Jihad Watch

Ace videographer Dave Miles kindly sent along these superb videos from the Rifqa Rally for human rights and religious freedom, Columbus, Ohio, November 16.

The identity of the masked gunman is not yet known, but the number of threats against Fr. Sysoyev that already existed because of his work among Muslims is itself noteworthy. And Russian prosecutors are also proceeding with the theory that "religious motives" are behind the murder.

"Russian Priest Gunned Down in Church," by Alexander Marquardt for ABC News, November 20 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A Russian Orthodox priest known for his missionary work among Muslims was gunned down in his Moscow church, Russian officials said Friday.

Thirty-four-year-old Daniil Sysoyev was shot at least four times at in the head and chest in the Church of St. Thomas by a masked gunman Thursday night, according to the Prosecutor General's Investigative Committee. The assailant also wounded the church's choirmaster, Vladimir Strelbitsky.

Sysoyev died on the way to the hospital. Strelbitsky is in critical condition.

"The main theory is that religious motives are behind the crime," a prosecutor's office spokesman told reporters.

Sysoyev routinely denounced Islam and actively reached out to Muslims and various religious sects to convert them. In a recent interview with a Russian newspaper, Sysoyev boasted that he had baptized 80 Muslims.

But with his ambitious missionary work came death threats.

"They've threatened to cut my head off 14 times," Sysoyev told Komsomolskaya Pravda in the interview. "The FSB [Federal Security Service] got in touch with me a year ago to say they had uncovered a murder plot against me."

He told a television interviewer in February 2008 that he considered it a sin not to preach to Muslims, according to the Interfax news agency.

Sysoyev was originally from the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, where a large majority of the population is Muslim. He published books titled "An Orthodox Response to Islam" and "Marrying a Muslim," which criticized the faith and drew fierce responses from Muslim organizations.

'No Reason to Kill'

Russia's Council of Muftis strongly denounced the murder Friday, saying differences should be worked out in a civilized way....

Still another "misunderstander" of Islam. Funny how that keep happening. "Sixth area Somali man is indicted in probe," by James Walsh, Richard Meryhew and Allie Shah for the Star Tribune, November 20:

A 24-year-old local Somali man has been indicted in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on charges of conspiring to provide support to terrorists.

Omer Abdi Mohamed, an unemployed employment counselor and father of a 2-month-old boy, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to "kill, kidnap, maim or injure" people in foreign countries, according to an indictment filed Tuesday but made public Thursday.

Mohamed, of Minneapolis, is the sixth Somali man with local ties to be charged in connection with a two-year-old federal counterterrorism investigation aimed at finding out who recruited as many as 20 area men of Somali descent to return to their homeland and train and fight with the terrorist group, Al-Shabaab. The probe is considered to be one of the most sweeping international counterterrorism investigations since Sept. 11, 2001.

When asked if investigators allege that Mohamed was a recruiter, Peter Wold, his attorney, said: "In the end, I think you'll see that certainly wasn't the case."

The indictment released Thursday provides few details, but it links Mohamed to a broad conspiracy involving other men who returned to Somalia to fight or train with terrorists, including Shirwa Ahmed, a 26-year-old Minneapolis man believed to be the first U.S. suicide bomber.

According to the indictment, others connected to the conspiracy include: Salah Osman Ahmed, Kamal Said Hassan, Ahmed Ali Omar, Abdifatah Isse and Khalid Mohamud Abshir -- all of whom left the United States in December 2007 with a final destination of Somalia. Ahmed, Hassan and Isse all have pleaded guilty to the same charges Mohamed faces.

Wold said after the hearing Thursday that his client knew the other men through the mosque where they prayed. Isse Hussein, Mohamed's cousin, said Mohamed prayed "a lot" at Abubakar as-Saddique Islamic Center in south Minneapolis. [...]

A Minneapolis woman who described herself as an acquaintance of Mohamed said he was known by the nickname "Galeyr" and was good friends with Salah Ahmed. She said Mohamed also was related to Adarus Abdullah Ali, 25, who admitted in federal court this month to lying to a grand jury about knowing men who went to Somalia to fight.

The woman, who was close friends with Mohamoud Hassan, a local Somali who was killed in Mogadishu in September, said Mohamed and Ahmed and some of the other men who left Minnesota for Somalia often spent time at Abubakar, the largest Somali mosque in the state. [...]

The woman said she doesn't know for certain why all the men left for Somalia, but said she believes it's rooted in a combination of patriotic feelings toward the Somali homeland and religious fervor. [...]

Minneapolis has been at the center of the international counterterrorism investigation since the first of up to 20 young Somali men from Minnesota began quietly leaving to return to their homeland. In most cases, the men left without telling their families or friends of their plans.

The focus of the investigation has been uncovering the identities of those who recruited the men and financed their return to Somalia to train and fight.

The men are believed to have been recruited by Al-Shabaab, which has been designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization with links to Al-Qaida.

Since October 2008, five of the Minnesotans who left have died. A sixth man, a Muslim convert from Minneapolis, also is thought to have been killed.

It's not the whole truth. It's not "Fort Hood massacre was jihad," although even that word comes up. It's not an acknowledgment that the attack was motivated by the same murderous ideology that took down the Twin Towers and that threatens Israel and other free nations around the world every day, but it's a step.

"Senators say Fort Hood shooting was terrorism: Several lawmakers and terror experts at Senate hearings on the Fort Hood shooting Thursday called the incident a terrorist attack, and warned of the danger of homegrown jihad," by Patrik Jonsson for The Christian Science Monitor, November 19:

The Senate Homeland Security Committee Thursday began its probe into the Nov. 5 Fort Hood shooting with few details about what everyone really wants to know: the true motives of alleged shooter Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

Nevertheless, several lawmakers at the hearing called the rampage a terrorist attack.

That label was supported by most of the terror experts who testified at the Senate hearing. Addressing questions about how red flags were missed in the lead-up to the rampage, experts pinpointed a rise in homegrown terrorism and expressed the need for the government to establish, in the words of retired Army Gen. John Keane, "clear specific guidelines as to what is jihadist extremist behavior, how do you identify this behavior, and how does it manifest itself?"

Uh, yeah. One would think that such a thing would have been in place for years now -- long enough for clear-eyed and clear-minded people, i.e., those more interested in truth than in political correctness, to realize that there was nothing "extremist" about Hasan's actions from the standpoint of the Koran and Sunnah. But of course nothing like this is in place at all. CAIR and its allies, with their campaign of intimidation and obfuscation, have made sure of that.

The Fort Hood shooting, like no other incident, has "fueled discussion about the spectre of violent extremist ideology in our midst," said Juan Zarate, the former Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism.

"There is no smoking gun that reveals Hasan's true motivations and signaled intent, so the patchwork of data points and behavioral clues in light of the incident ... appear to point to a path of violence," he added. "The question then is whether the data points were seen and evaluated properly."...

No smoking gun. He passed out Korans on the day of the shooting and shouted "Allahu akbar" as he shot, but really, it all could have been about the poor quality of the food available at Fort Hood.

News reports have detailed the failure of the military to report up the chain of command the disturbing and delusionary behavior Hasan exhibited. Some have suggested this was partly because of the fear of appearing to be targeting a Muslim.

"Political correctness played a role," according to Keane. "It shouldn't have to be an act of moral courage on behalf of a soldier to report behavior that we should not be tolerating within the military; it should be an obligation."

Yep.

If you have been paying attention - and even if you have not - by now you know that something is going on in Yemen. You have heard about the "Houthis" - that is, a group of Shi'a, who have named themselves after a leader of one of their tribes, and who live in the northern part of Yemen, where they constitute a majority of the population. They also perhaps constitute as much as 40% of the total Yemeni population. And you know that these Shi'a are not quite like the Shi'a of iran, but nonetheless, they are Shi'a, and so, to the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia, they are considered to be nearly Infidels.

That didn't keep the Saudis, more than forty years ago, from supporting tribes, including "Zaidi" or Shi'a tribes, in the north of Yemen, against the dangerously "Marxist" southerners of Yemen. But that word "marxist" is treacherous. As J. B. Kelly has written, the casual application of the word "Marxist" in the context of an Arab Muslim country is misleading, for beneath that "Marxism" is Islam. The dictatorship of the proletariat, and the collective ownership of the means of production, is not exactly on the minds of Muslim tribesmen; "Marxism" has been a phrase used by one set of would-be seizers of the national wealth against whatever prior seizers of the national wealth are currently in power.

