it would appear the thugs did not know how to set the timer on the bomb...they will be severly reprimanded back at the mosque..

Posted by: pulsar182 at April 13, 2008 8:11 AM

Here's the version of this story provided by 'The Australian' -

a few extra details and interesting emphases. I have added some clarifying...corrections, in square brackets.

Cathedral bombed in Philippines
April 13, 2008
SUSPECTED al-Qaeda-linked militants [jihadis] bombed a Roman Catholic cathedral compound and a bank today in the southern Philippines, police said. No one was injured in the blasts.
Police have been placed on the highest level of security following the dawn explosions in Zamboanga city, regional police Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal said. Government troops and police had already tightened security in the town for a weeklong national sports festival, he said.
Zamboanga, about 860 kilometres south of Manila, is home to US troops providing counterterrorism [i.e. counter-jihad] training to Filipino soldiers. The military says the area is home to more than 300 armed members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terror [jihad] group.
Caringal said a mortar round concealed in a box exploded under a car in the parking lot of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, damaging two cars.
A church caretaker who said the men talked in a dialect spoken on Jolo, a mostly Muslim island, saw three men fleeing towards Zamboanga on a motorcycle shortly before the blast, 
fifteen minutes later another mortar round exploded outside a bank.
That bomb, which was set off remotely using a mobile phone, damaged the bank's wall, he said.
Caringal said police suspect the men were Abu Sayyaf or Ji militants [jihad], but an investigation was under way.
"The bombings were apparently not meant to kill but aimed to cause fear," Caringal told The Associated Press by telephone.
"We condemn these acts of terrorism [sic: jihad] in the highest term," he said.

Zamboanga, a predominantly Christian city, has seen sporadic bomb attacks [by Muslim jihadis] in past years, including one that killed a US Green Beret outside an army camp in 2002 and was blamed on Abu Sayyaf militants.


The Abu Sayyaf are on US and European terrorist [counter-jihad] lists for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and bomb attacks. 
AP

Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at April 13, 2008 8:15 AM

Now: for those who like to amuse themselves by comparing the ways in which different MSM outlets report from the frontlines of the Third Jihad - here is the link for The Australian's version of the story, and the link - and text - of the BBC version.

Note the brevity of the BBC version compared to the account Mr Spencer posted, and the account given by 'The Australian'. There are other interesting differences, too.

‘THE AUSTRALIAN’ VERSION - http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23532333-2703,00.html
BBC VERSION
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7344953.stm
"Small bombs hit south Philippines

"Two small bombs have exploded outside a Catholic cathedral and a cafe in the southern Philippines, police said.
No one was injured in the blasts, which happened at dawn in Zamboanga City, where US troops helping the Philippines army fight an insurgency are based.
Police officials said they suspected Abu Sayyaf-linked militants might be behind the incidents.
A police official said traces of a mortar round and a mobile phone were found at one of the bomb sites.
'Fear, not damage'
Police have been placed on high alert, but security in the city was already heavy because of a national sports meet.
"Whoever did this apparently did not want to cause real damage, just sow fear," Colonel Darwin Guerra, a local police commander, told Philippines radio.
Another police official said the bomb at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral had been hidden in a box placed under a car.
Abu Sayyaf is the smallest but most radical of the Islamic separatist groups in the southern Philippines.
It gained notoriety for a string of kidnappings of Westerners and Filipinos but has also claimed responsibility for a string of bombings."

A poster in an earlier thread linked this BBC story and remarked that the BBC seemed to be doing its very best to minimise the story - for example, whereas the Australian and DPA headlines focus on the fact that a Cathedral was attacked, the BBC headline merely says 'small bombs hit South Philippines'.

Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at April 13, 2008 8:28 AM

This is funny, People! I just learned that "Zamboanga" is a REAL place! When I was little my mother used to sing this ditty: "Oh, the monkey's have no tails in Zamboanga/ (refrain)/Oh, the monkey's have no tails/They were bitten off by whales/Oh, the monkey's have no tails in Zamboanga!"

