But of course, there will be no international outcry about this reckless placing of civilians in danger. By Sarah El Deeb for Associated Press, with thanks to Drew:
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip - Hundreds of Palestinians serving as human shields guarded the homes of two top militants Sunday, a new tactic that forced Israel to call off missile strikes on the buildings and re-evaluate a mainstay of its aerial campaign in Gaza.In recent months, the Israeli air force has repeatedly struck the homes of militants after warning residents by phone to clear out. Israeli security officials said they did not know how to respond to the human shield tactic, but pressed ahead with other airstrikes Sunday.
In Gaza City, an aircraft fired a missile at a car, killing one man and wounding nine, including two Hamas militants. Four of the wounded were children, ages 5 to 16, who suffered shrapnel injuries, hospital officials said.
The military said the target of the strike was a vehicle carrying senior members of the Hamas rocket launching operation.
The standoff over the homes of the militants began late Saturday when Mohammed Baroud, local leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, was informed by the army that his house would be hit. The three-story building is home to 17 people from Baroud's family. Another militant from Hamas also received a warning.
Instead of fleeing, though, the two decided to stay in their homes and called in reinforcements. They were quickly joined by crowds of supporters, including dozens of armed men, who gathered on balconies, rooftops and in the streets outside.
"Death to Israel. Death to America," the crowds chanted. Local mosques and Palestinian TV and radio stations also mobilized supporters.
This entry should have been in DhimmiWatch.
My fellow stupid Israelis!
And these are the people that GW Bush want's to have there own state.
"The person I work for, President Bush, is the first president in the history of America to say we believe the Palestinians should have a state, living side by side in peace with Israel," Hughes told al-Jazeera satellite television. She repeated the statement two more times in the five-minute interview.
Yup... Neighbors just helping Neighbors...
You do know that this qualifies them for Saboteur Status under the Geneva convention....
htttp://doctorbulldog.wordpress.com
Israeli are tops at appeasing the West to show they are not the monsters that they are being told they are by the muslims and their mouthpieces the UN and EU. one lesson Israel should, is that you cannot please everyone. Bomb the sites, any civilians exposing themselves are enemy combatans. Listen EU, what is happening to Israel, is happening to you very soon.
Zap them all. The bastards.
Listen EU, what is happening to Israel, is happening to you very soon.
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess at November 19, 2006 04:44 PM
It already is happening, but the socialists running the show right now just cant frame any threat in terms other than Marxist class struggles. Its not really Jihad its just people like you and me wanting a fair crack at the jobs market and housing, just ask Chirac he will tell you.
I would have hoped Israel was smarter than this. They should have fired without hesitation. It is one thing to fire into a crowd when a combatant runs into it and quite another to shield combatants willingly. Israel has just given them the coveted get out of jail free card. Next you will see them surrounding suicide bombers and walking toward Israel, will they fire then? If there are no “innocent” Israelis then there are no innocent palestinians. I fully realize they wanted an incident they could exploit, got it, I just don’t see what was gained by not giving them one. The UN would have been mad? Too bad, so sad. palestinians and other muslims would whine, too bad so sad. Now that Israel has shown weakness the muslims will do this again and again. Israel has two choices fight or surrender, think long and hard before you decide. Here is a hint, do what is best for your people don’t worry if your decision offends muslims.
OT
Some antidhimmitude in the UK, locals demonstrate against a proposed super mosque in Dudley.
http://xrl.us/Dudley
OT the sell out of Israel by the West begins.
Blair Set to Open Washington’s Road to Damascus. Next Stop Tehran
As a down-payment for buying Syrian president Bashar Asad’s cooperation on Iraq, Blair will try and coerce Israel to accept talks with Syria for the return of the Golan captured in the 1967 war.
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1229
OT the sell out of Israel by the West begins.
Blair Set to Open Washington’s Road to Damascus. Next Stop Tehran
As a down-payment for buying Syrian president Bashar Asad’s cooperation on Iraq, Blair will try and coerce Israel to accept talks with Syria for the return of the Golan captured in the 1967 war.