Yes, in the mid-1960s Yemen, a country that contains a larger population than its immediate northern neighbor, Saudi Arabia, was the site of what so many are content to call a "proxy war" between Nasserist Egypt (representing not so much the "Marxists" - as the American State Department appeared to think, as those who were less fanatical, and slightly more secular, in their reception of Islam) and Saudi Arabia, said to be backing people called "the Royalists." That proxy war in Yemen has no significance whatsoever save that it helped to occupy and preoccupy Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and to weaken the forces of both - an outcome that should be remembered as we try to think about Yemen today.

Secretary Gates, I can save you a lot of time and trouble: no one reported Nidal Hasan because they were afraid of the repercussions that would come to them in this politically correct age. They were afraid of being accused of being racists, bigots, hatemongers, etc. They were afraid of showing up in the next Council on American-Islamic Relations Action Alert.

But it will be interesting to see what creative fiction your investigators come up with in lieu of admitting that.

"Gates orders Army inquiry after Fort Hood killings," from the BBC, November 19 (thanks to Hildegard):

A review of US Army and Pentagon policies has been ordered by the defence secretary in the wake of a shooting at a military base.

The review will include Pentagon medical and personnel programmes, and US military base security.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates appointed a former Army secretary and an ex-Navy chief to report in 45 days.

The review is in addition to others into the Fort Hood shooting in which 13 people were killed.

Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, was shot by police during the incident on 5 November, and remains in hospital. He has been charged with 13 counts of murder.

"The shootings at Fort Hood raise a number of troubling questions that demand complete but prompt answers," Mr Gates said at the Pentagon....

Former US Army secretary Togo West and former chief of naval operations, Admiral Vernon Clark will oversee the review.

US President Barack Obama has already ordered a review of the way intelligence agencies handled information about the major.

US intelligence authorities revealed they knew Maj Hasan had been in contact with a cleric sympathetic to al-Qaeda.

An FBI-led task force monitoring the e-mail of Yemen-based US cleric Anwar al-Awlaki said he had communicated with Maj Hasan - a US-born Muslim and army psychiatrist - on 10 to 20 occasions.

However, it was decided that further investigation was not needed, as the content of the messages did not advocate or threaten violence.

They're doing it, of course, under the cover of criminalizing "blasphemy," but the real agenda here is to compel the West to adopt Sharia norms forbidding criticism of Islam, including analysis of the jihad terrorists' motives and goals. This, of course, would leave us mute and defenseless before them.

AP thinks that the free nations of the West will oppose this. But with Barack Obama in the White House, that isn't actually certain. After all, he made sure that the U.S. not only supported, but cosponsored (with Egypt) a similar initiative at the United Nations not too long ago.

Wait a minute. I thought only greasy Islamophobes believed that there was any problem with Muslims in the military. Will Honest Ibe Hooper of CAIR denounce Umar Lee as an "Islamophobe"?

Glossary: Kaafir, kufr = Infidel. Deen = religion. Ummah = global Islamic community. Ulamaa = Islamic scholars. Al wala wal bara = "Love and hate," i.e., love for Muslims and hatred for non-Muslims.

"Is It Permissible To Join A Kaafir Army?," by Umar Lee, November 19:

In the years since 9/11, we have seen a serious re-defining and whitewashing of what our deen is and is not. Since the Ft Hood shootings, and even before that, we have seen many Muslim organizations refer to US troops which are occupying Muslim lands, as "our troops". They have celebrated Muslims that have gone over to fight and kill other Muslims. We see Muslim spokesmen saying that the Muslims must abandon the concept of "Ummah". We are seeing Muslims and Muslim Organizations calling for American citizenship to be put above their loyalty to other Muslims around the world. This is a very strange thing as prior to 9/11 the ulamaa of Islam had many fatwas that said just the opposite, especially with regards to a Muslim joining a kufr army and going to fight other Muslims.

We find the people nowadays saying that it is perfectly permissible and even praiseworthy to join the kufr army. This is in contrast to what we saw in the past from the scholars. I would like to know what our friends at Muslim Matters have to say about the following fatwas from such scholars as Sh Ibn Uthaymeen and Sh. Al Munajid. What do they think the scholars would say about al wala wal bara (something completely forgotten about and not taught these days)?

This first fatwa is from Sh Al-Munajjid:

I work in the army of a non-Muslim state, and there are wars between them and the Muslims. What is the ruling if they send me with a division of this army to wage war against the Muslims? As a Muslim, my feelings are that I never want to fight against Muslims in any war. What should I do? What is the ruling if I go...?

Praise be to Allaah.

If you are sent to wage war against the Muslims, then it is not permissible for you to take part at all. Helping the kaafirs against the Muslims is a form of major kufr which puts one beyond the pale of Islam. Allaah says concerning one who supports the mushrikeen (interpretation of the meaning):

"And if any amongst you takes them (as Awliyaa', i.e., friends), then surely, he is one of them"[al-Maa'idah 5:51]

With regard to how you may get out of this situation, and what excuse you can give to get out of this dilemma if it happens, we ask Allaah to help you, and we suggest that you consult some Muslims who have relevant knowledge or experience.

We want to emphasize to you the necessity of finding other employment and of leaving service in the army of the kaafirs, because that implies helping them, strengthening them and increasing the numbers of their fighters and supporters - unless your work can bring some benefits to the Muslims, such as giving information and secrets of the kaafirs to the Muslims so as to help the Muslims, or if your work is purely da'wah, such as giving khutbahs and leading prayers for the Muslims in the kaafir army whilst also advising them to avoid any work that will strengthen the kaafirs. We ask Allaah to keep you safe from temptation and to give you a good end in this world and in the Hereafter.

This one is from Sh Ibn Muhammad Saalih al-Uthaymeen, May Allah have mercy upon him:

What is the ruling on Muslims serving in the military of non muslim country ? What is the evidence for its permissibility or prohibition? And lastly, what is the status of a Muslim working to help those in the military to fulfill their obligations to Allaah while serving in the Army, Navy, or whatever?

Praise be to Allaah.

We put this question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen, may Allaah preserve him, who answered as follows:

"Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds. Military matters are problematic, because they involve helping these kuffaar to wage war against the Muslims or those who have entered into a treaty with the Muslims. If no such thing is involved, it may be advantageous for Muslims to work in these armies so as to learn their secrets and be aware of their potential evil. In other words, if working in these armies could be of benefit, it may be permissible, otherwise it is not allowed."

On this basis, if a person works as a preacher or daa'iyah or imaam or muezzin, serving the Muslims and calling non-Muslims to Islam, then there is nothing wrong with this.

And for good measure, here is one more fatwa

So can the brothers find me a fatwa from a repudible scholar of the sunnah (not one that quotes from his desires) that says that it is permissible to put citizenship above our Islam and join the kafir army and to fight against Islam and the Muslims? It is permissible to join an army that calls for the men to shave their beards, salute the kufr flag and judge by other than what Allah revealed?

The evidence is clearly against those who are saying that these things are permissible.

Here is a question:

If a group of Muslims in Mecca attacked the United States and the US Army wanted to retaliate by taking the haram, would it still be permissible to join the kufr army?

Since the UN, with its OIC-driven agenda, is simply the other side of bin Laden's coin, this would be a perfect fit. "Britain: Bin-Laden's son wants to work for the UN," from AKI, November 19 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

New York, 19 Nov. (AKI) - The son of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Omar, has told a British magazine that he would like to promote peace and work for the United Nations. His comments were published on Thursday in New Statesman magazine.

"I do not believe that I would be a good politician - I have a habit of speaking the truth, even when it does not serve me well. But I would like to be in a position to promote peace. I believe that the United Nations would be ideal for me," said Omar Bin-Laden.

So do I, Omar!

Last year in November, Omar requested asylum in Spain, but his application was refused.

He was travelling on a Saudi Arabian passport and was detained at Madrid's Barajas Airport after arriving on a flight from Egypt.

In the interview, Omar told New Statesman that he would seek God's advice in whether to report his father if he knew where he was hiding.

"If such a time comes, God will guide me to the correct path. But any child on earth would have difficulty with such a situation."...

Interviewed by ex-Muslim Nabil Qureshi at the Rifqa Rally, November 16, Columbus, Ohio. (Thanks to David.)

Interview from November 6 (thanks to James).

If someone in America points out that such punishments are part of Sharia, he is derided as an ignorant "Islamophobe." But the Koran is clear: "As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward of their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from Allah. Allah is Mighty, Wise." -- Koran 5:38

And it is also clear that this verse is taken literally and seriously by all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence. And so this imam is saying something that is only controversial to those who are ignorant (whether willfully so or not).

