Jihad Watch

"A threat against him is, in the long term, also a threat against all Swedes," they said. It's also a threat against one of the most fundamental human rights, freedom of speech, which we all have such a tremendous stake in protecting. "Swedish papers publish Prophet Muhammad drawing," from the Associated Press, March 10 (thanks to all who sent this in):

At least three Swedish newspapers on Wednesday published a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog after an alleged plot to murder the artist who created it was uncovered in Ireland.

The controversial drawing by Swedish artist Lars Vilks was printed in Stockholm papers Dagens Nyheter and Expressen and the Malmo daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet.

Irish authorities had said Tuesday they detained four men and three women suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to kill Vilks.

Sydsvenska Dagbladet said it printed the drawing as part of its news coverage of the alleged plot. Expressen said it printed it for its news value and to take a stance for the freedom of speech.

'I'm sure they have plans'

Dagens Nyheter said in an editorial that "Vilks doesn't stand alone in this conflict. A threat against him is, in the long term, also a threat against all Swedes."

Vilks has faced several death threats since the drawing was first printed by a Swedish newspaper in 2007, a year after separate cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper sparked furious protests in Muslim nations. Al-Qaeda put a $100,000 bounty on his head.

Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Vilks said Wednesday he wasn't sure whether to take the alleged plot seriously.

"Not until all the cards are on the table. I'm sure they have plans, but the question is how far they can go," he told The Associated Press by telephone....

The one thing that can and should be done would be to call American Muslim groups to account, and demand that they institute in mosques and Islamic schools comprehensive, honest, inspectable programs teaching against the jihad doctrine and Islamic supremacism. But officials will never do this. They would prefer to pretend that the jihad doctrine and Islamic supremacism do not exist. And so we will see many more Jihad Janes.

"'Jihad Jane's' Arrest Raises Fears About Homegrown Terrorists," by Huma Khan, Emily Friedman, and Jason Ryan for ABC News, March 10 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

The arrest of a suburban Pennsylvania woman known by the alias Jihad Jane, who allegedly plotted with Islamic radicals abroad to kill a Swedish cartoonist, has raised fears about homegrown terrorists in the United States who may be difficult to spot. Suburban Pennsylvania woman is charged with recruiting extremists online.

"This woman might as well have advertised in the Washington Post," former White House counterterrorism official and ABC News consultant Richard Clarke said on "Good Morning America" today. "It was easy for the FBI to find her, but there are other people who are much more covert."

"There will likely be more attacks," Clarke said. "Hopefully, they will be small, and hopefully, we can catch them early."

Colleen R. LaRose, 46, of Montgomery, Pa., was arrested in October 2009 and charged with trying to recruit Islamic fighters and plotting to assassinate a Swedish cartoonist who made fun of prophet Mohammed, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The FBI had kept the case secret while it looked for more suspects in the United States and abroad. The case was made public after seven men were arrested in Ireland this week, suspected of plotting to kill the Swedish cartoonist.

LaRose's case is rare, Clark [sic] said, but it shows the capability of international dissident groups to reach out to Americans via the Internet.

"This is a very rare case of a disturbed woman," he said, but it signifies how "the Internet not only allows them to communicate, it allows them to recruit."

Their persuasive speeches and sermons, which have been effective in recruiting men and women in the Middle East, are "beginning to work for some misfits in the United States," he said....

But neither Clarke nor anyone else ever asks himself why these speeches and sermons are so persuasive.

"Those who kill humanitarian workers must be reminded that they are not only killing their own country's residents, but also people seeking to improve the lives of victims of poverty and injustice." They don't care about that. As far as they're concerned, the only thing that would improve the lives of their country's residents would be more Islam, and thus these aid workers were enemies of what was good.

"Gunmen kill 6 in Western aid agency raid in Pakistan," by Michael Georgy for Reuters, March 10 (thanks to Twostellas):

OGHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants stormed an office of a U.S.-based Christian aid agency in Pakistan on Wednesday, killing six members of staff in a hail of bullets and a bomb.

Nuclear-armed U.S. ally Pakistan is battling al Qaeda-linked militants who have launched a string of attacks over the past few years, including some on foreign targets.

Gunmen burst into the World Vision office in Oghi village in Mansehra district, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Islamabad, at about 9 a.m. (0400 GMT), police and a witness said.

"About 10 men came, they were all wearing masks. They kicked the doors down, took everyone out of their offices, put them in one place and then started shooting," said an office administrator, who asked to be identified only as Asif.

"They threw a bomb as they were leaving," he said....

World Vision said the six dead were Pakistani members of staff and it was suspending all operations in the country.

Seven members of staff were wounded and one was missing, the aid agency said in a statement, adding that its relief and development work in Pakistan was conducted by Pakistanis.

"Those who kill humanitarian workers must be reminded that they are not only killing their own country's residents, but also people seeking to improve the lives of victims of poverty and injustice," it said....

But Charles Krauthammer will tell you that Geert Wilders is "extreme, radical, and wrong."

Eurabia Alert: "Teacher attacked after al-Qaeda comments," from AFP, March 9 (thanks to Pamela):

Lyon, France - A 15-year-old French schoolboy sprayed a teacher with teargas after she described al-Qaeda as a "terrorist group", she told reporters on Tuesday as prosecutors began their investigation.

"I had just explained that the attacks on September 11, 2001 were carried out by the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda, as is written in the text book," said the history teacher, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"He stood up and declared that al-Qaeda is not terrorist and that neither is the Taliban," she said, adding that the boy had then pulled out a spray can and doused her and a teaching assistant with teargas.

Neither victim was seriously hurt....

Oh, well, then, the kid must be a moderate.

Instead, he should be calling on Gaddafi to apologize for the double standard of his call for Muslims to undertake economic jihad against Switzerland for banning minarets when non-Muslim religious practice is restricted far more severely than cosmetic issues all over the Islamic world.

"US apologises over Gaddafi comments," from the BBC, March 9 (thanks to Pamela):

The US state department has apologised for comments made about Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's call for jihad against Switzerland.

Department spokesman PJ Crowley, who made the dismissive comments, said they did not reflect US policy and were not intended to offend.

Col Gaddafi had criticised a Swiss vote against the building of minarets and urged Muslims to boycott the country.

Mr Crowley described it as "lots of words, not necessarily a lot of sense." [...]

"I regret that my comments have become an obstacle to further progress in our bilateral relationship," Mr Crowley said.

Last week, Libya's National Oil Corporation warned US oil firms of possible "repercussions" over Mr Crowley's reaction.

The Libyan ambassador to the US sought to clarify Col Gaddafi's remarks saying the Libyan leader meant an economic boycott not "an armed attack".

"I should have focused solely on our concern about the term jihad, which has since been clarified by the Libyan government," Mr Crowley added.

As if the clarification, which was that economic jihad should be waged rather than violent jihad, makes Libya's action acceptable.

"I understand my personal comments were perceived as a personal attack on the president," he said.

"These comments do not reflect US policy and were not intended to offend. I apologise if they were taken that way."

And who was there to hail them as heroes but my old pal, the artless dissembler Hamid Mir!

An update on this story, and yet another Tiny Minority of Extremists Update: "Upset by U.S. Security, Pakistanis Return as Heroes," by Jane Perlez for the New York Times, March 9 (thanks to David):

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A tour of the United States arranged by the State Department to improve ties to Pakistani legislators ended in a public relations fiasco when the members of the group refused to submit to extra airport screening in Washington, and they are now being hailed as heroes on their return home.

"People should be thankful, you made them so proud," said Hamid Mir, the host of a popular national talk show, during an interview in his studio on Tuesday with four of the six politicians, who railed against the security precautions at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Meetings with the Obama administration's top policy makers on Pakistan, including the president's special representative, Richard C. Holbrooke, and visits to the Pentagon and the National Security Council, did not allay the anger the politicians said they felt at being asked to submit to a secondary screening on Sunday before boarding a flight to New Orleans. They declined to be screened and did not board the flight.

Pakistan is one of 14 mostly Muslim countries whose citizens must go through increased checks before they fly into the United States, a procedure mandated by the Obama administration in the wake of the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up an airliner flying from the Netherlands to Detroit on Dec. 25.

The inclusion of Pakistan on the list was broadly criticized as an insult to a country that the United States calls an ally....

Yes, and it is such a reliable ally!

