December 2009 Archives

For a jihadist, nothing says "Happy New Year" like a few drive-by shootings! "Six killed in new attacks in Thai south: police," from AFP, December 31 (thanks to Maxwell):

PATTANI, Thailand -- Suspected Islamist militants killed two soldiers and four civilians in drive-by shootings in the latest violence to rock Thailand's insurgency-hit south, police said Thursday.

More than 4,000 people have been killed and thousands more wounded since a separatist rebellion erupted nearly six years ago in Thailand's troubled provinces bordering Malaysia.

Two members of the rangers security force and a Buddhist civilian were killed Thursday in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat province by suspected insurgents who also took the troops' assault rifles, police said.

Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead a 42-year-old villager as he drove home in neighbouring Pattani province, also on Thursday, said police.

On Wednesday, motorbike-riding attackers killed a 49-year-old assistant to a village chief in Pattani at a local tea shop, police said.

An hour later a district chief aged 45 was shot dead by gunmen in a pick-up truck while he was driving home from a meeting in Pattani. The shooting also injured two villagers....

And once again Muslim authorities refused to act against the Islamic supremacists. Islamic Tolerance Alert: "Church screening of 'Jesus' film attacked in Pakistan," from The Christian Messenger, December 29 (thanks to Winoceros):

AS many as 50 Muslim villagers armed with clubs and axes recently attacked a showing of the 'Jesus' film near Sargodha, Pakistan, injuring three part-time evangelists and four Christians in attendance.

Two of the evangelists were said to be seriously injured. The Muslim hardliners also damaged a movie projector, burned reels of the film and absconded with the public address system and donations from Christian viewers in Chak village, about 10 kilometers northeast of Sargodha.

Officers at the Saddr police station refused to register a case against the Muslim assailants, sources said....

The evangelists said a Muslim cleric instigated the Muslim villagers, who were armed with clubs, spades and axes.

Clearly this Muslim cleric was a Misunderstander of the Religion of Peace and Tolerance™.

Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren Asks for Urgent Donations

"With 10 percent of our church family out of work due to the recession, our expenses in caring for our community in 2009 rose dramatically while our income stagnated," says Rick Warren.

Say, Rick, if you're that hard up, why don't you ask your pals the Saudis for some cash?

Rick Warren to address Hamas-linked, Muslim Brotherhood-linked unindicted co-conspirators

Rick Warren in Inauguration prayer: "You are the compassionate, the merciful one..."

Prominent evangelical pastor Rick Warren not sure what he apologized to Muslims for

Purpose-driven dhimmitude

They reject "any literature except the Koran," recalling the immortal phrase attributed to the Caliph Umar (but probably apocryphal), on the occasion of the burning of the library of Alexandria: "If the book agree with the Koran, they are superfluous. If they disagree with the Koran, they are heretical."

"70 dead in clashes in northern Nigeria: Morgue," from AFP, December 30 (thanks to Pamela):

BAUCHI: Dozens more bodies were recovered after violent clashes between security forces and Islamists in northern Nigeria, bringing the death toll to around 70, a count at a hospital morgue showed on Wednesday.

An AFP reporter listed 42 bodies on the floor of the morgue in the city of Bauchi, all with bullet or machete wounds. Another 25 bodies, mostly young people including minors, had been placed in cold storage rooms.

A morgue employee told AFP "the bodies were brought in on Monday" after clashes erupted in Bauchi between suspected members of a radical Islamist sect and security forces.

Police late Monday said 38 people died in the fighting, including three members of the security forces.

Police forces across Africa's most populous country have been placed on high alert in the aftermath of the clashes as part of a bid to forestall further violence.

The Kala-Kato sect, also known as Maitatsine, has been present in several Muslim-dominated states in northern Nigeria for decades.

It led religious uprisings in 1980 and 1992 which claimed thousands of lives in the northern cities of Kano and Yola.

The number of its followers is not known but estimated to run into several thousands....

The Kala-Kato sect rejects modernity, including Western-style education and medicine. It bans television and radio in its members' homes and rejects any literature except the Koran....

Opposing jihad is racism

Of course, we know that all Albanian Muslims are modern, moderate and secular, and so this guy doubtless had some other motive. And maybe he did. But it must be admitted that there is an unusually high correlation between Islamic faith and people who just seem to "snap" and commit random acts of violence. "Finland Mall Rampage: Gunman's Body Found," from SkyNews, December 31:

Police have found the body of a gunman who killed five people in a city near the Finnish capital of Helsinki.

Ibrahim Shkupolli shot dead three men and a woman at a shopping centre in Espoo.

Officers also found the body of a woman in a nearby flat.

It is understood she was the 43-year-old killer's partner and worked at the Sello centre.

Police could not say whether she was killed before or after the gun rampage.

Officers later found the gunman's body.

Shkupolli had a criminal record for firearms offences and was thought to have used a 9mm handgun in the attacks.

Emergency services were called to the mall after shots were heard soon after 10am local time.

Reports said a lone gunman dressed in black had walked through the mall randomly firing at shoppers....

This is the group that held a conference attended by the Flight 253 jihadist.

"Houston-based group hawked Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki's cds even after Ft. Hood massacre, Undie-bomber attended their "Ilmfest" conference," from The Jawa Report, December 31:

What a small world it is when it comes to domestic terror. CNN reported yesterday that NWA Flight 253 Undie-bomber Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab attended the 16-day "Ilmfest" in Houston sponsored by the Al Maghrib Institute in August 2008 and two other Al Maghrib seminars in London before that (HT: JihadWatch). Al Maghrib trots out Yasir Qadhi to claim he's shocked, SHOCKED! to see a terrorist associated with their organization (except, oops!, so was convicted terrorist Daniel Maldonado).

But we can report exclusively at the Jawa Report that Qadhi's Houston-based Ilmquest was selling more than a dozen different CD sets by none other than Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki as recently as last month. Ilmquest continued to hawk Awlaki's wares even after the Ft. Hood massacre, but scrubbed any mention of Awlaki from their site as soon as he was connected to the Ft. Hood incident. Ah, but thanks to Google cache, they couldn't hide all the evidence. A screenshot of Ilmquest's Awlaki offerings is below the fold.

You can find that at Jawa.

Yes, these fine moderate Muslims just happen to be selling CD sets of an Al-Qaeda cleric, and a would-be terrorist attends their events on two different continents and just happens to end up meeting that same Al-Qaeda cleric in Yemen. Will these random coincidences never stop!!!!????

And CNN informs us that Yasir Qadhi was a featured speaker at the U.S. Counter-Radicalization Strategy conference organized by the National Counterterrorism Center in the summer of 2008. The same NCTC that epicly failed to connect the dots on AbdulMutallab.

OK, we're all going to die.

(Ilmquest's Awlaki offerings below the fold, click for a larger image, and thanks to Howie for the graphic magic.)

UPDATE: OK, I can't resist. Here's is the NCTC's "moderate" de-radicalization expert Yasir Qadhi preaching Holocaust denial:

Read it all!

Rocket launcher? Check. Jihadist writings? Check. But no worries -- the Feds found no ties to terrorism!

Keystone Kops Alert from Houston: "Rocket Launcher Found In Apartment: No Charges Filed," from Click2Houston.com, December 31 (thanks to Rich):

HOUSTON -- Police went to a southwest Houston apartment to break up a disturbance but ended up finding something else, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.

A woman called police on Monday and said a man was forcing his way into her apartment in the 5300 block of Elm Street.

When officers went inside, they found something that made them concerned enough to call the bomb squad.

They found an AT-4 shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. It can shoot a missile nearly 1,000 feet through buildings and tanks.

"It gives infantrymen the advantage with an ultra-light weapon that can stop vehicles, armored vehicles as well as main battle tanks and fortifications," said Oscar Saldivar of Top Brass Military and Tactical on the North Freeway.

That type of rocket launcher has been used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The renter of the apartment didn't want to talk to KPRC Local 2.

"This is my house," the woman said. " Get away from here. I don't want to talk to nobody."

The woman did tell police that the rocket launcher belonged to Nabilaye I. Yansane, someone whom she allowed to store items at her apartment.

Police records show that she didn't want Yansane at her apartment, so she called them.

According to court documents, officers also found Jihadist writings that allegedly belonged to Yansane. The woman didn't want to talk to KPRC Local 2 about that, either.

"I don't know," she said. "You'll have to ask the police."

Yansane was charged with criminal trespassing and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to three days in jail, which he has already served. No charges related to the rocket launcher or writings were filed.

"Other people could have had access to the apartment, so maybe if a rocket launcher was located there, as is stated in the offense report, maybe it belonged to somebody else," attorney Garl Polland said.

Prosecutors said there are no state charges for having the unarmed launcher or possessing Jihadist writings, unless they contain some type of threat.

The former director of Houston's FBI office said rocket launchers can be dangerous if they're in the wrong hands.

No kidding, really?

"I don't know any other use for those weapons except in combat," Don Clark said. "I've had them in combat, used them in combat. That's what they are used for."

Houston police said they did a thorough investigation and did not find any ties to terrorists or a terrorist network.

What a relief!

Those Christian extremists again, no doubt. "Molotov Cocktail Found In Downtown Parking Garage," from CBS3.com, December 30 (thanks to Pamela):

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Philadelphia Police are investigating the discovery of a Molotov cocktail along with anti-Israeli books inside a Center City parking garage.

The discovery was made at about 2:00 p.m. Wednesday inside a garage located at Callowhill and N. 16th Streets. The garage is in close proximity to the office of the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices.

Police initially responded to a report of a man sleeping next to a suspicious device in the office of the parking garage.

"Before the police arrived, the male left the property. He left behind a Molotov cocktail and literature," Captain Dennis Wilson explained.

Investigators said the man left behind anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian books and documentation, along with an Arabic dictionary....

Captain Wilson said they know exactly who the individual is because he left behind his laptop and his identification....

So far, no arrests have been made.

Why not, if you know who the dude is?

Until just before he embarked upon his great jihad. "Yemen: Visa of Nigerian Would-Be-Bomber Expired," from AP, December 31:

SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- The Nigerian suspected in the attempted attack on a U.S. airliner had stayed on in Yemen illegally after his visa expired three months ago and should have been stopped by authorities from leaving the country, Yemeni security officials said Thursday.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab spent time in Yemen on two occasions before the attempted Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight.

Yemeni officials said Abdulmutallab's student visa for Yemen, where he studied Arabic at a local language institute, was valid from Aug. 4 to Sept. 21.

After his visa expired, the 23-year-old stayed on in Yemen until the first week in December, they said, but his whereabouts in the country is unknown....

''We arranged a taxi to take him to the airport on Sept. 21 and we said goodbye,'' school director Muhammad al-Anisi told The Associated Press. ''Our responsibility toward him ended that day.''...

Of course. No one has any responsibility for this guy.

"A 'warning' to force the mass exodus of Christians."

"Christian student kidnapped by Islamic group in Mosul," from Asia News, December 30 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Mosul (AsiaNews) - A Christian girl was kidnapped by an Islamic group while at university. The girl, Sarah Edmond Youhanna, attended the first year of the faculty of education at the University of Mosul. The kidnapping occurred on 28 December. The kidnappers had telephoned the family of the girl and said they were members of an Islamic group. The police have opened an investigation and arrested some students. The event has spread an atmosphere of panic among the many Christian girls who attend the university. In the past, Islamist groups have attacked Christian college girls throwing acid on them because they were wearing makeup or not wearing the veil. Over the past two months in Mosul four churches and a convent of Dominican nuns have been targeted in attacks, several Christian and Muslim homes have been destroyed. Five Christians have been murdered, others are victims of kidnappings. According to the Christian authorities such attacks are targeted and are part of a project of "ethnic cleansing" against the Christian community throughout Iraq.

AsiaNews sources in a city confirm that all these attacks and kidnappings are a "warning" to force the mass exodus of Christians. "The families who have fled to the north, Kurdistan - has confirmed the source - have no work, nor life perspectives. The Christian community is destined to die. "

Thwarting a supremacist power play by the increasingly Islamic government. The government insulted its own constituents' intelligence by claiming that The Herald's use of "Allah" (as has been used in Arabic-speaking lands well before Islam) would confuse Muslims. Of course, the true meaning of the gesture was to portray the non-Muslims' claim to authentic worship of the one, true deity as invalid or tainted. Yes, Qur'an 29:46 says "Our Allah and your Allah is One, and unto Him we surrender," but it is a one-way line of discourse, in a manner in which a non-Muslim would be prohibited under Islamic law from preaching to a Muslim.

An update on this story. "Malaysia court rules right to use the word 'Allah' ," from Agence France-Presse, December 31 (thanks to Twostellas):

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's high court ruled Thursday that a Catholic paper had the right to use the word "Allah" after a long-running dispute between the government and the weekly in the Muslim-majority nation.

The ruling overturns the government's controversial threat to cancel The Herald's annual publishing permit.

"The applicant has the constitutional right to use the word 'Allah'," Judge Lau Bee Lan told a packed courtroom, declaring the government's ban on the paper's use of the word "illegal, null and void".

The weekly used the word "Allah" as a translation for "God" in its Malay-language section but the government argued "Allah" should be used only by Muslims.

Lau said the home ministry, which licenses all newspapers in the country, had taken into account "irrelevant considerations" when making the paper's publishing permit conditional on it not using the word.

She said it had shown no evidence that the use of the word by Christians was "a threat to national security".

The Herald's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, said he was pleased with the decision and the paper would use the word 'Allah' in its upcoming Sunday edition.

"This also means that... the Christian faith can now continue to freely use the word 'Allah'... without any interference from the authorities," he added.

Government lawyers have not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling.

The Herald is printed in four languages, with a circulation of 14,000 copies a week in a country with about 850,000 Catholics.

The court case was among a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being "Islamised". ....

The reason this keeps happening is, of course, the shared goal among jihadist movements to impose Islamic law. Pakistan raid kills 'Arab, Sudan fighters'," from Agence France-Presse, December 31 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

AFP - Pakistan commandos raided a private hospital before dawn in a Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border Thursday, killing four foreign militants and a woman, officials said.

Troops laid siege to the private clinic in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, at 2:00am (2100 GMT) sparking gun battles until around 7:00am (0200 GMT), local administration and intelligence officials said.

A security official said the raid followed a tip off that wounded militants were brought to the hospital from Sherwangi, a Taliban-dominated area where Pakistan has been pressing a major offensive.

"Commandos and security forces raided the hospital. Militants fired on the troops and in the gunfight, which lasted more than four hours, four militants and a woman were killed, while 22 others were arrested," said the official.

"One soldier was also injured. The three dead militants appear to be Arabs and one of Sudanese origin," the official added.

The identity of the woman was not initially clear, the official said.

An intelligence official and a local administrator confirmed the raid and deaths of four foreign militants, but said their identities were not immediately clear. The intelligence official said 27 suspects were arrested.

South Waziristan is part of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border that Washington has branded the most dangerous region in the world and a chief sanctuary of Al-Qaeda plotting attacks on the West.

And he still ended up becoming a Misunderstander of Islam! "Terror suspect attended 2008 Islamic 'knowledge fest' in Houston," from CNN, December 30:

(CNN) -- The man accused of trying to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day attended an Islamic "Knowledge Fest" in Houston, Texas, in 2008, according to one of the organizers of the event.

Yasir Qadhi, who was an instructor at "Ilm Fest," said the 16-day conference organized by the Al Maghrib Institute was a series of courses and workshops to teach young Muslims "the nuts and bolts of Islam."

Suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab attended some of the classes that Qadhi taught during the event, which ran from August 1 to 17, 2008.

"He was a very quiet individual, tight-lipped and shy, and he did not ask a single question during the discussions," Qadhi said in an exclusive interview with CNN. "He barely interacted with the other students at the conference."

AbdulMutallab was not a visible presence during the conference and did not attend all the sessions, recalled Qadhi.

Qadhi recalls speaking to AbdulMutallab and remembers that he was "very reserved in his responses."

AbdulMutallab also attended two seminars organized by the Al Maghrib Institute in London in the months before the event in Houston, Qadhi said.

One of the events was on the life of the Prophet Mohammed, and the other course was on the first chapter of the Koran.

"This was mainstream Islamic stuff," said Qadhi....

Qadhi, of New Haven, Connecticut, has been involved in de-radicalization efforts in the United States and was a leading participant in the U.S. Counter-Radicalization Strategy conference organized by the National Counterterrorism Center in the summer of 2008.

"It's ironic that he came to us," said Qadhi of AbdulMutallab....

In "Europe's looming demise" in the Washington Times today, Pamela Geller discusses a little-noticed initiative that could open the floodgates for jihad in Europe:

Come Jan. 1, 2010, a disastrous and suicidal pact called the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Europe/Mediterranean) goes into effect with little fanfare or examination. It boggles the mind that such a consequential and seismic cultural shift could be mandated and put into play without so much as a murmur from the mainstream media.

Why should Americans care about this? Americans have to care because this global gobbledygook is coming to our shores, thanks to our globalist president.

The European human rights group called Stop the Islamization of Europe (SIOE) has been working tirelessly to expose the mass Muslim immigration plan of the Euro-Med Partnership....

The goal of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation is to create a new Greater European Union encompassing both Europe and North Africa, with the Mediterranean Sea becoming a domestic Eurabian sea. The goal is to establish a "comprehensive political partnership," including a "free trade area and economic integration"; "considerably more money for the partners" (that is, more European money flowing into North Africa); and "cultural partnership" - that is, importation of Islamic culture into post-Christian Europe.

According to the SIOE, in the Euro-Med plan "Europe is to be islamized. Democracy, Christianity, European culture and Europeans are to be driven out of Europe. Fifty million North Africans from Muslim countries are to be imported into the EU."

Skeptical? It's already happening. The British newspaper the Daily Express reported in October 2008 on "a controversial taxpayer-funded 'job centre' " that opened in Mali at that time as "just the first step towards promoting 'free movement of people in Africa and the EU.' Brussels economists claim Britain and other EU states will 'need' 56 million immigrant workers between them by 2050 to make up for the 'demographic decline' due to falling birthrates and rising death rates across Europe."

To offset this decline, a "blue card" system is to be created that will allow card holders to travel freely within the European Union and have full rights to work - as well as the full right to collect welfare benefits.

A Muslim population from Africa moving freely into Europe threatens America. On Christmas Day, a Nigerian Muslim flew from Amsterdam to Detroit and tried to explode a bomb on the plane - after he was allowed to board the plane without a passport. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership will make jihad attacks like this one all the easier....

Like so many European Union initiatives, much of the EuroMed Partnership is shrouded in secrecy. For example, it's not clear what will happen, if anything, on January 1, 2010 that isn't happening already. The official website shows a thriving concern. And contrary to reports I've received that this initiative has stalled or has met widespread opposition from Arab states, the EuroMed initiative seems to be galloping along now: this ANSAmed index shows -- just in the last year -- EuroMed activities involving numerous European entities in Gaza, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and elsewhere. The official EuroMed website lists these as the "countries concerned" -- showing a rather idiosyncratic idea of what constitutes the Mediterranean area: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia & Herzegovinia, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, "Occupied Palestinian Territories," Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey.

The EuroMed effort is proceeding quickly. ANSAmed reported on December 4 that "the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) has been created. Representatives of regional and local bodies in the Euro-Mediterranean area have in fact decided to meet for the first time in Barcelona, on January 21." Nor do they plan just to get acquainted: one undated but recent ANSAmed piece announces a summit meeting in Brussels of trade ministers from 43 countries in the Mediterranean area, and states: "The final objective is to adopt a road map of concrete actions that will intensify the region's economic integration and launch trade and investments, to achieve a common area of free trade with a long-term horizon beyond 2010."

That common area of free trade will, as Pamela discusses, allow for easy passage from Muslim North Africa and the Middle East into Europe -- with nary an effort made to prevent jihadists from coming into Europe. And once safely in Europe, it will not be hard for them to come to America. As Pamela points out, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, arriving in Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day, could be just the first of many. And the ones who come after him may have been enabled to do so by the Euro-Med Partnership.

"And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world." "U.S. Probes Cleric's Tie to Jetliner Bomb Plot," by Evan Perez, Margaret Coker, and Siobhan Gorman for the Wall Street Journal, December 31 (thanks to Maxwell):

WASHINGTON -- Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born Yemeni cleric who has surfaced in multiple terror probes, is emerging as a central part of the Christmas Day airline bomber investigation, as authorities focus attention on a network of extremists in Yemen who may have helped radicalize the young Nigerian accused in the failed plot. [...]

Mr. Awlaki has rocketed to prominence this year because of his role as Internet-based spiritual guide aiding the radicalization of a new generation of Islamist extremists.

Mr. Awlaki was in contact with an Army psychiatrist charged in a shooting spree last month at Fort Hood Army base in Texas.

