Yesterday on a Florida radio show the host asked me why, if Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens really has terrorist ties, has the UK not prosecuted him. Excellent question. We have seen dhimmitude from Jack Straw before, but still, this incident shows the need for Homeland Security to make public at least some of its information about this man: it is important for the public to be able to have confidence in its decisions. From AFP, with thanks to Kevin:
BRITISH Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has complained to his American counterpart Colin Powell about the deportation from the US of former pop star Cat Stevens as a possible terrorist risk. Mr Straw, in New York for United Nations meetings, had spoken to the US Secretary of State about the imminent removal of the British musician, his spokesman said."He heard the reports of the incident involving Cat Stevens," the spokesman said. "He did say to the Secretary of State that this action should not have been taken."
Stevens, who sold many millions of records before abandoning his pop career when he became a Muslim in the late 1970s, changing his name to Yusuf Islam.
He was due to be sent back to Britain later today.
Yesterday, a United Airlines flight from London to Washington was diverted to Bangor, Maine, after US authorities discovered that Islam was aboard.
His name appeared on several terrorism "watch lists" and he was rejected entry by US authorities.
"Why is he on the watch lists? Because of his activities that could be potentially linked to terrorism," US Homeland Security spokesman Brian Doyle said yesterday.
"The intelligence community has come into possession of additional information that further raises our concern."
Mr Islam was denied entry to Israel in 2000 over suspicions that he had given money to the radical Palestinian group Hamas. The singer has consistently denied supporting terrorism.
But unnamed British officials claim there is no evidence known to the country's intelligence services that the former singer posed any danger.
The decision was also slammed as divisive by Islamic groups in Britain.
Mr Islam, who has been a vocal campaigner for the establishment of faith-based Muslim schools in Britain, was "a very moderate man", the Muslim Council of Britain's deputy general secretary, Mohammad Abdul Bari, said.
"We are really appalled at what is happening," said Bari, who later held talks on the issue with junior foreign office minister Douglas Alexander.
"It is a slap in the face of sanity. If prominent, well-known personalities are treated like this, then how can there be bridge building?"
Just because the UK hasn't charged him with a crime, doesn't mean we're playing the Dhimmi.
I could ask a simular question regarding Louis Farrakhan.
The Brits have refused him entry on numerous occasions, but he has not been charged in America of any crime, ( At least to my knowledge - and at least not relating to terrorism)
Using the same argument, this would infer that the U.S are playing the Dhimmi, I doubt they are.
Neither are we.
Thankyou.
KC ENGLAND
Was this the same "moderate" yusef islam , failed popstar, who called for the murder of Salman Rushdie ? The moslems want to "build bridges" the way the Greeks built a Trojan Horse.
LOVE LIFE - HATE ISLAM !!
Angered? I'm utterly furious about the treatment of Mr Islam. He should have been dumped out of the plane somewhere over the Atlantic instead of taken to Bangor.
And Mr. Spencer, ever the gentleman, did not answer as he should have, "Because the British are idiots who are too busy banning fox hunting and dismantling their culture to fix either their teeth or their terrorist problems."
How long did it take the UK to deal with the hook-handed Abu Hamza and his loveable sidekick, Omar Bakri?
Doctor phibes,
agree with you totally.
Same idea clicked in my brain. US should dump all incoming mozzies. Damn it, all non-islamic nations should try something similar.
igotit.
igotit, it's the least he deserves. Not just for the Rushdie comments, but for all those damn awful 'songs' as well. Yusuf Islam reminds me of Charles Manson - a hippy with an acoustic guitar who wrote bad songs and couldn't handle his drugs. Both have beards, and both belong to terrorist organisations. Spooky, isn't it?
Miss Moneypenney
Please take your 'Brit - Bashing' comments elsewhere.
We are not idiots.
Thankyou.
KC
Fist of all, I want to say that Cat Stevens is a fool, and his music sucks. His big claim to fame is "Baby, baby its a wild world..." (da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dum....) But check out this report from CNN.com
"Mistakes happen. There are lots of redundant names, and identity can be mistaken," he said.
