... Sarah Barmak in the Toronto Star:
Could it be that the end of Islamist violence will be brought about by Jihadists themselves?After collectively wringing our hands for years over how many hearts, minds and billions of dollars it will take to win the global war on terror, the secret weapon needed to fight the terrorists might just turn out to be the terrorists themselves.
Revelations surfaced last week that one of Islamic Jihad's former top leaders is planning to renounce the extremes that define the movement, including the murder of civilians and choosing targets based on their religion or nationality. Such a retraction could puncture a huge hole in the fabric of the ideology of radical Islam, experts say. It could also trickle down to mosques and madrassas in places like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, where terrorist doctrine often incubates.
Abdul-Aziz el-Sherif, a former associate of Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman Al Zawahiri whose writings provided much of the religious and intellectual foundation for that group, was reported in a Washington Post article to be authoring his retraction in the underground Egyptian prison where he has been held for much of the last decade.
OK. A leading jihadist may change his ways. Jolly good, that. But that 1400 years of jihadist ideology will be erased by virtue of a single act of conscience? As Dana Carvey impersonating Bush the elder would say, "Nah gah dah."
In every historical case of an extremist's jump to moderation, however, critics will always remain to doggedly remember the bad old days. Gerges remains optimistic that the best source of moderation may be within the lunatic fringe.
Did you catch that? "[T]he best source of moderation may be within the lunatic fringe." That's it, I'm outta here. Good night folks.
Brothers.! We must tone down the jihad thing a bit. because the kuffar are starting to notice...
nabi ZK
believe it or die dudes...
Remember that marijuana is legal in Canada.
Dumb tool doesn't know her arse from her elbow.
Barmak is just one more dhimmi-fool that believes that the only threat is Islamic terrorism.
All the while Islamic profiteers and lobbyists and propaganda artists and clergy work to indoctrinate, usurp, land-grab, power-broker, manipulate and intimidate us right out of our own nations.
I'd wager $1,000 Sarah Barmak works with Muslims and gets more than an earful of "helpful" advice each week from at least one before she tackles an article such as the one above. Ah, yes, all the nice "moderate" Muslims.
Give me a break.
"Such a retraction could puncture a huge hole in the fabric of the ideology of radical Islam, experts say."
If Barmak is looking for puncture holes, she'll most likely find them in Abdul-Aziz el-Sherif after he's been denounced as an apostate and agent of Zionism.
"within the lunatic fringe."
huhh?
What "lunatic fringe"?
I didn't know Islam had a fringe,
live and learn.
He's referring to the kooks and nutbag non-mOslems in the west, known as the lunatic fringe...ya know, the ones who think we just have to understand the islamofascists "rage", feeeeelings, seeeensitivity, and just hold hands, dance around the almighty phallus, worship gaia singing kumbaya, and everything will be hunky-dory.
The very product, and exibit A, of the now-proven theory:
hedonism breeds narcissism breeds paranoia breeds schizophrenia
lol
'Wishful thinking?'
More like 'dumber than a sack full of bricks....'
lol sheik...I was thinking along the lines of fecal matter, but...ok bricks will work too...lol
the best source of moderation may be within the lunatic fringe
ane the best way to fund your retirement is within the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
If you read the full article from the Toronto Star, you see that one of the scholars copulously qouted by Ms. Barmak is Fawaz Gerges- recent recipient of a Jihadwatch Tribute by Hugh Fitzgerald. If I remember correctly, at some point in the "tribute", Hugh applied to Gerges the Homeric tag "oily". I myself use that tag mostly when referring to Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. But after a few minutes of hard-nosed googling I stumbled upon the following Sarah Lawrence College website dedicated to all things Gerges-
http://pages.slc.edu/~fgerges/
When I saw the picture of Gerges at the top of the page, I realized at once that not only does the term "oily" fit the man just fine, but he actually slightly resembles Los Angeles mayor Antoniovillaraigosa.
Further investigation of the Sarah Lawrence "Gerges" homepage brought me to an article on Gerges from the Review Press penned by James Withers. The first sentence says really all we knead to know about this esteemed scholar-
"When Fawaz A. Gerges speaks, every word is crafted with scholarly care, which of course is logical..."
...because he has degrees.
The article also includes some snippets of informed comment and hard-hitting and incisive analysis on crucial contemporary issues such as the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq war and Fawaz Gerges.