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1229
Those "crowds of supporters, including dozens of armed men" should be considered combatants and treated accordingly. Israel is never going to win the propaganda war against the "oppressed" Palestinians - there is absolutely nothing, short of abandoning Israel's national territory, that will satisfy the mainstream media or the UN. So, Israel should just do what needs to be done, human shields or not, to defend her citizens. A few more Palestinian martyrs won't make one bit of difference in the long run.
Well, here we go again. The only time I see Muslims smile is when they are commiting violence, cartoon rage,killing and so on. The only time I see them look serious is when they say death to America or Destroy the Jews or when they go on their poor me cry.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,230579,00.html
Here is a link to the same story but with a picture of the palistinians having a grand old time laughing and having fun while a terrorist is shooting of his gun into the air.
It doesnt take much to make these people happy, just kill a few Jews.
19 November 2006
An Open Letter to the Leaders of Western Civilization
Excuse me in advance for this incredibly politically incorrect hate speech: but three more potentially decisive targeting opportunities have been missed (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2665266).
Why is it that western civilization, particularly the leaders, can't see that the populations supporting the enemy are, can I really say this... are the enemy? That is certainly what our enemies believe.
Are we going to stomp a mud hole in the death cult ideology of Islam-UhOh-Nazi Jihad while we still can, or just keep fueling it by caving to its’ propaganda and our need to feel good about ourselves every time a hard choice has to be made?
Is this an effective defensive technique, or just moral masturbation?
Was this how victory was achieved in World War II? Sure, Germany and Japan actually had factories, where they uh, made things. But, when you get down to it, wasn't the real objective in bombing cities in Europe and Japan demoralization of the populations? To let them know they were supporting losers… to drive home the point that, even if we preferred not to, we were prepared to kill all of them if they didn't accept the fact that the forces of democracy and freedom were going to win?
Now, instead of demoralizing the enemy, we choose to demoralize ourselves. We give the enemy hope that we are so “reasonable”, so wanting to be loved, that we won’t attack them even as they kill us and chip away at our civilization. Meanwhile, we rationalize our self absorbed self loathing with platitudes like; “we’re so powerful, it wouldn’t be fair”. And, of course, leveling their command centers, oops, I mean their mosques, isn’t even considered. Particularly when there are packed full of their military officers and troops, oops again, I meant imams and true believers. If Israel does not have the stomach to kill its enemies, will the United States? And versa-vise-a.
Sure, maybe “it wouldn’t be fair”, but guess what; if we keep this up long enough, fairness won’t be an issue.
If we really want to be loved so badly, we should show love and compassion to those who would return it: our friends and family… and summon the courage to do what will be done, one way or another, either by us or to us.
Respectfully,
Ralph Amey
Tucson, Arizona
Some internationally accepted definitions please for 'combatant', 'civilian' and whatever semi-combatant or supporter these people may be. I wouldn't term them 'civilians' if they are defending a military base.
They chant "Death to Israel. Death to America," so they're the enemy. Call them with 10 minutes warning, and strike in 5 minutes. As their 'perfect man' told them, "war is deceit".
Why is Isarel being PC? They like "death, death" so give it to them. No warning.
Israel should have just gone in, done what was needed and gone home and ate dinner.
There comes a time to stop and take a look at situations and those causing them.
Palestinians are , let's face it, useless breathers and breeders. They don't care about each other or themselves. What man would put his wife and children in front of him to take a bullet?
Palestinians are whiners. They don't lift a finger to build anything, they only destroy. They want to be supported so they can plan and scheme to kill Jews and infidels. They are not productive members of civilization.
Palestinians have no willingness to change. A hundred years from now if they are still alive, they will be exactly the same as they are now. Probably still screaming kill Israel, kill Americans.
I say, Israel, go in, do the job, don't let up as long as there are people standing. It's for your future.
The proper response is obvious: henceforth the IDF should not warn the inhabitants of a building that's to be bombed to get out. No warning, no crowds of "human shields." Hence, the only casualties when the building is bombed would be the previously identified terrorists. That's no longer possible. The new policy, of not warning in advance, would be humanitarian because it would spare the lives of those would-be human shields.
The Israelis hold the moral high ground in either case. And the Muslims know it, since they wouldn't have adopted this new policy of human shields around a targeted building if they didn't know that Jews don't kill indiscriminately, as Muslims do.
Lili
you are so right.
Are hamas, hizbollah, as aqsa brigade etc civilians or militia or a de facto army?