No duh... especially when there are about 20 names that account for 80-90% of Muslim men (Yassir, Abu, Kallid, Adbul, Alim, Aziz, Mohamed, Islam, Ali, etc.)
"The system is not perfect here." Ridge called the singer "one of my favorite artists," and said his agency would take "a very, very close look" at the information that resulted in Islam being placed on the list.
WTF? Tom Ridge says that Cat Stevens is "one of my favorite artists"? When was the last time any of you even heard a Cat Stevens song? What a fool.
The article continues,
...As Cat Stevens, Islam had a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s such as "Moon Shadow," "Peace Train," "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken" before converting to Islam in the 1970s and changing his name.
[Ha-ha... remember when heavyweight figther/ draftdodger Cassius Clay joined a cult and changed his name (which escapes me now)? The first thing he did was say "Any black man who dates a white woman deserves to be lynched." But he was black, so it was okay. Just following the lead of his massa, Lou FarahKlan.... a real lovable character, huh? But he didn't eat pork and prayed five times a day, so I guess we are supposed to love him. At least he didn't whine about the Jews, that I can recall.]
More about Tom Ridge's favorite "artist": He dropped out of the music business for more than a decade after converting to Islam, but returned to the studio periodically since the late 1990s. He condemned the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington, performing at a benefit concert to raise money for victims and donating a portion of the royalties from a career retrospective to a relief fund. He also condemned the recent attack on a school in Beslan, Russia.
I wonder if he condemns the "freedom fighters" of "palestine" and "Indian-Occupied Kashmir" too. I wonder if he condemns the wifebeaters and "honor" (i.e. daughter) killers of Iran. Hey, he must be a good man. He's one of Tom Ridge's "favorite artists." LOL.
Meanwhile, Yaser Humdi, an enemy combatant caught fighting with the Taliban against America in Afghanistan, is "exiled to Saudi Arabia" i.e., he goes free, back to his home country, where he'll be treated like a hero or allowed to go rejoin the Mujahadin. Way to go, Ridge and Asscroft. Way to go. But at least you kept a half-baked, has-been pop star away. Whew, that was a close call!
Man, I will feel much safer when Martha Stewart reports to prison.
Yeah, KC... but when was the last time Louis FarraKlan spoke in public in America? I remember thinking on 911, "well, maybe this is the end of Islam..." Alas, it wasn't. But it was the end of Louis FarraKlan spouting off in public about the "beauty" and "peace" of Islam.
And get the spelling right, KC... it's FarraKlan.
: )
Cat Stevens is dangerous because in the long run the pen is mightier than sword. He is a Muslim propagandist.
Re: Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the recording artist Cat Stevens, his suspect activities and opinions on Israel/Palestine, see the extract below from an item posted on FrontPageMag.com on Sept. 22 by Michelle Malkin.
During a visit to Jerusalem last year, he [Stevens/Islam] was highly critical of Israel's handling of the unrest in the occupied territories. It was alleged in an Israeli military court in the Gaza Strip this week that he had gone much further and given about 4,000 Pounds (pds) to the fundamentalist Islamic movement, Hamas.
Hamas is bitterly opposed to the current peace moves of Yassir Arafat, the PLO chief, and wants to replace Israel with an Islamic state.
In 1991, Yusuf Islam led protests against America and the Gulf War in Bradford, England and demanded immediate withdrawal of our troops.
According to terrorism expert Steven Emerson, who testified before Congress in 1996 about the militant group Islamic Association for Palestine:
IAP is presently headquartered in a nondescript strip shopping mall in Richardson, Texas. IAP has set up an elaborate publications and video operation to promote Hamas, in both Arabic and English. While the Arabic brazenly supports Hamas, IAP's English-language publications and videos -- clearly intended for non-Muslim Western audiences-- are relatively tame, refraining, for the most part, from advocating terrorism and hatred against Jews and Christians.
