An update on this story from the BBC, with thanks to Kaosktrl:
"I got him a job in the bank, but he has destroyed my house, my family, my life," says Sher Baloch, crying bitterly. He is talking of Gul Hasan, the alleged member of the outlawed Sunni extremist Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group sentenced to death on 45 counts last Saturday in connection with attacks on Shia mosques.The police said last week that two of Mr Baloch's daughters - Saba and Arifa - had been arrested on suspicion of training to be suicide bombers.
The two sisters were last known to have visited Gul Hasan - their mother's brother - shortly before they disappeared with Gul Hasan's family in June last year.
"I wish Gul Hasan was dead," says Mr Baloch.
'Good Muslims'
The resentment in Mr Baloch's house is almost tangible. Every now and then, you can hear the mother burst out crying - her wails interspersed with expletives in Baloch.
They are all directed at her brother Gul Hasan, whom everyone in the household says is a man of extreme sectarian views.It is not easy to get Mr Baloch to sit in one place and recount his ordeal. He is highly agitated and occasionally bursts into tears. He finally settles down, looking resigned.
"I never thought my daughters would be discussed in public, all over the country," says Mr Baloch, a devout orthodox Muslim with six sons and seven daughters.
Besides a few chairs, the only other noticeable thing in his sparsely furnished sitting room is a pile of religious books.
"All my children are practising Muslims," he says. "But they are good Muslims, model citizens, not terrorists."
The world is still waiting for a clear explanation of the distinction between those two groups -- that is, a clear delineation of what would make a good Muslim eschew suicide bombing and other acts of violence. This is a particularly acute question in light of the fact that so many Islamic scholars take for granted that such acts are justified.
"a devout orthodox Muslim with six sons and seven daughters."
13 children -- about average. Everywhere in Iraq, for example, American soldiers -- still waiting in many cases to go home to start their own 1- and 2-children families (which is all they can afford) note how everyone seems to have, or come from, a family with 10, 12, 14 children. Iraq's population in 1930 was about 3 million; now it is 25 million. And in ten years?
Who will pay for all these families of a "devout orthodox Muslim with six sons and seven daughters"? Is it the obligation of Infidels, who not only seem to have assumed the Infidel Man's Burden to rescue Muslims (whether in the Balkans or from the tsunami or from Saddam Hussein), and to make sure that any Muslims whom nature forgot to endow with the accidental oil wealth that accounts for so many of those Muslim countries receiving, in the past 1/3 century, $10 trillion dollars (and look at what they have done with it, or not done with it) should be supplied -- not with any moneys coming from Saudi Arabia or the U.A.E. (no, that would never do -- theyu are too busy paying for mosques in Rome, Paris, and London, and buying arms and the men who can use them, or engage in other kinds of bought-and-paid-for services to Islam.
No, this "orthodox Muslim" may be upset at the publicity he is receiving. He may even be upset that his brother-in-law killed fellow Muslims (would he be upset had the target been, say, Pakistani Christians, or French engineers?). But with those 13 children, he is engaging in the Jihad in much the same fashion -- the demographic Jihad that we Infidels seem determined to fail to recognize, and what's more, to open our own lands so that those carrying with them a hostile ideology may relieve themselves of excess population, even as our indigenous population is diluted and limited by the severe economic constraints (here we are, spending $300 billion on Iraq, tens of billions on Egypt, Afghnanistan, Pakistan, and the "Palestinian" Authority, and $238 billion so far on security since 9/11 -- and this is just the bill for the United States).
The greatest transfer of wealth in human history is that of the oil-consuming nations, all of them non-Muslim, to the oil-producing nations of OPEC, 10 of the 11 being Muslim or Muslim-controlled. Meanwhile, we Infidels keep pouring aid -- transferring still more wealth -- to Muslim countries in the vain and stupid hope of
"winning hearts and minds." And finally, in addition to all that expense, all over the Western world enormous sums are now being spent for security reasons, to guard against the very kinds of terrorist attacks that are directly related to the unhindered presencde of large numbers of Muslims, who were permiteed to settle, as it were, behind enemy lines.