Some highlights include-
Fawaz Gerges on Fawaz Gerges:
"I'm supposed to be an historian who delves deep into arguments"
Fawaz Gerges on Al Qaeda:
"We underestimated the nature and intensity of the threat"
Fawaz Gerges on why Al Qaeda went from local attacks on Muslim regimes to confronting the U.S:
"They decided to shift gears and stay in business"
Fawaz Gerges on the current command capabilities of Al Qaeda:
"It is difficult to plot and plan when you are on the run."
Fawaz Gerges on Saddam Hussein:
"Iraq is free of Saddam Hussein who was a bloody dictator"
And finally, Fawaz A. Gerges on the futility of predicting the outcome of the war in Iraq:
"the American invasion opened a Pandora's box"
-hard-hitting.informed.incisive.
The Sarah Lawrence College webpage for Fawaz A. Gerges is definitely worth checking out- not only for such pearls of wisdom as are on display above, but also for the cool "About" bio and a list of his recent books, articles and media appearances.
There's also some links to a couple of impressive high-resolution headshots of Fawaz G himself-
one photo is a close-up of Fawaz A. Gerges looking straight into the camera lens wearing a self-confident "triumphalist" smirk that screams out "Can't touch this!" while the other has his body turned looking slightly askance with his eyes gazing just past the camera wearing a shy, even vulnerable smile that seems to say: "I could still be a contender."
Apparently also, there are Fawaz Gerges screen-savers and ring-tones available for download at
www.hairybackfetish.org/int/Levant/Fawaz
Fawaz G's email is listed on the Sarah Lawrence page, and I fully intend to send him Hugh's "tribute"-that is... after I've finished downloading those cool ring-tones
The Toronto Star remains a bastion of the oppressed,downtrodden,dimwits that call Toronto home!
The Saturday edition however is chock full of cooking tips, and all that matters with you're car
In sharp contrast to Sarah Barmack in the Toronto Star, Warner Mackenzie obviously gets it in a piece in the Global Politician, as seen on the link below:
http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3094&cid=11&sid=109
Speaking of lunatic fringe...prime example
THIS lunatic fringe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsSfB4i-DsE
Echoes of the same kind of mentality & talking points (and same source of military hardware for terrorists) only this guy's worse, but classic of said lunatic fringe.
He's also a north korean propagandist on youtube.com
(WARNING-some parts of this montage are considered crude, risque` or downright disgusting to some, so be warned...disgusting slobovian nudity involved).
Sad, and sick...but hey, welcome to the lunatic fringe unhinged and unsanitized, otherwise known as san fransicko.
(if it's too crude to keep up, it's ok if it's removed...I have a more mellow one that will suffice & pass muster-just giving an example of how bad, and sad such entities really are-it's also why they don't have the supporters they wished they had).
Enjoy at your own peril, fellow eeeeevil capitalist imperialist pigs!
authoring his retraction in the underground Egyptian prison where he has been held for much of the last decade.
It seems when criminals spend a whole lot of time in a jail cell, they seem to find the light, and can be found telling the world how sorry they are. Logically that means all muslims should be jailed till they recant their lulst for killing? sarc/off.
What "lunatic fringe"?
I didn't know Islam had a fringe,
live and learn.
Posted by: Joe Schmoe USA
In the West, we have a lunatic fringe. In Islam they have a sane fringe. There lunacy is the mainstream. Remember, Allah began as the moon god.
Let this be a lesson, kids: drugs are bad, mmmkay. They turn you into mush-brained dhimmis.
A Very Short Poem on a Very Long Analysis:
Kak zhe tak?
Glup Barmak.
Um -- bardak.
Vot eto tak.
"Revelations surfaced last week that one of Islamic Jihad's former top leaders is planning to renounce the extremes that define the movement"
I wonder how much money has already been made available for his head and how many Fartwads have been issued calling for it.
If none, then that could indicate the story is false, if true it sure will not resonate as the writer speculates it could.