Mr. Awlaki was among the targets in recent attacks by Yemeni security forces, with U.S. support, against al Qaeda operations in Yemen. Family members have dismissed initial reports that he was killed and his whereabouts are unknown.

Part of Mr. Awlaki's appeal, say U.S. officials and terrorism experts, is his ability to act as a bridge between the predominantly Arab leaders of al Qaeda and willing potential jihadists in the West.

He preached at a mosque in Northern Virginia until 2002, when he left the U.S. to spend time building a following in the U.K., before returning to Yemen in 2004.

He has communicated with potential recruits through Internet Web sites and social-networking sites such as Facebook.

On his own blog, Mr. Awlaki wrote in October that Yemen was about to become a key player in global jihad. "And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world."...

He sure found an interesting, if not novel, way to do that. As noted earlier today, every Muslim group that ever had anything to do with the Flight 253 jihadist is trying to make sure that no one gets the idea that he was "radicalized" among them. Islamic school officials in Houston are scratching their heads, not sure whether or not he attended the school. And in Nigeria, they've never seen al-Qaeda and are all moderates. At his London mosque, they're shocked! Shocked! And now in Yemen, they're shocked as well.

"Devout student showed no extremist side," by Andrew England in the Financial Times, December 30 (thanks to James):

[...] For about a month until the end of September, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused of trying to destroy a passenger jet over Detroit, was a student at Sana'a Institute for Arabic Language.

Students are asking how a man they knew as a friendly colleague could be at the centre of a failed terrorism plot. The man described by students as "nice", if a shade introverted, was hailed as a "martyrdom-seeking brother" by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni-based group that has claimed responsibility for the failed attack.

"This man was here studying Arabic. He did not have a bad idea about anyone, American or British," says Ahmed Mujab, a teacher at the institute. "There was nothing strange about him."

Matthew Salmon, a Canadian who shared a student apartment with the Nigerian for just more than two weeks, says he was devout but gave no indication of being an extremist.

"He was passionate about his faith," says Mr Salmon, adding that his message was to bring "peace and brotherhood to the world through Islam".

Mr Abdulmutallab, who had also spent a year at the institute from 2004 to 2005, was "amiable and forgettable at the same time", someone who regularly attended prayers but stayed in his room when at home.

When the pair discussed religion, Mr Abdulmutallab would encourage his Canadian colleague to think about joining him at the mosque....

Mr Abdulmutallab was in Yemen from August until early December, according to officials. "It was a shock when we all found out," says Mr Salmon, adding that students felt a sense of "fear that we had lived with someone who is willing to do that"....

How, oh how could it have happened?

Obama believes essentially the same thing: that the jihad is a response to various actions of the West, which if we stop doing, all will be well. In line with this assumption, Paul apparently thinks that the Flight 253 jihad attack was a response to U.S. airstrikes in Yemen. However, according to an unnamed source in the White House quoted by Jake Tapper at ABC News (thanks to Benedict), the Flight 253 jihadist had set his plot in motion before the airstrike. And it certainly seems that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had his mind on jihad for years.

Also, the idea that occupation causes terrorism ignores, as always, the fact that the jihadists may hate us for reasons of their own, arising from their own belief system and ideology, and not dependent upon our actions at all. Oh, and who is occupying Yemen again?

(Video thanks to all who sent it in.)

Just another day in Afghanistan. When more troops arrive there, this may slack off for awhile. Then, when the circumstances are right, it will pick up again. "Afghanistan suicide bombing kills 8 American civilians," by Paul Richter for the Los Angeles Times, December 30 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Reporting from Washington - Eight American civilians were killed today when a lone suicide bomber struck a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

The attack, which took place at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khowst province, also injured an undisclosed number of civilians, the officials said. No military personnel from U.S. or North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces were killed or injured in the attack, they said....

Every Muslim group that ever had anything to do with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is trying to make sure that no one gets the idea that he learned jihad from them. School officials are not sure whether or not the Flight 253 jihadist went to an Islamic school in Houston. And in Nigeria, they've never seen al-Qaeda and are all moderates. And now we hear the same thing from his London mosque.

"London Mosque 'Appalled' By Terrorist Attack," from the Daily Express, December 29 (thanks to Twostellas):

THE mosque that Abdulmutallab was reported to have visited in Britain distanced itself from the terrorist attack yesterday....

Mosque secretary Ayub Khan said: "The mosque condemns in the strongest possible terms the alleged attempt to blow up a transatlantic airliner in the USA."

He added that the mosque "is appalled that it should be associated with such heinous acts".

However, he said the public mosque was visited by 20,000 people a year and so "cannot comment on whether this individual came".

Abdulmutallab studied mechanical engineering at University College London from 2005 to 2008.

Last night, a college spokesman said that "quietly spoken" Abdulmutallab "never gave his tutors any cause for concern".

Qur'an 4:34: "Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them."

No matter how apologists attempt to spin the beatings as a last resort (as if it would be acceptable then), the bottom line is that Allah says a man can hit the women under his control. These are the consequences of the letter and spirit of the law.

"Report: 77% of Gaza women face violence," by Rachel Kliger for The Media Line, December 29 (thanks to Don):

The vast majority of women in Gaza face violence of varying types, a new survey has found.

The study, by the Gaza-based Palestinian Women's Information and Media Center, found that violence against women in Gaza has increased since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in the June 2007 coup and Israel subsequently imposed restrictions on the coastal enclave.

The study found that 77.1% of Gazan women have experienced violence of various sorts, with almost half experiencing violence of more than one type.

A quarter of the women said they do not feel safe in their own homes because of violence and more than a third said they were unable to fight back as they had more urgent priorities to deal with.

7% of the women surveyed said they had encountered verbal violence, 71% mental violence, 52% physical violence and more than 14% sexual violence.

"I think the levels [of violence] are higher than they were in the Gaza Strip in previous years and compared to other countries, the rates are certainly higher," Huda Hamouda, Director of the PWIC told The Media Line. "It's hard to imagine a family living in dignity when seven family members are living on less than three dollars a day."

"Many say they suffer from disrespect and deprecation," Hamouda said. "There's also domestic violence, which is committed by relatives such as the father, the brother or the husband."

Even this, Hamouda tries to pin on Israel. But it wasn't Israel who put verse 4:34 in the Qur'an; there are also similar statistics for domestic abuse elsewhere in the Muslim world. Did Israel do that, too?

School officials are not sure whether or not the Flight 253 jihadist went to an Islamic school in Houston. And in Nigeria, they've never seen al-Qaeda anywhere, no sir, nowhere. Nobody here but us moderates!

Everyone, in other words, is trying to make sure that no one gets the idea that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab learned jihad anywhere near them. "Nigeria: No Al-Qaeda in Country - Islamic Scholars," by Abbas Jimoh for the Daily Trust, December 29 (thanks to James):

Some Islamic scholars in Nigeria yesterday dismissed allegations that Al Qaeda exists in Nigeria following the alleged attempt by 23 year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to bomb a United States passenger plane on Christmas day.

The scholars, who spoke to Daily Trust in separate interviews, said Nigerians are not terrorists, even as they urged the relevant security agencies to investigate the matter dispassionately.

Malam Abdulfattah Adeyemi, an Abuja-based Islamic Scholar, said, "I want to say confidently that there is no connection between the accused and any religious group in Nigeria. We are a nation that is focused. We are at the phase of rebranding and trying to move the nation forward."

"Rebranding," eh? Does Adeyemi mean by that that they're going to knock off the church-burnings and murdering of Christians?

On Farouk Umaru Mutallab's involvement, Adeyemi said: "We cannot say for sure what is responsible for the problem, but I will suggest that the matter should be thoroughly investigated and people should avoid passing comments that will bring disgrace to the nation and should equally refrained from wrongfully pointing accusing fingers to anyone when investigations have not been carried out or concluded."

Dr Taofik Abdulazeez, the Imam of University of Abuja said Nigerians should take the news with extreme caution and asked the authorities not to rush into actions without sufficient information.

He said, "There may be a connection between extreme economic prosperity of some people and extreme poverty of some and certain tendency such as violence and other tendencies such as this may not be located among the poor...."

How's that again?

Funny how he thinks political dissent equals rejection of Islam. You'd almost think Islam was somehow political. "Iranian Cleric Calls Opposition 'Enemies of God,'" from VOA News, December 29 (thanks to James):

An Iranian cleric close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei says the country's opposition leaders are "enemies of God" who could be executed according to Islamic law.

The statement by Ayatollah Abbas Vaez Tabasi came Tuesday as opposition groups reported the arrests of more activists following Sunday's anti-government protests that left eight people dead.

At least 20 high-profile opposition figures or their associates have been detained since Sunday.

Among them are the brother-in-law of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and the sister of Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi. Dubai TV also says its reporter in Tehran has been missing since Sunday....

Actually they're -- you guessed it! -- whining about a possible "backlash." This whole article is absurd, however, since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab did not try to blow up Flight 253 because he was Nigerian, but because he was Muslim and believed it his religious duty to wage war against Infidels. But apparently the Times was tired of writing about fears of a backlash against Muslims when one never materializes, and so they gave a new twist to an old story angle by worrying about a backlash against Nigerians instead. The Muslim angle does come in, but not until late in the story.

"'Shocked' Nigerians in U.S. Express Fears of Guilt by Association After Arrest," by Mary M. Chapman for the New York Times, December 29 (thanks to Bill):

DETROIT -- When news broke on Christmas Day that a young Nigerian man had been arrested in a thwarted terrorist attack aboard a jetliner bound for the airport here, Joseph Ajiri, a Nigerian-born entrepreneur who lives in the suburb of Oak Park, was tucking into steaming servings of foofoo, moi-moi and other traditional Nigerian dishes with about a dozen friends and relatives.

Edwin Dyke, founder of the Nigerian Foundation of Michigan, said, "This isn't like our people."

"We just had some people here for Christmas dinner, then all of a sudden this comes on TV," Mr. Ajiri said. "It was regretful that he was Nigerian, but that didn't make us any more angry. We were all very happy that the explosion didn't take place, that he wasn't successful."...

"We want to tell Homeland Security and the federal government that we are sorry about what happened," Dr. Dyke said, "that this isn't like our people, that we believe this is an isolated incident but that we will keep our ears open."...

Salewa Ola, a Nigerian who founded the Detroit-based United African Community Organization, emphasized that the plane attack was "not what our community stands for."

"We are shocked and embarrassed," Dr. Ola said. "This has given all of us a black eye."

Relatives have said that Mr. Abdulmutallab, who is from a Muslim family, was particularly devout, even as a child.

But that tells us nothing, eh?

Twenty percent of Nigerians living in Michigan are Muslim, Dr. Dyke said. But Kamol Bello, a Detroit resident who is a Nigerian Muslim and has lived in the United States for 20 years, was quick to disassociate the religion from what occurred on Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

"A truly religious person would not do that," Mr. Bello said, adding that Muslims he knew did not think Mr. Abdulmutallab "is Muslim or Christian because no true religion teaches" someone to ignite an explosive aboard a plane.

"That's just crazy ideology," Mr. Bello said.

All right, Mr. Bello. Then how did Abdulmutallab, a devout Muslim since childhood, misunderstand Islam so drastically? And what are you doing to prevent such misunderstandings in the future?

Nothing -- just worrying about a phantom backlash:

Even so, Mr. Ajiri and several other Nigerians living in and around Detroit said they expected prejudicial fallout from the attack and from an incident on the same flight two days later in which a Nigerian man spent a long time in the plane's lavatory, arousing the suspicion of fellow passengers, flight attendants and an air marshal and setting off security alerts as the plane landed. It turned out that the man had simply been ill.

"Profiling? When you look at 9/11 and what happened with the Arabic community, we cannot expect anything different," Mr. Ajiri said. "It is just unfortunate that one individual is going to ruin reputations for the rest of the Nigerians. When we travel now, the system will make us pay, and I don't feel good about it."...

Lekan Oguntoyinbo, a Nigerian who used to live in Detroit and now lives in Columbia, Mo., said Mr. Abdulmutallab's nationality would heighten suspicions of all Nigerians.

"Nigerians have had a horrible reputation with the authorities of this country for importing drugs and for things like Internet fraud," said Mr. Oguntoyinbo, an assistant professor of journalism at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo. "I think this incident on Christmas not only makes us incredibly more suspect, but also positions Nigerians as enemies of the state. When you're trying to blow up a plane, the dynamics of perception change a great deal."...

No kidding, really?

They're just not sure, you see. They have so very many students. But don't worry: even if Abdulmutallab did attend a class or two there, they teach about "reclaiming Islam from jihadists, focusing specifically on the issue of preventing terrorism." So he could not, repeat, could not, have learned his jihadism in Houston. Got that?

If that is so, then Shaykh Waleed Basyouni should have no problem releasing his books and curricula for public inspection...right?

"Houston school checking possible link to terror suspect," by Susan Carroll and Mary Flood for the Houston Chronicle, December 29 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

A leader of a Houston Islamic educational institution said Tuesday that the organization is investigating a report that the Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day attended classes here last year.

Shaykh Waleed Basyouni, vice president for the AlMaghrib Institute in Houston and imam of the Clear Lake Islamic Center, said he has asked staffers to look into a report that 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had attended classes in Houston during a trip to the U.S....

A Houston FBI spokeswoman had no comment on whether the suspect may have attended an Islamic class in Houston in 2008.

As word spread that Abdulmutallab might have attended the institute, Basyouni asked for patience as members of the staff comb through class rolls, saying "we have a very, very large student body."

And apparently no computers.

The international institute is a nonprofit that teaches Islamic studies. It has a student body totaling more than 20,000, Basyouni said, and conducts seminars in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

Many classes are held over double weekends, which could account for a stay in Houston of two weeks in August 2008....

Basyouni said the institute teaches students to protect and care for their countries, and to "be a good citizen." He said he recently lectured on reclaiming Islam from jihadists, focusing specifically on the issue of preventing terrorism.

"It's just sad to see people so radicalized to that extent," he said....

Yes, so very sad, Basyouni!

Evidence of a coordinated plan? "Officials: Somali Tried to Board Flight With Explosives Last Month," from AP, December 30 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A man tried to board a commercial airliner in Mogadishu last month carrying powdered chemicals, liquid and a syringe that could have caused an explosion in a case bearing chilling similarities to the terrorist plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The Somali man -- whose name has not yet been released -- was arrested by African Union peacekeeping troops before the Nov. 13 Daallo Airlines flight took off. It had been scheduled to travel from Mogadishu to the northern Somali city of Hargeisa, then to Djibouti and Dubai. A Somali police spokesman, Abdulahi Hassan Barise, said the suspect is in Somali custody.

"We don't know whether he's linked with al-Qaida or other foreign organizations, but his actions were the acts of a terrorist. We caught him red-handed," said Barise....

Here are three photos from the "Gaza Freedom March" in Toronto on December 27. The top one, of the chappie with the flag of the jihad terrorist group Hizballah, comes from Shalom Life, where in "Hizbollah Flag in Downtown Toronto," Jonathan Dahoah Halevi (translation by Elad Benari) gives a useful account of the demonstration.

The other two photos come from Lumpy, Grumpy and Frumpy, where there are many more. The two here show pro-Palestinian demonstrators giving the Nazi salute, and Blazing Cat Fur explains the significance of the second one:

Something caught my eye in one of her photos which I posted below, notice the "flag staff", it reads "Palestine House". I guess Nazi Ideology is part of the curriculum taught in their " language instruction and lebensraum immigrant settlement programs". You know, the ones your taxes pay for.

This is taken from NGO Monitor's submission to the CPCCA posted below.

•Palestine House Educational (PHE) (Mississauga, Ontario): PHE received $747,314 from the Canadian government in 2008-9 for language instruction ; and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has two agreements totaling over $3 million through 2010 for language instruction and immigrant settlement.

There is more. Read it all. Also, the great Shaidle was there.

David Yerushalmi charts one aspect of "the baneful work of...Western imams and their infidel advisers in business suits."

"Shariah finance: The deadly Jihadist weapon with a dollar sign," by David Yerushalmi in the Washington Examiner, December 30:

News of the recent financial meltdown of Dubai World -- a quasi-sovereign global concern that owns 77 percent of the international port manager DP World and the single largest real estate developer in Dubai known for its palm-tree shaped luxury residential developments -- raced from the business pages to the headlines of the front pages in a matter of days.

Since the first reports on Thanksgiving, the Wall Street Journal and just about every other major media outlet reported extensively on the worldwide implications of this latest financial shock wave.

What makes this story more than simply one of a massive real estate investment company gone bad is the double-edged sword so prevalent in the chase for oil-based Middle East wealth: Sovereign wealth funds and Shariah-compliant finance.

Beginning in the 1970s with the Carter-era oil embargo and accelerating during the post-9/11 $100+ oil price spikes, Persian Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates' wealthiest city-state of Abu Dhabi have been awash in liquidity. And, these trillion-dollar cash reserves are controlled in every case by the respective royal families, typically in sovereign or quasi-sovereign wealth funds.

Another phenomenon that followed the great oil rush of the post-9/11 era was the promotion and aggressive exportation of the Muslim Brotherhood doctrine of SCF.

The concept of SCF was articulated by men like Sayyid Qutb of Egypt and Abul Ala Maududi of Pakistan in the mid-20th century, both of whom argued for a Jihad against Westernization, and the creation of Islamic polities that would ultimately join in a hegemonic worldwide caliphate. The goal was that of establishing Shariah not merely as the supreme law of the land, but as the supreme law of the world.

In the post-9/11 era, Western imams and their infidel advisers in business suits speaking the queen's English have understood that given the global Jihad's reliance on the dictates of Shariah to murder apostates and to terrorize the infidels into submission, SCF must be attired in a kind of progressive Western garb to attract the attention of the financial centers in London, Hong Kong and New York.

So it was that SCF became known as "ethical investing" and Western and Muslim financiers began lecturing the world that the fraud and abuse of the financial markets, such as the Enron debacle and more recently the subprime securitization meltdown, were all driven by the desire for forbidden gain through interest and gambling.

They told us that SCF was based not on forbidden interest and speculative paper assets, but profits through equity participation and sound investing in real assets.

Dubai World, a company wholly owned by the Dubai sovereign has funded itself through debt to the tune of $60 billion. The Dubai debt now in default just happens to be SCF bonds, or "sukuk."

These bonds pay interest just like their forbidden cousins in the Western markets, but the interest is put into a black box of Shariah-created fictions and "special purpose vehicles" to keep the forbidden interest off the books.

What we now see as a real estate bubble collapse in Dubai is no different and no more or less ethical than any other financial failure. But, what makes this collapse so problematic is precisely what makes SCF and sovereign wealth funds so dangerous....

Read it all.

The Cold War was an attempt, using every means possible, by the United States and its allies in North America and Western Europe, along with other countries that had their own reasons for joining in, to prevent the expansion of Soviet power through military means or through other means, including the spread of the ideology of Communism. That Cold War began after World War II, even though from the earliest days of the Bolsheviks it had always been clear to some that Soviet Communism was inherently expansionist, totalitarian, and aggressive, and lasted until the time of Gorbachev, when the rulers of the Soviet Union conceded that on its own terms Communism had not delivered the goods, had failed. Then Yeltsin, in almost a stupor, allowed most of the Soviet "republics" to leave the Soviet Union, thus putting an end to the Soviet Empire and reducing it to "nash dom" -- that is, the House of Russia and, as English estate agents like to say, messuage.

The two sides to the Cold War -- an economic and propagandistic component, and a military component -- can both be seen in the two developments that mark it at the beginning. In the late 1940s, the American government conceived and implemented a plan to revive the broken economies of the war-ravaged countries of Western Europe, and to do so with a transfer of economic aid, much of it administered by Americans on the spot, and technical know-how. It was understood that the appeal of Communism was very strong. In the late 1940s and 1950s the Communists formed the largest political group in both France and Italy, and that both improvements in the local economies and a propaganda war would be necessary. The aid flowed, and the economies slowly revived. And at the same time, there was targeted aid to certain newspapers (such as Der Monat in West Germany) and to political parties (such as the Christian Democrats in Italy) known to oppose the Communists. The Soviet Communists were not idle. Their theme was "peace" -- which was opposed only by those war-profiteering capitalists who needed interminable conflict to keep churning out and using up their weaponry, while the Soviet Union, with that mild-mannered shy and retiring, earnestly pacifist Lover of Peace Joseph Stalin as its benevolent, twinkly-eyed leader, was so much for peace that it would set up the World Peace Council to organize festivals, usually but not always in Helsinki, with propaganda posters by the leftist likes of Picasso (who during the war and Nazi Occupation of Paris had not lifted a finger to save the life of his "godchild" Max Jacob from death at Drancy, and thought nothing of inviting German officers into his studio on Quai des Grands Augustins to see his latest works, and they would bring him steaks and other luxuries available only to the Germans).