"What's wrong with chopping off thieves' hands, Imam asks," by Christian Peregin for the Times of Malta, November 19 (thanks to Twostellas):

Imam Mohamed El Sadi, the Muslim leader in Malta, believes chopping off the hands of thieves is a "deserving punishment".

Mr El Sadi made the statement during Monday's television programme Bondiplus, where he defended Sharia law, a judicial system used in some Islamic states and which can involve severe corporal punishments.

Contacted yesterday, Mr El Sadi stood by his comments and added the world was incurring the "wrath of God" through its permissiveness and destruction of spiritual and moral values, namely through the acceptance of "same-sex marriages, homosexuality, adultery and abortion".

Under Sharia law, such things are considered crimes that may even be punishable by death. When asked if he agreed with such punishments he said: "Yes, of course. I agree with everything Islamic."...

Mr Bondì then asked whether religion should dictate the laws of the country, through, say, Sharia law.

"What is wrong with Sharia law? If someone steals, he is taking from the country or the poor, so why is it wrong to cut off his hand?" the Imam replied.

Mr El Sadi said the punishment should terrify thieves and criminals, "not the good people".

When speaking to The Times about his remarks, the Imam said: "Why don't you concentrate on what is common rather than pick on what is controversial?"

He said he was not proposing this system for Europe because it would be undemocratic. But it was also undemocratic for Muslim countries not to use it because most Muslims wanted it....

He conceded there were different kinds of Muslims who thought of Sharia differently. "But whoever denies this is not a Muslim," he said, adding the law of God was perfect.

He said there were many safeguards to ensure Sharia law was applied justly, through a court system that depended on having several witnesses. "This does not apply to thieves who are poor or hungry. This is for people who have everything and want more; people who are greedy... The point is to frighten criminals."

Fr Renè Camilleri, who was also a guest on the programme, said he was "shocked" by the Imam's comments.

"I tried to insist violence is unacceptable. The concept is horrific to me. It is equivalent to the death penalty. I know it is what Sharia law dictates but, coming from him, such a moderate and tolerant person, I was shocked," he said, adding he never considered the Imam to be a fundamentalist....

Free Speech Death Watch Alert from Pamela at Atlas Shrugs:

Apostate Nonie Darwish, author of "Cruel And Usual Punishment; The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law". and executive director, Former Muslims United, was scheduled to speak at Columbia University today and Princeton University tomorrow, and both events were canceled.

Columbia, where Ahmadinejad was welcomed like a returning king.

Just hours before she was scheduled to speak, the groups (the Debate Society and Tigers of Israel) succumbed to student Muslim groups and canceled her speaking event. Nonie called me from her NY taxi, shocked that just weeks after an Islamic attack on a military base on US soil, the largest in US history, that activists who speak the truth about Islam are being shut down and marginalized.

There is much more. Read it all.

Pat Robertson said: "If we don't stop covering up what Islam is. Islam is a violent...I was going to say religion but it's not a religion...it's political system; it's a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination."

I disagree. I don't think Islam is not a religion. A religion purports to relate human beings to a deity, and Islam does purport to do that. But is Islam a political system that teaches world domination?

Don't take Pat Robertson's word for it, or mine. Let's go to Majid Khadduri, an Iraqi scholar of Islamic law of international renown. In his book War and Peace in the Law of Islam, which was published in 1955 and remains one of the most lucid and illuminating works on the subject, Khadduri says this about jihad:

The state which is regarded as the instrument for universalizing a certain religion must perforce be an ever expanding state. The Islamic state, whose principal function was to put God's law into practice, sought to establish Islam as the dominant reigning ideology over the entire world....The jihad was therefore employed as an instrument for both the universalization of religion and the establishment of an imperial world state. (P. 51)

Don't believe Khadduri? Very well. How about Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, Assistant Professor on the Faculty of Shari'ah and Law of the International Islamic University in Islamabad. In his 1994 book The Methodology of Ijtihad, he quotes the twelfth century Maliki jurist Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd: "Muslim jurists agreed that the purpose of fighting with the People of the Book...is one of two things: it is either their conversion to Islam or the payment of jizyah." Nyazee concludes: "This leaves no doubt that the primary goal of the Muslim community, in the eyes of its jurists, is to spread the word of Allah through jihad, and the option of poll-tax [jizya] is to be exercised only after subjugation" of non-Muslims.

Don't believe Nyazee, either? How about Iran's Thug-In-Chief Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Of course, he is no Islamic scholar, but he is a devout Muslim, and he learned Islam not from greasy Islamophobes but from...Islamic scholars. And he has said: "Have no doubt... Allah willing, Islam will conquer what? It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world."

Don't believe Ahmadinejad? How about a Shafi'i manual of Islamic law endorsed by the most prestigious institution in Sunni Islam, Al-Azhar University in Cairo? It says that the leader of the Muslims "makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians...until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax," and cites Koran 9:29 in support of this idea: "Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden-who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book-until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled." ('Umdat al-Salik o9.8)

Evidently all these people are misunderstanders of Islam. Will CAIR denounce them? How about it, Honest Ibe? Or do you believe, Mr. Hooper, that it is just fine for Muslims to say this sort of thing anytime and anywhere, and it only becomes "hate speech" when Robertson says it?

CAIR Deception and Hypocrisy Alert: "CAIR asks McDonnell for more on Robertson, as Connolly weighs in," by Rosalind Helderman in the Washington Post, November 18 (thanks to herr Oyal):

Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell continues to face calls for him to publicly repudiate donor and ally Pat Robertson today, even after a statement issued Tuesday evening in which his spokesman commented generally about the importance of the Muslim community to Virginia.

A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday that McDonnell's comment "a good statement as far as it went," but said he did not believe it went far enough in directly disavowing Robertson's remarks.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for CAIR, said the national group is working with Muslims in Virginia to decide how to proceed on the issue. But he said he continues to believe McDonnell needs to make a clear statement indicating he does not agree with Robertson's stand on Islam. Robertson said last week that Islam is "not a religion" but a "violent political system" and called for Muslims to be treated like communists or members of a fascist party.

"[McDonnell's] sending the message that he wants it both ways--he wants the support of a Muslim-basher. And he wants to work with Virginia Muslims. I think those two things are incompatible," Hooper said.

Meanwhile, the political implications of the Robertson remarks are growing. U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly (D) has put out a statement Wednesday calling on Robertson to apologize for his comments. Connolly said he has heard from hundreds of constituents, both Muslims and others, offended by Robertson's comments, which came in response to the Fort Hood shootings on an episode of the 700 Club last week.

"My feeling is that if public officials don't speak out about this, our silence might be misconstrued," Connolly said. "I, for one, am not going to be silent in the face of that kind of unbridled intolerance."...

What courage!

Quoth the intrepid Obama in response: "... as a consequence we have begun discussions with our international partners about the importance of having consequences."

Yeah. Take that! "U.S. warns Iran of consequences over standoff," by Patricia Zengerle and Manny Mogato for Reuters, November 19:

SEOUL/MANILA (Reuters) - World powers could have a package of measures against Iran "within weeks", U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday, warning Tehran of consequences for its failure to respond to an offer of a nuclear deal.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki dismissed talk of further punitive sanctions, saying the West had learnt from past failures.

Not much of a plan in the first place:

Iran on Wednesday rejected a deal to send enriched uranium abroad for rendering into fuel for medical purposes in Tehran, defying world powers which regarded the offer as a way to delay Iran's potential ability to make atomic bombs by at least a year by divesting the country of most of its refined uranium stock.

Under the plan brokered by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Iran would ship some 75 percent of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be converted into fuel plates for a Tehran reactor that makes isotopes for cancer treatment.

"Iran has taken weeks now and has not shown its willingness to say yes to this proposal ... and so as a consequence we have begun discussions with our international partners about the importance of having consequences," Obama said at a joint news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul.

He said Iran would not be given an unlimited amount of time, likening the Iranian nuclear issue to years of stop-and-start negotiations with North Korea about its nuclear ambitions.

"We weren't going to duplicate what has happened with North Korea, in which talks just continue forever without any actual resolution to the issue," said Obama.

He has advocated a policy of increased engagement, rather than confrontation, on thorny international issues.

In apparent response to Obama's comments, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated in a speech in Tabriz that Iran would respond positively to a change in big powers' policy.