Tiny Minority of Extremists Update: Aafia Siddiqui is a heroine in Pakistan. One would think that if the vast majority of Muslims there rejected the ideology of Al-Qaeda, as Charles Krauthammer and so many others assume they do, she would not have attained this exalted status. "U.S. Sees a Terror Threat; Pakistanis See a Heroine," by Salman Masood and Carlotta Gall for the New York Times, March 5 (thanks to all who sent this in):

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Relations between the United States and Pakistan often have a through-the-looking-glass quality, where almost nothing appears quite the same from the other side. The latest example is the case of Aafia Siddiqui.

In the United States, authorities say Ms. Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who once studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is suspected of having links to Al Qaeda. She was convicted by a New York court in February of trying to kill American military officers while in custody in 2008 in Afghanistan. She faces life in prison when she is sentenced in May.

In Pakistan, she has become a national symbol of honor and victimization so potent that politicians of all stripes, Islamists, the news media and an increasingly anti-American public have all lined up to champion her claim of innocence.

In a rare display of unity, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who has described Ms. Siddiqui as a "daughter of the nation," and the opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, have promised to push for her release. Last week, senators passed a resolution to demand her return to Pakistan.

Her sister, Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui, a neurologist who studied and taught at Johns Hopkins University, has led a countrywide campaign on Aafia Siddiqui's behalf. In recent weeks, hundreds of people, including professionals and civil rights campaigners, have taken to the streets in support.

The broad outpouring has forced the government, led by the Pakistan Peoples Party, to publicly assure Ms. Siddiqui's supporters that it will continue its legal assistance, which has amounted to $2 million already. [...]

"The prime minister has suggested to visiting American delegations that releasing Aafia Siddiqui unconditionally would greatly improve the image of the Americans in the public's eyes," a close aide to Mr. Gilani said. [...]

She had a long involvement in jihadi causes, even while a student at M.I.T. and, later, at Brandeis University. The F.B.I. has accused her of opening a post office box in 2002 in the name of Majid Khan, who is suspected of being a Qaeda member and is being held in the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Divorced from her first husband, Dr. Muhammad Amjad Khan, the father of her three children, she married Ammar al-Baluchi, the nephew of the professed orchestrator of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, in early 2003, according to court documents filed in the United States. [...]

She was arrested in July 2008 in Ghazni, Afghanistan, with her eldest child, Ahmed, then 12, who told Afghan investigators they had arrived by road from Quetta, in southwestern Pakistan, two days before. While in custody, prosecutors said, she grabbed a rifle from a police station floor and fired on Army officers and F.B.I. agents, hitting no one. She was shot in the abdomen. [...]

"The iconization of Aafia Siddiqui as an emblem of Pakistani womanhood represents the kind of female rebel acceptable in a rapidly Islamizing Pakistani society," said Rafia Zakaria, a columnist for Dawn, the leading English daily newspaper....

Rapidly Islamizing indeed.

Big surprise here. Islamic Tolerance Alert: "Pakistan: Christians, not Muslims, arrested following attack on Christians," from CatholicCulture.org, March 9 (thanks to Twostellas):

In the weeks following a February attack on Christian churches and homes in Pakistan's largest city, police have questioned 40 Christians and arrested five, according to a report published by the Fides news agency. "It is an ironic accusation," a source said, since "on that occasion, it was the Christian quarter of Pahar Ganj in Karachi that was attacked by a mob of Muslims who wrought havoc in the streets and burned shops."...

Watch out for those in the West who, terminally confused, go off on a Spiritual Search. They try this, they try that. Then the bus stops at Islam, and if they get off, and some do, it's very hard for them to get back on that bus.

For if you are confused and overwhelmed by life, the totalitarian temptation is extraordinarily strong - that is, the temptation to join a collective, which tells you what to do and what to think, and gives you a nice list of What Is Commanded and What Is Prohibited. And if you've forgotten or not yet learned a particular rule, you have only to Ask Mr. Fatwa on a thousand websites, and you will be told what to do.

And how it clears everything up, to have rules for everything. For those lost souls wandering in the universe, you get a complete guide and grid, you no longer have to think -- why, you are positively encouraged not to think. What could be better? Yours, thank god, you think, is not to reason why.

There are people who love this sort of thing.

And in the case of Colleen Renee LaRose, she gets to fabricate a special Arab name, and even wear a hijab. She's got a Cause. She's got a Reason For Being. She's someone special, and yet at the same time, she doesn't have to be anyone at all, but can subsume herself in the collective and take the orders set down more than a millennium ago.

What could be better for the colleen-renee-laroses of this world? Look at how excited Adam Gadahn is to have become Azzam Al-Amriki, and to be the special someone he is today. And to have no doubts, and no need to think for oneself. What else, in this confusing world, do you need?

Once you become a Muslim, you have laid out for you the list of what is Prohibited and what is Commanded, of whom you will love and whom you will hate. You will love fellow Muslims, you will hate all non-Muslims. Simple, and clear, and don't be confused if often those non-Muslims appear to be quite nice and generous towards you; remember, they remain non-Muslims. And if some Muslims behave in what might once have seemed to be a cruel and murderous fashion, remember they are Muslims, and acting according to the dictates of Islam, so they are not merely blameless, but admirable.

The New York Times has some piquant details, including the fact that no sooner did Colleen Renee LaRose become a Muslim -- by simply reciting a line of verse (no tests and no waiting, just like getting married in South Carolina in the pre-war days) -- than all of a sudden she had very firm views on Middle Eastern conflicts. All of a sudden, she who probably could not locate Israel on a map had become a fervent supporter of the Jihad against Israel: The "MySpace profile for a woman who refers to herself as JihadJane displays pictures of bloodshed and violence in the Middle East scrawled with messages like 'Palestine We Are With You' and 'Sympathize With Gaza.'"

Become a Muslim, and all of a sudden you have a Very Strong Opinion about things you never knew, and still do not know, a thing about. It was perhaps obvious for Jihad Jane to start with an ostentatious taking of the side of "Palestine" (i.e., supporting -- janishly -- the Jihad against Israel), but if asked what she thought of this or that conflict involving Muslims, she would now have an answer too, which would be to always and everywhere take the Muslim side. If asked what she now thought about Kashmir, you can bet that she would insist that Kashmir belonged to Pakistan, and for that matter, India belonged to its rightful owners, the Muslims (whom those "colonialist" British had removed from power), that Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the Philippines should be backed to the hilt, that the Buddhists should get out of southern Thailand and leave it to the Muslims, that Khaddafy was right to declare Jihad against Switzerland for the minaret ban, that the Christians who were hacked to death in Nigeria had it coming to them, that the black Africans in the Sudan deserved, by the millions, to die because the Sudan belongs to Islam and to the Arabs, and so on and so bloody forth.

Join today. It's the last important decision you'll ever have to make. Tomorrow Belongs To You.

"Erdogan earned the King Faisal International Prize for having 'rendered outstanding service to Islam by defending the causes of the Islamic nation, particularly the Palestinian cause and the just rights of the Palestinian people.'" Not to mention slowly but steadily dismantling Turkish secularism.

"Saudi awards Turkey's Erdogan for 'service to Islam,'" from Middle East Online, March 10 (thanks to Twostellas):

RIYADH - Saudi King Abdullah presented Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with one of the country's most prestigious prizes on Tuesday for his 'service to Islam'.

Erdogan earned the King Faisal International Prize for having "rendered outstanding service to Islam by defending the causes of the Islamic nation, particularly the Palestinian cause and the just rights of the Palestinian people," said Abd Allah al-Uthaimin of the prize-awarding group.

"At the international level, he was a leading Muslim founder of the call for rapport between civilisations and a passionate advocate of constructive dialogue, openness, and principles of international understanding and cooperation."...

Geert Wilders, said Charles Krauthammer, is "extreme, radical, and wrong." In reality, Charles Krauthammer is ignorant, naive, and wrong.

From "Krauthammer's Take" at National Review, March 9:

...What he says is extreme, radical, and wrong. He basically is arguing that Islam is the same as Islamism. Islamism is an ideology of a small minority which holds that the essence of Islam is jihad, conquest, forcing people into accepting a certain very narrow interpretation [of Islam].

This is an artificial distinction imposed by non-Muslims like Charles Krauthammer onto the Islamic world; it is not a distinction that is generally made by Muslims themselves, at least outside the U.S. and Western Europe -- or if it is, it is made in a different way. Muslims who object to Al-Qaeda and other groups like it generally speak of them as neo-Kharijites, referring to an early rigorist group in Islam that rejected both Sunni and Shi'ite authorities if they deviated from Muhammad's example, or as takfiri, referring to the jihadists' promiscuous use of the practice of takfir, that is, declaring other Muslims to be unbelievers. When Muslims have protested against contemporary jihadist activity, it has been when the jihadists murder large numbers of fellow Muslims; the murders of non-Muslims have not generally stirred similar outrage.