Along with Peace, the other great theme of Soviet propaganda was Colonialism, An End To. Since the main colonial powers were Great Britain and France, the most important allies of the United States, taking the side of all those seeking to be independent -- ready or not, and no matter what the outcome -- was a way to profitably exploit what was seen, too easily, as on-the-side-of-the-angels decolonialism. Furthermore, this was said to be the Side of History. The "winds of change" were blowing, said Harold Macmillan, and no one could stop it. It was not the Soviet Marxists who were the only determinists. Though a grouping of countries in Africa and Asia and Latin America became known as the Non-Aligned, those Non-Aligned, in solemn conclave assembled at Bandung or elsewhere, always seemed to pass resolutions against the West for its supposed machinations. But the machinations that counted were those of the Soviets and their collaborators, who manipulated these gatherings for their own ends. The Non-Aligned never seemed to worry about the Soviet Union, or about the new and unfamiliar kind of "colonialism" (therefore not recognized as such) that the Soviets practiced in Eastern Europe.

Over at Weasel Zippers Momma asks: "When will our President stand up for the rights of Christians all around the world?" Good question. I wonder if he will be able to stop praising Islam long enough even to consider doing such a thing. "Family flees 'horrific' abuse: Given asylum in Canada after couple's daughter was raped as toddler in Pakistan," by Tom Godfrey for the Toronto Sun, December 29 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

A seven-year-old Pakistani girl and her family have been given asylum in Canada after reports the child was raped and left to die when her Christian father refused to convert to Islam.

The identities of Baby Neeha and her family are being protected by immigration officials, said human rights lawyer Chantal Desloges and One Free World International, a church that was instrumental in getting the family here.

The family arrived in Canada on Dec. 12 after a three-year battle by organizers to spirit them out of danger in Pakistan....

Church founder Rev. Majed El Shafie said the family of seven have been hiding from extremists in Pakistan for about three years.

Baby Neeha, at the age of 21/2, was raped by the son of her father's employer and left to die by the roadside, he said. No one was arrested for the crime.

"These horrific events took place because her father, who was Christian, refused to give in to pressure from his Muslim employer to convert to Islam," El Shafie said.

The family went underground in Pakistan to hide from Muslim extremists who were seeking revenge for their non-conversion, he said.

"The family has lived for years in hiding and in constant fear of being discovered by the employer's family or Islamic extremists," El Shafie said. "We are thrilled that she's finally in Canada."...

Canada's Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, issued a special "ministerial permit" to get the family out of Pakistan, because there were "significant difficulties" involved in getting them out of that lovely, tolerant place.

Funny how that keeps happening. "Al-Qaeda 'groomed Abdulmutallab in London'," by Sean O'Neill and Giles Whitell for Times Online, December 30 (thanks to Kris):

The Christmas Day airline bomb plot suspect organised a conference under the banner "War on Terror Week" as he immersed himself in radical politics while a student in London, The Times has learnt.

This story does not address the possibility that Abdulmutallab could have encountered "extremism" indigenous to Nigeria, or that anyone but al-Qaeda could be the source of his interest in violent acts of jihad.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a former president of the Islamic Society at University College London, advertised speakers including political figures, human rights lawyers and former Guantánamo detainees.

One lecture, Jihad v Terrorism, was billed as "a lecture on the Islamic position with respect to jihad".

It is worth noting amid Abdulmutallab's involvement in events like this that he had sought advice on when it is permissible to deceive non-Muslims.

Security sources are concerned that the picture emerging of his undergraduate years suggests that he was recruited by al-Qaeda in London. Security sources said that Islamist radicalisation was rife on university campuses, especially in London, and that college authorities had "a patchy record in facing up to the problem". Previous anti-terrorist inquiries have uncovered evidence of extremists using political meetings and religious study circles to identify potential recruits.

It emerged last night that Mr Abdulmutallab featured on the periphery of one counterterrorism intelligence operation in Britain. US intelligence authorities are also looking at conversations between him and at least one al-Qaeda member.

The event he organised took place in January 2007 and included talks on Guantánamo Bay, the alleged torture of prisoners and the War on Terror.

He is the fourth president of a London student Islamic society to face terrorist charges in three years. One is facing a retrial on charges that he was involved in the 2006 liquid bomb plot to blow up airliners. Two others have been convicted of terrorist offences since 2007.

Death coaching:

Mr Abdulmutallab left UCL last year. The Times has learnt that his attempt to renew his student visa in May this year was based on an application to study "life coaching" at a non-existent college. That visa refusal may have saved Britain from an attack. His terrorist training took a new turn in August when he moved to Yemen, ostensibly to study Arabic, and was schooled by al-Qaeda there...

Most of the stories that have gone out about Abdulmutallab's Internet postings focused on what a lonely fellow he was. This little tidbit about the great Islamic empire has not been as widely reported. "My jihad fantasy.. Muslims will win and rule the world - UMAR ABDULMUTALLAB," by Andrew Gregory for the Mirror, December 30 (thanks to James):

Failed suicide bomber Umar Abdulmutallab spelt out his nightmare vision of a world ruled by fanatical Islamic hardliners in a series of rambling internet rants.

In one, he said: "I won't go into too much details about my fantasy, but basically they are jihad fantasies.

"I imagine how the great jihad will take place, how the muslims will win (Allah willing) and rule the whole world and establish the greatest empire once again."...

If the nuclear program is just for the peaceful generation of electricity, why all the secrecy, in this case and across the board? "Intel Report: Iran Looking to Smuggle Raw Uranium," from the Associated Press, December 29:

VIENNA -- Iran is close to clinching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday. Diplomats said the assessment was heightening international concern about Tehran's nuclear activities.

Such a purified uranium ore deal would be significant because Tehran appears to be running out of the material, which it needs to feed its uranium enrichment program.

The report was drawn up by a member nation of the International Atomic Energy agency and provided to the AP on condition of that the country not be identified because of the confidential nature of the information.

Such imports are banned by the U.N. Security Council.

In New York, Burkina Faso's U.N. Ambassador Michel Kafando, a co-chair of the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee, referred questions Tuesday about a potential deal between Iran and Kazakhstan to his sanctions adviser, Zongo Saidou.

Saidou told the AP that, as far as he knew, none of the U.N.'s member nations have alerted the committee about any such allegations. "We don't have any official information yet regarding this kind of exchange between the two countries," Saidou said. "I don't have any information; I don't have any proof."

A senior U.N. official said the agency was aware of the intelligence report's assessment but could not yet draw conclusions. He demanded anonymity for discussing confidential information. A Western diplomat from a member of the IAEA's 35-nation board said the report was causing "concern" among countries that have seen it and generating "intelligence chatter." The diplomat also requested anonymity for discussing intelligence information.

A two-page summary of the report obtained by the AP said deal could be completed within weeks. It said Tehran was willing to pay $450 million, or close to 315 million euros, for the shipment.

The price is high because of the secret nature of the deal and due to Iran's commitment to keep secret the elements supplying the material," said the summary. An official of the country that drew up the report said "elements" referred to state employees acting on their own without approval of the Kazakh government.

After-hours calls put in to offices of Kazatomprom, the Kazak state uranium company, in Kazakhstan and Moscow, were not answered Tuesday. Iranian nuclear officials also did not pick up their telephones.

Purified ore, or uranium oxide, is processed into a uranium gas, which is then spun and re-spun to varying degrees of enrichment. Low enriched uranium is used for nuclear fuel, and upper-end high enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

Iran is under three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for refusing to freeze its enrichment program and related activities that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies such aspirations, saying it wants to enrich only to fuel an envisaged network of power reactors.

The phrase "letter-writing campaigns to Rifqa publicized on blogs that malign Islam" is doubtless a reference to Pamela Geller's initiative to have Christmas cards sent to Rifqa -- but complaining about "blogs that malign Islam" sells a lot better than saying straight out, as they did before, that they're trying to seize this poor girl's Christmas cards.

Nonetheless, the initiative is just as insidious -- and, not coincidentally, in alignment with Sharia provisions calling for the isolation of female apostates from Islam. After all, this is still a marginally free country, isn't it? Why should Rifqa not be allowed to receive communications from people who have been encouraged to write to her on "blogs that malign Islam"? And remember that by "maligning Islam" in this context, what is meant is telling the truth about Islam's doctrines of violence and supremacism. But even if people writing to Rifqa really are maligning Islam, is that now illegal in the U.S.? Maligning Christianity is not illegal. Maligning Judaism is not illegal. Would Rifqa be allowed to receive letters that malign those religions? Is the person screening her mail going to hold up letters that she thinks malign Islam? On what grounds?

Pamela has trenchant and important observations on this here.

"Guardian to review Rifqa's mail: Attorneys in dependency case reach common ground on a few matters," by Meredith "Hijab" Heagney for the Columbus Dispatch, December 25 (thanks to Pamela):

Attorneys for Fathima Rifqa Bary and her parents haven't agreed on much, but they have settled a couple of small matters in the case of the 17-year-old runaway.

They have agreed that all mail to Rifqa from people who aren't relatives will be reviewed by her guardian ad litem, the attorney appointed by the court to represent her interests, to "ensure that no inappropriate messages are forwarded to Ms. Bary."

They also have agreed that Rifqa cannot have any contact with Blake Lorenz, Beverly Lorenz or Brian Williams until her counselor determines whether it would be in her best interest.

The Lorenzes are pastors in Florida whom Rifqa stayed with when she ran away. Authorities have said that Williams, an evangelical in his 20s who baptized Rifqa, drove her to the Greyhound bus station in Columbus when she ran away from home in July.

Rifqa, a New Albany High School student, said she left her Northeast Side home because her father, Mohamed Bary, threatened to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity. Mr. Bary denies the accusation, and authorities in Ohio and Florida have found that she was not in danger.

A dependency case to determine where Rifqa should live is making its way through Franklin County Juvenile Court, where the attorneys frequently file motions on minute details of Rifqa's life and activities.

For instance, Omar Tarazi, the attorney for Mr. Bary and his wife, Aysha, had asked that third-party messages to Rifqa be reviewed by Franklin County Children Services, which has custody of the girl. He was concerned about letter-writing campaigns to Rifqa publicized on blogs that malign Islam.

That resulted in the agreement to have her guardian look at them. The magistrate's order says "incoming mail" but does not specify whether that includes e-mail.

The two sides also have argued over whether Rifqa's counselor should be a woman. Rifqa's attorneys, Kort Gatterdam and Angela Lloyd, have accused the Barys of forcing Rifqa to submit to Islam by making her see a male counselor, because she was raised in a male-dominated home.

Tarazi disputed that, saying Gatterdam and Lloyd file documents "containing baseless assertions that would be characterized as nothing more than religious and cultural bigotry."...

Unlikely at best. Rifqa's attorneys have steadfastly ignored the apostasy issue -- and substantially weakened their case by doing so.

Here's one for Ralph and Dinesh now, given new relevance by the Flight 253 underwear jihadist. (Thanks to Weasel Zippers.)

Ralph Peters, call your office: "a rotten core of American extremists" is out to make it harder for moderate Muslims again, just as you warned us in 2006 that they would do. That's right, Ralph, "right-wing extremists bent on discrediting honorable conservatism" are "insisting that Islam can never reform, that the violent conquest and subjugation of unbelievers is the faith's primary agenda - and, when you read between the lines, that all Muslims are evil and subhuman."

And this time, Ralph, the nasty right-wing extremist is writing right in your own New York Post. He claims that "our insistence that 'Islam's a religion of peace' would have been cold comfort to the family members of those passengers had the bomb detonated as planned." He even goes so far as to say: "We proclaim that the terrorists 'don't represent Islam.' OK, whom do they represent? The Franciscans? We don't get to decide what's Islam and what isn't. Muslims do. And far too many of them approve of violent jihad." In a frenzy of what you have called "self-important net-dweller hate-porn," he makes the outrageous claim that "we're not just fighting men but a plague of faith."

Get him, Colonel! Get that bigot! His name is...wait for it...Ralph Peters.

It looks as if reality has caught up to yet another self-righteous Islam-Is-A-Religion-of-Peacer.

Now, when I pointed out a similar shift by the equally befuddled Dinesh D'Souza, some admonished me to be more gracious, to welcome the former miscreant into the fold of those telling the truth, and to portray their change as a growth in knowledge and perceptiveness rather than a craven flip-flop. And certainly I am ready to disregard the vicious personal invective both Peters and D'Souza have sent my way -- these are not personal issues, and I understand how being proven wrong so spectacularly can cause some to lash out.

The problem is that guys like this want to have it both ways. In private and in some public settings they say that they know there's a problem with Islamic doctrine; in other public settings they say that Islam is a Religion of Peace™ and that the Bible is just as likely as the Qur'an to inspire violence, etc. I will happily debate either Peters or D'Souza on these issues, anytime, anywhere. But I'm not going to give them three cheers for stating the obvious several years too late, and only when it is so painfully obvious that it cannot any longer be ignored or obfuscated.

He was charged for threatening to blow up local businesses in the name of jihad -- two days after he was released on $100 bond after being picked up with a butcher knife and making the same threat. An update on this story. "Man charged with terrorism: Wanted to blow up businesses," by Chris Conley for the Commercial Appeal, December 29 (thanks to Virgil):

...Mohamed Ibrahim, 35, is charged with commission of a terrorist act, false reporting and disorderly conduct. He is in the Shelby County Jail on a $50,000 bond....

Friday afternoon, Memphis police dispatchers issued an alert that a man driving a black Chrysler PT Cruiser had threatened to "blow up the business" at 300 Poplar, a BP gas station....

After Ibrahim was arrested and placed in a police cruiser, he began cursing police and attempting to kick out the windows, according to the charges. Officers subdued him with pepper spray.

Police determined that Ibrahim had earlier that day made threats to blow up seven other businesses around town, according to the charges....

An FBI agent called to the scene recovered three cassette tapes described as "Islamic" in a police affidavit, and took the GPS from the vehicle.

Court records show that Ibrahim had been arrested two days earlier with a 10-inch butcher knife concealed in his jacket sleeve and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon. He was released on $100 bond.

That day, Ibrahim had threatened other businesses and "stated he was a Muslim, and wanted to start jihad here in Memphis," according to the weapon charge.

He was going to get seven years of Sharia study in Yemen for free. Who was paying? "U.S. plane bomber wanted to study sharia in Yemen," from Reuters, December 29 (thanks to all who sent this in):

ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a U.S. airliner told his parents he wanted to study Islamic sharia law in Yemen shortly before cutting off contact with them, the Nigerian government said on Tuesday.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, had been studying for a masters degree in Dubai when he told his parents he was going to Yemen to study Arabic for a few weeks, Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters in the capital Abuja.

"After a few weeks he now sent a message to the parents that he wanted to stay back and study sharia for seven years and the father said no, you can't do that," Akunyili said.

"The father said they were not ready to send him school fees or money for upkeep, that he should go back to Dubai and complete his masters. (But Abdulmutallab) said he was going to get everything free," she said....

"(This report) confirms what we have been saying, that the boy did not have backing from here," Akunyili said.

"The boy was not enlisted in Nigeria, was not trained in Nigeria, was not supported by Nigerians, not even by his parents," Akunyili said....

And those Misinterpreters are so numerous and influential!

"Mr. Nice Guy: Eric Holder Jr. on investigating torture, closing Guantánamo ... and a certain former vice president," by Daniel Klaidman for Snoozeweek, December 21 (thanks to Charles):

What we've seen in the recent past, I think, is an indication of one of the things that we're going to have to be most concerned about in the future, this self-radicalization of American citizens or people who reside in the United States. They have too often come under the influence of people who have misinterpreted Islam.

Maybe the Attorney General will clue us in on where we can find the correct interpretation. But I won't be holding my breath.

On December 24, the Arab American News published a piece called "Minaret ban indicates evolving fascism" by Ali Moossavi, in which Moossavi, with a Charles-Johnsonish flair for defamation, characterized those concerned about the Islamization of Europe as neofascists. Predictably, Moossavi paid no attention to the fact that there is no similar reaction in Europe against Hindus, Sikhs, or other immigrant communities. Moossavi doesn't consider, of course, the fact that many young Muslims in Europe identify publicly with the global jihad and against Western ideals of freedom and democracy.

Roy Brown of the International Humanist and Ethical Union responded with this letter to the Arab American News:

Mr Moossavi has completely failed to understand the reasons for the Swiss vote in favour of a ban on the construction of minarets. The call for a referendum was certainly provocative and the Swiss People's Party, the SVP, is certainly on the right of Swiss politics. But the SVP does not have the level of support which on its own would have brought them victory in the referendum.

The Swiss in general are a tolerant, liberal people, and are not racists. But living as they do in the heart of Europe, they can hardly be unaware of what is happening around them. The vote was quite simply a reaction to the ever more shrill demands of Europe's Islamic leaders for special rights and special treatment. Examples are legion: special areas set aside in the workplace for prayers - in company time; demands for an alternative system of justice based on sharia law for the settlement of family disputes that would deny women equal treatment; and the fact that while not all Muslims are terrorists, most terrorists we have seen in Europe recently have been Muslims.

The Swiss were also provoked by a recent call by Muammar Gaddafi for Switzerland to be broken up because the Geneva police had had the temerity to arrest his son for beating a servant, followed by the unjustified arrest of two Swiss businessmen in Libya in retaliation.

Most of all, however, the Swiss have been provoked by the failure of Europe's Muslims to play by the rules; to enter into debate about the merits and demerits of Islam, but instead to take to the streets, banners screaming for the overthrow of democracy and freedom, at every insult to Islam, real or perceived.

The other reason for the success of the vote was that it does not infringe the right of Muslims to practice their religion. It was merely symbolic. Muslims are completely free to build mosques and worship in them as they please without any interference. It is no hardship not to have a minaret. To put this into perspective it should be compared with the plight of the Christians in Iraq and Egypt who face daily violence, with priests being murdered, churches burnt and worshipers harassed.

No, Mr Moossavi, this was not racism or fascism, it was a protest vote and a wake up call to Europe's Muslims to lower the tone.

Roy W Brown
Lausanne, Switzerland

Our old friend Raymond Ibrahim peels back some doubletalk. "Shameless Islamist Doublespeak Rages On: To English audiences, jihadists talk of ending oppression; to Arabic ones, they talk of oppressing the infidel," by Raymond Ibrahim in Pajamas Media, December 24:

"Al-Qaeda's Zawahiri Accuses Obama of Trying to 'Enslave' Arab World." So reads the headline of a recent Fox News report, which goes on to quote Zawahiri saying things such as "Obama's policy is nothing but another cycle in the Crusader and Zionist campaign to enslave and humiliate us, and to occupy our land and steal our wealth."

Two years earlier, Zawahiri was even more dramatic. Then he implored "blacks in America, people of color, American Indians, Hispanics, and all the weak and oppressed in North and South America, in Africa and Asia, and all over the world, to know that when we wage jihad in Allah's path, we aren't waging jihad to lift oppression from Muslims only; we are waging jihad ... to lift oppression from all mankind. ... This is why I want every oppressed one on the face of the earth to know that our victory over America and the Crusading West -- with Allah's permission -- is a victory for them, because they shall be freed from the most powerful tyrannical force in the history of mankind."

Unfortunately for al-Qaeda, its very own words -- the Arabic ones directed at fellow Muslims which Westerners rarely see or read -- unequivocally contradict its repeated attempts to portray itself as an organization out to spread Robin Hood-style justice and equanimity vis-à-vis a tyrannical U.S. For in these Arabic treatises, al-Qaeda makes it perfectly clear that, short of submitting to Islamic hegemony, the non-Muslim world is the enemy, ipso facto.

Yet doublespeak is definitely not the sole province of al-Qaeda; the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict has furnished the world with some of the most flagrant examples of Islamist doublespeak -- emanating from such players as Arafat, the PLO, and Hamas. Hezbollah offers a recent example:

According to Reuters, the terrorist organization's newly revised manifesto "tones down Islamist rhetoric but maintains a tough line against Israel and the United States. The new manifesto drops reference to an Islamic republic in Lebanon, which has a substantial Christian population, confirming changes to Hezbollah thinking about the need to respect Lebanon's diversity."

In fact, this "new" manifesto has been hailed as a progressive step forward for the terrorist organization: an AFP headline tells us that "Hezbollah strikes softer tone in second manifesto: [according to] analysts," such as one Paul Salem, head of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center, who asserts that the "manifesto is reassuring as it shows Hezbollah's integration with Lebanese political life."...

Read it all.

How did a Misunderstander of Islam gain such a position?