But not entirely. One IAP publication, called "America's Greatest Enemy: The Jew and an Unholy Alliance," has been routinely distributed at Islamist conventions. Another IAP brochure, authored by Yusef Islam, formerly known as the singer Cat Stevens before he converted to Islam, contains plain old anti-Semitism: "The Jews seem neither to respect God nor his creation. Their own holy books contain the curse of God brought upon them by their prophets on account of their disobedience to Him and mischief in the earth. We have seen the disrespect for religion displayed by those who consider themselves to be 'God's chosen people.' ... There will be no justice until all the land is given back to its rightful owners ... Only Islam can bring peace back to the Holy Land..." From his home in Great Britain, Islam/Stevens has also raised tens of thousands of dollars for Hamas, in cooperation with the British fundraising arm of Hamas, known as the Relief Fund for Lebanon and Palestine.
In July 2000, Stevens was kicked out of Israel. According to the AP:
The man who gained fame as pop star Cat Stevens was denied entry into Israel and deported hours after arriving, officials said Thursday -- reportedly because he gave money to a militant Islamic group during his last visit. Defense Ministry officials refused to comment on Yusuf Islam's case other than to say that the Shin Bet, Israel's internal intelligence agency, had ordered the man who wrote such songs as "Peace Train" and "Wild World" barred from the country.
Islam, 51, who changed his name after becoming a Muslim in the late 1970s, last visited Israel in 1988. The government claims that during that trip he delivered tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas, a militant Islamic group, the Maariv daily reported...
I am anxious to see the entire file on Islam, but I do not understand why the Rushdie remarks are swept under the rug as 'little mistakes in the past'. Islam is a public figure with influence. He openly endorsed the assasination of a writer and scholar. That action is a threat to all of us. (It would be like Pat Robinson endorsing the assasination of a prominent college professor and writer in the US who spoke out against Christian fundamentalism. What would happen to Robinson?) He should be arrested and prosecuted, or, if the authorites take no action, society should utterly ruin him; this kind speech crosses the line to 'action', and constitutes incitement to violence. And it is the kind of 'incitement' that threatens the very foundation of our intellectual freedom that the First Amendment in the United States seeks to protect.
If he does not go to jail, he should be hounded to the end of his days, for statements that threaten our right to exist as a free thinking, free speaking society. He should be utterly alienated.
But, instead, he is a media darling again in the UK. 'Ooooh, baby, baby, its a wild world, and it ain't hard to get by just upon a smile'
Is it Islam?
kc:
PLEASE don't be offended.
We criticize our own government's foibles with regard to islam as much as or more than we crticize yours (especially kj, apparently).
We love the Brits, and we ESPECIALLY love you.
BTW, Rikki offered to give me your e-mail address, but I didn't want to take it without your authorization. If you like, you can send your info to susan_b356@yahoo.com with instructions as to whom is authorized to receive it, or she will contact you whenever anyone requests it.
And the assasination was endorsed and supported by a State, and by followers of an ideology that calls for the destruction of our society, with resources, intent, etc. (all these facts make the offense much worse than the Robinson analogy above).
Are there statute of limitations here?
Of course I'm not 100% tuned in to everything going on everywhere, but I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't an immediate hue and cry about Poor Peace-loving Cat Stevens being sent home. Instead, the media seemed more concerned about how he got on the plane in the first place. And it didn't cause much of a ripple on my baby-boomer-riddled fave message boards either. I expected much more whining about this. Instead, the few threads I saw dropped like a rock.
That's progress, IMHO.
KC you're the best. I love the Brits. In fact, I've been conversing with Dr. Alan Clifford, as he exposes the Islamic pigs over there.
No worries, we stand united.
D.C.
Ironically, Yusef Islam desires the exact same artistic freedom that he feels should be denied to Salman Rushdie.
But, let's not forget the moral difference between censorship and murder...
CGW
Thankyou *blush*.
I don't mind the critiquing of our Government, but calling the British people "idiots" is, well, below the belt to say the least.
You guys are our cousins and our best friends.
Thankyou for the respect re - my e-mail, but please, feel free to e-mail me anytime!
DC
Thankyou friend.
We do indeed, stand united.
(OT. DC, but wheres our friend Nathan these days? Do you know? Has he been banned?)
Great British regards everyone,
KC
K.C. I don't know where Nathan is. I thought he may have been posting as "Imam Abu Bin Boobie", which was a great screen name, but I'm not sure.
All I know is that I certainly miss his passion and knowledge as we continue the fight with these retarded lizards.