Those are essentially the differences between the Al-Qaeda types and other Muslims: the others object to the jihadists' rigorism and tendency to condemn other Muslims, and to the jihadists' killing of other Muslims (which violates the command in Qur'an 4:92 never to kill a fellow Muslim intentionally). That's it. There is no widespread debate among Muslims, outside of a few professors and self-proclaimed reformers with tiny followings, about whether the umma should wage war against unbelievers and strive in various ways to impose Sharia upon the world.

But Krauthammer seems to assume that there is a sharp division between Muslims who are political and supremacist and those who are not -- for that is the essence of his saying that the "Islamists" believe that "the essence of Islam is jihad, conquest, forcing people into accepting a certain very narrow interpretation [of Islam]." Jihad -- however variously interpreted -- is a key element of the Islamic faith according to every single Islamic authority on the planet. Krauthammer, of course, is referring to violent jihad, and assuming that Muslims who are not engaging in it are not rejecting it as a matter of practicality or strategy, or an indifference to their faith, or a failure of courage, but because they actually do not believe it legitimate as a matter of Islamic theology for Muslims to wage war against unbelievers. He would be hard-pressed to find any honest Islamic authorities who would back him up on that -- as evidenced by what Islamic authorities say and write to their fellow Muslims, not by what they say and write to easily and eagerly fooled non-Muslim Westerners.

The untruth of that is obvious. If you look at the United States, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the U.S. are not Islamists. So, it's simply incorrect. Now, in Europe, there is probably a slightly larger minority but, nonetheless, the overwhelming majority are not.

So Krauthammer is taking the fact that most U.S. Muslims are not engaging in jihad violence to mean that they reject it in principle. This would be a naive assumption in any context. There may be any number of reasons why someone is not doing something, and it would be silly to assume that anyone who is not doing some particular thing is refraining because he believes that to do it would be wrong.

He never considers, of course, the fact that all the mainstream sects and schools of Islamic jurisprudence teach as a matter of faith that Islam is intrinsically political and that Muslims must wage war against unbelievers and subjugate them under the rule of Islamic law. But that is a matter of verifiable fact, and it is the cornerstone of Wilders' argument. There is nothing extreme, or radical, or wrong about noting that fact, and Charles Krauthammer should have the intellectual fortitude to look into this matter; if he did, he would realize that Wilders is correct.

Jihad Jane wanted to help the "suffering Muslim people," and apparently she thought the best way to do that was to murder a few Infidels, perhaps including Swedish Motoonist Lars Vilks. More on this story. "Muslim convert Colleen LaRose, aka Jihad Jane, faces terror charges," by Sam Jones for The Guardian, March 10 (thanks to all who sent this in):

An American woman who called herself Jihad Jane has been charged over an alleged plot to murder a Swedish man.

Colleen Renee LaRose, 46, from Phildadelphia, is also accused of conspiracy to provide support to terrorists, making false statements and attempted identity theft.

Irish police yesterday arrested seven people over an apparent plot to kill Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist who had a bounty put on his head after depicting the prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog - though Vilks has not been named as LaRose's alleged target.

Garda sources said the four men and three women were in their mid-20s to late-40s. Some of them arrested hold Irish citizenship and some are from the Middle East. Converts to Islam were among them, the Irish police said.

Vilks's cartoon, drawn in 2007, prompted al-Qaida to place a $100,000 (£67,000) bounty on his head and offer a 50% bonus to anyone who slit his throat to ensure he was "slaughtered like a lamb".

At least three Swedish newspapers - Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Sydsvenska Dagbladet - published the cartoon today.

The US justice department declined to comment on whether the two cases were connected.

David Kris, the head of the department's national security division, said: "The indictment, which alleges that a woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists, underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face."

LaRose, who also called herself Fatima LaRose online, allegedly posted a comment on YouTube in June 2008 saying she wanted to help "the suffering Muslim people"....

In Human Events this morning I discuss the latest hit video from the traitor Adam Gadahn:

Al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn in a new videotape released Sunday declared: "I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam." He called upon Muslims to be imaginative in their choice of jihad targets: "You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage."

Gadahn, who is known in jihadist circles as "Azzam the American," is the first U.S. citizen to be indicted for treason since World War II. His new video shows that the charge is entirely justified.

In it, he held up 9/11 as a model for jihad attacks: "As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon." He exhorted Muslims to sow mayhem in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West "by killing or capturing people in government, industry and the media."

As surprising as it may be to hear an American fantasizing about mass murders in his native land, it is no surprise coming from Gadahn, who in a September 11, 2006 message called America "enemy soil." And in his new communiqué, the pudgy Al-Qaeda operative even praised Nidal Hasan, the Islamic jihadist who murdered thirteen people at Fort Hood in November 2009, as "the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," and as a "pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers."

Earlier videotapes show that mass murders on American military bases, such as the one eventually committed by Hasan, were long the stuff of Gadahn's dreams. In July 2006, while engaging in an extended exercise in grievance theatre over alleged murders of children by American troops in Iraq, he said: "It's hard to imagine that any compassionate person could see pictures, just pictures, of what the Crusaders did to those children, and not want to go on a shooting spree at the Marines' housing facilities at Camp Pendleton." He was anxious to demonstrate his own bloodlust, declaring: "We love nothing better than the heat of battle, the echo of explosions, and slitting the throats of the infidels."

And therein lies the core of the problem. Gadahn has become a traitor who plots violence against Americans because of his allegiance to Islam, and his concomitant belief that he has a responsibility before the supreme deity to kill Infidels whom he believes to be at war with Islam. Yet aside from vague and loophole-laden condemnations of terrorism, Muslim groups in America have done nothing to counter the appeal of jihad recruiters to young men like Gadahn. We know from the recent flow of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis back to their homeland to wage jihad that jihad recruitment is continuing on American soil; and the people who converted Adam Gadahn to Islam and convinced him that God was pleased when he murdered people are still active, still spreading Islam among unsuspecting and alienated young Americans.

Reports Sunday that Gadahn had been captured just as his videotape was released turned out to be false. In fact, another American convert to Islam who is active in Al-Qaeda was the one who was captured - which shows anew that officials have ignored the conversion of rootless young Americans and their recruitment for the jihad to our great detriment. Gadahn himself, in any case, is still at large -- and while American forces should continue to hunt for him in Pakistan and Afghanistan, law enforcement officials stateside should be on the lookout for an even greater threat emanating from those Muslims in this country who have taken his words, and the words of those who inspired and influenced him, to heart.

This was the case where officials were sent scrambling due to an assistant police commissioner being photographed with highly-classified documents visible. The new details illustrate what a close call this may have been, no thanks to said commissioner. "Al-Qaeda came within days of terror attack on Britain last year, court hears," by Duncan Gardham for the Telegraph, March 9 (thanks to all who sent this in):

An alleged al-Qaeda terrorist cell arrested in the North West was within days of launching an attack on Britain a senior officer in MI5 has told a tribunal.

The men, who were arrested in Manchester and Liverpool in April last year, were said to be in direct contact with al-Qaeda in Pakistan, using coded email messages that talked about cars and girls.

They were said to be "operating in a similar manner" to those planning the mass casualty attacks of July 7 2005 and the trans-Atlantic airline plot of 2006.

Sources at the time said the gang was targeting Easter shoppers but police found no sign of bomb-making equipment and they were never charged.

The operation had to be brought forward after Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, then Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officer, was photographed entering Downing Street with details of the operation visible.

The "Al-Qaeda Pipeline," still in action:

Four of the men, who had all arrived from Pakistan on student visas, are now appealing against a government decision to deport them on national security grounds. [...]

He said they were "planning a terrorist attack on the UK, directed and orchestrated by al-Qaeda and part of that direction was by coded email passages and the attack was most likely to take place between 15 and 20 April 2009 on which basis the arrests came days before the attacks were due to take place.

"There is a recognition that at the time of the arrests, the appellants on that day were not ready to launch an attack but that doesn't preclude doing it at the time they said.

"The service retains an open mind about what would happen between the 15th and 20th but our view remains that it was an attack on the UK. There is no other credible explanation."

Referring to the emails about girls, the officer added: "On the face of it without the surrounding context. these emails were designed to look like a conversation about girls but I do not assess these were young men talking about girls, I believe it was attack planning in some detail."