And meanwhile, Yemen seizes the opportunity to beg for handouts. "'Hundreds of al-Qaeda militants planning attacks from Yemen,'" by Joanna Sugden for the Times Online, December 29:

Hundreds of al-Qaeda militants are planning terror attacks from Yemen, the country's Foreign Minister said today.

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi appealed for more help from the international community to help to train and equip counter-terrorist forces.

His plea came after an al-Qaeda group based in Yemen claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day airliner bomb plot.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, alleged to be behind the attempt to blow up an American-bound aircraft, spent time in Yemen with al-Qaeda and was in the country only days before the failed attack.

Dr al-Qirbi said: "Of course there are a number of al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen and some of their leaders. We realise this danger.

"They may actually plan attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit. There are maybe hundreds of them -- 200, 300."

Dr al-Qirbi said it was the "responsibility" of countries with strong intelligence capabilities to warn states such as Yemen about the movements of terror suspects. [...]

Mr Abdulmutallab's former tutors at University College London, where he was a student between 2005 and 2008, described him as "well-mannered, quietly spoken, polite and able" and said that he never gave any cause for concern. He was president of the institution's Islamic society between 2006 and 2007....

This should surprise no one, although it cannot be explained by the conventional and dominant analysis. In that view, the hearts and minds of Afghan soldiers would be won, and they would not turn on their allies. No one in Washington is examining the jihad doctrine that would actually make this incident immediately understandable. "Afghanistan: Two Italian soldiers shot," from ANSA, December 29 (thanks to Insubria):

Rome, December 29 - Two Italian soldiers were slightly injured in Afghanistan Tuesday when an Afghan soldier taking part in an allied operation opened fire, killing one American soldier, the defense ministry reported here.

The incident was said to have taken place in Bala Morghab, in the western province of Herat, while members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), together with Afghan army regulars, were unloading a supply helicopter.

The injured Italians were treated for their wounds by medics on hand and returned to duty, the defense ministry said. The Afghan soldier who shot the Italians and killed the American, and was himself injured when ISAF force returned fire, was arrested, according to reports from Afghanistan....

This WaPo weeper tries to paint the Flight 253 jihadist as a poor, lonely boy, but what comes through loud and clear is that he was a very serious and devout Muslim. How is it that someone so committed to Islam could have misunderstood Islam so thoroughly as to think he had a religious duty to murder unbelievers. "In online posts apparently by Detroit suspect, religious ideals collide," by Philip Rucker and Julie Tate for the Washington Post, December 29 (thanks to Undaunted):

The 23-year-old Nigerian man accused of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of an American airliner apparently turned to the Internet for counseling and companionship, writing in an online forum that he was "lonely" and had "never found a true Muslim friend."

"I have no one to speak too [sic]," read a posting from January 2005, when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was attending boarding school. "No one to consult, no one to support me and I feel depressed and lonely. I do not know what to do. And then I think this loneliness leads me to other problems."

The Washington Post reviewed 300 online postings under the name "farouk1986" (a combination of Abdulmutallab's middle name and birth year). The postings mused openly about love and marriage, his college ambitions and angst over standardized testing, as well as his inner struggle as a devout Muslim between liberalism and extremism. In often-intimate writings, posted between 2005 and 2007, he sought friends online, through Facebook and in Islamic chat rooms: "My name is Umar but you can call me Farouk." He often invited readers to "have your say" and once wrote, "May Allah reward you for reading and reward you more for helping." [...]

Fabrizio Cavallo Marincola, 22, who studied with Abdulmutallab at University College London, said Abdulmutallab graduated in May 2008 and showed no signs of radicalization or of links to al-Qaeda. "He always did the bare minimum of work," Marincola said of his classmate, who he said was nicknamed "Biggie."

"When we were studying, he always would go off to pray," Marincola continued. "He was pretty quiet and didn't socialize much or have a girlfriend that I knew of."

As a student at the British boarding school in Togo, Farouk1986 wrote that he was lonely because there were few other Muslims. "I'm active, I socialise with everybody around me, no conflicts, I laugh and joke but not excessively," he wrote in one posting seeking counseling from online peers. "I will describe myself as very ambitious and determined, especially in the deen. I strive to live my daily live [sic] according to the quran and sunnah to the best of my ability. I do almost everything, sports, TV, books . . . (of course trying not to cross the limits in the deen)." The deen is a religious way of life....

Actually, the deen is the religion. He is saying that he does everything within the limits of what is allowed in Islam.

In his January 2005 posting about his loneliness, Farouk1986 wrote about the tension between his desires and his religious duty of "lowering the gaze" in the presence of women. "The Prophet (S) advised young men to fast if they can't get married but it has not been helping me much and I seriously don't want to wait for years before I get married," he wrote....

He also wrote of his "dilemma between liberalism and extremism" as a Muslim. "The Prophet (S) said religion is easy and anyone who tries to overburden themselves will find it hard and will not be able to continue," he wrote in 2005. "So anytime I relax, I deviate sometimes and then when I strive hard, I get tired of what I am doing i.e. memorising the quran, etc. How should one put the balance right?"

In December 2005, Farouk1986 wrote that his parents were visiting him in London and that he was torn about whether he could eat meat with them. "I am of the view meat not slaughtered by Muslims . . . is haram [forbidden] for consumption unless necessary," he wrote. "My parents are of the view as foreigners, we are allowed to . . . eat any meat. It occured [sic] to me I should not be eating with my parents as they use meat I consider haram. But I fear this might cause division and other complicated family problems."

He pleaded: "Please respond as quickly as possible as my tactic has been to eat outside and not at home till I get an answer."

Abdulmutallab, the youngest of 16 children and the son of the second of his father's two wives, was raised at the family home in Kaduna, a city in Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north. At boarding school, Farouk was easygoing and studious, earning the sobriquet "Alfa," a local term for Muslim clerics, because of his penchant for preaching Islam to colleagues, according to family members.

"Farouk was a devoted Muslim who took his religion seriously and was committed to his studies," said an uncle. "He was such a brilliant boy and nobody in the family had the slightest thought he could do something as insane as this."

Although Farouk hardly ever stayed in Nigeria and would visit only for holidays, family members and neighbors on Ahman Pategi Street in the rich Unguwar Sarki neighborhood in Kaduna also said he was easygoing and passionate about Islam. "He was of course a very religious, polite and studious fellow," said a cousin, "but it was unthinkable that he would do anything close to attempting to bomb a plane."

Moral equivalence alert: when was the last time a Muslim preacher was expelled from a Western country for proselytizing? "Morocco: Five Foreign Evangelists Expelled," from ANSAmed, December 29 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) - RABAT, DECEMBER 29 - Five Evangelist foreigners (two South Africans, two Swiss and one Guatemalan) have been expelled from Morocco accused of "unauthorised gathering and evangelist proselytism". Twelve Moroccans who were taking part in the meeting were arrested and eventually released after being questioned. The order of expulsion was issued by the Prefecture of Oujda (in the country's north-east). Last March, fiver missionaries (four Spaniards and one German) were expelled accused of "gathering with Moroccan citizens living abroad for the purpose of proselytism".(ANSAmed)

In the lead story in Human Events today, I discuss the abject failure of our national approach to counterterror:

The chief lesson of the attempted jihad attack on Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day is that our entire anti-terror strategy is a huge and abject failure. Of course, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano would beg to differ, as she has said that the stopping of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempt to set off an explosive on the airplane showed that "the system worked" and "everything happened that should have."

The "system worked"? So the "system" now involves hoping that other passengers will tackle the jihadist? After all, a passenger on Flight 253, Jasper Schuringa, subdued Abdulmutallab. The "system" now relies on all of the jihadis' detonators failing, as did Abdulmutallab's? Napolitano's optimism was based on an appalling disconnect from reality that in saner times would result in her dismissal. Barack Obama, by contrast, would be more likely to issue her a commendation, if he weren't too busy golfing and shooting hoops during his Hawaii vacation.

In contrast to Napolitano's fantasies, Flight 253 revealed a massive failure not only of airline security procedures, but also of the larger strategy that America and the West has been pursuing against jihad terrorism.

As for airline security procedures, Abdulmutallab was able to get on the airplane without a passport, and with ingredients for an explosive that would have destroyed the plane and killed everyone in it. TSA officials are busy tightening security procedures with new Abdulmutallab-inspired rules such as forcing passengers to stay in their seats for the last hour of the flight, but these new measures will do nothing to prevent another attack. One thing we have seen over the years since 9/11 is that airport security is always one step behind the jihadists: after jihadist Richard Reid attempted to set off a bomb hidden in his shoes, we all have to take off our shoes and send them through security scanners. After a group of jihadists tried to sneak onto planes explosive chemicals hidden in drink bottles, we can't carry drinks through airport security terminals. Because Abdulmutallab attempted his jihad attack just before the plane landed, now we can't get up during the last hour of the flight. The one thing that the TSA should have learned, but hasn't, is that next time the jihadists will do something else, not just repeat what they did before. And even if every passenger were given a full body cavity search, they will find some way to get around it. But attempt a new approach based on sensible profiling? The TSA would rather fold up shop altogether....

Read it all.

But no, Islamic "radicalization" couldn't happen within Nigeria. "Religious mayhem claims 30 in Bauchi," by Ali Garba for the Guardian (Nigeria), December 28:

No fewer than 30 persons, including four soldiers from the 33 Field Artillery Brigade, Bauchi, may have been killed in a fresh clash between members of an Islamic sect called kala-kato and security personnel in the Zango area of Bauchi Metropolis in the early hours of yesterday.

The kala-kato (which means "he has said") sect claims to be an off shoot of the original Maitatsine sect of the 1980s.

Among the victims who died were 15 children between the ages of three and seven.

A cripple, Yusufa Abba, was said to have been slaughtered like a ram by the sect members.

A number of houses in Zango were set on fire by members of the sect who went on rampage demanding the release of their leader arrested by the authorities.

Affected, was Gambo Nabarasi whose house opposite the sect's enclave in Zango area was burnt down completely. When The Guardian visited the Federal Low-cost House Estate, which is near the scene of the clash, sound of gunshot exchange between security personnel and the members of the sect still rent the air. [...]

About four innocent children who fell victims were burnt when their parents' house was set ablaze by the rampaging sect members.

According to an eyewitness, Ibrahim, who is one of the neighbours to the sect members, said that the residents started to sense trouble early yesterday when the preacher of the sect embarked on a sermon insulting other Moslem sects.

Ibrahim said that the preacher called other sects infidels.

"I live at the Zango Main Road but this street is called Saidawa. I was at the open preaching of the sect yesterday night (Sunday) and this morning (Monday) when the preacher questioned the rationale behind the killing of the dreaded Boko Haram members when all the sect members were preaching against is reality," he said.

He added: "One of the listeners challenged the preacher and he was dealt with there while another who called on the people to leave the venue of the preaching was killed instantly and before we knew what was happening, the sect members had taken to the street burning down people's houses and maiming others. It is very unfortunate this is happening again in Bauchi," Ibrahim said. [...]

This will be the third religious crisis in Bauchi this year including the dreaded Boko Haram in June which claimed many lives and property.

Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update. "Pakistan: Riots erupt in Karachi after deadly bomb attack," from AdnKronos International, December 28:

Karachi, 28 Dec. (AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Riots erupted in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on Monday when a suicide attack killed at least 20 people and injured another 60 during a Shia Muslim procession to mark the Ashura festival. It was the third and largest attack on a Shia congregation in Pakistan in the past three days.

Hundreds of people had been part of the procession at the time of the bomb attack.

Immediately after the explosion, marchers turned their anger on security forces and emergency workers.

Pakistan's security forces had been on high alert as Shia Muslims marked the holy month of Muharram or Ashura.

Shia Muslims began firing shots in the air and closed shops late Sunday when a bomb was planted near a small mourning procession in the centre of the southern city of Karachi, which is the largest industrial and the financial centre of the country.

Thousands of Shia faithful expressed their rage across the city after the latest attack on the largest mourning procession as it travelled on the city's main artery, M.A. Jinnah Road, towards the largest Shia mourning centre, Husainya Iraniya.

Some started firing weapons in the air and set a market alight on the southern side of the city.

The market appeared to have been targeted because it belongs to Pashtun traders who are often branded as Taliban.

There were fears late in the day that the riots would spread across the city as young people took to the streets.

The attack on the mourning processions in Karachi began on Saturday when a bomb was planted in a car at the central district of the city.

On Sunday eight people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a Shia march in Pakistan-administered Kashmir....

Gitmo recidivism comes back to bite us directly. "Two al Qaeda Leaders Behind Northwest Flight 253 Terror Plot Were Released by U.S.: Former Guantanamo Prisoners Believed Behind Northwest Airlines Bomb Plot; Sent to Saudi Arabia in 2007," by Brian Ross, Anna Schecter and Joseph Rhee for ABC News, December 28 (thanks to Awake):

Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the Northwest bombing in a Monday statement that vowed more attacks on Americans.

American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.

An "art therapy rehabilitation program." Yes, you read that right.

Guantanamo prisoner #333, Muhamad Attik al-Harbi, and prisoner #372, Said Ali Shari, were sent to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 9, 2007, according to the Defense Department log of detainees who were released from American custody. Al-Harbi has since changed his name to Muhamad al-Awfi.

Both Saudi nationals have since emerged in leadership roles in Yemen, according to U.S. officials and the men's own statements on al Qaeda propaganda tapes.

Both of the former Guantanamo detainees are described as military commanders and appear on a January, 2009 video along with the man described as the top leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, Abu Basir Naser al-Wahishi, formerly Osama bin Laden's personal secretary.

In its Monday statement claiming responsibility for the Northwest bombing, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab a "hero" and a "martyr" and lauded him for beating U.S. intelligence.

The two-page written claim included a photo of Abdulmutallab and boasted of Al Qaeda's success in designing "advanced explosive packages" that can pass through airport screening undetected.

The statement also asks for attacks upon Americans in the Arabian peninsula, and promises further attacks on the American people.

The suspected bomber, 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told FBI agents he was trained for his Christmas Day mission in Yemen by top leaders of al Qaeda who provided him with the explosive materials.

"The so-called rehabilitation programs are a joke," a U.S. diplomat said in describing the Saudi efforts with released Guantanamo detainees.

Saudi officials concede its program has had its "failures" but insist that, overall, the effort has helped return potential terrorists to a meaningful life....

I.e., jihad.

Here's a twist on the Poverty Causes Terrorism myth: "We the children of the masses in this country, we don't know anything about terrorism because our parents are poor." In other words, this guy believes you have to be rich to become an Islamic jihadist. "Nigeria bomber's home town blames foreign schooling," from Reuters, December 27 (thanks to all who sent this in):

FUNTUA, Nigeria (Reuters) - For residents in his home town, it was Umar Abdulmutallab's foreign education, not his roots in Muslim northern Nigeria, that radicalized him and led him to try to blow up a U.S. passenger plane.

The 23-year-old London-educated Nigerian was charged on Saturday in the United States with trying to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day with almost 300 people on board.

The son of a highly respected banker, Abdulmutallab's actions shocked Nigeria's wealthy elite and residents in his family's predominantly Muslim northern hometown of Funtua.

"Everyone knew the Mutallabs and the father is honest, generous, helpful and above all a prominent banker. I cannot see why his son should be involved in this act," Funtua resident Ibrahim Bello, 65, said, close to the Mutallab family home.

Like other elders from the community, Bello said Abdulmutallab's schooling abroad meant he had been brought up outside the customs of northern Nigeria, a region with a history of moderate Sufi Islam.

"My only advice to the elite is to allow their children to mingle with the children of the masses so that he will have some of the traditional morals and values that (the elder) Mutallab himself enjoyed," Bello told Reuters....

Abdulmutallab is from a privileged background in Africa's most populous nation, where most of an estimated 140 million people live on under $2 a day.

His father, Umaru Mutallab, retired earlier this month as chairman of First Bank, the country's oldest, after a distinguished career in finance....

Abdulmutallab was educated at the British School in Lome, Togo -- a boarding school mostly serving expatriates and students from around West Africa -- before studying engineering at University College London (UCL), where he is believed to have lived in a multi-million dollar city-center apartment.

One friend who knew him in London said he kept himself to himself and always wore a skullcap, rare among young Nigerian Muslims who usually wear such caps only on religious occasions.

Nigeria's This Day newspaper said he had been given the nickname "Alfa" -- a local term for an Islamic scholar -- while at school in Togo, for his preaching to other students.

He also made two trips to Yemen during his student days for short Arabic and Islamic courses, according to a family friend....

Clashes between security forces and a radical Islamic sect called Boko Haram -- which wanted a wider adoption of sharia (Islamic law) -- killed hundreds of people in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri in July.

But Islamic jurisprudence in Nigeria is based on the moderate Maliki school of Sunni Islam and Boko Haram's ideology is dismissed by the country's Muslim leaders and most believers.

Young Muslims who grew up in Funtua insist it was Abdulmutallab's life overseas, which they view as alien, not Nigerian Islam that gave rise to his extremist views.

"We the children of the masses in this country, we don't know anything about terrorism because our parents are poor. They don't have the money to take us abroad," said 25-year old student and Funtua resident Usman Mati.

"Transcript of Obama remarks on airline security and terror watch lists," from the Washington Post, December 28 (thanks to Christopher):

[...] A full investigation has been launched into this attempted act of terrorism, and we will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable. [...]

...while steadfastly ignoring the beliefs an motives of all concerned, regardless of what those beliefs and motives might reveal about the jihadists' future plans and how they can be stopped.

Finally, the American people should remain vigilant, but also be confident. Those plotting against us seek not only to undermine our security, but also the open society and the values that we cherish as Americans. This incident, like several that have preceded it, demonstrates that an alert and courageous citizenry are far more resilient than an isolated extremist....

They could have flagged his visa -- twice. "U.S. Failed to Catch Suspect's Active Visa: Exclusive: 2 State Dept. Checks Before Alleged Terror Attack Didn't Discover Abdulmutallab had Active Visa Allowing Entry," by Armen Keteyian for CBS News, December 28 (thanks to Benedict):

CBS News has learned the State Department system designed to keep track of active U.S. visas twice failed to reveal Nigerian terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had been issued an active visa allowing him multiple entries into the United States.

According to a law enforcement source, the first failure came on Nov. 19, 2009, the very same day Abdulmutallab father's, Dr. Umaru Mutallab, a prominent banking official in Nigeria, expressed deep concern to officials at the U.S. Embassy in Abjua, Nigeria, that his 23-year-old son had fallen under the influence of "religious extremists" in Yemen.

The second failure to flag an active visa belonging to Abdulmuttalab occurred the very next day in Washington, after Mutallab's concerns were forwarded to officials there. It was only after the Christmas Day terror attack in Detroit that U.S. officials learned that Abdulmuttalab had been issued a visa by the U.S. Embassy in London valid from June 16, 2008, through June 12, 2010.

"There's a Mecca that Muslims should visit, and the mecca of jihad that is London."

"Was Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab radicalized in London?," by Robert Marquand and Ben Quinn in the Christian Science Monitor, December 28 (thanks to James):

For young Muslims especially, London is a city like no other. It is a mecca for jobs and education and provides freedom from the prying eyes of family back home. The grand metropolis also beckons as a bastion of religious freedom and as a refuge from corrupt home country politics....

That was the world that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - the young Nigerian accused of seeking to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas -immersed himself in as a student between 2005 and 2008, when the petri dish of political Islam in London was stirring strongly.

For at least a decade sub-cultures of radical thought that promote borderless Islam and an uncompromising return to Sharia law have flourished in Great Britain's capital - despite some reportedly effective efforts to tamp down extremist views, and despite worries among moderate London Muslims about the trend.

"There are basically two meccas," argues Egyptian-born Mamoun Fandy of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "There's a Mecca that Muslims should visit, and the mecca of jihad that is London."...

The availability of every kind of message Islam has to offer is part of the London scene. Most mosques have easy byways for students to meet and learn a more intense Koranic view; groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir, which seeks a return to early Islam with all Muslim states under one ruler, post members around mosques on Friday. They offer cards with phone numbers and invitations to study groups that discuss jihad. One of their common Friday hangouts is an East London mosque that Abdulmutallab allegedly attended.

"I've felt for a long time that if radical Sharia law comes to the rest of the world it will start on the streets of London," says a Pakistani expert on militant Islam who asked not to be identified. "Too many clerics today, even moderate ones, don't talk on Muslim life in a secular state. Young Muslims are smart, raised as British citizens. If they come from abroad, many have great hope and are often disillusioned. They live between worlds, in the cracks. When they go home to their families they are often more radical than their friends."...

Agence France-Presse cited family members' claims that Abdulmutallab was a quiet individual who was "radicalized" during his stint in London. The London daily Independent quoted a school friend: "He always did the bare minimum of work and would just show up to classes" and "he always would go off to pray," said Fabrizio Cavallo Marincola. "He was pretty quiet and didn't socialise much or have a girlfriend that I knew of. (...) You would never imagine him pulling off something like this."