I heard from someone in touch with him that Nathan is currently away from home working on a big public works-type project. I'm hoping that he'll come back when he's able.
I miss him, too.
Hey missmoneypenny -I've always admired your posts but not all us Brits are PC dhimmis. And just for the record I have a great set of teeth (even by American standards).
Jack Straw is a comical figure. He is a former President of the National Union of Students, and has never outgrown its worldview. He knows almost nothing about history. Slightly embarrassed in the well-known Madeleine Albright manner about his being "Jewish, but just on his parents' side," he kowtows to the appeasing Arabist mandarins of the Foreign Office. He lacks, in other words, the self-assurance and knowledge that, for example, made Ann Lambton (a former Foreign Office adviser on Iran, and a niece of Harold Macmillan's wife), or J. B. Kelly (the iconoclastic scholar of the Arabian peninsula who was too valuable even to Sheikh Zayed and Sultan Qaboos in their own difficulties with the bullying Saudis, so that the Foreign Office, while it can continue to fillet the Saudi-related files so that future historians will not find certain things, could not really answer his unanwerable points-- the Man Who Knew Too Much), or dry, irrefutable Elie Kedourie, so unafraid of the Foreign Office.
If you wish to see some examples of Jack Straw's idiocy, simply google "Jack Straw" and "Coughlin" (the writer of the Telegraph article that appeared a year ago), and "Conor Cruise O'Brien" (do NOT google "Conan" for "Conor"), and "J. B. Kelly." There you will find examples of Straw being taken to task for his ignorance.
The most egregious example, however, never made it into print. Kelly noted that Straw had blamed British "colonialists" for the "artificial borders" of Iraq. As it turns out, by far the longest and the most important border, that with Iran, was set down by the Treaty of Erzerum, in 1847, made between the Ottoman and the Persian Empire, and brokered by -- not the English, but the Russians. So much for the legacy of British "colonialism." Need one add that it was the British that got rid of the Turks (we know now, post-Richard Aldington and others, that the "Arab Revolt" was a product of T. E. Lawrence's perfervid imagination, helped along by the marketing magic of Lowell Thomas -- it amounted to virtually nothing), and that the British "colonialists" were in Iraq for a grand total of 13 years.
Of course, that "post-colonial hegemonic discourse" stuff comes in mighty handy for getting a post, and then grubbing your way up to tenure, in the cretinized universities of the Western world. But Jack Straw should really allow himself the leisure to learn just a bit about Islam -- just an eensy-weensy bit. You know, about Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb. About what the ahadith are. About Muhammad's life as a role-model. Perhaps something about the Treaty of al-Hudaibiyyah, and what rules govern all agreements between Muslim and Infidel polities. Perhaps he could read a few dozen representative khutbas, sermons, of the kind given in the hundreds of thousands around the world, and see if he has some reason for believing that what the sermons contain is ignored by those who listen so closely -- because if they are not ignored, but taken seriously, well then -- Houston, and London, and Paris, and Washington, and Rome, and Moscow -- We Have A Problem.
So Mr Islam is an example of a 'moderate, peace loving ' Muslim,eh! The sweet fellow who was willing to have Salman Rushdie exterminated for writing a book!!Yusuf looks more like a sly old Tomcat than Puss In Boots to me...
every single muslim even the millions u have in united states are in agreement with the fatwa of salman rushdie, because the fact its clear cut islam, the ones who insults the honour of the messengers should be killed. so what u gonna do about the so many million muslims in usa and britain that are also belief in that cause its part of their belief, and most likely agree with the resistance of the muslims against the agressors all over the world ??
abushauk
There are apx. 2m Muslims in the UK, which leaves 58 million non-Muslims.
There are apx. 6 million Muslims in the U.S. which leaves 245 million non-Muslims.
SO, the question is abushauk, What are you gonna do??
abushauk. what are you babbling about ?