"I am speaking to the world powers: Those who say they want to have a constructive interaction should know that if the Iranian nation sees a practical change in their behaviour and that they have given up their aggressive attitude and honestly raised a hand to Iran, then we would accept it," he said.

"But if we find they are still continuing their past domineering and hostile policies ... then the response of the Iranian national would be as firm as in the past." [...]

During a visit to the Philippines, Mottaki shrugged off the possibility of further sanctions. "Sanction was the literature of the 60s and 70s," he told a news conference in Manila.

"I think they are wise enough not to repeat failed experiences," he said, speaking through an interpreter. "Of course, it's totally up to them."

Mottaki said the Islamic Republic was willing to discuss the reactor fuel deal but only if the swap of enriched uranium for the fuel took place within Iran.

Buying time:

"Iran raises its readiness in order to have further talks within the framework which is presented," he said. "It's not our proposal to have a swap. They raised such a proposal and we described and talked about how it could be operationalised."

Hope. For change:

Obama said he still hoped Iran would change its mind and that Washington and its allies would consider a package of potential steps to indicate to Iran how serious they were.

"Our expectation is that, over the next several weeks, we will be developing a package of potential steps that we could take, that would indicate our seriousness to Iran," he said.

He said he had confidence in the approach to Iran, which rejects suspicions that its declared programme to enrich uranium for electricity generation is a trojan horse for efforts to produce atomic bomb fuel.

"I continue to hold out the prospect that they may decide to walk through this door. I hope they do," he said....

In Human Events this morning I discuss a few things Nidal Hasan's PowerPoint has in common with other presentations of Islam we've seen in the past:

Before he killed or wounded 54 Americans at Fort Hood on November 5, army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan had raised eyebrows with his Islamic proselytizing, which he carried on even when he was supposed to be conducting medical briefings. One such presentation has come to light: the June 2007 briefing which Hasan gave to other doctors at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Hasan's PowerPoint slides say many of the same things found in jihadist literature and propaganda throughout the Middle East and among its apologists here in America.

Hasan's Islam is rooted in traditional understandings of the faith as taught by the authoritative schools of Sunni Muslim jurisprudence. It also is the same Islam that is taught by groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Al-Qaeda.

In arguing that the Koran mandates defensive jihad against unbelievers, Hasan invokes the same Koranic verse that Osama bin Laden used as an epigraph on his "Letter to the American People" of October 2002: "Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers) who are fought against, because they have been wronged; and surely, Allah is able to give them victory."

Hasan also explains that Muslims are obligated to wage offensive jihad against unbelievers, with ominous taglines in his PowerPoint such as "we love death more than you love life." He quotes the Koranic verse calling for war against the "People of the Book" (that is, mainly Jews and Christians) until they "pay the tax in acknowledgment of [Islamic] superiority and they are in a state of subjection" (9:29). Hasan apparently told the assembled (and no doubt stunned) physicians that Muslims had a religious obligation to make war against and subjugate non-Muslims as inferiors under their rule.

Hasan's Islam coincides with that of the jihad terror group Hamas, which has announced its intention, once fully and firmly ensconced in power, to collect that Koran-mandated tax -- jizyah -- from the non-Muslims luckless enough to live within its domains. Most importantly of all, however, he makes the case that Muslims must not fight against other Muslims (as is mandated by Koran 4:92). Ominously, he recommends that because of this injunction, "Department of Defense should allow Muslims [sic] Soldiers the option of being released as 'Conscientious objectors' to increase troop morale and decrease adverse events."

Adverse events, perhaps, like his own jihad at Fort Hood. For he warned in his PowerPoint that "Muslims may be seen as moderate (compromising) but God is not." And further, "if Muslim groups can convince Muslims that they are fighting for God against injustices of the 'infidels'; ie: enemies of Islam, then Muslims can become a potent adversary ie: suicide bombing, etc."

It is this desire to correct the "injustices of the 'infidels' that has led the Muslim Brotherhood, the international Islamic organization (which operates under a variety of names in the United States), to engage in what it calls a "grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." Hasan couldn't disagree -- not with his talk of offensive jihad and quoting of Muhammad the Islamic prophet saying, "I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah..."

And Allah, Nidal Hasan reminded his audience in his PowerPoint, "expects full loyalty. Promises heaven and threatens with hell." The clear trajectory of his argument is that Muslims may lay hold of that promise of heaven by waging war against Infidels, but that hell awaited those Muslims who might be foolish and traitorous enough to side with the Infidels and fight alongside them against Muslims.

No one in government or law enforcement has ever made any attempt to determine how prevalent such understandings of Islam are among Muslims in the United States. Yet it is of cardinal importance for those sworn to protect us to begin making such an attempt now. As we saw at Fort Hood, the lives of innocent people depend on it.

Spying and willful blindness don't mix. This story would be comical if the stakes weren't so high: the analysts realize there has to be "some kind of guide," some "missing" link in the "radicalization" of Muslims, but what? This is because their work proceeds according to the politically correct dogma that there is nothing problematic about Islam's core texts and teachings. And until they take their blinders off and have a good look around, what follows below will have to pass for "analysis."

You may want to read this one sitting down. "Spy Agencies' Quest: What Makes A Terrorist?" by Kevin Whitelaw for NPR (go figure), November 18:

Investigators are still trying to determine whether Maj. Nidal Hasan's alleged deadly rampage at Fort Hood was a calculated act of radical Islamist ideology or the deranged act of an alienated loner.

But even as military and law enforcement officials continue their probe, the incident has sparked a renewed focus on how Islamic extremists and al-Qaida sympathizers become radicalized in the first place.

The U.S. government has focused significant intelligence resources on the question of radicalization in recent years, but they admit the dynamics are still not well understood.

"We haven't completely figured out why some people are susceptible to that and some aren't," says a senior U.S. intelligence official. "There are people who argue it's cultural or economic or political or psychological, but it depends."

The al-Qaida terrorist network has worked hard to build and maintain an active media arm, which pumps out propaganda videos, training materials and other exhortations across the Internet. Much of it is aimed at inspiring extremists across the globe to join the cause, but it remains unclear how effective the messages are.

'Some Kind Of Guide'

"Generally speaking, there needs to be an intermediary -- someone who helps you along the path to radicalization," says the senior intelligence official. "For the actual embrace of the global jihad, you can be launched on that path by your own research on the Internet, but in most cases, you do need some kind of a guide." [...]

"My ability to understand the people I'm dealing with today is far different and far more difficult," Philip Mudd, the assistant director for national security at the FBI and a veteran CIA analyst, said at a conference last month. "The revolution has meant the people we're facing are al-Qaida central, they're affiliates, they're like-mindeds, [and] they're a kid in a garage, each of whom poses a unique threat."

Beyond the core members of al-Qaida, the U.S. intelligence community is trying to track affiliated groups, including offshoots like al-Qaida in Iraq; sympathetic groups, such as al-Shabaab, a Somali extremist group; and all kinds of homegrown radicals....

Read it all.

An update on this story. "Florida Man Convicted in Chicago Sears Tower Terror Plot Gets 6 Years," from Fox News, November 18:

MIAMI -- A Miami man convicted of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices has been sentenced to six years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard imposed the sentence Wednesday on 24-year-old Burson Augustin. Four other men are scheduled to be sentenced over the next three days.

Prosecutors sought the maximum 30-year sentence for Augustin. Lenard ruled that sentencing terrorism enhancements should not apply to Augustin, who was not the leader.

The men were convicted in May of supporting Al Qaeda, conspiring to wage war on the U.S. and other charges.

There were two mistrials, and two other men were acquitted. All denied plotting terror attacks....

Sharia Alert. This woman was killed after giving birth, following Muhammad's example:

There came to him (the Holy Prophet) a woman from Ghamid and said: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery, so purify me. He (the Holy Prophet) turned her away. On the following day she said: Allah's Messenger, Why do you turn me away? Perhaps, you turn me away as you turned away Ma'iz. By Allah, I have become pregnant. He said: Well, if you insist upon it, then go away until you give birth to (the child). When she was delivered she came with the child (wrapped) in a rag and said: Here is the child whom I have given birth to. He said: Go away and suckle him until you wean him. When she had weaned him, she came to him (the Holy Prophet) with the child who was holding a piece of bread in his hand. She said: Allah's Apostle, here is he as I have weaned him and he eats food. He (the Holy Prophet) entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and then pronounced punishment. And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her. - Sahih Muslim 17.4206.