So if any of them get sent to their virgins are they counted as civilian casulaties or military casulaties?
What a bunch of cowards these people are putting women and children in the firing line!
Israel is being destroyed from within and from without.
___
Caroline Glick, THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 17, 2006
________________________________
To the delight of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni, an international coalition has
coalesced around Iran's nuclear weapons program.
In his remarks Tuesday in Los Angeles before the delegates
to the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly, Olmert
explained his enthusiasm. First he stated, "America's
leadership in preventing Iran's nuclearization is
indisputable and unequaled. I just met my good friend, a
true friend of Israel, President George W. Bush in
Washington... His determination to prevent this most serious
of developments is unquestionable. But America must have the
support of the international community if we are to
successfully defuse this mortal threat."
So from Olmert's perspective, it is America's responsibility
- not Israel's - to prevent Iran from acquiring the means to
destroy Israel. At the same time, he accepts that the US
will take no action against Iran without first receiving
permission from the French, Russians, Chinese and Arabs.
Olmert then explained that the Arabs have to agree to let
the US protect Israel. As he put it, "A coalition of
moderate Arab countries can and must unite their common
interest in preventing Iran from undermining stability in
the Middle East. This coalition must struggle against the
dangers of radical Islam that manipulate the very source of
Islam itself."
For her part, Livni told the crowd in California that there
is little doubt that the nations of the world will shortly
unite to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear capabilities.
As she put it, "If the promise of 'Never Again' is more
important than the price of oil, then the time for
international indifference and hesitation in the face of the
Iranian threat has long passed."
Livni then explained that she is eager to give Judea and
Samaria to the Palestinians and is working to "brand" Israel
as a place where it is fun to live. She concluded by
recommending that American Jews invite Israeli Nobel
laureates to visit their communities.
In sum, our foreign minister is certain that the
international community will act against Iran because it
means it when it says it thinks that the Holocaust was a bad
thing more than it means it when it says, "Fill it up with
unleaded."
Moreover, as far as Livni is concerned, the world will
protect Israel because the Olmert government is so eager to
render Jerusalem and Tel Aviv defenseless by surrendering
Judea and Samaria to Palestinian jihadists.
Aside from that, Livni trusts that the world will protect
the Jews because thanks to her we have UN forces protecting
Hizbullah on our northern border and we're rebranding
ourselves to let the international community know that Jews
are both good at science and really fun to drink with.
To their credit, Olmert and Livni are correct to say that
today an international coalition made up of the US, the EU
and some of the Arabs is forming around Iran. But what binds
the members together is their collective opposition to
taking any effective action to prevent Teheran from
acquiring nuclear weapons.
Standing next to Olmert in the White House Monday, Bush
limited his remarks on Iran to expressing his hope that the
international community would agree to economically isolate
Iran. International support is necessary because Iran's
chief targets - the US and Israel - don't have the
legitimacy to act. As he put it, "My attitude is let's work
in concert to convince the government [of Iran] that it's
not just the Israeli voices speaking, or the United States'
voices speaking, but there's a lot of other voices saying
the exact same thing."
There is no doubt that isolating Iran internationally would
be a welcome development.
But there can also be no doubt that isolating Iran will not
cause it to end its nuclear weapons program. This is
particularly true if that isolation involves approving the
European draft resolution for mild sanctions against Iran in
the UN Security Council. In the best case scenario, the most
sanctions can do is make it more difficult to Iran to
reconstitute its nuclear program in the aftermath of an
Israeli military attack on its nuclear installations.
EACH OF the parties in the "Do-nothing-against-Iran"
coalition has its own reasons for not lifting a finger.
Bush's interpretation of the Democrats' victory in last
week's Congressional elections convinced him not to act
against Iran. Starting with his press conference last
Wednesday where he announced Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld's replacement by Robert Gates, Bush has made
absolutely clear that as far as he's concerned, he lacks the
domestic political strength to carry out a successful
operation.
In one of his recent daily calls for Israel's destruction,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered Europe a
Faustian bargain. He promised to leave Europe alone if the
Europeans abandon Israel. On Monday, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair accepted his offer. In a speech at the London
Lord Mayor's annual banquet, Blair explained that success in
Iraq and in Iran is contingent on Israel making concessions
to Palestinian and Lebanese terrorists and to the US and
Europe making concessions to Syria and Iran.