So, I've always thought "Zamboanga" was a made-up name! Now I see "Zamboanga City, Philippines!"

Funny, brought back memories. Anyone else heard of that ditty?

Posted by: darcy at April 13, 2008 9:37 AM

"When a bomb goes off at a Catholic church, no one thinks it was a bomb-making class gone awry, or a fumbled munitions exhibit, or an attack by Congregationalists."

Absolutely brilliant, to the point, and outside of JihadWatch circles, will elicit barely a yawn or a ho-hum.

what is it going to take to WAKE THESE PEOPLE UP? Criminently.

Posted by: Goob at April 13, 2008 9:57 AM

Typical BBC reporting, with their nudge-nudge wink-wink hint at the US presence in Zamboanga.

So it was only a small little bomb, nothing to see, no need to get exited, and the 'terrorist' group is only a small group, a bit radical perhaps, but hey, they only want to play ...

Abu Sayyaf kidnapped a group of German tourists a few years ago - the outcry in the British Media about the temerity of the German Foreign Office to negotiate and pay ransom was unbelievable. That was before 9/11, iirc. The Germans were (rightly) accused of suporting a terrorist group with that ransom money - but now, as that group terrorises only the natives, and Christian ones at that - no need to get upset, is there ...

Typical racist and colonialist attitude, methinks.

Posted by: Calon Lan at April 13, 2008 10:00 AM

The lack of reporting of Muslim's abusing Christians in the Middle East, Indonesia, Philippines, and pretty much everywhere where Muslims are a majority verges on a conspiracy of silence.

I understand that Western media folks are scared of Muslims, yet I find it odd that they don't even report on this fact. I can only conclude that there is some anti-Christian bias at work. If someone could explain this phenomena, I'd appreciate it.

Posted by: James Martel at April 13, 2008 12:04 PM

Muslims have been attacking churches and synagogues in Britain for a while now. Often it's blatant. A recent case in Kensington London, where Muslim youths spat at the worshipers and told them the church "should be a mosque". Windows broken. people threatened. It's not reported by the BBC or the police, who are both scared shitless of upsetting these potential Islamic terrorists. Islam should be proscribed in civilized countries

Posted by: beachhutman at April 13, 2008 12:45 PM

I can only conclude that there is some anti-Christian bias at work. If someone could explain this phenomena, I'd appreciate it.

Posted by: James Martel

Not everyone will agree with my assessment of this but I will try to answer this question according to what I have learned.

This can be answered on two levels. Firstly in the Bible Jesus states that If you love me the world will hate you. Also the Bible says you should not involve yourself with the affairs of this world plus it says that that which is held in high esteem by man is a abomination to the Lord. Simply put a Christian is to separate himself from the evils of this world and not partake of it. These four points are New Testament teachings and can be easily found if one cares to do a study of them.

Secondly. The people who control the information of what the world and American people see and read are Liberal Socialists. These are the big money people that own and control all big Media, Governments and Banking. They believe the problems in the world are caused by the people who believe in the Bible and the return of Jesus Christ to rule the world. They consider these people mentally insane. You don't have to believe this but a little research into this will show that this statement is right on. Ted Turner of CNN has said this also Government Leaders have said this. Their plan is to eliminate ALL religion.

Example after example can be seen most recently with the Mormons in Texas. Now I don't agree with everything the Mormons teach and practice however look at what has happened.

It was reported that the Mormons taught that the outside world was evil and immoral. And that the Mormons sheltered the children from the world. So this is supposed to be a bad thing? It was also reported that some of the young teenage girls are pregnant. Oh such a horror.
Instead lets rip their families apart and reprogram them. One of their stated goals was to council them and deprogram. Sure lets teach them safe sex and birth control and if you do get pregnant from a irresponsible act you can get a abortion without your parents consent or knowledge. Now that's moral?