In this case, the child was stillborn, so they were able to skip right to killing the mother. "Somali woman stoned for adultery," from BBC News, November 18:

A 20-year-old woman divorcee accused of committing adultery in Somalia has been stoned to death by Islamists in front of a crowd of about 200 people.

A judge working for the militant group al-Shabab said she had had an affair with an unmarried 29-year-old man.

He said she gave birth to a still-born baby and was found guilty of adultery. Her boyfriend was given 100 lashes.

It is thought to be the second time a woman has been stoned to death for adultery by al-Shabab.

The group controls large swathes of southern Somalia where they have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law which has been unpopular with many Somalis.

'Lenient'

According to reports from a small village near the town of Wajid, 250 miles (400km) north-west of the capital, Mogadishu, the woman was taken to the public grounds where she was buried up to her waist.

She was then stoned to death in front of the crowds on Tuesday afternoon.

The judge, Sheikh Ibrahim Abdirahman, said her unmarried boyfriend was given 100 lashes at the same venue. [...]

Meanwhile, another woman waits:

Earlier this month, a man was stoned to death for adultery in the port town of Merka, south of Mogadishu.

His pregnant girlfriend was spared, until she gives birth....

Earlier this evening I spoke at NYU on a panel with Elan Journo. I had just started explaining the jihad doctrine and Islamic supremacism when a young man in the middle of the audience stood up and started yelling and refused to be quiet. When the security guards went over to start moving him out of the room, they left a side door by the stage unsecured -- and sure enough, the yelling guy turned out to be a diversion. Two other young men rushed in that side door and threw pies at Elan Journo and me. They hit Dr. Journo on the shoulder but missed me altogether, as I had jumped aside when I saw them coming.

Of course a pie in the face is a staple of American comedy going back to the Marx Brothers (by far my favorite Marxists), but this was no joke. In the first place, it is yet another manifestation of Leftist thuggery, antipathy to the freedom of speech, and alliance with the global jihad; it also shows yet again the degeneration of our nation's universities into propaganda mills in which those with opposing views are hounded out or intimidated into silence. (And then there is this.)

As we continued the event with pie splattered all over the curtain behind us, it was a vivid object lesson in how much free inquiry threatens the Left, and created a nice backdrop for our discussion of the Organization of the Islamic Conference's war on free speech, which is, of course, intended to enable the global jihad to advance without challenge.

Here is an eyewitness account of what happened from the audience's perspective (thanks to Pamela).

That's one way of putting it, with Hamas as intent as ever on destroying Israel, and Fatah's remaining committed to armed "resistance" despite its attempts at putting on a friendlier face to the Western public. Not to mention the rampant corruption and misappropriation of aid for weapons. No, we're "not there yet."

An update on this story. "Mideast: EU rejects calls for a Palestinian state," from AdnKronos International, November 17:

Brussels, 17 Nov. (AKI) - The European Union on Tuesday rejected calls by the Palestinian Authority to declare a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, whose country currently holds the presidency of the EU, said conditions in the Palestinian territories "were not there yet" for such a move.

Bildt was speaking before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

He said in regard to the establishment of a Palestinian state that "...there has to be one first. We would be ready to recognise a Palestinian state, but conditions are not there as of yet."

Bildt's came after US state department spokesman Ian Kelly echoed similar concerns, saying "We support the creation of a Palestinian state that is contiguous...the best way to achieve that is negotiation between two parties."

So, the policy in the coming years is to force Israel to make more land concessions, even as disastrous as past ones have proven (see also: Gaza).

Earlier this week, Palestinian officials, led by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, announced that they would seek recognition of a state from the United Nations Security Council, without a solution to the conflict with Israel.

The US - Israel's biggest ally - however, has veto power in the Security Council, and could in theory exercise it to prevent the unilateral declaration.....

Canada welcomes in immigrants and ends up becoming a center for jihad recruitment, eh? "Officials worried group in Canada went to join Islamic radicals in Somalia," by Stewart Bell for the National Post, November 16 (thanks to Kim):

TORONTO -- Counterterrorism officials are investigating a group of youths who allegedly left Canada for East Africa two weeks ago, amid concerns they may have gone to join the Somali militant group Al-Shabab.

Two sources familiar with the case said investigators had been canvassing Toronto's large Somali-Canadian community for information about as many as five men who departed Canada together in early November.

They are believed to have flown to Kenya, the sources said. Kenya borders the region of southern Somalia controlled by Al-Shabab, an Islamist militia aligned with al-Qaeda and sometimes likened to the Taliban.

The investigation comes as the Somali conflict has become a key focus of North American counterterrorism officials. Several Somali-American youths have left the Midwestern United States to join the Shabab, and the commissioner of the RCMP said in a speech last month he is concerned about a similar trend in Canada.

"Radicalization within the U.S. Somali community may be an indicator of similar processes at work in Canada," Commissioner William Elliott said in his Oct. 30 address to the Canadian Association of Security and Intelligence Studies in Ottawa.

"As you know, we have one of the largest Somali diaspora communities in the Western world. The potential follow-on threat, from a Canadian and RCMP perspective, is Somali-Canadians who travel to Somalia to fight and then return, imbued with both extremist ideology and the skills necessary to translate it into direct action."

Al-Shabab, which means "youth," is an armed extremist group that has emerged from the lawlessness and chaos of Somalia and aims to establish an Islamic state....

The Jihad Still Threatens America

Even as many Americans grow complacent, the enemy that struck us on 9/11 grows stronger. Eight years since that fateful Tuesday, the enemy--the Islamic totalitarian movement--stands undefeated and continues to threaten our lives and our freedom, from overseas and from within.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the resurgent Taliban and their Islamist allies are waging a fierce comeback. They are actively fomenting plots against America and the West. The Islamist regime in Iran--which began the anti-American holy war decades prior to 9/11--appears poised to acquire its own nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, within America and the West, there is an overlooked drive by pro-Islamist activist groups to impose Islamic law--without guns or bombs--in the West. Their incremental advances would subvert our freedom of speech and the very foundations of our political system.

What is the Islamic totalitarian movement? What are its goals and means? Why, despite America's military response to 9/11, does it remain a threat to us? What can be done to counter this menace--at home and overseas? These are some of the urgent questions that panelists Robert Spencer and Elan Journo will address.

Bio: Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, is author of nine books on Islam, including two bestsellers. He has led seminars for the U.S. Central Command, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community.
Bio: Elan Journo Elan Journo is a fellow with the Ayn Rand Institute focusing on foreign policy. He is the editor of and chief contributor to Winning the Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism. His writings have appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times, and the Globe and Mail of Canada.

Tuesday, November 17th at 7:00 PM
New York University Cantor Film Center
36 East Eighth Street; New York, NY 10003 (between Greene and Washington Square East)
(Map available at http://www.nyu.edu/v40extras/nyumap.pdf)

RSVP's: http://jihadonamerica.eventbrite.com/
More information: aynrand.nyu@gmail.com

Here is video of the rally for human rights and religious freedom in defense of Rifqa Bary, yesterday in Columbus, Ohio. Speakers included Simon Deng, the courageous ex-slave from the Sudan; the knowledgeable and indefatigable ex-Muslim Nonie Darwish; Jim Lafferty of the anti-Sharia coalition that fought against the Islamic Saudi Academy expansion in Virginia; Rifqa's dear friend Jamal Jivanjee; Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs; and me.

(Video thanks to Pamela.)

Late in October in Washington, DC, Pamela Geller invited Andrew Bostom and me to participate in a panel on the Rifqa Bary case and its implications. Watch and enjoy!

(Video thanks to Pamela.)

This story is distastefully wobbly about whether there were real "war crimes" and whether there was something substantive that could push Hasan over the edge, ignoring as always the obvious jihadist element to the massacre.

At issue here is the fact that, under Islamic law, the life of a Muslim is worth more than a non-Muslim in terms of the required diyya, or compensation by blood money, and a non-Muslim who kills a Muslim is to be put to death. And that raises a question that applies to perceived Muslim grievances around the world: Would Hasan care half as much if the casualties inflicted by American soldiers during combat operations were non-Muslims? Would the Muslim world be in such an uproar over Kashmir and "Palestine" if all of the disputing parties were non-Muslim? No. Inherent in these issues is a sense of superiority and divinely ordered entitlement.