The fact that Blair made this speech four days after the
director general of the MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, said
that today 30 terror plots are being planned in Britain;
that future threats could involve chemicals and nuclear
devices; that young British Muslims are being groomed to
become suicide bombers; and that her agents are tracking
some 1,600 suspects, tells us just about everything we need
to know about Europe's interests. The fact that he made a
similar statement to the Iraq Study Group, which, led by
former secretary of state James Baker III is planning on
recommending that the US sell out Israel and appease the
Iranians and Syrians, tells us everything we need to know
about how Europe feels about the US hope to isolate - not
attack - Iran.
There is little doubt that the Arab states would prefer a
non-nuclear Iran. But the Arabs have no intention of
preventing Iran from acquiring such weapons. To the
contrary, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia
now want to build their own nuclear reactors. Iran's program
serves as a justification for Arab A-bombs.
The implication of the coalescence of this new coalition is
inescapable. Despite Olmert and Livni's breathless
protestations to the contrary, no one will take action to
prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. No one will
block the prospect of Israel's annihilation.
IT IS worthwhile to consider why this is the case - if only
to bring reality to the attention those directly entrusted
with ensuring Israel's survival.
The Bush administration is today in a state of strategic
disarray. According to historian John Lewis Gaddis in his
book Surprise, Security and the American Experience, one of
the strategic assumptions that underlay Bush's decision to
order the invasion of Iraq was the predicted psychological
effect the campaign would have on regimes like Iran. In his
words, "The purpose was as much psychological as military:
to eliminate individuals, gangs and regimes who commit or
support terrorism, but also to intimidate those who might be
thinking about doing so."
Unfortunately, the psychological effect was dependent on a
clear US military victory. After the initial push to Baghdad
and the overthrow of Saddam's regime, America's ability to
defeat the insurgency was increasingly dependent on
political will. That will in turn was heavily influenced by
the level of international support America's actions
enjoyed. The Europeans refused to back the campaign and
their antagonism prevented the US from undertaking the kind
of aggressive counter-insurgency measures - particularly
operations inside Syria and Iran, which act as bases for the
insurgency - that were necessary to win the conflict
decisively.
As time passed, the lack of European support caused an
erosion of domestic US support for the Iraq campaign. It was
the cumulative effect of that erosion that brought about the
Republican defeat last week.
The EU opposes US operations in Iraq, and indeed its member
states have become hotbeds of anti-American prejudice for
various reasons - one of which is counter-intuitive.
The Europeans perceive themselves as powerless dilettantes.
As such, they assume that their hostility will make little
impact on the US and that America will eventually win the
war against the global jihad regardless of what they think.
This being the case, from their perspective, nothing is to
be lost in the long run, and much is to be gained in the
short run, from abusing the benevolent US and appeasing the
violent jihadists. France in particular would like for the
US to emerge from the war victorious but weakened, much as
Britain emerged from World War II.
While the Arabs oppose Iranian regional and pan-Islamic
hegemony, they believe they will deter Teheran from
attacking them by acquiring nuclear capabilities. Moreover,
an Iranian nuclear strike against Israel would serve several
Arab interests. First, as long as Israel exists, Iran will
concentrate on Israel and leave the Arabs alone.
Second, if Iran attacks Israel with nuclear weapons, either
Israel or the US will likely launch a devastating
counter-strike that will significantly weaken the Teheran
regime. Although awash in glory for its destruction of
Israel, Iran would be in no position to assert control over
the now nuclear-armed Arabs whose "Jewish problem" it had
solved.
But no matter, our leaders tell us. We should just think
happy thoughts as they do. In Olmert and Livni's world,
Israel won the war in Lebanon this summer; UNIFIL forces are
good for the Jews; and Hizbullah - which is now working to
overthrow the Lebanese government - has no interest in
renewing its war against Israel.
The government sees no reason to prevent 1,500 PLO
terrorists from Jordan from marching into Gaza with their
guns and their families. Olmert and Livni welcome the
prospect of releasing thousands of terrorists from prison to
"strengthen" PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and they are eager
to hand Judea and Samaria over to Abbas, not because doing
so would help Abbas, but because it would good for Israel.