It was also reported that the girls had to wear pioneer type clothing and weren't allowed to cut their hair. Such horror! Instead lets teach them to wear modern revealing clothing and cut their hair. The Bible says that if a women cuts her hair she may as well shave her head as it was given as a covering for her. They were living their faith in a nation that says you have freedom of choice and religion.

Sexual abuse in public schools is rampant with hundreds of cases of teachers abusing students.
Why doesn't the Government raid the schools and shut them down and separate the families and put the children in foster homes as with the Mormons? Why you ask? Because the Government indoctrination centers are being used to brainwash our children into the NWO agenda. Sex education of every type, there is no God but the god of evolution and the global warming power grab lie among many others. So in this country it is illegal to have multiple wives. OK I go along with that. However why is it legal for me to have multiple sex partners as long as we are not married? Gee, just practice safe sex. How moral.

Their are many more reasons of what the Government has done to the Mormons that is wrong.
For instance produce the witness that made the so called complaint. If you call a domestic violence center they automatically record the conversation and have a caller ID to identify where the call is coming from. Why didn't this so called person call 911, instead she somehow was able to find a violence center number, looks fishy to me.

The big question should be. Why isn't our Government going after Islamic centers all over the country.

Doesn't Islam teach and have arranged marriages and multiple wives and marriage to under age girls? Doesn't Islam teach its OK to beat your wife if necessary? Honor killing, and death to apostates.

Islam seems to be a much greater threat to this country than real or imagined Christians.

Posted by: havekoranwilltravel at April 13, 2008 2:10 PM

Holy crap!

The deafening roar from the collective voices of the worlds Muslims condemning this act, has left my ears ringing!

yeah right....

I wanna read some poetry 'bout how this is not what Islam's all about. Copy and paste somethin' for me there poetry man. NOT!

Save it trolls.
We know the enemy for who and what it is.
But come...learn. Perhaps one day you to will see your "religion" for what it truly is, and you can throw off the yoke of oppression that is Islam, and take back your life for your own.

That's happening alot lately...have you noticed? Does the fact frighten you?
Oh...these are rhetorical questions as I really have no desire to attempt to converse with you. Past experience has taught me better.

Posted by: Alaskan at April 13, 2008 5:03 PM

Out of curiosity, I Googled "Patron Saint of Munitions" and eventualy got to St. Barbara.

Excerpt:

Profile:
Beautiful maiden imprisoned in a high tower by her father Dioscorus for disobedience. While there, she was tutored by philosphers, orators and poets. From them she learned to think, and decided that polytheism was nonsense. With the help of Origen and Valentinian, she converted to Christianity.

Her father denounced her to the local authorities for her faith, and they ordered him to kill her. She escaped, but he caught her, dragged her home by her hair, tortured her, and killed her. He was immediately struck by lightning, or according to some sources, fire from heaven.

Her imprisonment led to her association with towers, then the construction and maintenance of them, then to their military uses. The lightning that avenged her murder led to asking her protection against fire and lightning, and her patronage of firefighters, etc. Her association with things military and with death that falls from the sky led to her patronage of all things related to artillery, and her image graced powder magazines and arsenals for years. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

While there were undoubtedly beautiful converts named Barbara, this saint is legend, and her cultus developed when pious fiction was mistaken for history.

For this reason, "St. Barbara" was removed from the revised Roman calendar (along with about 40 other popular "saints" whose very existence could not be solidly established, including St. Christopher) and her cultus suppressed in 1969.

Still, the Church is one body, with many members, on earth, in heaven, and somewhere in between. The pains and joys of one affect all.

Posted by: Lex at April 14, 2008 7:59 AM

what is it going to take to WAKE THESE PEOPLE UP?--posted by Goob

I figure if even Kurt Westergaard doesn't get it, there's little hope for Joe Blow.

Regards,

HAID

Posted by: Haid Dasalami at April 15, 2008 1:53 AM