This is a fantastic drain. No wonder this "orthodox Muslim" can complacently produce his "six sons and seven daughters" while Infidels everywhere, if they manage to have children at all, must severely limit the number out of economic constraints (including, in such countries as France, the cost now of private schools because the public schools, because of their burgeoning Muslim populations, have become places where it is difficult to teach certain subjects -- not just the Holocaust or World War II or the history of the Jews, but also the history of Christianity, and there have been violent refusals by Muslims to allow Voltaire and Racine, among others, to be taught to them, presumably because both had some anti-Muslim remarks).
What's Wrong -- terribly wrong -- With This Entire Picture?
I thought good muslims execute indidels? Especially Jews and of course anyone who might defame the false prophet Muhammed (may he rot in hell in putrid pig crap).
Hugh writes:
" Meanwhile, we Infidels keep pouring aid -- transferring still more wealth -- to Muslim countries in the vain and stupid hope of
"winning hearts and minds."
Hugh's right on top of that one...
it's stupid because there are no hearts and minds in Islam to win. It's vain because someone thinks they are smart enough to do the impossible. "Grandios illusions", sometimes called, "illusions of grandure", look good, last a long time, do nothing. It's bad enough to be stupid, but when you mix that with vanity, you have a recipe for failure.
It's not possible for any infidel to win the "hearts and minds" of Islamics unless they (muslims) first apostate themselves. It's not so much that muslims dont have a heart or mind, it's that they are covered up. The layers of of mohammadean excretement have to be removed like layers of old paint. Like polishing silver, when you rub off the tarnish, beauty appears. For muslims, thats apostacy. Ali Sina, Warraq and other apostates prove the point. For Sina, "The Goden Rule", and all that implies, is the paint remover. The Golden Rule, understood and practiced, erases Islamic ideology. Sina knows that completely, thats why he pushes the idea.
Trying to solve the heart and mind issue by throwing money at it, will not work. Mohammad will rob you now and kill you later, or vicy vercy. Ali's method is better...
Justified?
How about required.
Lie & wait,
Hugh wrote: "with those 13 children, he is engaging in the Jihad in much the same fashion -- the demographic Jihad that we Infidels seem determined to fail to recognize"
There is another "Jihad" we fail to recognize for its danger -- the very same "interior spiritual struggle" Jihad we all hear so much about. Think about it (and read about it): This "interior" Jihad is precisely the duty for every Muslim to repress his inner desires for any life other than the rigid brainwashed life dictated by Islam.
Thus, the Inner Jihad is very important in psychologically supporting the phalanx of outwardly militant Jihadists -- as well as other "ranks" within the Umma Army (women who wage the demographic jihad by being baby factories; professors who wage the intellectual jihad by making sure the history and culture of Islam continues to be whitewashed & sugarcoated; activists & propagandists like CAIR who wage the legal & political jihad; ordinary law-abiding Muslims who refuse to condemn Muslim extremism and who nurse resentment and schizophrenic attraction/repulsion with regard to the modern West for its "immorality" and who secretly hope for a Caliphate; etc.)
If the press weren't watching, the father'd probably be celebrating the glory that his daughters are bring on the family. (What's a few less girls, anyway?)
I don't buy anything they say.
Crocodile lachrymal b.s.
Hugh-
Once again "Rem acu tetigisti".
(You pinned it /hit the nail on the head.)
Demographics (barring Nature sending a plague to winnow the overly fecund) is the second fork of this multi-pronged thrust at the West.
We need to stop feeding it.
Let them support their own.
And when they can't, let them learn that "You should not fool with Mother Nature".
And store up reserves for ourselves.
Or make beer and whisky with all the extra grain. (That way it won't go to waste, and it won't be usable by our sworn ebnemies.)
TYPO ABOVE- "enemies".
"ebnemies" is an oscure Hittite word meaning 'the chrism of a gnat's spit'. Or is the secret ingredient in Cheez Whiz.
I forget which.