He said the men were acting in a similar way to those involved in the July 7 and airlines plots, adding: "They were all planning terrorist attacks in the UK under the direction of al-Qaeda, aiming for mass casualties....

Threat to the Islamic State

Incidents like these show the brittleness and weakness of the Islamic regime that so intimidates the Western world. Islamic Tolerance Alert from the Islamic Republic of Iran: "Isfahan: Protestant clergyman tortured for 'converting Muslims,'" from AsiaNews, March 10 (thank to C. Cantoni):

Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) - A protestant clergyman, Wilson Issavi, has been jailed for "converting Muslims". He has been tortured and threatened with execution. According to the Farsi Christian Network, Issavi's wife, Medline Nazanin, recently visited her husband in prison. She said that he was in poor health and that he bore visible signs of torture.

Rev Issavi (pictured), 65, was arrested on 2 February in Isfahan shortly after he finished a house meeting. He heads the Evangelical Church of Kermanshah in Isfahan, a 50-year-old church body affiliated with The Assemblies of God that caters to the local Assyrian population.

Iranian intelligence officials told his wife that he might be executed for his alleged activities....

According to Compass Direct News, a sweep against Protestant Christians is taking place across Isfahan. On 28 February, Isfahan residents Hamid Shafiee and his wife Reyhaneh Aghajary, both converts from Islam and house church leaders, were arrested at their home. Their fate and whereabouts are still unknown....

Official controls and police bans appear to be motivated by suspicions that Christians are involved in proselytising but also by fear that their meeting might hide activities by opponents of the clerical regime.

Colleen LaRose, also known as Fatima LaRose -- one of those Christian extremists again, no doubt. (Actually, she's a Misunderstander of Islam.) "Jihad Jane Indicted in Pennsylvania for Murder Plot (Update1)," by Sophia Pearson for Bloomberg, March 9 (thanks to David):

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- A Pennsylvania woman who used the alias Jihad Jane plotted to recruit jihadist fighters and conspired to commit murders overseas, according to an indictment unsealed in Philadelphia.

Colleen LaRose, also known as Fatima LaRose, of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, was charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, one count of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, one count of making false statements and one count of attempted identity theft, U.S. Attorney Michael Levy in Philadelphia said today in an e-mailed statement.

The case "demonstrates that terrorists are looking for Americans to join them in their cause, and it shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance," Levy said.

LaRose and five unindicted co-conspirators located in South Asia, eastern and western Europe and the U.S. allegedly recruited men and women on the Internet who had the ability to travel to and around Europe. LaRose and the co-conspirators allegedly discussed plans including martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists and avoiding travel restrictions to wage a "violent Jihad," according to the statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office....

Does Petraeus read Jihad Watch? It was I who many years ago dubbed Ahmadinejad the "Thug-In-Chief."

But of course he doesn't, or he wouldn't be pursuing the policies that he is pursuing.

"Iran officials lash out at 'thug' Petraeus," from AFP, March 9:

TEHRAN -- Top Iranian officials lashed out on Tuesday at US General David Petraeus for his comments asserting the Islamic republic is becoming a "thugocracy", saying such terms are only used by "thugs."

"The murderous government of the United States is a government of thugs which has killed thousands of Iraqis, Afghans and Palestinians," parliament speaker Ali Larijani said in the assembly.

"This exhausted general has insulted the Iranian government by calling it a government of thugocracy. It is understandable why you (Petraeus) utter such comments because the people of the region hate you," the official IRNA news agency quoted Larijani as saying.

Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said on Sunday that Iran is becoming a "thugocracy" given its attempts to suppress popular anger over last year's contested presidential vote results.

"I think you've heard it said by pundits that Iran has gone from being a theocracy to a thugocracy," Petraeus, whose command stretches from Egypt to Pakistan and includes Iran, said on CNN....

Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast too hit out at Petraeus.

"Such language is used by thugs... this attitude is of thugs," Mehmanparast said at his weekly press conference.

"We feel officials in the United States are furious. We don't know why they are furious... maybe due to their failure in launching a soft war (against Iran) or that the role of their intelligence services has been revealed in the case of (Abdolmalek) Rigi," he said.

Iran captured top Sunni militant Rigi last month and accused US, Britain and Israel of supporting him in carrying out attacks against the Islamic republic.

Will the West ever stand up for the freedom of speech? Or will it just roll over and play dead? "Seven held over 'cartoonist plot,'" from the UKPA, March 9 (thanks to Twostellas):

Seven Muslims have been arrested over an alleged plot to assassinate a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog, police said.

Al Qaida put a $100,000 bounty on the head of cartoonist Lars Vilks after a newspaper published his cartoon....

Typical projection, displacement of responsibility and Tu Quoque. "Nigeria: Don't Tag All Muslims As Terrorists - Sultan," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, March 10 (thanks to Twostellas):

Lagos -- The Sultan of Sokoto and President, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Alhaji Saad Abubakar has said it is not right to generalise the entire Muslims as terrorists whenever an individual among them does something wrong.

Sultan Abubakar, who spoke in Lagos at a fund raiser for the Najah Joint Muslim Organizations (NAJOMO) mosque at the weekend, said rather than accuse all Muslims of terrorism, the acts of the United States and its agents should as well be examined.

He alleged that violent acts being perpetrated all over the world were being carried out by non-Muslims, including American citizens and agents of the American government. According to him, many Christians and Jews perpetrate terror acts on a daily basis but they are not tagged terrorists by the US and the media.

"Our dear brother, the Baba Addini of Egba Land (Adegbite) was correct when he said Muslims are not terrorists and that Islam is a religion of peace. Let me add here that some people somewhere are known for their lies against Islam and Muslims. Violent acts are perpetrated all over the world by adherents of different faiths and not only Muslims commit them.

Let me say here that it is unfair to Muslims and Islam for the US government to rush, as it used to do, to tag Muslims as terrorists whenever they commit any violent act. It is sad that if an adherent of any other religion commit any terror act the US and the media would not call such a person a terrorist, the US and the media must change this.

"I make bold to say that if we should put all violent acts being perpetrated all over the world by Americans and the ones Muslims commit on a scale, we would surely see that those being committed by the US citizens outweigh those they claim Muslims committed. But as Muslims we should try to change this negative attitude they have towards us. We can change this by showing them the beauty of our religion", he said.

Hey, might as well start now!

Most Western analysts would regard this as good news: Muslims eschewing terrorism assimilating into a Western country, and even participating in the established political process! What could be the downside? Well, there are several. First, the fact that the new political party is specifically Muslim is a sign that those who formed it are not assimilating and adopting various views along the Western political spectrum, but are merely furthering the cause of Islam as a political entity in Spain. For what could a Muslim political party possibly stand for except for Sharia values? Second, although the focus in officialdom in the U.S. and Europe is wholly and solely on "terrorism," actually the real threat is the attempt to impose Sharia in the West, whether by violent or peaceful means. The establishment of this political party is just an exercise in the peaceful, rather than violent, spread of Sharia norms in the West.

"New Muslim political party launched in Spain," from Typically Spanish, March 6 (thanks to Twostellas):

The first national political party to have a Muslim character has been launched in Granada. The Partido Renacimeinto y Unión España or PRUNE party of Spain, says it is open to all the world.

Based on Islam, and founded by the writer, poet and journalist, Mostafa Bakkach El Aamrani, it says it intends to contest the municipal elections next year in Málaga, Madrid, Barcelona, Murcia, Valencia, Oviedo and Toledo on a manifesto of 'justice, equality and solidarity'....

Democracy? Yes, because then the Tiny Minority of Extremists in Pakistan, who actually form the overwhelming majority, will vote in a full Sharia government. "'Democracy, jihad, nukes vital,'" by Rana Latif, Jawad R. Awan, Jam Sajjad Hussain, and Khalid Malik in The Nation (Pakistan), March 8 (thanks to Twostellas):

LAHORE - Speakers at a special ceremony held in memory of late Hameed Nizami at Alhamra on Sunday were of the opinion that an independent, Islamic, democratic and welfare state was the cherished goal of the people of Pakistan and this objective was supreme in the eyes of the founders of Pakistan which needed to be emulated by us. Any deviation from this path and the Pakistan ideology would leave the country in chaos.

"However, to achieve these objectives, we have to break the shackles of the US domination and replace the colonial system of education with a uniform education system of our own. Also it is imperative to uphold democracy, spirit of jihad and nuclear capability to maintain political and economic freedom for the well-being of the people," they observed....

