overnight and for past conditions in the Middle East, the West could indeed be held at least somewhat complicit.

However, the courageous, ethical and wise decisions among the Coalition of the Willing must surely, in the long run, gain at least grudging recognition from the Islamic world; even if their thanks and recognition extends only a little further than that of some old European ‘leaders’.

This may not be the perfection of bliss for which some may yearn. The improvements may never be recognised by the fundies of the Left; but for sane people, we can at least hope for a better world, just as has happened after the fall of much national and international socialism.

There is only a minority of deranged people in any population ready to listen to fundies. But more to the point, the great mass of sane people will gradually struggle to free themselves from the destructions wrought by fundamentalism, as they have done in Germany, Italy, Japan and are now in process of doing in the recently fallen Soviet socialist empire.

We can take joy in the fact that 25 million Iraqis are now free from the yoke of socialism, and another 25 million are free of the similar Taliban fundamentalism in Afghan, let alone the encouragement it is giving to others so recently under the Socialist curse in the Ukraine, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Who’s next for a better regime?

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#leftist_lies_200605

a mormon writing on the fossil media, islam and respect

on the new left puritans

A thoughtful item. It is interesting to see a sense of balance and organisation increasingly permeating the writings of those who recognise fundamentalism for what it is.

“Yet this is precisely the truth that most needs to be spoken. The fact that Muslims riot over such an offense does not make anybody in the world admire Islam more, or take the words of the Prophet Muhammed more seriously. It just makes us shake our heads and think, Are these people supposed to be ready for self-government?

“The fact is that most Muslims in Muslim countries did not riot. Most of them were appalled and frightened when so many of their fellow citizens went crazy in the streets.

“But those aren't the people who shape the image of Islam. It's the rioters who make the news and get the airtime.

“The rioters and the terrorists. For what is Osama's "movement" if not a tantrum that has been cynically focused and organized in order to get the maximum attention.

“Not real damage, mind you. They're big babies, kicking mommy's shins and screaming "I hate you I hate you." We have to stop them. To that extent we take them seriously. But not as equals.

“And yet that is the thing that hurts them most. The thing they crave. To be treated with respect. Oh, they can say "We don't care if you respect us," but their actions prove that to be utterly false. All they care about is gaining the respect of the world. And yet they behave in ways that guarantee they'll never have it.”

Strange the way Islamist loons riot over a book, after smashing thousands-of-years-old buddhas.

For other articles by this writer.

related material
socialist religions

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#mormon_030605

violent fundamentalism in islam

The article is written by Philippinos and has an interesting historical perspective, particularly with suggestions to the Spanish mindset as influenced by Islam. There is much comparison of islamic and christian texts, and much rather glancing discussion of comparative theology. (Note: the English is a bit clumsy at times and there is some repetition.)

page 1 page 2
“The existence of angry passages urging believers to commit acts of physical violence in the Koran makes Islam susceptible to violent sectarianism, much more so than say Buddhism or Christianity. Although it sounds offensive and disturbing, history has clearly shown that ever since the inception of Islam there have always been Muslims who did violence in the name of religion, and no doubt there will be more in the future for as long as Muslims take the angry passages of the Koran literally. Any peaceful person or society should immediately be wary of any person or group professing Islam that advocates a Kharijite or Assassin-like theology. Such a group, as history has shown, will no doubt try to control a territory, by direct military or more deceitful means, and coercively enforce their theology in that territory. It is a relatively simple matter to emphasize the angry passages of the Koran over the compassionate ones in the schools, mosques, and other organizations that such a violent group controls, thereby allowing it to gain more converts. If civil war is to be avoided, it is virtually necessary for the rest of society to regain control of the territory, schools, mosques, and other organizations that such a violent group controls.”

page 3
“Four, no concept of jihad at all, which for me is the best solution of all. Jihad as a word-concept seems to have fallen in disuse among the Bahais, who came out of Iran in the middle of the 19th century CE, ironically as an offshoot of the Shiite Muslims who are generally more radical than the Sunnis. Superficially, the Bahais are to the Muslims as the Christians are to the Jews. The mother religions in both cases, Islam and Judaism respectively, accept theological violence in their sacred scriptures, the Koran and the Tanakh (Old Testament). The daughter religions, the Bahai Faith and Christianity, are theologically remarkably peaceful, and both historically start with new prophets proclaiming new Teachings based on the old ones, as epitomized by the Bab and Baha Ullah for the Bahai Faith and John the Baptist and Jesus Christ for Christianity. The new religions are instantly met with hostility, persecutions, and even executions, and both initially spread not through theocracies and theocratic laws but through slow proselytizing of individual converts.”
—
“Listen to this passage of the Koran called the verse of light, which surely reveals a truth. "God is the light of the heavens and the earth. His light may be compared to a niche that enshrines a lamp, the lamp within a crystal of star-like brilliance. It is lit from a blessed olive tree, neither eastern nor western. Its very oil would almost shine forth though no fire touched it. Light upon light, God guides to His light whom He wills." Such a beautiful passage to Christian ears! There are many more similar passages from the Koran. Alas, much of the Koran also talks about hellfire and jihad, and anger freely flows out of its pages without the Christian corrective of love.”
—
“The Bahais are presently under persecution by the Islamic fundamentalist government in Iran, their country of origin, where they are considered as heretics, and so their ultimate survival in that country is questionable. Ironically, it is Iran that also produced the medieval Assassins and the first successful modern Islamic revolution in 1979. Interestingly, some Muslim fundamentalist groups in Mindanao are heavily influenced by Iranian fundamentalists [...] .”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#violence_in_islam_120505

modernising islam - birth control in pak

“[Pakistan] Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has urged the scholars to spread the message of small family norm according to the principles and teachings of Islam.

“ [...] the prime minister said the religious scholars needed to bring about a positive behavioural change in the masses. This would help achieve the goal of population stabilisation and also play a role in saving lives of millions of women and children because of improved measures for reproductive health.”
—
“ [...] the efforts of the Ministry of Population Welfare towards this cause would be getting a new momentum by the involvement of religious scholars, who have a key role in decision-making, especially in the rural areas.”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#birth_control_100505

‘living’ in north korea

1950s haircuts for North Korea - .that should warm the bones of the old fossils.

Socialism is a fundamentalist puritanical christianist schism. Amusement and joy are sinful.

“The programme allowed men aged over 50 seven centimetres of upper hair to cover balding.

“It stressed the "negative effects" of long hair on "human intelligence development", noting that long hair "consumes a great deal of nutrition" and could thus rob the brain of energy." ”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/fundi2005.php#hair_cuts100105

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