As Livni put it this week, we want to hand over land because
otherwise the so-called peace process will stagnate, and
"Stagnation is not in our interest and it is not our
policy."
Our jovial government justifies its decision to do nothing
to prevent Ahmadinejad from acquiring the means to keep his
promise to destroy the Jewish state by incessantly claiming
that someone else is willing and able to pay the price to
defend us.
The people of Israel must not be seduced by the blindness
and empty promises of our leaders. All efforts must be made
to sideline these incompetent, self-serving bumblers and
replace them with responsible leaders as quickly as
possible.
________________________________
Maybe they wanted to die, you know for the virgins and propaganda. Should have killed them all and let God sort them out.
The 19 Muslim hijackers on 9/11 didn't give a damn about civilians in the WTC towers , and those workers weren't even warned ahead of time
so they could leave.
Ergo....Islam embraces suicide for Allah cause and slaughtering the infidels is a Commandment
and not a sin like CAIR tries to pawn off.
I would make a declaration that all civilian deaths created by allowing humans as shields will be deemed as a murder by-proxy for the ones protected and in turn be considered as new charges or murder against the Militants being shielded.
I really wonder why canada takes in so many of these "Refugees" that will protect murderers and see nothing wrong with agreeing to be killed
just to incite hatred in your people to murder
for revenge, just give a warning and then push the button, let Allah sort out the True Muslims
and God can sort out the rest of us.
If there had been crowds of anti-jihadists outside the WTC on 9/11 acting as shields, would the jihadists have stopped their attack to avoid harming innocent civilians?
Asymetric warfare: they fear our military and therefore deliberately kill as many civilians as possible, while we avoid killing their combatants out of fear of harming civilians. Our strategy is stupid, and we have to change it.
Let's face it folks-these fiends fight to win and they know that the only way to win is to fight with no rules. The West, trying to hold the moral high ground, restricts itself with one rule after another. What happens? The bastards kill as many of us as they can-the more the better from their viewpoint-while we send them advance notice of when the bombs are coming and where (and only after all efforts are made in target selection to avoid collateral damage). Does this make any sense? What other war in history has been fought like this? Not even in the days of chivalry was war fought in such an insane manner.
If the palestinians want to call in their women and children to act as shields then they should be considered enemy combatants-no quarter given,no mercy shown. Zap them all. No more moralizing. Israel should realize this more than any other nation-6 million Jews held the moral high ground in WW2 and what did that gain them? If Israel wants to survive it had better go back to the mindset that established the state in the first place. Otherwise, those 6 million really did die for nothing.
Israel needs to do its part to make sure these guys all win a Darwin award.
IDF or someone should just call random Gaza phone numbers all night long. Waves of human shields would race from house to house until exhastion or until real militant arms depots were identified.
"Israeli security officials said they did not know how to respond to the human shield tactic...."
Really? Possibly the American and British airmen who flew over Berlin and Dresden and Hamburg during World War II can offer a hint as to how civilized countries must behave, at times, in order to save themselves. Perhaps there are other examples that might be thought of.
Hmm. Israel is committing brutal, racist genocide while simultaneously refusing to strike targets that are guarded by human shields. I'm sure there's some rational multiculturalist explanation for this contradiction.
Not Dresden if I remember my history correctly.
Incrediably the US public is refusing to believe that the Pals and/or the IFs use human shields. We have reports that the VC used human shields. Even "Blackhawk Down" alluded to the fact that IFs used human shields. We have a long way to go.
"IDF or someone should just call random Gaza phone numbers all night long. Waves of human shields would race from house to house until exhastion or until real militant arms depots were identified.
Posted by: JaimeZepeda at November 19, 2006 09:51 PM"
That's brilliant. Keep them running around, don't let them sleep. Use computer dialing, then zap the house of militants on target. Stupid idiotic primitives. Remember what your 7th century prophet said: "War is deceit." Frankly, we like this rule, since two could play.
This world has become such a sick and twisted place...
the idf needs to quit giving warnings or rather give one more warning simple put if you kidnap one more Jew if you or Hezbollah launch one more rocket into Israel we will turn Palestine into a sea of flame from your mosque in Jerusalem to the Mediterranean and to blazes how many how many die
the terrorist are showing the world the are pusillanimous cowards hiding be hind human shields
In war, people get killed. It would be nice if it could be avoided, but no war has ever been won without loss for all sides.