More dhimmitude from the BBc tonight. On newsnight there was a so-called discussion on "terrorism" that featured three muslim guest speakers and one American. Of course there was no mention of the islamic jihad, no mention of the muslim's goal of building an islamic caliphate, no mention of the violent nature of islam just the usual bullshit about understanding the causes of terrorism - which naturally , according to the three muslims and the fawning BBc lackey , were all the fault of the West. When the hell is someone like Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes or Hugh going to be invited to talk on one of these programmes. I'm so sick of the same pro-muslim crap being churned out on a daily basis by the BBC. Americans beware, you may think the BBC is a good old, impartial British organisation but the reality is that it is constantly pushing an Anti-American agenda. If young muslims in the Uk watch enough of this crap , where the inane logic of their own religion is never questioned and the West is always blamed, then the BBc should be held part responsible for any atrocities they committ in the name of islam. The BBc is not part of the solution it is part of the problem. We need a campaign to get some accountability into this pro-islamic organisation. It is funded by the very public which it , through it's muslim propaganda and anti-western bias, is now placing in danger. In it's lies, evasions and drip-drip-drip of misinformation it is trying to produce the same effect as the less-sophisticated Nazi or Soviet engineering of public opinion. In the future histories of our successful struggle against the islamic deathcult the actions of the BBc will be seen as akin to those of a Quisling or a fifth coulmn. They are the Wormtongues of our era.
Abushuak - you are obviously suffering from the same delusion that afflicts so many of your co-religionists, namely that you think the politically correct america/britain/israel hating media really does reflect the views of people in the u.k. If you never believe another piece of information in your life, believe this -THEY DO'NT!, The people who matter, the ordinary man and woman in the street have no interest in nor respect for your religion, I notice how hysterical our out of touch media experts are becoming, every news report is now a blatant transparent rant against america, britain, israel and now also Putin, and a constant whitewash of islam and muslims. However, as i actually talk to real people, let me assure you it's having exactly the opposite effect from that intended. Like it or not pal, people are getting increasingly angry with being told how peaceful you are, then hearing of the latest godawful act of butchery carried out by monsters in the name of your religion! Do you understand this, they're sick and tired of you, now like someone has already said, what you gonna do?
Son of Albion - just read your post and it is 100%bang on target! I've just been watching that garbage and nearly wet myself at hearing the classic cliches trotted out again and again, terrorism-poverty, blah blah blah, poor palestinians, blah blah blah, the bbc and c4 news are a complete joke, they're not news programmes they're the wish list from the students union manifesto! night after night now we're treated to an endless stream of marxism for morons from these clowns, i'm truly sick to the teeth with it, thank f!!! for the internet! After listening to this drivel i'm convinced now that iraq is a waste of valuable british/american etc lives, what f!!!!!!! use is democracy to arabs? there are people who deserve our help and support in this world, not these f!!!!!!!
I keep getting sick when watching the BBC as well. Earlier on Question Time we heard LibDem S. Hughes say that everyone in Britain has the deepest sympathy for Kenneth Bigley. Why do they reiterate that? May it be because it's not true and a few hundred thousand muslims are actually waiting for his head to be cut off. I wonder if they'll be celebrating in the streets of Oldham once the ghastly deed has been done (and I'm in no doubt that they will kill him).
I'm not quite sure about Richard Dreyfuss' political allegiance but he was right in saying that we shouldn't have tried to bring democracy to Iraq because not everyone wants it and it's a Western thing.
As soon as we rid ourselves of the reliance on oil (or get it from somewhere else) we can breathe more easily. Then most Arabs will die of hunger because they don't work much, do they? Just sit on the backsides and pray all day.
I personally hope the US and Russia will work more closely together in the fight against terror. The Russians especially don't have to worry about being politically correct (just yet).
Mr.Farrakhan was banned from spewing his hate at a Canadian University,Muslims went nuts and screamed "racism" and "Islamophobia",the student body set up a phone link for him to express his tolerant Islamic views on those "Hooked-nose Bagel-eating" Jews.
The nation of Islam managed to fool Afro-Americans that all their short comings were the fault of "White-people" and drugs were pushed in the ghetto's to supress Black's and keep them in poverty on welfare in public housing.
On 9/11/01 the mindset of visible minorities
changed for good,the anger and mistrust for White skinned American's is something I understand as
well founded and tangible,but that was because
nobody else had "Screwed" them over.