Qazi Hussain Ahmad said the worst democracy was better than the good dictatorship and this slogan was carried on the title of Nawa-i-Waqt edited by Hameed Nizami and now by Majid Nizami. This means to propound that the government should function according to the wishes of the people and that wishes were to make Quran and Sunnah supreme and ensure its enforcement in the country. A worst democracy cannot easily ignore the sentiments of the people, he added....

"The majority of Copts believe the reason for the acquittal of Muslims is that although Egypt claims to be a secular state, in reality it applies the Sharia law which dictates that a Muslim who kills a non-Muslim must not be killed, because it is not reasonable to equate a Muslim with a 'polytheist' (a Christian)."

Indeed. "The indemnity for the death or injury of a woman is one-half the indemnity paid for a man. The indemnity paid for a Jew or Christian is one-third of the indemnity paid for a Muslim. The indemnity paid of a Zoroastrian is one-fifteenth of that a Muslim." -- 'Umdat al-Salik, o4.9

"Egyptian Court Acquits Muslims Who Beheaded a Christian," by Dan Wooding for ASSIST News Service, March 8 (thanks to all who sent this in):

ASSUIT, EGYPT (ANS) -- An Egyptian court in the southern city of Assuit has acquitted four Muslims accused of killing 61-year-old Farouk Attallah on October 19, 2009.

This has been reported by Mary Abdelmassih in a story for the Assyrian International News Agency who said, "In broad daylight and in full view of witnesses, the killers fired 31 bullets to his head before beheading him, in the busy village market place of Attaleen, near Dairout, 313 kilometers south of Cairo," said, The dead body was then dragged in the street, accompanied by shouts of victory.

"The judge presiding over the court on February 22, said that he was not satisfied that the testimony of the witnesses established that the imprisoned men were the killers. After the acquittal of Mohamad, Ashraf, Osama and Ahmad Hassouna, there was jubilation in the court room, with shouts of 'Allah is Great' and congratulations from all Muslims, including members of the state security forces who were present."

She said that Christians were enraged over the acquittal, since similar cases would result in life imprisonment or execution for a Copt if the victim was a Muslim and came as another wake-up call to many Copts in Egypt.

According to Peter Sarwar, the plaintiff's attorney who told Mariam Ragy of Katiba Tibia Coptic site, "It sends a clear message that Coptic blood is extremely cheap. This acquittal will make permanent the present culture of impunity enjoyed by Muslim aggressors against Copts."

Sarwat said the ruling was inadequate, as it acquitted the accused but did not say who the perpetrators are. "If these men did not kill, so who killed? The ruling should have referred the case to the general prosecution to present the perpetrators."

Abdelmassih said that the Court based its ruling on quasi non existent proof, as well as the absence of "positive evidence" testimony versus the presence of "negative evidence" testimony.

"The judge refused to take into consideration the testimonies of the dead man's daughter who said she only saw one killer and not four, as well as the testimony of the Muslim man who was wounded in the shootings," said Sarwat.

According to media reports, most people who witnessed the shootings in the market place refused to come forward for fear of vengeance from the assailants' family. There were false witnesses who confirmed that the killers were present at work.

"It is not enough to get a conviction based only on police reports which are full of legal loopholes and weak prosecution investigations," said Sarwat. Legal observers have always claimed that the police purposely deliver to prosecution reports full of inadequacies and loopholes, thereby getting from the courts acquittals for Muslims.

What prompted the killing of Farouk Attallah was an alleged illicit sexual relationship between his son Romany and a local Muslim girl, Hagger Hassouna. A rumor that intimate photos of Hagger together with her lover Romany were circulating on cell phones in Dairout lead four members of the Hassona family to kill Romany's father, after failing to locate his son, who had fled.

Abdelmassih stated that besides the killing of Farouk Attallah, the arrest of the Hassouna perpetrators sparked on October 24, 2009, Muslim riots and collective punishment against all Copts in Dairout. Christian-owned shops, pharmacies, and homes were looted and burned.

"Although several hundreds Muslims participated in those riots, the police only detained 19, and these were acquitted on December 13, 2009 because of the lack of eyewitnesses and conflicting statements between the accused and the victims," she said.

"The majority of Copts believe the reason for the acquittal of Muslims is that although Egypt claims to be a secular state, in reality it applies the Sharia law which dictates that a Muslim who kills a non-Muslim must not be killed, because it is not reasonable to equate a Muslim with a 'polytheist' (a Christian)."

Commenting on the acquittal, Dr. Naguib Gobraeel, President of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights, asked: "What is the solution? The same happened with regards to Al-Kosheh Massacre [21 Copts were slaughtered in 2000 and not one Muslim was indicted], the attack on the Copts in Alexandria were blamed on a mentally unstable person; even the assailant who beheaded Abdo Goerge Younan in Menoufiah is now in a mental hospital. Heavenly Justice is our last resourt." He stated that he will appeal this week's verdict.

The victim's family was greatly shocked and saddened by the acquittal. "In spite of the blood of their slain family head filling the street, the Muslim killers got away literally with murder," Sarwat said "It just shows how cheap Coptic blood can be."...

But of course, we all have to recognize the existence of the impenetrable firewall between "moderates" and "radicals," on pain of being charged with "Islamophobia."

"Blackburn terror suspect was to teach in mosque," by Neil Docking for the Lancashire Telegraph, March 6 (thanks to Twostellas):

THE leader of a Muslim community has told how he invited a suspected terrorist from Blackburn to his country to teach at his new mosque.

Businessman Altaf Rajah told Manchester Crown Court that he asked Abbas Iqbal, 24, of Percival Street, Blackburn, to join his 200-strong organisation in Northern Europe.

Iqbal was arrested at Manchester Airport last summer when he and another alleged extremist were found carrying 'terrorism-related material'.

Mr Rajah, who owns a petrol station and restaurant and imports oil from England, said he needed the duo to help at his Islamic centre.

He told the court through an interpreter that he was looking for somebody who spoke Urdu and Punjabi....

Yeah, sure, and there was absolutely no other Muslim around who could do that.

As the caliph Umar is supposed to have said when ordering the library of Alexandria to be burned: "If the books agree with the Qur'an, they are superfluous. If they disagree with it, they are heretical."

Sharia Alert from the Horn of Africa: "Somali Islamist rebels ban English, science lessons," by Sahra Abdi for Reuters, March 5 (thanks to Twostellas):

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline Islamists have banned English and science studies in schools in the southern Afmadow town after the education centers there ignored the rebels' call for fighters, residents and teachers say.

World

Residents of the town near the border with Kenya said three schools had been given one month to comply with the order by al Shabaab rebels and switch the curriculum to accommodate Arabic and Islamic studies.

"They asked us to contribute students to their militia so that they can fight for them, but we rejected their proposal," said one teacher who wanted to remain anonymous.

Al Shabaab, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, wants to topple Somalia's U.N.-backed government and impose its own strict version of sharia, Islamic law.

The heavily armed group controls much of the south and parts of the capital Mogadishu, and courts run by its clerics have ordered executions, floggings and amputations.

It has also banned movies, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or watching soccer in the areas under its control.

Elders said the al Shabaab militia shut down Waamo, Dhoobaale and Osman Mohamud schools briefly Sunday, before slapping the ban on English, which they called a "spy language."

"The Islamic administration closed education centers and ordered them to stop teaching English which they said is a western language," Ali Mowlid Mohamud, clan elder in Afmadow, told Reuters by phone.

"They told schools, 'We know everyone who is going to be a spy for western governments learns this language.'"...

Actually it was a jihad/martyrdom attack perpetrated by Sunnis. Will the Islamophobia never end? "Shia Muslims targeted in Pakistan's suicide attack: police," from Xinhua, March 5 (thanks to Twostellas):

A suicide bomber on foot killed at least five people, including three women, in Pakistan's northwest, a senior police officer said Friday.

The bomber exploded his bomb near a convoy of buses, carrying Shia Muslims, in Hangu district, destroying three vehicles, police officer Islam-ud-Din said.

Commissioner Khalid Khan earlier said that ten people were killed in the attack....

Police described the attack as sectarian as Shia Muslims were targeted. Hangu district has seen a series of sectarian attacks in the past but the area had been calm in recent months....

Jews...controlling my...thoughts...must...resist...

"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews..." (Qur'an 5:82). And in their wicked enmity they even constructed those gas chambers and ovens, just to victimize the Islamic world. Those crafty Zionists!