Jcom972: The very product, and exibit A, of the now-proven theory:
hedonism breeds narcissism breeds paranoia breeds schizophrenia
Thats accurate, but for precision, paranoia 'is' Shizophrenia. There are four main types of schizophrenia, paranoic, hebephrenic, catatonic, simple...sometimes called 'chronic undifferentiated'. What do all these things actually mean???Beats me...Abnormal is described as unable to function in one's enviornment. Muslims are unable to function in any enviornment except the one of their own making. They have to create their enviornment as they expand. If they are not wearing their Allahic armor, they are like a fish out of water. The Ummah, nest/hive/aquarium, is their normality. Thats one reason they have to take over the entire planet. To go anywhere and still be in the Ummah. In an institution, it is not a diagnosis that is treated, it is behavior.
Islamic moderisation, by use of the 'lunatic fringe', may have it's merits if we could get muslims hooked on Thorazine. Somehow I dont think they will go for that since psychoactive drugs are not mentioned in the Quran. So the only thing we can do, is to drive the lunacy back into it's cage and lock the door...throw away the key...
Timur,(second post)
Marijuana is NOT legal in Canada,trust me!
"Remember that marijuana is legal in Canada."
Posted by: Timur
Timur -- This is incorrect.
(I live in Canada.)
The Provisional IRA eschewed violence and declared that its fight would henceforth be carried out in the political arena. Is it possible this woman is thinking the same thing can happen in Islam? Many speak of how George Washington would today be considered a terrorist, but he rebelled against a system and then led a country and today he is a national icon.
She should read her own newspaper. It has two examples of the "moderation" that we can expect from Islamists in Afghanistan and Iraq:
http://www.thestar.com/Special/Afghanistan/article/238577
"We are holding 23 South Koreans, and 18 of them are women," he said, referring to a group of Christian volunteers whose bus was hijacked at gunpoint on Thursday in Ghazni province. "We know that these people have come here to convert our good Muslims away from Islam. If they were not women, we would have killed them on the spot."
(Is this moderation: not killing someone on the spot because she is a woman?)
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/238558
Because of the escalating violence, aid groups find it difficult to help displaced people, or the shattered communities that shelter them, Graber Ladek says, and those who stay are often forced to travel under military escort. If security deteriorates further after a U.S. pullout, there are fears the remaining aid may be halted, and vital services collapse.
Rumor has it that the reason authorities wont legalise pot, is because it blocks the electo-magnetic waves that governments use to mind control the masses. Smoking cannibis has the same effect as wearing a tin foil hat. For double protection, you could do both.
Smoking pot also insulates one from Allah. It cures Allahphrenia, but I know of no muslims who smoke pot. Thats not to say that none do. I wonder if muslim hats of tin foil would sell on E-bay?
After last year's war between Israel and Lebanon, I will never purchase the Toronto Star again. It is blatantly pro-Islam, pro-terrorist and anti-Israel.
The Toronto Star must be the paper of choice for employees of the CBC. 'Nuff said.
Sarah Barmak writes: "..the secret weapon needed to fight the terrorists might just turn out to be the terrorists themselves."
And this is based on the belief that Abdul-Aziz el-Sherif may be writing a "retraction." O wonderful! and why would this be? Could it just possibly arise as a consequence of being tortured by Egyptians on a daily basis? after all, Abdul-Aziz el-Sherif, as the article states, is "in the underground Egyptian prison where he has been held for much of the last decade." So through torture, after 10 years, they've finally gotten him to "re-cant." Wow. That's great news. (/sarc)
Back to the original quote: "..the secret weapon needed to fight the terrorists might just turn out to be the terrorists themselves." yeah, ok, so which "terrorists" are we referring to here? -- the ones who torture inmates? And will this become the new, de-facto standard -- the "secret weapon" if you will -- for the fight against terrorism? O brave new world!
Two observations: 1) this is probably not a "victory" for those fighting against Jihadist Islam. 2) Jihadist Islam isn't going to disappear any time soon.
slightly OT, but in today's Washington Post in the Outlook section are several articles about "Islam". You will not be surprised to see that John Esposito is given article space. His article title: Want to Understand Islam? Start Here" He mentions several books, surprise surprise but none by Mr. Spencer or any other JW author/scholar. Instead, he recommends Karen Armstrong and Tariq Ramadan who "provide fresh, perceptive views on his (Mohammad) modern day relevance." Yeah, modern day like the chador, honor killings, etc. Another snowjob by the mainstream media to show that if you don't "like islam" it's because you are ignorant, uneducated about islam. Just read a couple of books by John, Karen or Tariq and your eyes will be opened to the wonderful world of islam. Tripe.