Critics of lax border security in the UK point out that more than 42,000 British student visas were issued to Pakistani students between 2004 and 2007 but it was only in 2009 that applications have been checked against an expanded set of terrorist watch lists. A concern is that student visas are being secured to study at educational institutions which don't exist.

The Pakistani analyst, who has close ties to London mosques, argues that nearly every Pakistani radical he knows in London has gone through a "night club" phase. They try out a "clubbing life" that is ultimately unsatisfying. "They try to experience something like a dream of life in the west. About a year later they show up in the mosque, grow beards and are 'good Muslims,'" he says.

And the peaceful Muslims whose peaceful religion has putatively been hijacked have no effective rejoinder to their claim to be "good Muslims" when they turn to jihad violence and Islamic supremacism.

Many Muslims in the UK complain of the "double standards" of Western policies, particularly as regards the Middle East. British Palestinian Muslims have complained, for example, that when British Jews go to Israel and fight for the Israeli army, they come home as praiseworthy heroes; but when Palestinians go to fight or aid the local struggle, they come home and are considered terrorists.

Uh, yeah. Maybe if the British Jews had been blowing people up on buses or in restaurants, this might be different.

In July, a determination in London that Al Qaeda threats have diminished lowered the terrorist threat level from severe to substantial, and relaxed measures such as 'stop and search' powers. Britain has spent heavily on reconciliation projects - sponsoring 'moderate' preachers - aimed at stemming the influence of Islamist messages over young British Muslims. UK campuses remain in the frontline of struggle to prevent the radicalization of students although the British government continues to resist calls to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, accused of attempting to infiltrate Muslim student societies.

Confirming what the evidence has indicated so far. Note the claim that this attack was in retaliation for recent strikes in Yemen. It seems much more likely that this was in the works for quite some time, and the attack would have taken place on Christmas in any event. Jihadists will find any convenient grievance to claim as cause for "revenge," though claiming such a fast turnaround is also an attempt to amplify the appearance of the group's operational power. "Al Qaeda claims responsibility for failed terror attack," from CNN, December 28:

Romulus, Michigan (CNN) -- Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack on a plane about to land in the U.S., saying it was in retaliation for alleged U.S. strikes on Yemeni soil.

A suspect, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, is being held for allegedly trying to blow up the flight carrying 300 passengers.

A preliminary FBI analysis found that the device AbdulMutallab allegedly carried aboard the flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan, contained the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate, known as PETN.

The amount of explosive involved was sufficient to blow a hole in the side of the aircraft, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Sunday.

Authorities have focused their investigation on how AbdulMutallab, 23, allegedly smuggled the explosives aboard the flight and who might have helped him.

Backpedaling a bit:

"We're ascertaining why it was that he was not flagged in a more specific way when he purchased his ticket, given the information that we think was available, allegedly was available," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CNN's "American Morning" Monday. ...

Oh, the humanity! I can hardly stand to look at these photos of the suffering people in Gaza. Behold the fruit (ahem) of the evil Zionist oppression!

Israel Matzav has the photos, and many more.

UPDATE: The original source of the photos is the excellent Tom Gross Media site (scroll down), which I highly recommend visiting regularly.

Not that this has anything to do with Islam! "Abdulmutallab: More Like Me In Yemen: Accused Northwest Bomber Says More Bombers On the Way; Al Qaeda Promises to Hit Americans," by Brian Ross and Richard Esposito for ABC News, December 28 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

American officials have cause to worry there may be more al Qaeda-trained young men in Yemen planning to bring down American jets.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, charged with the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253, told FBI agents there were more just like him in Yemen who would strike soon.

And in a tape released four days before the attempted destruction of the Detroit-bound Northwest plane, the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen boasted of what was planned for Americans, saying, "We are carrying a bomb to hit the enemies of God."...

Yazid was the killer of Hussein, the son of Ali, whose death the Shi'ites lament on Ashura. That the Iranian crowds would be chanting this suggests that this is a Shi'ite vs. Shi'ite affair -- Sharia adherents battling other Sharia adherents and jockeying for the mantle of Islamic purity. Given Iran's flirtation with secularism under the Shah, it's possible that if Obama had come out strongly in favor of the protesters from the beginning, this could have gone in a different direction -- but that is yet another missed opportunity for him. "Aides to Iran's Opposition Leaders Said to Be Arrested," by Robert F. Worth and Nazila Fathi for the New York Times, December 29:

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The Iranian authorities arrested a number of opposition figures on Monday in the wake of violent protests a day earlier, Web sites reported, including three top aides to the opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi and Ibrahim Yazdi, leader of the banned Iran Freedom Movement....

"What has happened to this religious system that it orders the killing of innocent people during the holy day of Ashura?" Mr. Karroubi said in a statement, according to the opposition Jaras Web site....

On Sunday, thick crowds marched down a central avenue in Tehran, defying official warnings of a harsh crackdown on protests as they chanted "death to Khamenei," referring to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has expressed growing intolerance for political dissent in the country....

Protests and clashes also broke out in the cities of Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz, Arak, Tabriz, Najafabad, Babol, Ardebil and Orumieh, opposition Web sites said....

The White House condemned what it called the "unjust suppression" of civilians by the Iranian government on Sunday.

"Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States," said Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the National Security Council....

"This is the month of blood, Yazid will fall," the protesters shouted, equating Ayatollah Khamenei with Yazid, the ruler who ordered Imam Hussein's killing....

"Ashura is a very symbolic day in our culture, and it revives the notion that the innocents were killed by a villain," said Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, a former member of the Iranian Parliament who is a visiting scholar at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. "Killing people on Ashura shows how far Khamenei is willing to go to suppress the protests."...

Pamela has extensive coverage here and here.

Since apparently nothing was found on these guys, this one has already become a pretext for CAIR cries of "Islamophobia." In CAIR's "American Muslim News Briefs" was an item entitled "AIR: Plane Incidents in Ariz., Mich. Raise Profiling Concerns." It noted that "in Arizona, two 'Middle Eastern' men were removed from a US Airways flight in Phoenix and questioned by the FBI after another passenger overheard the men speaking in a foreign language. The men were questioned and released." CAIR spokesman Ibrahim "Honest Ibe" Hooper says: "While everyone supports robust airline security measures [yeah, surrre -- ed.], racial and religious profiling are in fact counterproductive and can lead to a climate of insecurity and fear."

Here is what Honest Ibe could have and should have said: "Since everyone supports robust airline security measures, we call upon American Muslims to cooperate fully with airline security procedures and to accept being inconvenienced in the effort to prevent another Islamic jihad terror attack."

Feel free to crib from my work, Ibe.

"TSA: 2 passengers detained after flight to Phoenix," from AP, December 27 (thanks to all who sent this in):

PHOENIX - Two men thought to have been acting suspicious aboard a flight bound for Phoenix were detained and questioned by federal anti-terrorism authorities before they were released, the FBI said Sunday.

Transportation Security Administration officials said passengers aboard U.S. Airways Flight 192 from Orlando, Fla., on Saturday night reported that two men, described as Middle Eastern, were acting strangely and talking loudly to each other in a foreign language.

A nearby passenger also observed one of men watching what appeared to be footage of a suicide bombing, but was actually a scene from the 2007 movie "The Kingdom." The man also got up from his seat while the seat belt warning sign was still lit, FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson said.

"The totality of those three occurrences led this passenger to believe this was suspicious," he said....

Now wait a minute. What happened to all those signs in airports everywhere, warning people not to joke about security issues, and that such jokes will be taken seriously? If the plane was already in flight at the time Abdulmutallab said this, the flight attendant should at least have made sure that he was closely watched and guarded for the duration of the flight -- by other passengers if no one else was on hand to do the job.

"Bomber was on US watch list," by Angela Montefinise for the New York Post, December 28 (thanks to Trotsky):

[...] He was read the charges at a hearing, where he appeared smiling in a medical gown and a wheelchair.

Several key details came to light yesterday:

* Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen sewed into Abdulmutallab's underwear a condom filled with three ounces of a nitroglycerin-like compound after he spent a month training with the terror organization, sources told ABC News.

"One flight attendant asked him what he had had in his pocket, and he replied, 'Explosive device,' " according to the Justice Department.

* Abdulmutallab was added to the 550,000 suspects on a watch list kept by the US National Counterterrorism Center in November and had been on government radar for months. Yet there wasn't enough negative information about him to put him on the no-fly list.

* His father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a prominent Nigerian banker who retired recently, reportedly contacted the US Embassy there about six months ago to inform authorities about his son's increasingly extreme behavior.

* Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said he believes Abdulmutallab is linked to radical US-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, a mentor to the US Army psychiatrist who gunned down 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, last month.

* Abdulmutallab -- who boarded a flight in Nigeria to Amsterdam, and then transferred to Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit -- did not go through full-body scans at either airport, and it's unclear how he was screened as a transferring passenger in Amsterdam....

Could it be that sympathetic security officials made sure he got through?

For years I have pointed out that there have been no protests in the Islamic world against those who have supposedly hijacked their religion, except when the jihadis kill other Muslims. There have been protests against cartoons of Muhammad, and statements of the Pope, but not against the jihadists. So this one bears watching. It will be very interesting to see what kind of crowd gathers there.

"Protest planned to tell world: Islam is peaceful," by Eric D. Lawrence for the Detroit Free Press, December 28:

The organizers of a Dearborn-area group on Facebook are calling for Muslims to protest against the actions of a Nigerian man accused of trying to attack a Northwest Airlines flight en route to Detroit Metro Airport on Friday.

Majed Moughni, a Dearborn attorney, said Sunday afternoon that Muslims need to let the world know that those who would commit terrorism do not represent Islam.

"It's very frustrating to know that these guys are using Islam and committing terror," he said. "Islam stands for peace."

His Facebook group, Dearborn Area Community Members, is calling for local Muslims to hold a protest during the scheduled Jan. 8 hearing in U.S. District Court in Detroit for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The 23-year-old was charged Saturday with trying to detonate an explosive device on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Friday. He told federal authorities he was acting on orders from Al Qaeda.

Information about the protest is being posted on the group's Facebook page: "Please bring your signs, and American flags: theme: 'NOT IN THE NAME OF ISLAM,' " according to one post.

Fatme Nemer, 24, a Dearborn resident and member of the Facebook group, agreed that the time had come to protest against terrorism....

Yes, eight years and 15,000 jihad attacks after 9/11, maybe now is the time.

They might get the idea that it's all right to eat pork, you see. Characteristic anger and intransigence in this Sharia Alert from modern, moderate Malaysia: "Malaysia - Anger over pork mixed with Halal meat," from Meat Trade News Daily, December 27 (thanks to Walter):

A Malaysian government-backed campaign to popularise a well-known ethnic Chinese soup by making a version that avoids pork and fulfills Islamic dietary rules sparked criticism by activists who fear it will confuse Muslims.

According to The Jakarta Post, a halal version of "bak kut teh," a herbal broth traditionally made with pork ribs, was introduced at a Tourism Ministry food fair last weekend to promote local cuisine. The new version contains chicken, seafood or vegetables instead of pork, which Islam prohibits.

However, some Muslims object to the use of "bak kut teh" to identify the revamped recipe, saying the name is synonymous with pork among people in Muslim-majority Malaysia and neighboring Singapore, where the dish is beloved by the ethnic Chinese community.
"Bak kut teh" means "meat bone tea" in a Chinese dialect, but the meat is generally understood to be pork.

"This will cause misunderstanding among the public. It might even lead some Muslims to wonder whether it is all right to eat pork," said Ma'mor Osman, secretary general of the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association.

The association plans to send a complaint to the Tourism Ministry, urging it to find a new name for the halal version, Ma'mor told The Associated Press.

The Department of Islamic Development, a government group that oversees Islamic policies, reportedly said it won't allow the dish to be formally certified as halal if it continues to be named "bak kut teh."

Islamic authorities are worried that Muslims will wrongly assume that the soup's pork version is suitable for consumption, the department's deputy director, Lokman Abdul Rahman, told the Utusan Malaysia newspaper....

Part of the money is earmarked to fight "extremism" -- although how this will be spent will be interesting, given that the British authorities have no clue about what exactly constitutes "extremism," and are failing miserably at countering it in Britain itself. "Britain to send £50m to Palestine," by Donald Macintyre in The Independent, December 28 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Britain yesterday marked the first anniversary of Israel's military onslaught on Gaza by announcing a £50m aid package for Palestinians, including backing for what it called "a drive against extremism" among the territory's young people.

The move came 24 hours after Israeli forces killed six Palestinians - three of them Gaza civilians - in one of the conflict's deadliest days since the three-week offensive that began with massive aerial bombing of Hamas targets a year ago yesterday....

Once again the mainstream media fails to note how Hamas launches attacks from civilian areas in order to draw retaliatory fire it can portray as wanton targeting of civilians.

The British aid is in part intended to alleviate that crisis. The bulk of the money will go to budget support for the moderate-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah. But £7m has been earmarked to help war-stricken Gazans in the winter. Another £5m will pay for 562 teachers in UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools in the area....

In Front Page for the 28th, a survey of the massive failure demonstrated by Flight 253:

An attempted jihad attack on Christmas Day has revealed that Americans are much more vulnerable to such attacks than most have believed - while government officials whistle in the dark. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, tried to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 just before it landed in Detroit. In response, Barack Obama chose not to cut short his golfing vacation in Hawaii; the White House announced that he would "likely" have something to say about this latest attempted jihad attack on U.S. soil "in the next few days." Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was ebullient, maintaining that "the system worked" and "everything happened that should have."

Unless the "system" consisted of relying on passengers to tackle jihadists (as Jasper Schuringa, the Dutch passenger on Flight 253, subdued Abdulmutallab), and trusting that jihadis' detonators will malfunction (as did Abdulmutallab's), Napolitano's statement couldn't possibly be farther from the truth. In reality, nothing worked. Nothing at all, both in terms of security procedures for individual air passengers, and in terms of the larger strategy for dealing with jihad terrorism.

All the stupid and humiliating airport security procedures, all the little baggies for toothpaste and shampoo, all the padding through the security scanner in stocking feet, didn't work. Abdulmutallab was able to board the plane with the makings of a bomb that would have destroyed the aircraft and killed everyone in it. The Transportation Security Administration has scrambled since Christmas Day to stiffen security procedures, but its effort is foredoomed: jihadis study these procedures carefully, always searching for ways to circumvent them. And such ways exist, even if every passenger were subjected to a full body cavity search - bomb ingredients can be separated and combined mid-flight, or spirited onboard in ways as yet unimagined by the most visionary TSA official.

Abdulmutallib was also on a terror watch list, although that fact, and the fact that he had been known to anti-terror officials for several years, did not prevent him from boarding Flight 253 - showing that such lists and even official scrutiny are as useless as taking off your shoes in the airport security line. What's more, the jihadi's father warned American officials about his son, who was being watched already. And still nothing was done to keep him from boarding the plane....

Read it all.

And where is he now? "Flight 253 passenger: Sharp-dressed man aided terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab onto plane without passport (MLive.com exclusive)," by Sheena Harrison for MLive.com, December 26 (thanks to Puneet):

A Michigan man who was aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 says he witnessed Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab trying to board the plane in Amsterdam without a passport.

Kurt Haskell of Newport, Mich., who posted an earlier comment about his experience, talked exclusively with MLive.com and confirmed he was on the flight by sending a picture of his boarding pass. He and his wife, Lori, were returning from a safari in Uganda when they boarded the NWA flight on Friday.

Haskell said he and his wife were sitting on the ground near their boarding gate in Amsterdam, which is when they saw Mutallab approach the gate with an unidentified man.

Kurt and Lori Haskell are attorneys with Haskell Law Firm in Taylor. Their expertise includes bankruptcy, family law and estate planning.

While Mutallab was poorly dressed, his friend was dressed in an expensive suit, Haskell said. He says the suited man asked ticket agents whether Mutallab could board without a passport. "The guy said, 'He's from Sudan and we do this all the time.'"

Mutallab is Nigerian. Haskell believes the man may have been trying to garner sympathy for Mutallab's lack of documents by portraying him as a Sudanese refugee.

The ticket agent referred Mutallab and his companion to her manager down the hall, and Haskell didn't see Mutallab again until after he allegedly tried to detonate an explosive on the plane....

Now he is free on $100 bond. Clearly this far-seeing and right-thinking judge understands that Islam is a Religion of Peace™, and that therefore this man only intended to butcher his sinful inclinations, as part of his inner spiritual struggle to conform his life to the will of Allah.

And now that he is out, is anyone paying any attention to how his inner spiritual struggle is going? Or is this another Misunderstander of Islam that we're only going to hear about again if he misunderstands jihad at the expense of the life of an Infidel or two?

"Memphis Man Arrested: Accused of Making Bomb Threats & Threatening to Start 'Holy War,'" from MyEyewitnessNews.com, December 25 (thanks to Pamela):

MEMPHIS, TN - Tonight, Mohamed Ibrahim is out after posting $100 bond. Earlier in the day, he was arrested after police say he walked into several Memphis businesses and threatened to blow them up.

Court records show Ibrahim was also telling people he was Muslim, and wanted to start a jihad, or holy war, in Memphis.

Police say when they arrested him, he had a butcher knife hidden in one of his jacket sleeves.

UPDATE: In a sudden outburst of common sense, Mohamed Ibrahim's bail amount seems to have been changed to $50,000. (Pamela has court docs and info).

Abdulmutallab could be just the beginning, if this report is accurate. "25 Brits in jet bomb plots," by Anthony France and Alex West for The Sun, December 27 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

COPS fear that 25 British-born Muslims are plotting to bomb Western airliners.

The fanatics, in five groups, are now training at secret terror camps in Yemen.

It was there London-educated Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, prepared for his Christmas Day bid to blow up a US jet.

The British extremists in Yemen are in their early 20s and from Bradford, Luton and Leytonstone, East London.

They are due to return to the UK early in 2010 and will then await internet instructions from al-Qaeda on when to strike.

A Scotland Yard source said: "The great fear is Abdulmutallab is the first of many ready to attack planes and kill tens of thousands.

"We know there are four or five radicalised British Muslim cells in the Yemen.

"They are due back within months when they will be under constant surveillance."

The 25 suspects, of Pakistani and Somali descent, were radicalised in UK mosques.

Uh, how'd that happen? I thought they were all serenely moderate.

Small jihadi world. "Abdulmutallab, A Banker's Son Turned Muslim Radical: Accused Northwest Bomber's Emails Tell of Desire to Go to Yemen," by Richard Esposito and Brian Ross for ABC News, December 27 (thanks to James):

Northwest Airlines bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, became so politically extreme his own father reported him to U.S. authorities.

More than 100 chat room posts traced to his e-mail account by ABC News show the course of his radicalization.

"I think this is the threat, the primary threat that we have to worry about now," said Richard Clarke, ABC News consultant and former counterterrorism czar. "People who've been radicalized in the United States, in Western Europe, people who have been radicalized long distance on the internet."...

He wrote of being lonely and sought friends on-line. "Can you be my friend?" he wrote. "I get lonely sometimes because I have never found a true Muslim friend."

Then later, he wrote of joining protests against the war in Iraq, asking "when is lying allowed to deceive the enemy?" Still later he wrote of heading to Yemen.

Isn't that odd. When I have written about Islam teaching that lying is allowed to deceive the enemy, I get called an "Islamophobe." I guess Abdulmutallab must be an "Islamophobe" as well.

"The Obama administration has been admitting lately, that Yemen is the new Afghanistan," said Clarke. "It is the new sanctuary. The new al Qaeda base, where people from around the world, who want to be trained are sent. No longer to Afghanistan, but to Yemen."

Awlaki Connection?

Investigators believe Abdulmutallab was connected to al Qaeda by the same radical Yemeni cleric, American-born Anwar Awlaki, who is linked to American Army Major Nidal Hasan, accused of opening fire at Fort Hood in November.

"It appears that just like with Major Hasan, Awlaki played a role in this," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich, ranking minority member of the House Intelligence Committee. "All roads point back to Yemen, they point back to Awlaki, I think it is a pretty deadly combination."...

Abdulmutallab was put on a terror watch list but his visa to visit the U.S., issued in 2008, was not revoked, nor was he put on the no fly list.

Said Rep. Hoekstra, "He should have been at the top of the no fly list."...

Uh, yeah.