TAMALIA ALISJAHBANA
From Indonesia, 'terima kasih'
By Tamalia Alisjahbana | May 4, 2005
From Feb. 22 to March 18, a group of doctors and nurses from Massachusetts General Hospital were in Indonesia to help victims of the tsunami. Sponsored by Project Hope, the Massachusetts volunteers cared for Indonesian patients aboard the USNS Mercy off the coast of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The Mass. General doctors and nurses were partnered with a large group of Indonesian volunteers to help bridge the language and culture gap with their Indonesian patients. On their last night off the coast of Banda Aceh, a large group of the volunteers gathered for a farewell lecture. One of the Indonesian interpreters, Tamalia Alisjahbana, asked permission to address the American volunteers. The following excerpts are from her speech.
YOU DOCTORS and nurses who have worked on this ship treating the wounded Acehnese tsunami survivors are special people with an enormous compassion and empathy for others, especially for those who are suffering. When a large group of good and caring people are collected together in one place like this, it creates a certain energy of its own which has far-reaching effects.
When I left Jakarta to join the Mercy, the front-page article of one newspaper was about how Indonesian public opinion toward America was taking a major turn. This happened after Indonesians started learning about the thousands of mercy missions flown by the helicopters of the USNS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of Aceh. Daily the helicopters dropped food, water, and medical supplies to the survivors of the tsunami whom my government would never have been able to reach in time after the enormous destruction of roads, bridges, and communications by the tsunami.
Later, Indonesians witnessed the compassion of the doctors and nurses of the USNS Mercy as they treated over 19,500 Acehnese patients and performed more than 250 operations. I do not think that any other government in the world would have been able to provide such an enormous quantity of aid so rapidly. No other government is equipped with the enormous war machine that the United States has, and we watched that great war machine being used for something totally different. It was being used to save and heal thousands of lives, and, quite frankly, at first we Indonesians watched with suspicion and then in puzzlement but finally with gratitude and fondness.
During the last days before the departure of the ship, patients were returned to shore to finish their final recuperation at Indonesian hospitals, many of which are just starting to fully function again. It was an emotional time for me because I translated as patients and doctors and nurses bid each other farewell. Over and over again this is what the patients have been saying: ''I do not know how to thank you. I cannot repay you for what you have done. I have nothing with which to repay you. It is only God who will be able to repay you for what you have done ."
It is one thing to heal people and give them medical aid, but I think that there is another element in all this that you may not be aware of. These people you have been treating are the poorest of the poor. They eat chicken or meat perhaps once a year. If they eat fish twice a week, that is really good. Normally their meal will be a plate of rice with some chili peppers and a bit of swamp spinach or other vegetable. There has been an insurgency going on here for many years. The military extorts money out of them and burns their houses. Then the separatists come and kidnap them, extort money out of them, and burn their houses. They are frequently caught in the crossfire between the military and the separatists, and it doesn't matter, because they are just garbage -- people of no value. If they go to a hospital for help, they are not kept waiting for hours; they are sometimes kept waiting for days, and they are treated with arrogance and without care. Indifference is often the best they can expect.
And then they came here. Here you not only healed their bodies but you treated them with such gentleness, such compassion, and such great courtesy. For the first time in their lives they were treated as human beings who have worth. You see a man who has lost an arm, a patient who has lost a leg, and yet when they leave the ship they are all smiling. The joy in them is overwhelming. They are perhaps happier than they have ever been in their lives because for the first time they are aware of their worth as people -- that their thoughts and feelings and lives count. When they leave here they know that they are valuable. They leave with self-esteem.
In Indonesia the words for ''thank you" are ''terima kasih," which, if you translate them literally, mean ''accept love" for what it is. So allow me, on behalf of my country and my people, to express to you our gratitude and to give you our love.
Tamalia Alisjahbana is curator of the National Museum in Jakarta.
treehugger-
Be sure to report back when Tamalia Alisjahbana is murdered for 'defaming Islam'.
I think the "people's gratitude" that she opines about will dissolve the instant some as a Koran-thumping cleric or local jihadist starts a rumor about "the pig fat used in the syringes that the kafirs gave our halpless Muslim brothers and sisters their injections with ".
Muslims are too prone to irrationality to hope for much else.