The 9/11 hijackers killed people from about 60
nationalities and most religious sects as well,the murderers were dark-skinned Arabs and also Muslims that didn't discriminate,they'll
kill even Muslims that worked in the WTC towers.
Mr.Hooper at CAIR does not control the INS department and nor should he,how ironic that Muslims were the most vocal that America was at fault for allowing the hijackers to roam freely in the Country.
Now that a Muslim is denied entry, CAIR still
whines that the USA shouldn't control who comes in the Country.
Make up your mind Hooper,you either support
protecting America's from fanatics or you
defend the rights of any Jihadist killing gods children for Allah.
NO CAIR - KNOW FREEDOM
Abushuak:
Take care. There is much anger in Britain against Muslims. Muslims have abused our hospitality and even gone so far as to wage war against the Crown. Do not be fooled by our impassivity; it is a national trait and many are the dictators who have rued the day they mistook British lack of passionate display, as a sign of passivity. As for the BBC, its almost hysterical whitewashing of Islam's depravity is a sure sign, that the BBC realises that it has to do something to prevent major civil strife against Muslims.
Take heed.
Son Of Albion
Quite agree. The BBC has become the al Jazheera of the West.
The BBC has been the most pernicious anti-Amereican and anti-Israeli broadcaster in the last 15 years. For over 10 years I have stopped giving any credence to the BBC, whenever it came to any matter involving Islam or the ME.
Bias at the BBC when dealing on matters in the Middle East, has now become an art form. It is perpetrated in various ways, some subtle, others quite blatant
1. Omission of facts as in the so called 'Jenin massacre'.
2. Highly tendentious camera angles to prove a point. re: 'Jenin massacre'.
3. A derogatory tone when interviewing Israeli politicians while a deferential tone for Palestinians. Orla Guerin's face almost distorts with contempt for Isreal.
4. Making enormous publicity of alleged Israeli misdeeds, but when proved wrong, the retraction aired in as inconspicuous manner as possible.
This open duplicity, masquerading as honest and unbiased journalism is good enough to be a subject for an educational course on post-modern journalism in the 'cretinised' universities (thanks to Hugh) of the West.
Forgive me if you've already seen this at other articles but please check out "Beheading DVDs Top Sellers in Baghdad" over on Jihad watch. There we are treated to abushkar33 , a British muslim, going from 'moderate" muslim to raving loony in about ten posts. You want to see the real horrorific face of islam then there it is...Not a pretty picture but one that has to be seen (okay read)....
Hugh:
I understand your contempt for Jack Straw. I however take the view that he serves as an excellent foil to distract and deceive the enemy. That afterall is the job of a foreign secretary or secretary of state ie to beguile the enemy.
"It is a slap in the face of sanity. If prominent, well-known personalities are treated like this, then how can there be bridge building?"
--Muslim Council of Britain's deputy general secretary, Mohammad Abdul Bari
Who said that we want to "build bridges" between ourselves and Moslems who want to dominate or kill us?
Far too many "bridges" exist already that allow these followers of an evil ideology into our countries.
To Abushauk, who advocates the murder of those who disagree with the nonsense spewed by his ' prophet' and asks what 'we' are going to do about the millions of Muslims in our midst who agree with fatwas and other primitive barbarisms.
The answer is that 'we' will probably get rid of you and your co-religionists (and I use the word 'religion' loosely) when we are pushed far enough. For example, the millions of illegals could be rounded up and sent back, which should reduce the Muslim population considerably.
Dont for one moment believe that the idiot media reflects the views of the average western person. Those of us who have the misfortune to live in areas taken over by you peaceful tolerant Muslims, are very well aware of the true agenda - which is to gradually take over our culture. Although how you ignorant people could possibly expect to run our sophisticted civilisation is beyond me - perhaps some tame dhimmis will help you.
Muslims are neither wanted nor needed in the West. If I were a Muslim in the west right now, I would tread very lightly and keep my bigoted mouth firmly shut.
Definition of an Idiot:
A woman who calls all Brits idiots, while naming herself after one of the greatest ever British movie characters Miss MoneyPenny (the only woman to feature in every single James Bond film, who never actually got laid by him)
......hmmm says a lot for you darling....could sexual frustration be the reason for your brit-directed bitterness.....whasamatter keep getting blown out by british guys???