"Officials: Major Hasan Sought 'War Crimes' Prosecution of U.S. Soldiers," by Joseph Rhee, Mary-Rose Abraham, Anna Schecter and Brian Ross for ABC News, November 16:

Major Nidal Malik Hasan's military superiors repeatedly ignored or rebuffed his efforts to open criminal prosecutions of soldiers he claimed had confessed to "war crimes" during psychiatric counseling, according to investigative reports circulated among federal law enforcement officials

On Nov. 4, the day after his last attempt to raise the issue, he took extra target practice at Stan's shooting range in nearby Florence, Texas and then closed a safe deposit box he had at a Bank of America branch in Killeen, according to the reports. A bank employee told investigators Hasan appeared nervous and said, "You'll never see me again."

Diane Wagner, Bank of America's senior vice president of media relations, said that her company does not "comment or discuss customer relationships" but is "cooperating fully with law enforcement officials."

Investigators believe Hasan's frustration over the failure of the Army to pursue what he regarded as criminal acts by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan may have helped to trigger the shootings.

"The Army may not want to admit it, and you may not hear much about it, but it was very big for him," said one of the federal investigators on the task force collecting evidence of the crime.

His last effort to get the attention of military investigators came on Nov. 2, three days before his alleged shooting spree, according to the reports....

Read it all.

But not before "the Home Office said he would be able to practise his faith if he found like-minded Christians in Kabul and 'kept his head down'." You know, like a good dhimmi. At least, in this case, the Home Office was overruled, and the plight of non-Muslims and apostates from Islam in Islamic societies gained a modicum of official recognition.

"Afghan asylum seeker wins right to stay in Britain after converting to Christianity," from the Daily Mail, November 17 (thanks to Rob):

An Afghan asylum seeker who converted to Christianity after arriving in Britain has won the right to stay in the country because of fears he could be executed if returned home.

In a landmark case, the man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, used human rights rules to overturn a previous Home Office decision to refuse him asylum.

Lawyers said there were fears that, as an apostate - one who rejects the Muslim religion - the man, originally from Mazar-i-Sharif, but now living in Hounslow, west London, would face persecution, or even death, on his return.

The former Kabul hotel worker had arrived in the UK as a Muslim, but converted to Christianity, was baptised and now regularly attends a west London church and bible class.

But his conversion had met with hostility from other Afghans and Muslims, who spat at him in the street when rumours spread, the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Tribunal was told.

He was even threatened with death by two Afghans with whom he had shared a house in London and warned by others that he would be killed if he went back to Afghanistan.

Although the Afghan Constitution allows non-Muslims to practise their faith, the small Christian community practises exclusively underground and it is forbidden for Afghans to abandon Islam.

To avoid detection if sent back to war-torn Afghanistan, he would have to find an underground network of other Christians to worship with and keep his beliefs from everyone else.

The man who arrived on a hijacked jet would spend his life 'looking over his shoulder' in case he was recognised and could expect no protection from the Afghan government, his lawyers told immigration judges.

Contesting the man's appeal, the Home Office said he would be able to practise his faith if he found like-minded Christians in Kabul and 'kept his head down'.

But, giving the tribunal decision, Senior Immigration Judge Nichols said it was not reasonable to expect someone to live and worship in such circumstances.

Although the Afghan Constitution made no mention of what should happen to apostates, Sharia Law demanded the death penalty, he said [...]

'He faces a real risk of, at the very least, detention because of his religion and, at worst, trial before a Sharia Court and harsh punishment unless the appellant recanted his conversion.

The next step would be to recognize that this aspect of Sharia comes from Muhammad's own orders: "if anyone changes his religion, kill him (Bukhari 9.84.57) -- hence its persistence.

The symbolism of Abu Hamza's sermons going through the plumbing system is just too good. More on this story. "Hate preacher Abu Hamza secretly gives lectures on Islam... through the water pipes of his prison cell," by Rebecca Camber in the Daily Mail, November 17 (thanks to Kris):

Hate preacher Abu Hamza is delivering extremist sermons to prisoners through the water pipes of his cell, it has been claimed.

The Muslim cleric is defying a preaching ban imposed by prison bosses to radicalise inmates.

He is able to give his lectures through the plumbing that connects to neighbouring cells in Belmarsh Prison....

The Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism think-tank, has called for the 51-year-old to be removed from the mainstream prison population.

Its report on growing prison radicalisation says the authorities have tried to stop him giving sermons openly.

But a source told the thinktank that Egyptian-born Hamza has found a way to talk to his fellow inmates - through the pipes....

"Neighbours said a 62-year-old man arrested at his home on Willows Lane, Deane, Bolton, taught the Koran at a number of mosques across the region."

So much "misunderstanding" of Islam's purportedly peaceful and tolerant message: Funny how that keeps happening. "Raids on suspected terrorist recruitment network," by Duncan Gardham for the Telegraph, November 16 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

Raids in Manchester and Bolton coincided with the arrest of a 26-year-old man at a hotel near Heathrow airport.

Sources were unable to confirm suggestions that he was planning to travel to Pakistan or Afghanistan.

It is thought the men had been under surveillance for some time and Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson of Greater Manchester Police said: "This is a complex and ongoing investigation, which has now reached the point where it was necessary to make arrests and speak to a number of people."

Officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit began the operation at 4am raiding houses across Greater Manchester.

Neighbours said a 62-year-old man arrested at his home on Willows Lane, Deane, Bolton, taught the Koran at a number of mosques across the region.

"I'm surprised. He carries out spiritual sessions twice-a-week. He is very spiritual," said one source within the Muslim community.

The other suspects included a 52-year-old from Longsight in Manchester, a 21-year-old arrested in Fallowfield, Manchester and a 27-year-old held in Stalybridge, Cheshire...

The moral of the story: Don't accept invitations from Gaddafi. "Food Summit: Gaddafi asks women to convert to Islam," from AdnKronos International, November 16 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Rome, 16 Nov. (AKI) - Libya's controversial leader Muammar Gaddafi has created headlines in Italy after inviting 200 women to a party and inviting them to convert to Islam. Gaddafi who is in Rome for the United Nations-sponsored global food summit, held the party at the house of the Libyan ambassador, Hafed Gaddur, on Sunday.

"Convert to Islam. Jesus was sent to the Jews, not for you. Mohammed, on the other hand, was sent for all human beings," he reportedly said.

Never mind that bit about "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).

"Whoever goes in a different direction than Mohammed is wrong. God's religion is Islam and whomever follows a different one, in the end, will lose," said Gaddafi quoted by Italian daily La Stampa.

After arriving an hour late, Gaddafi began distributing gifts to the women, who were reportedly all Italian.

They were also each given a copy of the Islamic holy book the Koran as well as the Libyan leader's Green Book, which outlines the Libyan leader's view on political philosophy and democracy.

He then sat next to Libya's ambassador to Italy Hafed Gaddur and an interpreter with two of his renowned female guards, known as 'Amazon Guards'.

Gaddafi then began a speech in which he invited the women to convert to Islam, emphasising his support for equal rights but not equal duties.

According to the Libyan leader, women must do only "what their physical condition allows them" and spoke about the role that women played during World War II.

"What their physical condition allows them": Sojourner Truth would beg to differ: "That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman?..."

And for that matter, then, what's the point of his female bodyguards?

Gaddafi criticised the West, saying that women there "have often been used as pieces of furniture, changed whenever it pleases men. And this is an injustice."

After all, the correct Qur'anic term is "tilth" (2:223).

Gaddafi also invited the women attending the party to travel to the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.....

.... which requires converting to Islam.

Is anyone in D.C. listening, or are they too busy playing politics and putting the supposed symbolism of the trial over the array of obvious security concerns? Louis Pepe Update, and an update on this story. "Blinded Prison Guard: Don't House Terror Suspects in NYC," by Joseph Abrams for Fox News, November 16 (thanks to Sam):

The high-security prison in New York City where 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is expected to be sent to await his trial has a supermax wing to keep even the most notorious criminals quiet -- but it isn't perfect. Just ask Louis Pepe.

Ten months before Al Qaeda in 2001 struck a deathblow in the heart lower Manhattan, one of the terrorist group's founding members plunged a sharpened comb through Pepe's left eye and into his brain, blinding the 42-year-old prison guard and causing severe brain injuries that plague him to this day.

Pepe told FoxNews.com he worries that sending Mohammed and four of his alleged fellow 9/11 conspirators to New York could compromise the safety of the guards at the MCC prison. Keeping the prisoners in one location, he said, was especially dangerous.

"Could you imagine over there what they're gonna do, God forbid?" asked Pepe, now 52, who lost feeling in the right side of his body and most of his ability to speak. "After all these years, you'd think they should know."