Busy man

Priorities, priorities. "Obama 'Likely' to Speak About Flight 253," by Yunji de Nies for ABC News, December 27 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

White House sources tell ABC News the President will "likely" speak publicly about the alleged attempted terrorist attack on Flight 253 in the next few days. The President is on vacation in his native state of Hawaii - he has received regularly briefings on the incident and called for increased security for air travel, along with a full review of the terror watch list procedures. The White House is adamant that the President is actively engaged on the incident behind the scenes, receiving regular updates as information comes in. While on vacation Mr. Obama does not keep a public schedule, but he did spend much of the day golfing on Saturday and is spending Sunday with his family at the beach. He has been criticized because he has yet to address the American people directly....

Some jihadists consider no non-Muslim to be innocent. Thus when a Muslim spokesman says that Islam condemns the killing of innocent people, he hasn't necessarily said anything that would render un-Islamic a jihad attack like the one attempted on Flight 253. But Free Press reporter Niraj Warikoo, who has been covering Muslim activities in the Detroit area for years and giving Muslim spokesmen a free pass on such questions, acts true to form in this piece.

"Nigerian-American Muslims held convention during attack attempt," by Niraj Warikoo for the Detroit Free Press, December 27 (thanks to James):

Hundreds of Nigerian-American Muslims from across the U.S. -- including some from metro Detroit -- had gathered this weekend in Boston, Massachusetts for their annual gathering. It's considered the biggest meeting of Nigerian Muslims in the U.S.

But in the middle of five-day convention came breaking news -- a Nigerian Muslim man attempted a terrorist attack on a Northwest plane descending into Detroit.

The participants were horrified and scrambled to put out a press release strongly condemning the incident, said leaders of the 9th annual national convention of the National Council of Nigerian Muslim Organizations, which ended today.

"It was hard news to take," Muyideen Ibiyemi, chairman of the board of trustees of the National Council, told the Free Press today. "It took us aback."

But Ibiyemi, of Providence, Rhode Island, said the incident has only made him and other Nigerian-American Muslims more committed to spreading the true [sic] of Islam, which he said was about peace and harmony. The focus of the convention this year was about maintaining Islamic traditions among Nigerian Muslims.

"There is no room in the Quran for this type of thing," Ibiyemi said of the attempted terrorist attack by a 23-year-old Nigerian man who is Muslim. "There is no room in Islam for killing innocent people."...

Meanwhile, Ibiyemi said that he and others in his community will continue to preach the correct message of Islam.

"There is no extremism in this religion," he said. "The Prophet, peace be upon him," was not an extremist.

"The tenets of Islam are to respect the laws of the country," Ibiyemi added. "We want to let the world know we won't associate" with terrorism.

Meanwhile, the unindicted co-conspirator CAIR, also true to form, is attempting to shift the focus of attention away from the Islamic doctrines that lead to such attacks and on to Muslims as victims, based on the chimerical threat of a "backlash":

Dawud Walid, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said today that "we're concerned about any security threats."

But he said he's also concerned about profiling of innocent people based on ethnicity and religion, citing today's case in Detroit and a reported case in Arizona where men speaking Arabic were pulled off a plane.

"There may be a climate of fear and hysteria" that could result in the profiling of ethnic minorities, he said. There is an "increased anxiety about people's perceived ethnicities," Walid said.

Imam Kazeem Agboola, a Nigerian-American Muslim who heads the Muslim Community Center-Detroit, said that "some will call us names, but there's nothing we can do about it." His congregation is predominantly Nigerian.

"We'll be fine," he added. "We'll be fine."

Of course you will.

Nothing worked. All the stupid and humiliating airport security procedures, all the little baggies for toothpaste and shampoo, all the padding through the security scanner in stocking feet, didn't work. All the concerted efforts by the State Department and DHS to ignore the jihad doctrine and reach out to people they deemed to be "moderate Muslims" didn't work. All the aid programs based on the assumption that poverty caused terrorism and that money for schools and roads and hospitals would win over Muslim hearts and minds didn't work. For an affluent and educated Muslim was able to bring explosive materials onto a plane, and the only thing that kept him from committing mass murder was his own ineptitude and the valor of other passengers on the plane.

What's more, the jihadi's father warned American officials about his son, who was being watched already. And still nothing was done to keep him from boarding the plane.

As far as the DHS and Janet Napolitano are concerned, the incident is a massive and unmitigated disaster, showing the complete and abject failure of their anti-terror policies across the board. But rather than have the decency to admit the truth, the DHS chief is putting on a brave face and pretending that up is down and down is up. "Homeland security head: The security system worked," from AP, December 27 (thanks to Mackie):

(AP) -- WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says investigators did not have enough information to keep a terror suspect from boarding a flight bound for Detroit and that the system worked as it should have.

The father of the man accused of attempting to blow up the jetliner told U.S. officials in Nigeria he was concerned about his son's extreme religious views. However, Napolitano says there was no specific information to place Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a no-fly list....

Pamela has video.

Is the Pope Catholic? Not necessarily. Abdulmutallab came to be known as "the Pope" because he was obviously and sincerely pious. And that same piety -- beliefs that flowed from the same wellsprings -- led him to attempt mass murder on Christmas Day. But even now the mainstream media and government spokesmen will not tell you that. "Bomb Suspect's Classmates Called Him 'The Pope,'" from AP, December 27:

[...] One of Abdulmutallab's former teacher said he was shocked to hear the news. He said on Sunday that Abdulmutallab was so well-respected in high school that classmates nicknamed him "the Pope."

But Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab also showed signs of inflexibility, said Michael Rimmer, a Briton who taught history at the British International School in Lome, Togo.

He said that, in a 2001 discussion about the Taliban in Afghanistan, Abdulmutallab was the only one to defend their actions -- something he attributed at the time to a desire to play the devil's advocate.

He also noted that during a school trip to London, Abdulmutallab became upset when the teacher took students to a pub and said it wasn't right to be in a place where alcohol was being served.

Rimmer said that overall, his impression of Abdulmutallab had been an extremely positive one -- noting in particular an incident in which the youngster chose to give 50 pounds to an orphanage rather than spend it on souvenirs in London.

"At one stage, his nickname was 'The Pope,'" Rimmer said. "In one way it's totally unsuitable because he's Muslim, but he did have this saintly aura.

"In all the time I taught him we never had cross words," Rimmer said from London in a telephone interview. "Somewhere along the line he must have met some sort of fanatics, and they must have turned his mind."

Rimmer described the institution -- an elite college preparatory school in the West African country, attended by children of diplomats and wealthy Africans -- as "lovely, lovely environment" where Christians often joined in Islamic feasts and some of the best Christmas carolers were Muslims.

Abdulmutallab showed no signs of intolerance toward other students, Rimmer said, explaining that "lots of his mates were Christians."...

"We now issue 370,000 student visas a year - almost the entire population of Bristol or Manchester - yet hardly any of the applicants ever see hide nor hair of an Immigration Officer."

An update on this story. "Terror plot raises questions over student visas," by Martin Evans for the Telegraph, December 27:

The latest airline bomb plot by a terrorist with British connections raises serious questions about the UK's controversial student visa system.

Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, who comes from a wealthy family in Nigeria, was already showing signs of extremist views when he was granted a visa to study mechanical engineering at University College London in 2005.

After completing his studies in 2008 he travelled to the Middle East before applying to return to the UK in May for another six month course.

However, his request was refused by officials from the UK Borders Agency as he was attempting to enrol on a course being offered by an institution on the Government's list of bogus colleges.

Despite the fact his entry was barred, questions still remain over the system which has seen more than one and a half million visas granted to overseas students during the last eight years.

Earlier this year a report by the Home Affairs Select Committee criticised the Government for failing to deal adequately with the explosion in bogus colleges springing up across the UK.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the committee said: "The government must restrict the term college to prevent any premises above a fish and chip shop from being able to claim it is a reputed educational institution."

It is feared tens of thousands of foreign nationals have gained entry to Britain illegally under the scheme, with many avoiding detection and never leaving.

In March tighter restrictions were introduced cutting the number of institutions allowed to recruit students from outside the UK.

But critics believe the new points based register has done little to close the system's gaping loopholes.

Around 3,000 educational institutions across the UK have been granted licenses under the points based system but there are only 62 officials employed to vet the colleges and their 13,500 employees. [...]

MPs have welcomed efforts to improve the system, but in their report expressed concern that inspectors were giving notice to colleges before visits.

Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch has also been deeply critical of the system which he said provided a "gaping hole" in our immigration system.

He said: "We now issue 370,000 student visas a year - almost the entire population of Bristol or Manchester - yet hardly any of the applicants ever see hide nor hair of an Immigration Officer."

There is also widespread concern that many legitimate universities and colleges are providing fertile recruiting grounds for radical Islamic preachers and banned groups.

Radicalisation among students has been a problem since the 1990s, with many of those involved in terror plots being highly educated graduates.

Three of the July 7 bombers attended university as did most of the gang which planned a fertiliser bomb attack on the Bluewater shopping centre and the Ministry of Sound nightclub.

Ahmed Omar Sheikh, convicted of the kidnap and murder of the journalist Daniel Pearl, was a former student at London School of Economics, and Waseem Mughal, convicted of running a website for al-Qaeda in Iraq, was a former biochemistry student at Leicester University.

Mughal was a member of the university Islamic society, and the fertiliser bomber Jawad Akbar attended Islamic society meetings at Brunel University, while Yassin Nassari, convicted of smuggling plans for a Qassam rocket into Britain, was president of the University of Westminster's Islamic society at its Harrow campus in Northwest London. [...]

A recent study by the Centre for Social Cohesion found that a third of Muslim university students believed killing in the name of religion could be justified.

The disturbing findings of the survey also found a large proportion were in favour of the introduction of Sharia law in the UK.

Following publication of the report, its co-author Hannah Stuart said: "Students in higher education are the future leaders of their communities yet significant numbers of them appear to hold beliefs which contravene liberal, democratic values.

"In addition there are signs of growing religious segregation on campus. These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said that there is no extremism in British universities."

"Body bomb," of course, is putting it politely, as al-Qaeda increasingly resorts to underwear and suppository bombs to evade security. Similarly, the criminal complaint against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab provides the following information:

... In general, those individuals who were on the flight and who were able to see Abdulmutallab report that prior to the incident, Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom for approximately twenty minutes. Upon returning to his seat, Abdulmutallab stated that his stomach was upset, and he pulled a blanket over himself. Passengers then heard popping noises similar to firecrackers, smelled an odor, and some observed Abdulmutallab's pants leg and the wall of the airplane on fire. Passengers and crew then subdued Abdulmutallab and used blankets and fire extinguishers to put out the flames. One flight attendant stated that she asked Abdulmutallab what he had in his pocket, and he replied "explosive device." A passenger stated that he observed Abdulmutallab holding what appeared to be a partially melted syringe, which was smoking....

Time may tell what was going on during those 20 minutes that Abdulmutallab disappeared, but the characteristics of the bomb's transport and design certainly appear to strengthen the case for a Yemeni connection.

"U.S. Eyes Yemen Al-Qaida Tie to Terror Suspect," by Robert Windrem for MSNBC, December 26:

U.S. agencies are looking into whether al-Qaida extremists in Yemen directed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and provided him with the explosives used in the failed bombing of Northwest Flight 253, senior administration officials tell NBC News.

They are also examining a possible link to an attempted assassination of a Saudi government official last August that used the same explosive, PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate.

Abdulmutallab had visited Yemen in the past few months, say officials. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is a Yemen-based offshoot of al-Qaida.

Abdulmutallab's increasingly radical leanings and anti-western rhetoric caused his family to alert the U.S. Embassy in the Nigerian capital of Abuja of their concerns, although it's not clear when they did so.

He was added to a terrorism watch list, say officials, but not to the no-fly list. The larger terrorism watch list contains more than 500,000 names, while the no-fly list has some 4,000 names. [...]

Of particular interest to U.S. officials, beyond Abdulmutallab's travels to Yemen, is a thwarted attack on the head of Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism effort and an October article on the use of small amounts of explosives, authored by the Yemen al-Qaida group's leader.

In the former incident, a suicide bomber hid PETN in his underwear, detonating it when greeting Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, head of Saudi counterterrorism, last Aug. 28.

The man, who had claimed he was turning himself in, died in the attack. Bin Nayef, a U.S. ally, suffered burns to his hands. Cultural taboos prevented a search in that part of the terrorist's body. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack.

'War is a Trick'

That was followed by an article published two months later in Sada al-Malahim, the group's online magazine. In the article, "War is a Trick," the group's leader, Abu Basir al-Wuhayshi, advised would-be al-Qaida members to use small amounts of explosives to kill "apostates" and Western nationals, including on passenger aircraft and in airports.

The title should sound familiar. It was Muhammad himself who said "War is deceit."

According to a translation proved by NBC counterterrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann, al-Wuhayshi wrote: "You do not need to sacrifice huge efforts, or large amounts of money, to make 10 grams of explosives, or more or less ... make it [the material] in the shape of a grenade to throw, or [an explosive] to time, or ignite it from a distance, or a martyrdom belt ... and bomb with it any tyrant, or intelligence forces den, or a prince, or a minister, or a crusader wherever you find them, and also in airports in the western crusade countries that participated in the war against Muslims; or on their planes, or in their residential complexes or their subways."

Al-Wuhayshi pointed to the attempted assassination of bin Nayef as an example of how to carry out such attacks....

Said the al-Shabaab spokesman: "The Mujahideens have realized their grip on all southern regions in Somalia and in the near future we hope to govern all Somalia under the holy Quran rule."

Indeed, that is the aim of all jihad: the imposition of Islamic law. And should al-Shabaab prevail in the remainder of the country (even excluding Somaliland and Puntland) they will certainly aim to "defend" their regime by posing an increasing threat to the security and territorial integrity of Somalia's neighbors. After all, as the apologists have noted, "defensive" jihad can be waged even without a caliph; indeed, that's not much of a deterrent to jihad.

All that's needed is an excuse. "Al-Shabaab Seize Islands Near Kenya," by Shafii Mohyaddin Abokar for Newstime Africa, December 26:

The Al-qaeda inspired Al-shabasb militants in Somalia have on seized five islands near the Kenyan coast, the group's spokesman in the southern Jubba regions told reporters on Wednesday. Spokesman Sheik Hassan Yaqub Ali said that the Mujahideens have peacefully taken the five islands including Raskamboni and Kudha both two important hideouts early on Wednesday morning.

"We arrived here to implement the Islamic law, and this is kind of extending our rule into more lands in Somalia" the militant spokesman added during a press conference in the Raskamboni Island on Wednesday. "The Mujahideens have realized their grip on all southern regions in Somalia and in the near future we hope to govern all Somalia under the holy Quran rule" he stated.

Some interesting journalistic license:

This foolish doctrine based on Islamic Sharia law has not been embraced by Muslims in the wider Islamic world as most of them see this fundamentalist Islamic translation of Sharia law as the Muslim extremists' way of strangling the peaceful teachings of the Quran. Sharia law does not seem to have any place in contemporary Islamic lifestyle because of the terror, brutality and consistent human rights abuses associated with it.

The Islands were formerly controlled by another Islamist rebel group Hezbal Islam which was driven out of the southern Jubba regions after clashes with Al-shabab which the United States accuses of being Alqaed's proxy in the horn of Africa.

Last week the Kenyan government closed its border with Somalia after it deployed hundreds of its military troops along the 600KM border-line as militants were advancing to the Kenyan side of the border.

An update on this story. "Islamists claim killing of Russian priest," from Agence France-Presse, December 26:

MOSCOW -- An Islamist militant group based in Russia's North Caucases [sic] has claimed the killing last month of an Orthodox priest who was an outspoken critic of Islam.

"One of our brothers who has never been to the Caucases took up the oath of (former independent Chechen president Doku Umarov) and expressed his desire to execute the damned Sysoyev," said a statement on the Kavkazcenter.com website.

Daniil Sysoyev, 35, was killed on November 20 when masked gunman walked into Saint Thomas's church in southern Moscow and shot him four times.

Doku Umarov emerged as the leader of the remaining active rebel movements in the North Caucases in 2007 and is considered enemy number one in the region by Russian authorities.

The statement on the Kavkazcenter.com website, which is often used by militants, accused Sysoyev of writing several pamphlets insulting Islam.

It warned "those in the future who defame Islam and insult the religion of Allah will suffer the fate as Sysoyev."

Sysoyev, who was criticised by Muslim organisations for his statements on Islam, had reportedly contacted Russian security services several times over threats.

Authorities have also uncovered a connection with the Fort Hood jihadist's imam, Anwar al-Awlaki. "Officials: Only A Failed Detonator Saved Northwest Flight," by Brian Ross and Richard Esposito for ABC News, December 26:

Officials now say tragedy was only averted on Northwest flight 253 because a makeshift detonator failed to work properly.

Bomb experts say there was more than enough explosive to bring down the Northwest jet, which had nearly 300 people aboard, had the detonator not failed, and the nation's outdated airport screening machines may need to be upgraded.

"We've known for a long time that this is possible," said Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism czar and ABC News consultant, "and that we really have to replace our scanning devices with more modern systems."

Clarke said full body scans were needed, "but they're expensive and they're intrusive. They invade people's privacy."

Al Qaeda, said Clarke, is aware of this vulnerability in the U.S. airport security system. "They know that this is a weakness and an Achilles' heel in our airport security system and this is the second time they've tried it." [...]

According to investigators, the bomb on Northwest flight 253, which was en route from Amsterdam to Detroit when suspect Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab allegedly detonated it, contained more than 80 grams of PETN. The material was allegedly sewn into Abdulmutallab's underwear, and was not detected by airport security.

The bomb was built and the plot organized, say U.S. officials, by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen, just north of the capital city of Sanaa.

Authorities say the 23-year-old suspect spent months in Yemen being trained for the Christmas Day suicide mission.

Investigators believe Abdulmutallab was connected to al Qaeda by the same radical imam, American-born Anwar Awlaki, who is linked to the American Army major accused of opening fire at Fort Hood in November.

According to investigators, the bomb used yesterday was built in Yemen by a top al Qaeda bomb maker. [...]

Abdulmutallab, who flew from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then Detroit, was taken into custody at the Detroit airport and was interviewed by authorities there. He was then taken to an area hospital to be treated for burns.

Abdulmutallab was on a terrorism watch list, but not on a no-fly list. Said Clarke, "So once again, we have the U.S. government, as in the case of the Fort Hood attacks, knowing about someone, knowing that they were suspicious, but that information didn't get to the right people in time."

Remember the adage at the end of the old G.I. Joe cartoons that "knowing is half the battle?" Somewhere in the remaining half is "keep the guy with the bomb off the plane." "Official: U.S. Knew for 2 Years Suspect Could Have Terror Ties," from FoxNews, December 26:

An official briefed on the foiled attack on a Detroit airliner says the U.S. has known for at least two years that the suspect could have terrorist ties.

The official said that the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, has been on a list that includes people with known or suspected contact or ties to a terrorist or terrorist organization.

The intelligence database that Mutallab is part of is described as containing people who have "loose ties or links to extremists," Fox News has learned. Any person in this database is someone who as of yet rises to threat level of no-fly lists or other more serious screenings.

Multiple law enforcement officials identified Mutallab as a Nigerian national who was reportedly an engineering student at London's University College.

On Saturday, police in the U.K. were searching a number of locations in connection to the suspect, while authorities met with a Nigerian banker that may be the father of the suspect.

Former bank official Alhaji Umaru Mutallab says he traveled from his home in the Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north to meet officials in Abuja, the capital. The elder Mutallab says his son left London to travel, though he did not know where to....

Because nothing says Religion of Peace and Tolerance like blowing up a nuclear plant -- and doing so in obedience to violent directives from that religion's holy book and central prophet.

"'US suspects planned to target Chashma nuclear plant,'" from the Daily Times, December 26 (thanks to Kris):

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: The five US nationals arrested from Sargodha on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks in the country, revealed on Friday that they intended to attack the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant and other important installations in the country, a private TV channel reported. Sargodha Cantonment Station House Officer Amir Sherazi said the terrorists disclosed their plans during interrogation. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that police had won more time from a court to interrogate the five Americans, who are suspected of using the Internet to contact militants.

And his father warned the U.S. about him. Also, who paid for the $4 million apartment he lived in? And why was he nicknamed "Islamic scholar" when he was so obviously a Misunderstander of the Religion of Peace™?

"Father of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, Nigerian terror suspect in Flight 253 attack, warned U.S.," by Samuel Goldsmith for the New York Daily News, December 26 (thanks to Kamala):

The terror suspect who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane is the son of a Nigerian banker who alerted U.S. authorities to his "extreme religious views" months ago, it was reported Saturday.

The father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former minister and chairman of First Bank in Nigeria, is shocked that his son was even was allowed to fly to the U.S., family members told the Nigerian newspaper This Day.

The dad was meeting with security officials to discuss his son, identified as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, 23.

The younger Mutallab was not on any no-fly list when he flew from Nigeria to Detroit through Amsterdam, Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.) told the Daily News....