What pisses me off about this is that it makes us brits look bad, which is exactly mwhy we get comments like Miss MoneyPennys.
Our government are so dhimmitized and the left such an opinionated bunch of hypocritical loudmouths that it gives off the impression that ALL Brits are like that.
Let me point out now that we've never had a left-wing government (unless you count old-labour in the seventies, which was left when leftism was needed, nowadays leftists are the wreckers of modern society), and even now when there are more liberals than ever, they are still a minority (if the lib dems ever did get in it would be more to do with disillusioned Labour and Conservative voters and immigrants than anything).
But because we have such a large muslim population, Labour need to be thinking about the ethnic minority votes at the elections(especially with their reputation at an all time low, the main reason being the medias negative exposure of the Iraq war....don't worry though american friends the british public aren't blind and many of the ones totally against the Iraq war, are against or aware of the danger of islam, are sick and tired of asylum seekers getting priorities over brits, and tired of them piling in uncontrollably).
Hopefully though, with the Tories now taking a refreshingly far-right stance against asylum seekers ( a limit of them allowed into the UK,bogus claimants deported, and pulling out of the UN immigration policy), being aware of the 70% of brits who are sick to the back teeth of muslims and other less numerous groups of immigrants; maybe Labour will be forced to take a simular path, so to compete with them.
As for Cat Stevens, well it is my view that muslim converts should be deported with the rest of their UK population (converters from christianity are even worse , because there must be something drastically wrong with their brains).
Funders of terror are as bad as the scum commiting it,that money pays for the bombs which kill and maim innocents.
This prick is a lying, 2-faced, terrorist funding islamic shit-stabber,and should have his testicles nailed to the side of a departing train.
The US have every right to deport whoever the fuck they want ; ESPECIALLY SUSPECTED TERRORISTS!!!
UK contributors: Check out this lovely story from Manchester which details how a cop named "Tariq" got a slap on the wrist -- and gets to keep his job! -- after committing a hit-and-run crime that injured two children:
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/131/131268_fury_as_crash_cop_keeps_his_job.html
Disillusioned_German:
Clearly there are elements in the Middle East who have no interest in democracy. Most, if not all of them, however, are either corrupt, despotic politicians, clerics or leaders of terrorists cells who are full-time, professional Jihaddists.
Hitler and his fellow fascists were allowed to flourish for far too long because after WW I, the world was sick of war. But in the end, there was no avoiding it, and, thank God, the Allied forces didn't back down when the going got really, really bleak.
Make no mistake, much of the hesitancy in the US to engage over Iraq arises from the now realized prospect of a long, costly, unpopular drawn out war against Jihadists, and not because most Americans, Brits and other allies didn't see ridding the world of Saddam and trying to plant the seeds of a more humane, democratic government in the Middle East as a necessary step towards a more peaceful world. That's why there's a good chance Bush Jr. will be re-elected -- because the silent majority of Americans understand that unchecked totalitarianism -- whether secular or theocratic, left or right -- is the greatest threat to humankind and, by coming after Saddam,Bush Jr. has ended the long, sad tradition of the US tolerating or allying with autocratic regimes in the interests of western security.
What is tragic is that had the French and the Russians not been so happy with the oil deals they cut with Saddam (or frightened of antagonizing their "native" Muslim populations), there might have been a much broader coalition, and with that, adequate resources for the occupation. But despite their opposition to the invasion, the French are crying betrayal because the Jihadists took a couple of French journalists hostage and the Russians ended up with Beslan.
As for the authority from which Richard Dreyfuss speaks -- he's an actor with a cocaine habit that may or may not be in remission.
@ Waterdragon:
What I actually wanted to say is: Get all non-islamic countries together and stand strong against the threat. We may not particularly like the Russians and the Chinese but it may be helpful to unite against islamist terror. The leaders of both Russia and China may not be ideal allies but I'd rather have them in the boat.
I fully agree with Doctor Phibes.
Let this be a lesson to any more Muslims who try to enter the USA -- they will be treated the same way.