Why, yes, Ms. Barmak is busy courting the Muslim community. Look what our young miss did before becoming a writer for the Toronto Sun.
http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/1789
The quotes the group attributes to Daniel Pipes are a little hard to refute, so I'm not sure what the big deal is, but that's what kowtowing dhimmis do...try to make everything racial or islamophobic.
Her other campus articles run in the same tenor when discussing things Islamic.
duh_swami
Making up my hat right now!
winoceros (it's Toronto Star, not the sun paper, Barmak works for). Interesting that protest against Daniel Pipes speaking at the U of Toronto. In the letter, Ms. Barmak has no hesitation to mention "tortures in Abu Ghraib prison..." with the usual clucking of tongue, yet in the current article finds it's so "O so dandy!" when it's an Egyptian prison. Typical double standard.
Prison confessions are about as credible as barroom conversions.
The Jihad has its Juggernaut Plan (with apologies to India) and no dissenters will end up anywhere but under its wheels.
Assassinations of moderate Muslims is the given when they challenge the imams seriously.
The West needs to oppose militant Islam, and save the decent Muslims as a side-effect.
The non-extremist Muslims don't have the power to crush their terrorists.
We do, but dither.
(Or those who are paid by our taxes to act, dither, -and endanger us, and fritter away a tremendous "moral" advantage, by not pressing the edge, both as a military and communications Hyper-power, and failing to exploit our strengths.)
"...1400 years of jihadist ideology will be erased by virtue of a single act of conscience?"
Posted by Greg
"Act of conscience" or act of Taqqiya? I'm sure conditions in an "underground Egyptian prison" would be enough to soften up just about anyone. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken but a "renunciation" like this one would be a great opening to the authorities for cutting a prison release deal. Wait for the other shoe to drop.
By the way, Timur, as Josephine has already pointed out to you, Marijuana is NOT legal here in Canada. Being a non-user myself, I frankly couldn't care less and I've lost track of the development of the debate on that issue so I don't know whether the proposal to "decriminalize" it has gone ahead or not, but I do know that this is not the same as "legalization". The simple possession of pot was still illegal under that proposal - punishable by a fine (not sure about any provision for jail time) only not with a criminal record. Possession for the purpose of tracking was to remain in the Criminal Code. But I guess I shouldn't be boring you with these details. Makes no difference anyway - after all, no one smokes pot in the U.S. ;-)
"... for the purpose of tracking" should have been "for the purpose of trafficking". sorry
Speaking of lunatic fringe:
Death Threat on a Sunday Afternoon
Apparently jihadists aren't the only threat to bastards like me.
Aexb...I have been wearing a tin foil cap for years. I painted hair on it so no one would know.
LUNATIC FRINGE Tom Cochrane
Lunatic Fringe
I know you're out there
You're in hiding
And you hold your meetings
We can hear you coming
We know what you're after
We're wise to you this time
We won't let you kill the laughter
Lunatic Fringe
In the twilight's last gleaming
This is open season
But you won't get too far
We know you've got to blame someone
For your own confusion
But we're on guard this time
Against your final solution
We can hear you coming
(We can hear you coming)
No you're not going to win this time
We can hear the footsteps
(We can hear the footsteps)
Way out along the walkway
Lunatic Fringe
We know you're out there
But in these new dark ages
There will still be light
An eye for an eye
Well, before you go under
Can you feel the resistance
Can you feel the....thunder
IQ test: Which of the following items do not belong with the others?
Sunshine, lollipops, rainbows, puppy-dogs, butterflies, Islam.
Honey you haven't seen lunatic fringe.
The more the apologists and appeasers talk the more i am convinced violence is the only thing they can and will acknowledge.
Sane people get deleted and hushed while the wackos get microphones and access to unlimited media.
Send some monsters to the lunatic fringe.It will be all the rage soon enough.
The only real secret weapon is a big stick.
duh-swami;
I have no hair to cover up!
" . . . It could also trickle down to mosques and madrassas in places like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, where terrorist doctrine often incubates."
ISLAMOPHOBE! Didn't you get the memo!?!?!? Islam is a religion of peace!!!
"Could it be that the end of Islamist violence will be brought about by Jihadists themselves?"
Kind of like prostitutes campaigning for celibacy, or???
In the lunatic fringe is the salvation of the world? Wow. If this is now the prevailing view among Western politicians, then we are truly screwed.