The suspect boarded the Airbus 330 - carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members - in Amsterdam after arriving on a flight from Lagos.

He told authorities he got the explosives in Yemen and received orders from Al Qaeda operatives to detonate the device on a plane over U.S. soil, officials said.

He is an engineering student at the University College in London. His last-known address near the school is a $4 million apartment in Central London. Police were searching there Saturday morning.

This Day reported that the suspect has been known for extremist religious views since high school at the British International School in Lome, Togo.

"At the secondary school, he was known for preaching about Islam to his schoolmates and he was popularly called 'Alfa,' a local coinage for Islamic scholar," This Day reported.

But what about non-Muslims? "Reviving the spirit of Islam: Thousands gather to pray, talk about faith in secular world," by Debra Black for the Toronto Star, December 26 (thanks to Josephine):

Close to 17,000 Muslims came to Metro Toronto's Convention Centre on Friday - Christmas Day - to learn about their religion and being a Muslim in a modern world....

It was all part of a three-day convention "Reviving the Islamic Spirit," an annual conference with its roots in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack. It is designed, organizers say, as a way to help young Muslims understand their faith in a North American context.

As the conference opened, men and women, young and old, parents with young babies in strollers and teens flooded one of the conference halls to hear Imam Johari Abdul Malik, one of the 20 scheduled speakers and Muslim scholars.

"It is my hope that by attending this conference you will leave better than you come," Imam Johari Abdul Malik told the crowd. "You and I must struggle to understand the Qur'an in our context. Islam can only be practised in the world we live in.

"Maybe it's time to save the ship to say that I am going to take an oath to be non-violent," he said, speaking of the widespread violence in the world by Muslims against other Muslims.

"And that I refuse as a Muslim to kill another Muslim and also as a Muslim to defend the rights of others." He added that he thought Islam should not be practised as it was 10 centuries ago.

At the bazaar, about 150 stalls were open. A prayer area was sectioned off behind the stalls.

The message conference organizers wanted participants to take home was that they must find a way to practise their religion in a broader, secular, democratic society.

It is about "living the ideas of being a Muslim and being true to your faith but as part of a broader society," said Nadir Shirazi, one of the organizers of the conference and the CEO of a diversity training company. "We are, after all, part of a broader community of Canadians."

Conference organizers also want to inspire Muslims to spread a peaceful face of Islam to the world, said Shirazi. Toward that aim, they have brought in a diverse group of speakers and scholars, including Yusuf Islam - known to many who grew up in the 1960s as musician Cat Stevens - and the comedy troupe Allah Made Me Funny....

Jasper Schuringa explains how he subdued Islamic jihadist Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab on a flight to Detroit yesterday. "Terror hero: I didn't hesitate," by Tom Liddy for the New York Post, December 26 (thanks to James):

A Dutch airline passenger told The Post how he leapt into action when an alleged Muslim terrorist tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner packed with 300 people just moments before landing.

Chaos erupted as alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, 23, tried to set off a sophisticated explosive device strapped to his body.

"Suddenly, we hear a bang. It sounded like a firecracker went off," said Jasper Schuringa, a film director who was traveling to the US to visit friends.

"When [it] went off, everybody panicked ... Then someone screamed, 'Fire! Fire!'"

Schuringa, sitting in seat 20J, in the right-most section of the Airbus 330, looked to his left. "I saw smoke rising from a seat ... I didn't hesitate. I just jumped," he said....

Read it all.

That is, like dhimmis. Imagine the global outrage if the shoe were on the other foot, and Muslims were so restricted. "Vatican's top cleric in Arabia walks a thin line," by Barbara Surk for the Associated Press, December 25:

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- The Vatican's top cleric in the heart of Muslim Arabia tends to a flock of 2 million Christians spread around six desert nations. But he has to do it quietly: Most of them must still pray in secret and are forbidden to display crosses and other symbols of their faith.

From his base in the emirate of Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf, Archbishop Paul Hinder travels the Arabian Peninsula, even slipping in and out of Saudi Arabia - the birthplace of Islam, where restrictions on Christians are the toughest.

An earlier, more extensive interview with Hinder can be found here.

"We are tolerated, but not popular here," Hinder said in an interview in the archbishop's living quarters inside a Christian compound in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

He spoke wearing the traditional hooded robe of his Capuchin order. The white garb blends in just fine with the Arab robes worn by men in the region, so he wears it in public - but without a cross around his neck or the belt of three knots that also mark the order.

"People here know who I am, although I never wear a cross when I go outside out of respect for local conditions," said Hinter, a Swiss citizen.

Still, he says, there are signs of slow change, even in Saudi Arabia, where small groups who in the past would have been punished or deported if caught practicing the Christian services are now left in peace to pray privately.

The UAE and the neighboring Gulf nations of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have taken greater steps. They have allowed churches to be built on land donated by the countries' rulers, though there are no outward signs that the buildings are houses of worship. [...]

The following paragraph fails to question why there are "no indigenous Christians" in the Gulf nations:

With no indigenous Christians, Gulf nations have long been the toughest in the Middle East in restricting Christian and other non-Muslim religious practices, though they rarely cross the line into outright persecution. In other Arab nations, Christians practice openly - though in Egypt, with the largest Christian minority, they often complain of discrimination at the hands of the Muslim majority.

Hinter said he is careful not to do anything that could be construed as proselytizing or seeking conversions - a major taboo in Islam.

Hinter, who has been in his post for seven years, says members of his flock are tested in areas beyond religion, particularly exploitation by their employers and fear of losing their jobs in the recession. Some are not allowed to attend a church service at all by their employers, who often strictly control the lives of their maids, gardeners, cooks, drivers and nannies.

"Their struggles are enormous," Hinder said. "They are often exploited and sometimes treated as human beings of second class." [...]

The biggest congregation - about 1.4 million Christians - live and work in Saudi Arabia, which is home of Islam's holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, and is ruled under the strict version of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. Hard-core Wahhabis vehemently resist any practice of Christianity or other religions in what they see as the heartland of Islam.

Only some truly hard-core, intolerant boor would go for that, right? Well....

"I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim" (Muhammad, Sahih Muslim 19.4366).

Hinder travels there several times a year, but only as a private citizen, not as an archbishop.

Bibles and crucifixes - and all non-Muslim religious symbols - are illegal and are confiscated at the border. The low-key Christian services that do take place cannot be led by ordained priests, so Catholics cannot attend a Mass or confess their sins.

Still, Hinter said conditions improved somewhat after Saudi King Abdullah visited the Vatican in 2007 and met with Pope Benedict XVI.

Christians now can gather in private houses in small groups for prayer, led by an unordained "community leader," he said.

"The climate is changing, but that does not mean there will be churches in Saudi Arabia tomorrow," he said.

MEMRI video (thanks to Pamela).

It's in the Qur'an:

"And (remember, O Children of Israel) when We made a covenant with you and caused the mount to tower above you, (saying): Hold fast that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein, that ye may ward off (evil). Then, even after that, ye turned away, and if it had not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy ye had been among the losers. And ye know of those of you who broke the Sabbath, how We said unto them: Be ye apes, despised and hated!" (2:63-65)

"Say: 'O people of the Book! Do ye disapprove of us for no other reason than that we believe in Allah, and the revelation that hath come to us and that which came before (us), and (perhaps) that most of you are rebellious and disobedient?' Say: 'Shall I point out to you something much worse than this, (as judged) by the treatment it received from Allah? those who incurred the curse of Allah and His wrath, those of whom some He transformed into apes and swine, those who worshipped evil;- these are (many times) worse in rank, and far more astray from the even path!'" (5:59-60)

"When in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, We said to them: 'Be ye apes, despised and rejected.'" (7:166)

The well-known Hamas propagandist, the "Palestinian" Arab Azzam al-Tamimi, has recently denounced the Swiss for their vote, one overwhelming in favor of banning minarets, on a program beamed out by Al-Jazeeera. Azzam al-Tamimi is quite a figure in London, where he used to be -- just a few years ago -- a respected commentator on Middle Eastern, especially Arab-Israeli matters. In the United States too, he was allowed, a few years ago, in the guise of that same respected commentator and analyst, to contribute a "My Turn" column to Newsweek, no doubt his piece being vetted and approved by the disturbingly skull-faced Fareed al-Zakaria. Zakaria has been such a sly apologist on the matter of Islam, though he himself, in his own ostentatious behavior, is reassuringly "moderate" (you know, with a love of wine, and that sort of thing, that can so mislead). You can see, for your first viewing, the Al-Jazeera interview with Al-Tamimi here.

Al-Tamimi's performance is telling, and deserves to be seen. One hopes that his, and similar denunciations, will be played and played in Switzerland and all over Europe, so that the next time there is a vote, the well-informed will not constitute 58%, but 98% of the vote. Al-Tamimi mingles real fury and illogic with, at times, a voice barely under control, but meant to indicate that he, Azzam al-Tamimi, is being logical. He begins by maintaining that while the "Swiss elites" were intelligently against the ban, the ignorant Swiss people themselves, devoid of intelligence, were for it. Or rather, while the Swiss "elites" were against the ban, it was those "neo-Nazis" whose "neo-Nazi" followers, according to Al-Tamimi in his Al-Jazeera interview, were "behind the Swiss minaret ban." Except that a few seconds later he decides that it was really the "Zionists" who were behind the ban, but don't worry, in a Hegelian synthesis of the thesis ("neo-Nazis" were behind it) and the antithesis ("Zionists" were behind it), he offers his own synthesis: the "neo-Nazis" and the "Zionists," naturally, have no trouble working hand in glove.

He says it's because of its "history and its cultural orientation." That is true, but those things are true because of the deep roots of Islam in the country, leading most people there to want Afghanistan to be a Sharia state. "Guttenberg: Afghan democracy impossible," from The Local, December 26 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Germany's beleaguered defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has said the West should abandon hopes of creating a democracy in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told the Sunday edition of the tabloid Bild newspaper that Afghanistan was simply not suited to democracy, and that any realistic government in the country had to include the Taliban.

"I have long since become convinced that because of its history and its cultural orientation Afghanistan is not suited to being a model democracy, measured by our standards," said Guttenberg, who has come under intense pressure over his ministry's public relations disaster following a deadly air strike in Kunduz in which up to 142 people were killed....

"We have to ask ourselves which of the insurgents represent a serious threat to the international community, and which are concerned with Afghan questions," Guttenberg said. "The question of human rights has to be addressed here, without ignoring the cultures that have developed in Afghanistan."

But he warned, "Negotiations and the inclusion of the Taliban should of course not be started without conditions. It would be unacceptable if universally acknowledged human rights were simply suspended."

Well, don't hold your breath, Guttenberg.

Demonstrating a perhaps Hitlerian ability to avoid destruction even when in its close proximity. An update on this story. "Radical cleric is said to be alive after Yemen airstrikes," from AP, December 26 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Sana, Yemen - A U.S.-born radical cleric is alive after reports he may have been killed in a Yemeni airstrike against a suspected Al Qaeda hide-out, friends and relatives said Friday.

The government said it targeted a meeting of high-level Al Qaeda operatives in Thursday's airstrike in the remote province of Shabwa. It claimed that at least 30 militants were killed, possibly including Anwar al Awlaki, a radical cleric who has been linked to the accused gunman in last month's attack at the Ft. Hood military base in Texas.

On Friday, a friend of the cleric, Abu Bakr al Awlaki, said he was not among those killed. He refused to say if the cleric was attending the meeting....

This is potentially significant, due to the highly plausible double meaning of the "ceremony" as an act of jihad, as well as for jihadists' common habit of referring to an upcoming attack as a "wedding." At the very least, it would behoove authorities to ask for more details before granting a visa, and restrict the interval for which it is valid.

"Man Attempts to Set Off Explosives on Detroit-Bound Airplane," by Richard Esposito and Scott Mayerowitz for ABC News, December 25:

[...] The suspect was identified as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, who according to federal documents is an engineering student at University College of London.

He was flying from Nigeria to the United States for a religious ceremony, according to his entry visa, which was issued June 16, 2008 and was good until June 12, 2010.

The government had no immediate plans after the incident to raise the threat level, a federal government source said.

The suspect had been in a law enforcement-intelligence database but was not on the government's no-fly list, according to a law enforcement official. [...]

The suspect told authorities that he had explosive powder taped to his leg and used a syringe of chemicals to mix with the powder that was to cause explosion. This is of concert because it is a method of mixing that is consistent with terror techniques. [...]

UPDATE, 8:47pm PST: ABC News has since revised their report from religious "ceremony" to "seminar." In any event, the fact remains that the visa was strikingly generous, and authorities did not ask enough questions about the "religious" nature of the suspect's trip.

Profiling! Islamophobia! No, wait... More on this story. "Passenger Lights Explosive on Delta Flight," from CBS News, December 25:

A Northwest Airlines passenger landing in Detroit on Friday tried to blow up the flight but the explosive device failed, two U.S. national security officials said.

The passenger, who was traveling on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam, was not identified. He was being questioned Friday evening, according to one of the officials, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

The Delta/Northwest confusion stems from an ongoing consolidation following the merger of the two companies in 2008.

The motive of the Christmas Day attack was not immediately clear.

"He appears to have had some kind of incendiary device he tried to ignite," said one of the U.S. officials.

A senior law enforcement source speaking to CBS News has identified the suspect as Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23.

After the plane landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the suspect lit and set off what were at first described as fireworks or firecrackers but may have been another type of explosive. The explosive apparently lit the lower part of the suspect's body. He was immediately subdued and restrained and was later transported to a hospital burn unit.

Two other people suffered minor injuries.

The suspect has told federal investigators that he was sent by al Qaeda. He claims he picked up the explosive material in Yemen and was instructed to set it off on board an airplane. Those claims could not immediately be verified.

The suspect was on a U.S. government watch list of people with suspected terrorist ties. He is still being questioned.

"This does not strike us as having the earmarks of any kind of well-planned or well-orchestrated attack," a senior security official told CBS News.

That all remains to be seen. But a case of Sudden Jihad Syndrome certainly isn't reassuring.

Comments by David G. Littman, NGO Representative to the United Nations (Geneva):
Association for World Education (AWE) and World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ)

In a 24 December Press Release the U.S. affiliate of Christian Solidarity International (CSI) urged President Obama to send a Christmas Message of Hope to the Persecuted Christians of Iraq. Last year, on Human Rights Day (10 December 2008), the AWE, the WUPJ and the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) sent an Urgent Appeal to UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay, with copies to three UN Special Rapporteurs and two other UN authorities, regarding the tragic plight of Iraq's ancient Christian communities. No response was received, although the situation in Iraq has worsened considerably. Today, on Christmas Day, a second 'Appeal' was sent by us to the High Commissioner and copies will be posted tomorrow to all those listed at the end of our Appeal below.

ASSOCIATION FOR WORLD EDUCATION
INTERNATIONAL HUMANIST AND ETHICAL UNION
WORLD UNION FOR PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM

CHRISTMAS DAY APPEAL
To the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for the Christians of Iraq

25 December 2009

Your Excellency,

Last year, on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we appealed to you on the tragic situation of the Christians in Iraq, making available a detailed 15-page Report ("Terror Reigns over Mosul Christians") and a press release by Christian Solidarity International (CSI), with copies sent to those Special Rapporteurs and others listed below.

The above-mentioned CSI report drew particular attention to the fast-deteriorating human rights situation in the Mosul area where half of the roughly 25,000 Christians had fled after a well-organized terror campaign targeting Christians in September-October 2008. Although some have returned, the situation has worsened in general for Christian and other minorities.

In December 2009, five bombs in Baghdad killed 123 people and injured another 500, while three bomb explosions damaged churches and killed six people in Mosul. Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, over 500 Christians, including bishops and priests, have been killed and 59 churches bombed. These acts of terror, combined with kidnappings, death threats, discriminatory jizya-dhimmi extortions and non-violent anti-Christian social discrimination have prompted nearly half of Iraq's one million Christians to flee the country and seek refuge abroad. Many of those who remain in Iraq are internally displaced. Other Iraqi non-Muslim minorities experience similar persecution. "This Christmas, many Iraqi churches will yet again stand empty and forlorn because church attendance carries with it the risk of losing one's life. The inability of the faithful to celebrate Christmas without fear from jihad-terror reflects the crisis of survival facing Iraq's ancient Christian community." (CSI press release, 24 December 2009)

On Christmas Day, we again call for renewed efforts on the part of the entire UN system to monitor, to mediate and to facilitate reconciliation among the ethnic-religious communities of Iraq - and to combat religious intolerance. We urge a rapid deployment of larger numbers of human rights monitors and appeal to you and your office to take the necessary measures to fully protect the right to freedom of religion or belief of the Christian communities in Iraq.

Respectfully,

René V.L. Wadlow David G. Littman Roy W. Brown

Representatives to the United Nations Office in Geneva
Association for World Education: Case Postale 205, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
International Humanist and Ethical Union: 1 Gower St, London WC1E 6HD, UK.
World Union for Progressive Judaism: c/o Beith-Gil - 12, Quai du Seujet - 1201 Genève
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cc. Ms. Asma Jahangir, SR: Freedom of religion & belief; Mr. Githu Muigai, SR: Racism & Intolerance Mr. James Anaya, SR: HRts & fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples; Ms. Gay J. Mc Dougall, Ind. Exp. minority issues; Pr. Walter Kälin, Rep. of UN Sec.-Gen.: HR of internally displaced persons.

Merry Christmas, kuffar. "Passenger Ignites Explosive on Delta Flight, Al Qaeda Connection Reported," from Fox News, December 25 (thanks to Keith):

A male passenger reportedly linked to terrorist organization al-Qaeda ignited a powdery substance prior to landing on a Delta Airlines flight to Detroit Friday. The suspect is believed to be Nigerian, Fox News reported.

Several people were hurt and one person was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. An emergency was declared aboard the flight, operated as Northwest flight 253, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson.

The suspect, who suffered second-degree burns, told federal investigators he was directed by al-Qaeda, though authorities are questioning the veracity of that statement, ABC reported. A federal situational awareness bulletin noted that the explosive was acquired in Yemen with instructions as to when it should be used, ABC said....

From Switzerland comes this contemporary political statement that is also an intimation of future Eurabian Christmases (thanks to Islam In Europe).

My Human Events column today chronicles an unmerry Christmas in Iraq and other Muslim countries:

Christians in the Iraqi city have opted not to celebrate Christmas this year, since Ashura, a major Shi'ite day of mourning, falls on the same day. So out of "respect" for the local Shi'ites, Chaldean Catholic Bishop Imad Al Banna asked all Christians in Basra not to engage in any public celebration of Christmas, and not even to entertain guests or show any joy in the day.

Would Shi'ites curtail one of their celebrations to show similar "respect" to the Christians? Would they mute their joy on Eid al-Fitr if it began on Good Friday? And what would happen to these Christians if they failed to show this "respect"?

Meanwhile, Christians are still streaming out of Iraq in such large numbers that the ancient Christian community is on the verge of extinction. Islamic jihadists last week attacked churches and Christian schools in Mosul, with forty people killed in bomb attacks and random Christians targeted for violence on the streets. This is after jihadist violence late last year killed forty and drove 12,000 Christians from the area. "It is terrible," one Mosul Christian told the Times of London: : "Most of the Christians are staying at home, or when they go out they watch their backs." A member of another religious minority, the Yazidis, who lives in a Christian village remarked: "You cannot live in Mosul. Every day you find Christians being killed. Very few are still going to church. The women have to wear hijabs. They send someone first in a car to check if there is someone outside the church."

And in Egypt, Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights released a new report detailing rampant abuse of Christian women by Muslims: "Cases of abduction, forced conversion and marriage are usually accompanied by acts of violence which include rape, beatings, deprivation of food and other forms of physical and mental abuse." John Eibner of Christian Solidarity International wrote a letter to Barack Obama about the treatment of Christian women, asking him to speak out and noting: "Trafficking of Christian women in Egypt is not a new phenomenon....But this problem has now reached boiling point within Egypt's Coptic community, which views it as symptomatic of a much broader pattern of religious persecution." But Obama, busy courting the good will of the Islamic world, is unlikely to say anything. And meanwhile, the State Department's 2009 report on international religious freedom noted that the Egyptian government often turns a blind eye to crimes committed against Copts -- and government officials have on occasion even participated in those crimes.

The Christians in Turkey are facing a similarly somber Christmas. "We are treated," said the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, "as citizens of second class. We don't feel that we enjoy our full rights as Turkish citizens." Yet "we prefer to stay here, even crucified sometimes."...

Read it all.