Conspiracy Paranoia Alert: "Jordanian newspaper: 'The Holocaust is a Jewish Myth, Legend, and Lie,'" from Translating Jihad, March 9:

The Holocaust in Our Curriculum
Dr. Salah al-Khalidi
as-Sabeel, 26 Feb 2010

The Jews are experts at exercising power over others by invading their thought, culture, and education, and controlling their views and thoughts. Thus the Jews convert others into their supporters by subjecting them to their lies. They succeed greatly in this Satanic mission because of the ignorance of the Gentiles and the ability of the Jews to plant their agents of thought, culture, media, politics, government, finance, and art, and convert them into soldiers. These soldiers then undertake to "normalize" every Gentile and make them slaves, followers of the Jews. Everyone who takes an honest look at the conditions of the modern world and the Jews' dealings in it realizes this truth. Among the clearest examples of this is the Holocaust.

The Jews succeeded in converted the The Holocaust, a malignant term, into dogma. Every man throughout all the world must have faith in and profess this creed, for woe unto he who denies or doubts it.

The meaning of this Jewish creed is thus: the Jews were slaughtered in Nazi prisons in the days of the second world war, in which they claimed that Hitler and his regime executed and burned more than 5 million Jews in gas ovens in Germany and elsewhere!! The Jews blackmailed Germany, calling for her to pay financially for the crimes of the Nazis and recompense the Jews for the sacrifices of the Holocaust. They took billions upon billions from Germany and the rest of Europe, and still continue to blackmail and milk the Europeans!!

If any Western thinkers attempt to doubt the numbers of Jews killed in the Holocaust, they are branded anti-semites who must be tried, convicted, and punished, as happened with Jarudi.

The Jewish devils direct UNESCO, the international cultural organization under the umbrella of the United Nations, exploiting the stupid Gentiles and using them to issue international resolutions which require every nation in the world, including those in our Arab and Islamic world, to consider the Holocaust a worldwide tragedy....

Read it all.

Isn't it amusing how the press will cover a story, and so often, when it comes to anything having to do with "Islam, Responses To," fail to grasp the most important thing. The papers have been full, the last weeks, of various stories. In Afghanistan, it has been about the war in Marja, the war being conducted by the Marines with almost no useful help from the "Afghan Army" that everyone was so counting on, the Afghan Army that, just like the Iraqi Army, has had American training and money and weapons lavished upon it, and high hopes placed in it. But as one Marine said, at least the Afghans, disappointing as their performance has been, are not as utterly hopeless "as the Iraqis."

In Pakistan, we have learned that Ms. Siddiqui, the aider and abettor of Muslim terrorists who was tried and sentenced by the Americans, has become a national heroine, a cause celebre, the person everyone -- everyone -- supports against the perfidious Infidels, the Americans, the same perfidious Infidels who have spent tens of billions, perhaps hundreds of billions, on Pakistan, in both economic and military aid, over the past fifty years, while Pakistani generals have smiled, and flicked their imaginary fly-whisks, and put on a great show of Sandhurst-educated rectitude and straight-talking, even as they assured, one after the other, generations of American generals as to the true-blue steadfastness of that "staunch ally" of America, Pakistan.

And along the edges of the Marja offensive in Afghanistan, and stories about what is going on with the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan, comes another story, from seemingly far-off, quaint old teeny-tiny Europe. Europe! Where is it, anyway, this Europe we used to hear so much about? And why should it matter? I mean, who cares, anyway? What matters is that we are making things better, with our Army Of Social Workers, for all the people in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and maybe Yemen too, and just possibly add Somalia to that lucky list, and who knows where else in the Muslim lands whose peoples have become so very near, and so very dear, to us, ever since 9/11/2001, and their well-being so very important to us (far more important than the well-being of impoverished Christians in sub-Saharan Africa, or South America, who get none of our largesse and concern and support).

And why is their well-being so important to us? Well, if Iraqis aren't happy, and Afghans aren't happy, and Pakistanis aren't happy, and Yemenis aren't happy, and Somalis aren't happy, then maybe some of those unhappy Iraqis and Afghans and Pakistanis and Yemenis and Somalis will turn to Al Qaeda, or some such, and then where will we be? So we've got to keep the wars-as-social-work going, we've got to make sure that while fighting these wars we don't do anything to antagonize any of the Muslim locals, don't fight the way we fought in World War II, for example, where the Europeans we were liberating, or the Filipinos for that matter, from the Nazi or Japanese yoke understood that war necessarily entailed civilian casualties, but did not turn on us or become our enemies. When the RAF bombed Copenhagen in 1944, and instead of hitting Gestapo headquarters hit a children's hospital, killing 88 children and four nuns, what did the Danish Resistance do? Did it denounce the RAF, and tell it to change its ways, and never to use bombs (as the Americans are hardly using planes and airpower in Afghanistan) because it might cause "civilian deaths that are always unacceptable"? No, of course not. The Danes said: "We know you are sorry, but keep on coming. Don't stop, keep it up."

So now standing up for the rights of women and non-Muslims, the freedom of speech (yes -- here is a post on those who claim that he opposes it), and the freedom of conscience is fascist.

But Jacqui Smith and the other British dhimmi officials who barred Wilders from the U.K. last year (a ban that was later reversed after it had been showered with derision) -- thugs who would silence and crush dissent -- they're apparently the leading lights of free thought and free action.

What on earth has gotten into Beck? Is he getting his talking points from Ibrahim Hooper? As Pamela Geller says, "Why would he stigmatize Wilders this way? Wilders is the embodiment of what our founding fathers extolled. Individual rights. Freedom of speech. Not sharia law." There is much more over at Atlas Shrugs -- read it all.

Beck should have more sense.

Story here (thanks to Joseph).

Surely by tomorrow morning Honest Ibe Hooper of CAIR will pulled himself away from his bees long enough to draft an unequivocal condemnation of Husam Zakharia of the Students for Justice in Palestine. Right? Right, Ibe?

"Eye-witnesses say the Hausa-Fulani Muslim militants came chanting 'allahu akbar' and broke into homes, cutting human beings, including children and women, with their knives and cutlasses."

"Nigerian massacre toll hits 500," from SAPA, March 8 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Lagos - At least 500 people were killed on Sunday in communal clashes near Nigeria's central city of Jos, a state governor's advisor said on Monday, revising a previous toll of around 100 dead.

"We have been able to make 95 arrests but at the same time over 500 people have been killed in this heinous act... by Fulani herdsmen," Dan Manjang said in a telephone interview.

The Nigerian army was on alert on Monday after Muslim herdsmen raided a Christian village near the restive city of Jos, hacking to death over 200 people.

Witnesses in the village of Dogo Nahawa told Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper that Hausa-Fulani tribesmen descended from the hills, firing shots in the air. When people ran out of their homes, they were set upon with machetes or shot.

Outbreaks of violence are common in Plateau State, where the indigenous Christians have long struggled with immigrant Muslims over resources. Over 300 hundred died in January, when rival gangs of youths clashed in Jos.

Act of jihad

A local Christian group said on Sunday the latest violence was an act of jihad.

"The attack, yet another jihad and provocation of the Christians, started at about 1.30 am last night," Plateau State Christian Elders Consultative Forum said in a statement.

"Eye-witnesses say the Hausa-Fulani Muslim militants came chanting 'allahu akbar' and broke into homes, cutting human beings, including children and women, with their knives and cutlasses," the statement added....

In light of the UAE's adoption of Nazi-style policies regarding Jews (something about which CAIR has so far been silent), and CAIR's action alert defaming Jihad Watch today, I thought you might be interested in this exchange I had with CAIR's gentle beekeeper, the notorious Ibrahim "Honest Ibe" Hooper:

1. "Honest Ibe" Hooper to Robert Spencer:

Peace

Do you repudiate this hate-filled statement by "Hugh Fitzgerald"?

"When I see thousands of people in a mosque, I am put in mind not of a gathering at St. Peter's, but rather, of a Nuremberg Rally, a horizontal collective affair, rather than vertical, with the prostration itself performing, or signifying, blind obedience of the kind that, at the real Nuremberg, is signified by the heil-hitlering salute of thousands, yelling in unison, and saluting, and re-saluting."

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/03/las-vegas-muslim-men-complain-about-being-questioned-after-praying-in-a-parking-lot.html#comment-648209

Do you also repudiate the many, many hate-filled reactions prompted by your postings?