On Nov. 1, 2000, Pepe was ambushed in the cell of Mamdouh Mahmud Salim -- an alleged top aide to Usama bin Laden. Salim's cellmate, another Al Qaeda suspect, joined in the attack, which prosecutors say was an attempt to steal Pepe's keys to the cell block to free other prisoners and take hostages.

The two had been granted permission by a federal judge to purchase hot sauce, says Pepe's sister, which they then stored in a honey jar and used to create a blinding mace. Teaming up against Pepe, they beat and blinded him, covering the floor in his spattered blood. They then tried to rape him as he waited an entire hour for fellow guards to come to his aid, his sister said.

"They wanted to discredit the badge and what he stood for," Eileen Trotta told FoxNews.com. "After they plunged him in the eye with that makeshift knife, they did the sign of the cross on his chest."

Trotta said it would be like "deja vu" to see more Al Qaeda detainees shipped into New York for trial, where their court hearings will be just blocks from Ground Zero

"There's no reason why everything has to be in New York, especially after 9/11 and what happened to Louis," she said. "It doesn't make sense -- why bring them into the hotbed of the city?"...

Politics.

This string of attacks has focused significantly on law enforcement in various forms, targeting the government's ability to protect its citizens, and striking at symbols of insufficiently Islamic law. "Four killed, 31 injured in Peshawar suicide bombing," from the Press Trust of India, November 16:

Islamabad/ Peshawar: A suicide bomber today rammed his explosives-laden truck into a police station in this northwest Pakistani city, killing at least four persons and injuring 31 in the seventh terror attack here in 10 days. The attacker targeted a police station at Badabher on the outskirts of the provincial capital at 7.45 am, police said.

Hospital officials said four persons were killed and two women, nine children and two paramilitary personnel were among the injured. Earlier, state-run PTV had reported that five persons were killed in the attack. Hospital officials said the death toll was revised after they learnt that a body they received was that of a man killed in an accident.

A mosque and a house near the police station were reduced to rubble while 10 shops, a college and several cars were badly damaged by the powerful blast. Footage on television showed the facade of several buildings was devastated by the blast.

"The bomber came in a car from the direction of the Khyber Agency. The bomber struck the wall between the police station and the mosque. The mosque collapsed due to the blast and the police station was damaged. A nearby market was also damaged," said Shahibzada Anees, the district administration chief. Police said the bomber's truck was packed with about 250 kg of explosives.

A paramilitary trooper who was injured in the attack said the bomber detonated his explosives when security personnel fired at the truck. Policemen cordoned off the area as local residents and rescue workers removed the rubble by hand to pull out the dead and injured. Ambulances ferried bodies and the injured to hospitals, where an emergency was declared.

This was the seventh terrorist attack in Peshawar and its surrounding areas in the past 10 days. An anti-Taliban mayor in Badabher area escaped an attempt on his life by burqa-clad militants yesterday while 12 people were killed in a suicide car bomb attack on a police check post on the city's outskirts on Saturday....

No, this time, it's the Muslim "counter-extremism" Quilliam Foundation confirming what others have been warning about for years. What remains to be seen is whether their report -- unsullied by any distasteful "otherness" on the part of its authors -- will create any apparent sense of urgency to deal with this ongoing disaster waiting to happen in British prisons.

"Islamists 'promote jihad in jail'," from BBC News, November 15 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Radical Muslims are spreading extremist propaganda and promoting jihad from inside UK jails, a report has claimed.

Counter-extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation said radicals were also being allowed to lead prayers.

And its report said extremist cleric Abu Qatada had issued fatwas from Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire where he is awaiting deportation.

The Ministry of Justice said it had a dedicated unit to tackle the risk of extremism and radicalisation in prison.

But are they tackling it? And how does tackling "the risk" differ from tackling the actual, ongoing situation of "radicalization" in prisons? Seems like it's a bit late for the former. It's striking to note how often such statements are weaselly worded to blur the distinction between potential and genuine action, with phrases like "taking steps to ensure," or "working closely with our partners," or perhaps "actively partnering with..."

Messages released

The Quilliam Foundation said the study, to be published on Monday, was based largely on accounts sneaked out of prisons by high-profile extremists.

The report said: "Prominent pro al-Qaeda ideologues such as Abu Qatada have been able to smuggle messages out of prison to their supporters.

"Other convicted extremists have issued pro-jihadist statements from prison while others have appeared on Islamic TV stations from within prison.

"In 2008 and 2009, two of the most prominent Arab jihadists imprisoned in the UK released pro-jihadist propaganda and fatwas from within Long Lartin prison.

"Adel Abdel Bary, a leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, produced written pro-jihadist tracts from within prison aiming to refute criticism of al-Qaeda, while Abu Qatada issued fatwas from within prison which legitimised jihadist attacks worldwide."

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff, whose constituency includes Long Lartin, plans to raise the report's findings with Home Secretary Alan Johnson and Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

'Deeply dangerous'

Mr Luff said: "In my view the courts have, in the past, failed to protect us by allowing the release of dangerous individuals from Long Lartin and other prisons, and by delaying the deportation of many others.

"While these deeply dangerous men remain in British custody, we must be absolutely confident that they can do no harm - and these revelations suggest we cannot be confident of that.

"The government must move quickly to address the exceptionally serious issues this report raises."

Barry Rubin brilliantly explains how Nidal Hasan's slide show explicates his motives in the Fort Hood jihad massacre:

How do we know that the attack at Fort Hood was an act of Islamist terrorism? Simple, Major Nidal Hassan told us so. You've seen reports of a long list of things he did and said along these lines. But what's most amazing of all is this:

Hassan is the first terrorist in history to give an academic lecture explaining why he was about to attack. Yet that still isn't enough for too many people--including the president of the United States--to understand that the murderous assault at Fort Hood was a Jihad attack.

It was reported that the audience was shocked and frightened by his lecture. He was supposed to speak on some medical topic yet instead talked on the topic: "The Koranic World View as it Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military." All you have to do is look at the 50 Power Point slides and they tell you everything you need to know.

It is quite a good talk. He's logical and presents his evidence. This is clearly not the work of a mad man or a fool, though there's still a note of ambiguity in it. He's still working out what to do in his own mind and is trying to figure out if he has a way out other than in effect deserting the U.S. army and becoming a Jihad warrior. Ultimately, he concluded that he could not be a proper Muslim without killing American soldiers. Obviously, other Muslims could reach different conclusions but Hassan strongly grounds himself in Islamic texts.

In a sense, Hassan's lecture was a cry for help: Can anyone show me another way out? Can anyone refute my interpretation of Islam? One Muslim in the audience reportedly tried to do so. But unless these issues are openly discussed and debated--rather than swept under the rug--more people will die.

In fact, I'd recommend that teachers use this lecture in teaching classes on both Islam and Islamist politics. .

Follow along with me and you'll understand everything.

Hassan deals with three topics: What Islam teaches Muslims, how Muslims view the wars in Afghanistan and Iran, how this might affect Muslims in the U.S. military. [Slide 2] Hassan defines Jihad, showing how silly are the claims that it only means a personal struggle to behave better. It also signifies holy war, of course. [Slide 5].

Now here's Hassan's central theme. Muslims cannot fight in an infidel army against other Muslims. And Hassan himself says that it's getting hard for Muslims in the U.S. military to justify doing so. [Slide 11] Obviously, Hassan was deciding that he couldn't do so.

He then quotes the Koran extensively to prove the point. Allah will punish anyone who kills a Muslim [Slide 12]. Hassan then gives four examples of Muslim soldiers who broke under the strain. One who killed fellow American soldiers (which Hassan would himself do), one accused of espionage (but was acquitted), one who deserted, and one who refused deployment to Iraq. [Slide 13]

Quoting the Koran, Hassan next provides a number of quotations to show that the believer must obey Allah. If they do, they will enjoy great delights (though he left out the 72 virgins, there's one quote hinting at pederasty), and if they don't they will suffer torments of Hell.

Finally, he gets into the heavy stuff. Hassan introduces the concept of "defensive Jihad" which is a core element in radical Islamist thinking and has especially been promoted by Usama bin Ladin and al-Qaida. [Slides 37-39]. If others attack and oppress Muslims, then it is the duty of all Muslims to fight them. September 11 was justified by its perpetrators by saying that the United States had attacked Muslims and therefore it was mandatory to kill Americans in return.