Find your target, and hit it. If you come out with any pre-warning, let it be this..
"You have been warned. When we find our enemy, we will attack, and you do not want to be near our enemy when we find him. Do not try to protect, or warn them, they are going to be found and destroyed, and if you are nearby you could be in harms way. Again, you have been warned."
Then, go for the target. If some flock to protect them, they will be destroyed. But less will do so the next time, and less the next. Soon, your word has truth, they will protect them no longer, and less will be killed in the long run, just the enemy is truly the target.
It is sad, it is not what we want, but it is war, and we must fight to win.
perhaps this will provide an answer:
Israel developing anti-militant "bionic hornet"
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is using nanotechnology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday.
The flying robot, nicknamed the "bionic hornet", would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said.
It is one of several weapons being developed by scientists to combat militants, it said. Others include super gloves that would give the user the strength of a "bionic man" and miniature sensors to detect suicide bombers.
The research integrates nanotechnology into Israel's security department and will find creative solutions to problems the army has been unable to address, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Yedioth Ahronoth.
These Palestinians who are serving as human shields guarding the homes of two top militants are not better than the militants, so just destroy them in the process, they will probably be terrorist breeders anyway...
I never thought that I would ever get this hard...
oh come on you guys, u all know that if Israel had of bombed them out if existance, the world media and the left would have been up in arms against the evil horrible jews... These poor people cant win, they are damed if they do and damed if they dont. For 40 years the media said nothing much about the Muslim child killers who strapped bombs to themselves and sat down amongst children in a child care centre, or a school or a bus, or a shopping centre or a synogogue etc, killing and maming thousands of babies, children, women and men, but when Israel eventually got fed up and did something back, instead of the world admiring Israels restraints up till then and cheering them on for at last retaliating, the world media was up in arms at how terrible Israel was...
Muslim killers ain is to maxamise as much terror as they can because it As Mohammad said it weakens the enemy and they are easier to couqure. What are terrorists doing to the world today????
What would Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) do? He would tell them he is going to stike another building so they go there.
I like the computer dialing. Keep them running all over the place.
Maybe Spencer or someone could get those NY Islamofeminists on TV to decry this abuse of women and children. After all, they don't have any choice except to do what their men tell them to do.
It's not like they can put their kids in an SUV and drive off to protect them is it?
If you ask me calling these mo-foes ahead of the destruction is going too far. The state of Israel is amazing to me. In spite of all that's been done to it, despite all the destruction inside and from the outside by identifiable meme groups.... despite the pariah status the nation has held since 1967 (at least) that nation and the people in it have the utmost class and restraint. I don't know how they do it. I'm beginning to wonder why they do it.
I would be a leitzout berzerker by now.
God (Yahweh) does love those people. God help those people who mess with the Jews. Seriously.
IDF or someone should just call random Gaza phone numbers all night long. Waves of human shields would race from house to house until exhastion or until real militant arms depots were identified.
Posted by: JaimeZepeda
Brilliant idea.
Why not have a service setup that calls all Pal phones and tells them to get out of the house before the bombs fall. The Pals will be so busy shielding everyone's home they won't have time to launch Kassams.
Hugh said, Possibly the American and British airmen who flew over Berlin and Dresden and Hamburg during World War II can offer a hint as to how civilized countries must behave, at times, in order to save themselves.
Hugh, I love reading what u have to say, and I would add to the above, ... in order to save millions of other people sometimes we have to destroy a few...
"We are concerned that crew members, passengers and security personnel may have succumbed to fear and prejudice based on stereotyping of Muslims and Islam.
Excuse me, "fear and prejudice based on stereotypling of Muslims and Islam?"
Almost every act of terrorism comitted in the last 10 years has been comitted by Muslims. This is fact, not stereotyping, and fear of Muslims is perfectlly rational based on this fact.
These six men did not have to pray publicly, they could have found a secluded spot to pray, out of public view. They were playing on the perfectly rational fears of passengers in the hope someone would handcuff then and lead them away. They knew exactly what they were doing and got exactly what they wanted.