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/03/las-vegas-muslim-men-complain-about-being-questioned-after-praying-in-a-parking-lot.html#comment-648164

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/03/las-vegas-muslim-men-complain-about-being-questioned-after-praying-in-a-parking-lot.html#comment-648189

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/03/las-vegas-muslim-men-complain-about-being-questioned-after-praying-in-a-parking-lot.html#comment-648167

2. Robert Spencer to "Honest Ibe" Hooper:

Dear Mr. Hooper:

Thanks for your kind note. At Jihad Watch we support the principle of free speech. Anyone is free to comment, and many Muslims frequently comment here. I invite you to add your comments to the thread objecting to the comments you find offensive or "hate-filled." Registration is an easy process -- let me know if you have any trouble with it and we should be able to iron out any bugs.

In any case, if you are asking if I hold to the views expressed, please note that comments are unmoderated and do not necessarily reflect my views. To determine whether or not a particular comment coincides with my views, please consult my published writings.

Now, since I've answered your questions, I hope you will be so kind as to answer mine.

Do you repudiate this hate-filled statement by Omar Ahmad, praising suicide bombers?

"Fighting for freedom, fighting for Islam, that is not suicide," ... "They kill themselves for Islam."

Do you also repudiate the many, many hate-filled statements by your colleagues?

"I am in support of the Hamas movement." -- Nihad Awad

"Catholic priests pose more of a terrorism threat by having sex with young altar boys than those who flew planes into the World Trade Center." -- Ahmed Bedier, former CAIR-FL

Also, do you condemn and repudiate Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups?

I got no satisfactory answer -- instead, Hooper wrote in today's CAIR Action Alert: "The active promotion of hate-filled Islamophobic rhetoric, particularly on the Internet, creates an atmosphere in which a tiny minority of bigoted individuals view the relative silence on this issue as tacit support for their intolerant actions."

True indeed. Will Hooper then repudiate the tiny minority of bigoted individuals with whom he works at CAIR? Will CAIR denounce the UAE? I wouldn't be holding my breath if I were you.

Expect CAIR's Honest Ibe Hooper to be on the first plane to Dubai, ready to scold Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan al-Tamim for equating Muslims with Nazis. Isn't that right, Ibe?

"United Arab Emirates to Follow Third Reich Policies against Jews," from Pravda, March 4 (thanks to Pamela):

The authorities of the United Arab Emirates made an unusual decision. Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan al-Tamim said on March 1 that anyone who looks or sounds like a citizen of Israel will be blocked from entering the country, even if a suspected individual produces a passport of a different state.

"It is easy for us to identify [Israelis], through their face or when they speak any other language. We used to respect them when they would come holding European passports; we regarded them as Europeans and never treated them badly. But from now on, anyone we suspect to have a dual citizenship, they will be treated with great suspicion," the police chief said.

The decision is directly linked with the assassination of a high-ranking official of Palestine's Hamas movement in one of Dubai hotels on February 20. UAE officials believe that Mahmud al-Mabhuh, one of the founders of the military wing of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, was killed by Israel's Mossad. The secret agents most likely used passports of other countries to commit the crime.

It is not quite clear, though, how Arab officials are going to identify Israelis. They would obviously have no difficulty in identifying Orthodox bearded hasids for their side-locks, hats and glasses. It looks like a joke though: "Wearing a hat and a pair of glasses makes you a Jew."

Such people would never think of traveling to Emirates. Will Emirates liken itself to the Third Reich and use rulers and protractors to measure the shape of the nose, earlaps and the skull structure? If it does, the UAE will lose all of its friends in the West....

Oh, probably not.

These men were not arrested or cited. They were questioned. I also have been questioned about my activities and allegiances after people have seen me in airports working on a website that prominently mentions "jihad." When CAIR and these Muslim men try to make a big deal of this, the underlying agenda is clear: they are trying to inhibit law enforcement personnel. They're trying to make sure that police and other investigators will be too intimidated and hamstrung by PC sensibilities to question young Muslim men about their actions, no matter where, no matter how suspicious.

Remember also that CAIR was involved in the attempt by six imams who were taken off an airplane after other passengers complained about their behavior to sue those passengers. If they had succeeded, people would have been afraid to report suspicious behavior by Muslims, for fear of getting sued. This is of a piece with that.

"Muslim Men Claim Henderson Police Detained Them for Praying," from LasVegasNow, March 5 (thanks to herr Oyal):

LAS VEGAS - Henderson Police are investigating some of their own officers regarding a complaint filed by a group of Muslim men who stopped to pray in a parking lot.

The incident happened in December. The Muslim men were passing through Las Vegas on a road trip. They stopped at a convenience store parking lot in Henderson to perform their sunset prayer. According to documents obtained by 8 News NOW, a concerned citizen called the police, saying seven Middle Eastern males were acting suspiciously by a gray minivan with California license plates. The caller reported several of the men were kissing the ground.

Read the Incident Report

Minutes later, Henderson Police officers arrived on the scene. One of the Muslim men recorded the incident with his cell phone.

Watch Cell Phone Video from the Incident

"We don't (have) you at gunpoint," one of the officers said. "We're not going to throw you down on the ground or handcuff you right now. We just want to make sure that you guys are good people."

"We are praying," one of the men replied. "You know, this is a Muslim prayer. Is that enough for you to say that this is suspicious activity?"

"Well, that's why I'm checking it out," the officer replied.

"Do you think it is," the Muslim man asked.

"I think there's somebody out there that called us and said, 'Hey check this out,'" the officer said. "Did I see you guys praying? No. Do I know what you were saying? I don't know if you guys repeat the same thing, or if you're actually over there saying, 'I hope that I kill a police officer today.' I don't know that you're not saying that."

After almost 45 minutes, the Muslim men were on their way. They were not arrested or cited. They are now vowing to fight what they consider an unlawful stop.

Cue the obligatory mainstream media CAIR reference with no hint that CAIR is an unsavory Hamas-linked group that has opposed every anti-jihad effort ever devised by man:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has filed a formal complaint with the Henderson Police Department.

Read the Letter from CAIR to Henderson Police

"What the men really want to see is change within the police department and (a change in) law enforcement attitude toward people engaged in religious activity," CAIR Los Angeles Chapter staff attorney Ameena Qazi said. The Muslim travelers also want compensation for damages and emotional distress....

But of course, to oppose the global jihad and Islamic supremacism is racism. "Attack on Nigerian town kills more than 200," from CNN, March 8 (thanks to Bill):

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- The death toll from weekend violence in central Nigeria climbed to more than 200 Monday after members of a machete-wielding Muslim group attacked mostly Christian villages, officials said.

More than 200 were dead and 32 injured, according to Choji Gyang, a religious affairs adviser to the head of Plateau state, who said bodies were still being recovered. Sani Shehu, president of the non-governmental agency Civil Rights Congress, put the number of dead at about 485 people.

Twenty-six arrests had been made in connection with the violence, Gyang said.

Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan put security on high alert Sunday and began operations to capture the "roving bands of killers" who attacked the town of Dogo Nahauwa, just south of Jos.

The townsfolk are predominantly Berom, an ethnic group that mostly practices Christianity, said Manase Pampe, Red Cross spokesman for its Plateau state office. Reports of the attack described the assailants as members of the Muslim Hausa-Fulani ethnic group, Pampe and government spokesman Gregory Yenlong said.

The attackers stormed the town at 3 a.m. Sunday (9 p.m. Saturday ET) and remained there for 2.5 hours, Pampe said. Buildings were set afire and people were attacked with machetes, Yenlong said....

In FrontPage today I write about a couple of things Adam taught us:

The first American to be charged with treason since World War II was back in the news Sunday, both for a new videotape he released and for reports of his capture that turned out to be false. In the videotape, al-Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn, an American convert to Islam, praised the Fort Hood jihad murderer and called upon Muslims to carry out jihad attacks in the United States. The reports that Gadahn had been captured caused widespread excitement until the arrestee turned out to be a different American convert to Islam, Abu Yahya Mujahdeen Al-Adam, who like Gadahn is an al-Qaeda leader. The videotape and the arrest of the other American-born Muslim demonstrate yet again the cognitive dissonance that prevails at the highest levels regarding the nature of the jihad threat.

In the videotape, Gadahn called Nidal Hasan, who murdered thirteen people in the name of jihad and Islam at Fort Hood in November 2009, "Brother Nidal" and held him up as "the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes." And not just military personnel: Gadahn added that "Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers."

Gadahn advised his fellow jihad warriors: "You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage." He implored jihadis to think out of the box: "As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon."...

Read it all.

Zachariah Matthews argues that "'Sharia law could function as a parallel system in the same way that some traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law was recognised in the Northern Territory." But there's a crucial difference: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander laws are not part of a totalitarian, supremacist system that doesn't lend itself to compartmentalization, revision, and reform. As such, the introduction of any Sharia starts down a slippery slope leading to more Sharia.