And here is the crux of the matter: Verse 60:08, "Allah forbids you...from dealing kindly and justly" with those who fight Muslims." [Slide 40]

If Nidal Hassan believed this and would follow it, he must--to be a proper Muslim in his eyes--pick up a gun and join the Jihad, Muslim side. He was not shooting Americans because he caught battle fatigue from American soldiers he treated. Think about it. To have done so, Hassan would have had to sympathize with them, thinking about what it would be like for him if he'd been fighting...Muslims in Iraq or Afghanistan. But that was precisely his problem. He sympathized with the other side....

There is much more. Read it all.

The objective here is not so much to get a state, although certainly a Palestinian state would serve as a useful base for their continuing jihad against Israel. (It would also be an international welfare state existing off jizya from the West.) The objective is to gain another resolution from the OIC-dominated UN that would portray Israel as an outlaw state, in violation of international law and consensus.

"Palestinians to ask UN to recognise state," by Nasser Abu Bakr for AFP, November 16 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

The Palestinians said Sunday they plan to ask for UN recognition of their independence, amid mounting frustration over the stalled peace process as Israel warned against any unilateral moves.

"We have reached a decision... to go to the UN Security Council to ask for recognition of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and with June 1967 borders," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

He was referring to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and mostly Arab east Jerusalem that Israel captured during the 1967 Six Day War.

"We're going to seek support from EU countries and Russia and other countries" for the measure, he said.

Erakat's comments came amid growing frustration among the Palestinians with so-far ineffective US efforts to relaunch peace negotiations with Israel that were suspended during the Gaza Strip war at the turn of the year....

Rifqa Bary's case is a test case in numerous ways. It involves the question of whether American courts can successfully be compelled to follow Sharia provisions regarding the imprisonment of female apostates. It will show whether the American legal system and American society are up to the challenge of defending the freedom of religion and freedom of conscience from stealth jihadists and Islamic supremacists. It will show whether Muslim girls facing a domestic situation analogous to Rifqa's have any hope, even in the Land of the Free.

Details of the rally here.

"War is Deceit."

"Headley mapped all '26/11 targets' - US suspect posed as Jew: Police," by Samyabrata Ray Goswami for the Telegraph (Calcutta), November 15 (thanks to Esther):

Mumbai, Nov. 14: David Coleman Headley personally visited every target site of the 26/11 terror strikes last year, carrying out a recce on behalf of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a police source said today.

Posing as a Jew, he even visited Nariman House, the Jewish Chabad centre, in July 2008.

The Mumbai police today carried out raids in Bandra, its adjoining suburb Khar and BPO hub Goregaon in search of Headley's local acquaintances and contacts.

"He (Headley) mapped the Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, Taj and Trident hotels and Nariman House. We are interrogating (filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's son) Rahul to find out when he went to Leopold Café. That he did is certain -- when he did that is what we need to know," a top officer said.

Headley had visited the Mumbai home of Rahul, who contacted police after learning of the terror suspect's arrest by America's Federal Burau of Investigation (FBI) last month.

The source said Headley, a Pakistani-born US national, and his associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana stayed in Hotel Outram, a seedy motel in Mumbai's Fort area, for about a fortnight in July 2008.

Born Daood Gilani, Headley, who changed his name and passport in 2006, posed as a Jewish American during his Mumbai stay. A source close to Rahul too confirmed that Headley had claimed to be a Jew.

"It is a mystery how he got into that building (Nariman House) just posing as a Jew. We are probing if he had anybody helping him locally. The FBI seized a book called How to Pray Like a Jew from him at the time of his arrest in Chicago. He had prepared himself thoroughly to pose as a Jew," the officer said.

This morning, the police detained two tourist guides near the Gateway of India for questioning. It is suspected they may have aided Headley or other 26/11 plotters....

Wait a minute. I thought opposition to the jihad was "racism," right? So that means that the anti-jihadists should have no problem with Khalid Kelly, right?

And yet, for some crazy reason I want to protect the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, legal equality, and all the other freedoms that Islamic supremacism and Sharia deny, from Khalid Kelly as much as from Abu Izzadeen. "Irishman wants to kill for Islam," by Nicola Smith in The Sunday Times, November 15 (thanks to Cindy):

An Irish jihadist living in Pakistan's Swat valley says he is preparing to wage war against British and allied troops in Afghanistan.

Khalid Kelly, a former altar boy from the Liberties area of Dublin who used to be known as Terry, told The Sunday Times he is undergoing weapons training in Pakistan's mountainous tribal region in order to fight jihad against the enemies of Islam. His dream is to face a British soldier in combat, although he would "settle" for an American, he said.

"I'm already on the path to jihad. I've already picked up a gun and done target practice to make myself familiar with weapons. The other day I learnt how to use an M-16 [rifle] in five hours," he said. "Next week, inshallah, I could be in Afghanistan fighting a British soldier."

Asked how he would feel about his own three-year-old son becoming a suicide bomber he replied: "I hope he goes to jannah [heaven] before marriageable age." His son, named Osama after Kelly's role model, lives in Britain with his Pakistani mother and two younger brothers. His father reckons Osama will be efficient with weapons by the age of ten.

Kelly says he learnt map-reading in the Scottish mountains, terrain similar to Afghanistan, although he admits he is currently out of shape. He justifies his intentions because of the West's actions against Muslims.

"Why is it such a big deal that I want to do this? Have I not got the right to do the same thing as a guy going into an army recruitment centre?" he said. "As long as we have no security, you will have no security. We'll kill and bomb you as you have killed and bombed our lands."

Ireland is also a legitimate target, according to Kelly. "Ireland has a US embassy so it is open to attack," he stated.

Kelly, 42, is an unconventional jihadist. Having grown up a staunch Catholic and trained as a nurse, he moved to Saudi Arabia in 1996 to work at the King Faisal hospital on a tax-free salary. In 2000 he was introduced to radical Islam by an Afghan when he was serving time in the Al-Ha'ir prison in Riyadh for bootlegging....

He is also unapologetic about his desire to fund, encourage and take part in terrorism. "I always believe Islam is terrorism. We are told to terrorise the enemies of Islam," he said. "The world will become a dangerous place. Everybody had better start embracing Islam or people will start flying planes into buildings again."

"Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies..." -- Koran 8:60

Read it all.

After Friday's bombing at the local ISI headquarters. "Suicide car bomb in Pakistan kills 11," from CNN, November 14 (thanks to Alan):

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suicide car bomber who blew himself up at a police checkpoint Saturday in Peshawar killed 11 people and wounded 26 -- marking the second straight day of major violence in the area, authorities said.

Shafi Ullah, deputy superintendent of police, said authorities had stopped the bomber at the post when the explosion occurred, killing three women, three children, a policeman and four other men.

The blast occurred near a police checkpoint in the neighborhood of Pushtakhara, said Peshawar police officer Idrees Khan. He said 50-60 kilograms of explosives (110-132 pounds) were used in the bomb.

Peshawar -- the capital of the North West Frontier Province -- has repeatedly come under attack in recent days. Intelligence officials say the attacks are retaliation against an army offensive to rout militants from their havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Peshawar is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

No one claimed responsibility for Saturday's blast.

However, Taliban senior commander Qari Hussein said Saturday that the Taliban claimed responsibility for Friday's dual bombings, which killed at least 17 people, including security officials, in Peshawar and nearby Bannu. Dozens of people were wounded.

Hussein told CNN there will be more such attacks in the future, and that their intensity will be much greater....

Not that any Muslims are responsible for that linkage. Oh, no. "Iran: Extremists aid West's plots against Islam," from Press TV, November 14:

Larijani, who was speaking to a group of Sunni clerics on Friday, said that the US was seeking to 'propagate' a distorted image of Islam in the Middle East.

"Over the past few years, the US and a number of its allies in the Middle East have been seeking to propagate a fake [interpretation] of Islam and to tarnish its image by linking it with terrorist moves."

"All Islamic sects should make every effort not to fall into US-Zionist trap," Larijani said, adding that any division among different Islamic sects has been brought to the region by the intelligence services of foreign forces who seek to gain a foothold in the region.

Larijani's plea for unity among Muslims comes as on Wednesday the al-Qaeda leader in Saudi Arabia urged Sunnis to confront Shias.

In an audio recording posted on the internet, Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Rashid, accused Shias and Iran of trying 'to take over Muslim countries' and 'to annihilate Sunnis'.

The al-Qaeda leader said "their(Shias) threat to Islam and its people is much bigger than that from Jews and Christians....