The Byzantine icon above is the work of the 16th-century iconographer Theophanes the Cretan. There are many things that are un-Islamic about it:

1. It is an image of human beings, which violates the traditional Islamic prohibition of images;

2. It depicts Jesus not as a Muslim prophet but as the incarnate Son of God (his halo reads ο ων, the One Who Is, a title of divinity derived from the name of God that God gives to Moses in Exodus 3:14), in violation of the oft-repeated Qur'anic injunction that Allah has no Son (4:171; 9:30; 25:2; 39:4; 72:3; etc. etc.);

3. In line with #2, it depicts what Muslims would consider to be idolatry, as the holy child's mother kneels and adores him;

4. In the beam or spear coming from heaven down to the child in the cradle, it depicts the activity of the Divine in the world, assuming the doctrine of the Trinity, which is rejected somewhat imprecisely in Qur'an 4:171 and 5:116;

5. The cradle resembles a casket, foreshadowing the redemptive death of Christ, which is denied in Qur'an 4:157.

Now, whether you are a Christian or not, whether or not you believe all or any of these things, the question that is before us this Christmas and every Christmas these days is whether or not people should be allowed to believe these things if they think they are true. Nowhere in the Islamic world today do people who believe these things enjoy full equality of rights with Muslims. In Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere Christians are frequently victimized because, as I have tried to show above, some of their core beliefs are considered blasphemous in authoritative Islam.

And that assumption of blasphemy, since Islam is a political program as well as a set of religious beliefs, does not allow for live-and-let live tolerance of those with whom one disagrees. The blasphemers and those who insult Islam must be subjugated under the rule of the Muslims. We see this agenda being articulated every day; we see Christians and others victimized by it every day; and we see the world largely yawning and indifferent as all this goes on.

This Christmas, remember that the Islamic supremacist program has you on its list. You may not be a Christian. You may not be a Jew. You may not be a Hindu. But the jihad is universal. You are on the list.

So this Christmas, may all of us whose conversion, subjugation, or death is envisioned by the adherents of Sharia stand together. Let us stand together as Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, secularists, what have you, and stand up against those who would kill us or subject us to institutionalized discrimination because they find our beliefs offensive.

For be assured: if we do not stand together, they will prevail. And if they do, and all the rich expressions of the human spirit, from Theophanes the Cretan to the fashioners of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, from Aristotle to Oriana, will be trampled into the mud, destroyed, exploded, ruined, effaced. We will all be the poorer. Our children will be the poorer.

Merry Christmas to all Christian Jihad Watchers who celebrate the Feast on this day.

"Extremists are putting the republic to the test by promoting a practice that they know is contrary to the basic principles of our country." And those "extremists" have plenty of enablers who can't fathom what the problem is with the dehumanizing symbol of segregation and subjugation (spun as "elevation" in classic Orwellian fashion) that the face veil is.

An update on this story. "France proposes ban on Islamic veils," from Deutsche Welle, December 23:

France's ruling party, the conservative Union Pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), says it plans to present a bill to parliament in January, which would ban full Islamic veils in all public places. The bill is to be presented in the first two weeks of next month, just before the conclusions of a French parliamentary inquiry on the burqa and niqab are published.

Jean-Francois Cope, the parliamentary party leader of the UMP, said the measure was meant to defend France from extremists.

"There are principles at stake: Extremists are putting the republic to the test by promoting a practice that they know is contrary to the basic principles of our country," he said.

Veils "not welcome" in France

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that veils that hide women's faces in public are "not welcome" in France. Most politicians say they would like to see the results of the parliamentary inquiry on the veils before they decide on the need for a law.

According to French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, about 1,900 women in France wear full Islamic veils. Hortefeux has said that applications for French citizenship or residence by burqa wearing women, along with their husbands, should be "systematically" refused. However, reports by French intelligence services put the number of women wearing burqas at "fewer than 400."

In the Paris newspaper Le Figaro, Cope said that the move was "a law of liberation" and not a ban.

A complete ban on Islamic veils could be met with legal obstacles, in the same way the Swiss ban on minarets was challenged by the European Court of Human Rights. The French government has already been accused of racism with regard to its campaign to discuss national identity....

And which race is Islam again?

Osama bin Laden and innumerable other Islamic jihadists have already made this connection, but that's fine. It's only "objectionable" when a non-Muslim does it.

"Chidambaram equates Jihad with terrorism," from TCN News, December 25:

New Delhi: In an address to Intelligence Bureau, Home Minister P. Chidambaram equated Jihad with terrorism and said that its objective is war against unbelievers.

Chidambaram uttered highly objectionable statements against Jihad addressing IB officers in Delhi while delivering 22nd Intelligence Bureau Centenary Endowment Lecture on Wedenesday in Delhi.

He said that Jihad is a kind of war that emerged after the end of Cold War in 1989.

He's only about 1370 years off on that one.

He termed Jihad as "a war or struggle against unbelievers" completely distorting the meaning of Islamic principle of Jihad. Home minister added that Jihad is waged by a number of groups that owe their allegiance to Islam and said that "Jihad employs terror as an instrument to achieve its objectives" which is "directed against all" and usually claims innocent people as its victims.

In defining jihad, a Shafi'i manual of Islamic law endorsed by the most prestigious institution in Sunni Islam, Al-Azhar University in Cairo, says that the leader of the Muslims "makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians...until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax," and cites Koran 9:29 in support of this idea: "Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden-who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book-until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled." ('Umdat al-Salik o9.8)

Curiously, Chidambaram made a distinction between Crusades and Jihad terming the former as "a conventional war" while Jihad uses terrorism as instrument to overthrow the established authority.

Giving sole credit to Jihad for inventing terrorism, Chidambaram who is responsible for security and peace in all of India, said that the tactics of the jihadis have been copies by militants belonging to other groups including Hindu militants. He did not identify the Hindu groups....

"Giving sole credit to Jihad for inventing terrorism..." That would be asinine, if he really did that. But the idea that jihad as warfare against unbelievers is an offensive coinage of "Islamophobes" is a manipulative fiction that by now should be familiar to Jihad Watch readers.

In The American Thinker today, Pamela Geller chronicles the ongoing CAIR machinations and chicanery in the Rifqa Bary apostasy case:

There is a war of attrition going on in the Rifqa Bary case. Rifqa is the girl who converted from Islam to Christianity and fled from her family in fear for her life -- and the Islamic machine is attempting to wear her down, grind her down by constant mental abuse. The persecution is so obvious, and yet so mundane that no one seems to take notice. The banality of evil.

Some sources say that a Muslim psychiatrist was assigned to Rifqa while she was in Florida, where she fled from her Ohio home (now she has been returned to Ohio, where she is in foster care.) How cruel and inhuman. And Omar Tarazi, the CAIR-linked lawyer for Rifqa's parents, asked the court to hold her in contempt to force her to attend counseling sessions with a Muslim counselor. The counselor that her parents were demanding she see also filed an affidavit in support of Rifqa being held in contempt. Psychological abuse, that's what that was.

The Barys' lawyer had also demanded that all the Christmas cards sent to Rifqa in the Christmas card campaign for Rifqa that I originated at my website AtlasShrugs.com be banned and seized. Rifqa has received hundreds, perhaps thousands of cards -- and the Islamic machine saw every one of them as a threat. They wanted Rifqa isolated from everyone except those who will break down her resistance and run roughshod over her conscience and her religious freedom. The judge ruled against them on that one Tuesday. But the fact that it was even an issue was the real issue.

The Barys, in league with the Islamic machine, are now prosecuting their pious, straight-A honor student daughter on a fallacious charge of "waywardness." Further, they hope to prosecute any friend of Rifqa who helped her. Why? Because she converted out of Islam. The pastor who took Rifqa in and provided her shelter when he fled to Florida is constantly being threatened by CAIR-appointed attorneys with some trumped-up charge. Why? Clearly to discourage anyone from helping apostates escape Islam.

The latest warning is that Brian Williams, a missionary and the pastor in Ohio who baptized Rifqa, may very well be arrested. He was, at one time, a big brother to her -- unlike her actual brother Rilvan Bary. Rifqa has made no secret about not wanting to see her brother and has repeatedly refused, and with good reason. Rilvan Bary is a hooligan who in October leaked her whereabouts to a Muslim stalker-blogger. Rilvan gave the address of Rifqa's Florida foster family to San Francisco-based Islamic blogger Davi Barker, who then bragged at his blog that he knew Rifqa's present location and issued this veiled threat: "I'll tell you one thing reader... if she's not safe in Ohio, she's not safe in Florida."

No one involved in Rifqa's case in Florida or Ohio took note of this threat, or of Rilvan's role in it. But Brian Williams and the Florida pastor who took Rifqa in may very well be arrested; they have been so warned. Making this even more ironic is the fact that Rilvan Bary has been arrested -- for underage drinking -- and brags in lurid language about his sexual prowess on his Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live pages. Typical of Islamic misogyny, misplaced priorities and encouragement of the worst behavior in males is the fact that Mohamed Bary was enraged by his daughter's conversion to Christianity, but seems to have had nothing to say about his son's sleazy sexual trolling on the Internet....

Read it all.

Islamic Tolerance Alert: Already left homeless by a Muslim rampage in August that saw eight Christians burned alive, the remaining Christians of Gojra cannot celebrate Christmas without looking over their shoulders. "Pakistan Christians celebrate Christmas in fear," by Elena Becatoros for the Associated Press, December 24:

GOJRA, Pakistan - No Christmas decorations brighten the tent camp sheltering Christians left homeless by the worst violence against minorities in Pakistan this year. Instead, there is a pervasive sense of fear.

The Christians have received cell phone text messages warning them to expect a "special Christmas present," they say, and are terrified of their tents being torched or their church services being bombed.

"Last year I celebrated Christmas full of joy," said Irfan Masih, cradling his young son among the canvas shelters and open ditches of the camp. But now "the fear that we may again be attacked is in our hearts.

"They are threatening us, (saying) 'We will again attack you and will not let you out of homes, we will burn you inside this time,'" he said.

It was the fires that most traumatized Gojra's Christian Colony, a neighborhood in the heart of this Punjabi city about 220 miles (354 kilometers) southwest of Islamabad. In early August, hundreds of Muslims rampaged through the dirt streets, looting and torching homes as panicked residents tried to flee and thick black smoke rose into the air.

Eight Christians died -- seven of them from one family trapped in a burning home.

"We are going to celebrate Christmas in sorrow because the whole family is hurt by this," said Almas Hameed, whose father was shot dead during the riots. His wife, two of his children and members of his brother's family all burned to death.

The attack, which officials said was incited by a banned radical Islamist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, followed rumors that Christians had torn pages of a Quran, an act considered sacrilegious by Muslims. The ensuing carnage drew condemnation from the Pope and Pakistan's prime minister, and highlighted how religious extremism has left the country's minority groups increasingly vulnerable.

Christians -- Protestants and Catholics among them -- make up less than 5 percent of Muslim-majority Pakistan's 175 million people.

Christians say more than 100 homes were burned and looted in Gojra and the nearby village of Korian. While many homes have been rebuilt using state money, dozens of families are still living in tents, waiting for construction on their houses to finish.

Both those who have moved back into their homes and the ones still in the camp say they are still regularly threatened -- phone calls telling them to stop pressing for those responsible to be convicted, or else; armed men turning up at their homes; text messages on their cell phones promising a "special Christmas present;" rocks thrown at the tents in the night.

"When we sleep at night the fear never leaves our heart," said Safia Riaz, a 30-year-old whose father died of a heart attack during the riots. The violence "has stuck in our minds. Tension remains -- God forbid that it will happen again."

Strict security was being put into place during Christmas, said police officer Mohammed Tahir of the Faisalabad regional police headquarters, who rejected claims that authorities were unable to protect the minority.

Security has been ramped up across the country anyway, as this year Christmas falls during the Islamic month of Muharram, which is often marred by bombings and fighting between Pakistan's Sunni Muslims and its Shiite minority.

But Gojra's Christians have little faith in the police, who were accused of standing by during the worst of August's violence.

"The police already didn't save us before," said Ashar Faras, a 33-year-old who works as a chef in an Islamabad guesthouse....

It isn't a crime in Pakistan to wage jihad. But the Pakistani court, perhaps mindful of all those American billions (not that anything could really jeopardize them), punted. "Pak court rejects asylum petition for 5 American Muslims," from the Press Trust of India, December 24 (thanks to James):

LAHORE: A Pakistani court today dismissed a petition seeking asylum in the name of 'holy war' for five American Muslim youths recently arrested in the country for allegedly planning terror attacks, saying that it was not the duty of the judiciary to define 'jihad'.

The Lahore High Court dismissed the petition filed by Khalid Khwaja, a former Inter-Services Intelligence official now associated with a rights organisation.

In his petition, Khwaja had contended that the youths came to Pakistan for 'jihad' (holy war) and since this was not a crime, their detention is illegal.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Mohammad Sharif, who heard the petition, observed that it was not the duty of the court to define 'jihad'. The judge did not comment further and dismissed the petition.

Khwaja also asked the court to direct authorities to grant the youths asylum in Pakistan as the US administration might "not spare them"....

Remember that we heard many times that Osama bin Laden was dead, and that Adam Gadahn was dead, only to see them pop up again, so take this one with a grain of salt. "Yemen says Fort Hood-linked imam may be dead," for Reuters, December 24 (thanks to Patrick Poole):

SANAA (Reuters) - A Yemeni air raid may have killed the top two leaders of al Qaeda's regional branch on Thursday, and an American Muslim preacher linked to the man who shot dead 13 people at a U.S. army base may also have died, a Yemeni security official said.

Nasser al-Wahayshi, the Yemeni leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and his Saudi deputy, Saeed al-Shehri, were believed to be among 30 militants killed in the dawn operation in the eastern province of Shabwa, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki may also have died in the air strike which targeted a meeting of militants planning attacks on Yemeni and foreign oil and economic targets, he said.

If all the deaths are confirmed, the air strike would appear to have struck a severe blow against AQAP, seen as the most dangerous regional offshoot of Osama bin Laden's network.

"Anwar al-Awlaki is suspected to be dead," the official said of the cleric who was on the run in Yemen, where he was on the government's most-wanted list of terrorist suspects.

According to U.S. officials, the U.S. army psychiatrist who ran amok at the Fort Hood army base in Texas on November 5 had contacts with Awlaki....

Nothing has changed, except for the new generation of victims. Note also the state's adherence in practice to Sharia guidelines rather than civil law, and al Azhar University's affirmation of Aisha's age at marriage as a precedent -- something apologists adamantly deny to Western audiences. "Forced Islamization of Christian Girls Supported By Egyptian State," by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News Agency, December 23:

Cairo (AINA) -- The phenomenon of abduction, rape and forced Islamization of Christian girls in Egypt was shown for the first time on the Christian TV channel "Life TV", which broadcasts from outside Egypt and has nearly 60 million Arab-speaking viewers in Egypt and around the world.

The testimonies of the victims and their families came as a shock to many, including Egyptian Christians, since this issue is taboo for the Egyptian media, "Our role is to expose those behind those crimes," said Rasheed El Maghreby, the program's moderator.

The program was aired in mid-November 2009, and interviewed Mr. Magdi Khalil, an authority on Coptic affairs who has made a complete field study on forced Islamization of Christian minors in Egypt. Mr Khalil explained that this phenomenon in its present form is nearly 40 years old, and most of these conversion crimes, with a few isolated exceptions, are carried out by organized Islamization gangs or "Islamization Mafia", a termed coined by him, which are fully funded by the state and supported by State Security.

"Those highly organized gangs carry out systematic planning," says Khalil. "Besides violent forced abductions, other devious means include allurement, deception, psychological pressure, financial temptation, emotional relationships ending in rape and photographs taken to blackmail the victims into conversion, and spreading fear in the hearts of their families. They turn the minor into a broken, humble, and submissive person who drifts along a road which would have been impossible for her to take under normal circumstances or in an atmosphere of family or legal protection, and of her own free will."

The TV program aired three cases of victims throwing light on the complete disadvantage of the affected families in front of the "Islamization mafia", in view of the complete lack of support, if not collusion, of the authorities. [...]

Another incident was described by a villager who said that his daughter, who was less than 16-years-old, was abducted as she went to the nearby grocery store. When he reported the matter to the police, he was told he was causing 'sectarian strife.' He said: "I asked to see my daughter just for 10 minutes, but they refused. I was detained at the police station until the officer received a phone call that my daughter was taken away." He said that the police forced him to leave the village. "My daughter returned to the village 3 days after I left. They have taken my home by force and now my daughter lives in it with her Muslim husband....

Video of victims' testimony can be found at AINA's site, linked above.

"This is thuggery. As long as it is for the benefit of Islam, all authorities join together as if it is an 'armed invasion.' Sharia over the law and Islam over the nation," said Khalil.

The latest fraud mentioned on the TV program is that Muslim gangs who dress as Coptic priests, offer a car lift to Christian girls and then abduct them. "The Coptic Church has warned its congregation against letting any unknown person dressed as a priest into their homes or accepting a lift," said Khalil.

Several international organizations have criticized Egypt regarding forced Islamization of minors, among which is the International Religious Freedom report from 2005 to 2009, the Helsinki Commission Report of November 9th, 2006, Human Rights Watch Report of November 12th, 2007, and on November 10th, 2009, Christian Solidarity International issued a report quoting 25 cases of forced Islamization of minors.

H.H. Pope Shenouda protested as far back as December 17th, 1976, during a conference held in Alexandria, saying: "There is a practice to convert Coptic girls to embrace Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands." He demanded that the abducted girls be returned to their families.

Sheikh Fawzy al-Zafzaf, former head of the Azhar committee for inter-religious dialogue told Al-Destoor Newspaper on November 17th, 2009, that he did not deny the existence of cases of abduction and forced Islamization of Coptic girls in Egypt. He called on the government to intervene to stop such acts by imposing just penalties on people who commit them.

Pope Shenouda warned during a lecture on March 17, 2004 that he received thousands of letters of abduction of Christian girls through certain Islamic store chains which lure them away by being told they won a prize and have to go to an upper floor in the building to collect it.

"Christian activists who work in cases of abductions and forced Islamization have a good idea about who the organizations, State Security officers and businessmen supporting the Islamization gangs," he explained. [...]

Despite the existence of laws in Egypt setting the minimum age of conversion to Islam at 21, as well as legally forbidding marriage of a girl younger than 18 without the consent of her parent or guardian, "we still find fatwas (religious edicts) being issued to justify those criminal acts," says Khalil.

The Chairman of the Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, Sheikh Abdulah Mogawer, talking to Al-Arabya-net justified the marriage of two underage Christian girls (15 and 17 when abducted) by saying that they accept Islamization at the age of 16 . "According to Sharia, the main criteria for marriage to be valid is for the girl to reach puberty and is not tied to a specific age. Aisha married [consummated] the Prophet at the age of 9. Some girls might reach puberty at 14 or 15 years old, depending on her physical growth," said Mogawer.

Not to mention the churches that have been attacked outright. Islamic Tolerance Alert. "Hundreds to worship outside churches amid tight security," by Yuli Tri Suwarni and Suherdjoko for the Jakarta Post, December 24:

Fifteen police officers backed up by soldiers and local residents will guard every church across West Java during Christmas celebrations to prevent possible attacks, police said.

Dozens of churches in the province have closed since 2004 after being stormed or attacked by hard-line Muslim mobs. In 2000, militants bombed churches across the archipelago on Christmas Eve.

This week in Bandung, West Java, many Christians won't be able to celebrate Christmas in a church because they were denied permits to build their places of worship.

West Java Church Federation (BKSG) leader John Simon Timorason said Wednesday the biggest obstacle was applying for a building permit to build a church, so local Christians eventually opted to hold Christmas prayers in shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, shops and homes.

He said more than 60 percent of the 1,920 churches in West Java were built without permits because of difficulties in obtaining permits. Only 15 percent of churches have permanent buildings and have permits.

"We face difficulties obtaining permits. Those equipped with permits, such as the churches in Purwakarta, Bekasi and Depok, had their permits revoked due to pressure from intolerant groups," Simon told The Jakarta Post.

Last year, 77 families from the Pasundan Christian Church in Dayeuhkolot, Bandung, who were holding prayers at their preacher's house were evicted by a mob.

Church caretaker Ranto Gunawan Simamora said, fearing violence, they had to hold mass in a chapel at the Immanuel Hospital on Jl. Kopo, Bandung.

West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Timur Pradopo said more than 10,000 personnel would provide security for Christmas mass in churches and other locations throughout the province.

Timur said the police would also secure public places, such as shopping malls, hotels and tourist sites as part of Operation Lilin-Lodaya that starts Dec. 24 and runs for 10 days....

What do these pols think? That these clerics have some vision of Islam that differs radically from that of Ahmadinejad? On what grounds do they think that, other than the wishful thinking that is rampant in the West?

"Denmark: Muslim leaders criticized for meeting Ahmadinejad," from AFP