Given Sharia's inherent flaws regarding human rights, gender equality, and equality before the law, implementing it in any form would defeat the purpose of equal protection under one body of laws for all Australians. It would also open the door to coercion to "opt out" of the Australian system in favor of Sharia, stacking the deck against women and children who may be attempting to flee from abuse.

"Muslim leader wants elements of sharia in Australia," by Paul Bibby for the Sydney Morning Herald, March 8 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Elements of Islamic law - the sharia - should be legally recognised in Australia so that Muslims can live according their faith, a prominent Muslim leader says.

Addressing an open day at Lakemba Mosque on Saturday, the president of the Australian Islamic Mission, Zachariah Matthews, said parts of sharia could be recognised as a secondary legal system so that Muslims were not forced to act contrary to their beliefs. ''Sharia law could function as a parallel system in the same way that some traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law was recognised in the Northern Territory,'' Dr Matthews told the Herald after the session.

''I don't think we are so unsophisticated that we cannot consider a multilayered legal system as long as it doesn't conflict with the existing civil system.''

The comments shocked some attending the open day. They felt Dr Matthews was advocating the introduction of the penal system under which women have been stoned to death for adultery, and corporal punishment is meted out for some offences.

''It came as quite a shock to some non-Muslims in the crowd when sharia law and the idea of a parallel legal system was mentioned,'' one audience member, Jasmine Donnelly, said.

''One group of people just left straight after that.''

But Dr Matthews said he was referring only to certain elements of family law and inheritance law and was not advocating the sharia penal system.

''I wasn't talking about sharia law in its entirety - we are not calling for the introduction of the penal system which calls for cutting off hands,'' he said.

At least he acknowledges that much. Nevertheless, "just a little peril," in the words of Michael Palin's Sir Galahad, should not be an option. Indeed, even his own example is problematic:

Dr Matthews said a clash occurred in some custody matters. ''Under sharia law, if a couple divorce and the mother remarries, her former husband has the right to decide whether the children will live with the new husband or not,'' Dr Matthews said.

''There is still a preference for the child to go with the mother, but the father has the ultimate decision.

''This does not exist in Australian law but I do not believe it clashes fundamentally with Australian values or the Australian legal system.''

Sure it does. The divorced father is not an impartial arbiter. For that matter, custody decisions in the West consider the best interests of the children, not the self-interest of the father.

"In one call, they warned they would dig up parents' graves and bury her there instead."

"Brit-Muslim leader forced to dress conservatively after receiving threatening calls," from Asian News International, March 7 (thanks to Watling):

London, Mar. 7 (ANI): A progressive Brit-Muslim woman councillor was forced to dress more conservatively after receiving death threats and sexually harassing phone calls.

Shiria Khatun, 38, told the police that callers threatened to kill her and her four young children.

In one call, they warned they would dig up parents' graves and bury her there instead.

The Labour councillor in the controversial borough of Tower Hamlets is considered one of the area's most progressive politicians.

She was elected in 2006, worked for Ken Livingstone as a transport adviser at London's City Hall and frequently campaigns for more Muslim women to enter politics.

However, over the past year she has been the victim of a "sick" harassment campaign.

At first she was "too embarrassed" to call the police, but when the threats, mostly made in the Bangladeshi dialect Sylheti, targeted her family she decided to act.

"As a councillor I'm meant to be a strong woman and I didn't want to show that I was bothered, but it's gone too far," the Daily Express quoted her, as saying.

"They're really disgusting. They would talk about my Western clothes, my tight jeans and my body parts," she added.

Read the book, Adam

It looks as if the Revolting Geek is still on the path of jihad. Instead, the one arrested was another Revolting Geek, yet another American convert to and Misunderstander of Islam. "U.S.-Born al Qaeda Arrest News Incorrect," from CBSNews, March 7 (thanks to Pamela):

An "important Taliban militant" was arrested today in Pakistan. But that is where the confusion started.

Earlier it was reported by Pakistani media that intelligence agents had arrested Adam Gadahn, the American-born spokesman for al Qaeda, in an operation in the southern city of Karachi.

It was further reported by the Associated Press and Reuters that Gadahn had been arrested, sourcing security officials.

CBS News was told by sources in the Pakistan government that it was Gadahn, even after U.S. officials refused to confirm it was the California native for whom a $1 million reward has been posted.

Now, CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad writes that earlier reports the detained individual was Gadahn proved false. According to a Pakistan security official who spoke with CBS News on condition of anonymity, the arrested individual is in fact "a Taliban militant leader who is known as Abu Yahya."

The official said evidence compiled from an interrogation of the suspect and information exchanged with U.S. officials verified the man's identify.

The reassessment only added to the confusion surrounding the arrest of a man earlier described by other unnamed Pakistani security officials as Gadahn.

"In the light of our latest information, I can say, this is not looking like Gadahn. But it is still the arrest of an important Taliban militant," said the Pakistani security official who spoke to CBS News late Sunday.

The New York Times, sourcing American and Pakistani officials, reports that the man arrested was Abu Yahya Mujahdeen Al-Adam, and describes him as an al Qaeda commander who was born in Pennsylvania....

Revolting geek of mass proportions

Speak of the devil: just as he releases a new video calling on Muslims to wage jihad warfare against the U.S., the self-described "revolting geek of mass proportions" (no, not Allahpundit) appears to be caught. I look forward to his treason trial, and hope to get a chance to meet him face-to-face (especially since Adam is a faithful Jihad Watch reader who once described me in an Al-Qaeda videotape as a "Zionist Crusader, missionary of hate, counter-Islam consultant").

One must wonder if the arrest, if true, will shake this convert's faith. After all, in the Qur'an the schema is very simple: if you obey Allah, you will have earthly success. If you disobey Allah, you will not. So how could a pious mujahid like Adam suffer such a reversal?

"Sources: U.S.-born Al-Qaida spokesman caught," from MSNBC, March 7 (thanks to all who sent this in):

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Adam Yahiye Gadahn, a California-born spokesman for al-Qaida, has been captured in Pakistan, government sources said Sunday.

The word came from sources cited by The Associated Press and Pakistani news Web sites.

An intelligence source confirmed the reports to NBC News, and photographs supplied to NBC of the detained suspect corroborated the accounts.

Gadahn was detained in Sohrab Goth, a suburb of Karachi, and was later moved to the capital Islamabad, the source added.

Gadahn, 31, grew up on a goat farm in Riverside County, Calif., and converted to Islam at a mosque in nearby Orange County.

Gadahn has been wanted by the FBI since 2004 and two years later was charged with treason. There is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction....

Bravo and thanks to all involved in this arrest.

Adam Gadahn, the convert to and Misunderstander of Islam who has risen high in Al-Qaeda and is the first American to be charged with treason since World War II, and who called me in an earlier videotape a "Zionist Crusader, missionary of hate, counter-Islam consultant" (yes, I've got to get cards printed), now calls on Muslims to attack the U.S. and praises the Fort Hood jihadist.

Here again we have the same old cognitive dissonance. American Muslim and non-Muslim spokesmen insist that the jihadis have nothing to do with Islam and misuse it. The jihadis, on the other hand, constantly invoke Islam to explain and justify what they do, and claim the mantle of true and pure Islam. One of them is wrong, one of them is lying. One would think that the U.S. government would be interested in this question, since it has important policy implications. But it isn't. Official Washington has made a dogmatic decision, and clings to it with all the fervor that Gadahn himself brings to his commitment to Islam.

"Al-Qaida calls on US Muslims to attack America," by Patrick Quinn for Associated Press, March 7 (thanks to all who sent this in):

CAIRO - Al-Qaida's American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.

In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving Western militaries.

"Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," he said.

Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, was dressed in white robes and wearing a white turban as he called for attacks on what he described as "high-value targets."

"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage," he said, an assault rifle leaning up against a wall next to him.

Hasan has been charged in the Nov. 5 shooting that killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist remains paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by two civilian members of Fort Hood's police force.

"Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers," Gadahn said....

In the latest video, Gadahn said those planning attacks did not need to use only firearms like Hasan, but could use other weapons. "As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon."

Gadahn said fighters should target mass transportation systems in the West and also wreak havoc "by killing or capturing people in government, industry and the media."

He recommended finding ways to shake "consumer confidence and stifle spending" and noted that even unsuccessful attacks, such as the failed attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas day, can bring major cities to a halt.

"I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam," Gadahn said.