>>Now this is very interesting, and its implications are manifold. Was Hassan Butt's entire conversion to anti-jihadism an exercise in Muhammad's dictum "war is deceit"? --RS

Uh Huh. Why I've said before that due to the Islamic Tenet of Taqiyya, I never believe anything a Muslim says.

Posted by: darcy at May 10, 2008 9:05 AM

In fact, I remember the exact moment, a few years ago, when I learned about "taqiyya." So much was explained by that one word. Everything fell into place. I've never been fooled by Muslims since.

Posted by: darcy at May 10, 2008 9:08 AM

There is just nothing I can say, or write about a terrorist named 'Mr Butt'.
I guess the name sez it all...Never trust a terrorist who's last name is 'Butt'...

Posted by: duh_swami at May 10, 2008 9:44 AM

I well recall Hassan Butt's interview on 60 Minutes. The interview was quite impressive.

Then, of course, there is this 2002 article about him in the BBC, which states:

Hassan Butt, 22, from Manchester, told the BBC's Today programme that many would return home to launch terrorist attacks that "strike at the heart" of the UK.

So, why was he on his way to Pakistan?

Offhand, I'd say that nabbing him before he left the UK for Pakistan was a wise security move. Butt (What a name!) may have been recently spouting taqiyya just to avoid arrest.

This latest on Butt shows what the West is up against--with all these Moslems living amongst us. One can never tell what their real loyalties are.

If it turns out that the 60 Minutes interview of Hassan Butt was a smokescreen and taqiyya, some headway might be made in waking up some Westerners. Of course, if such a determination is made, the media will have to cover it so as to give the information dissemination. Good luck with that.

Posted by: Always On Watch at May 10, 2008 10:31 AM

Mr Butt, 31, is understood to have arrived at Terminal 2 and bought a ticket to Lahore, Pakistan, 45 minutes before the Pakistan International Airlines flight was due to leave.
-from the article

Now if this guy wants to go to Pakistan why not let him and put a "no return" stamp on his passport (or strip him of his passport if it's British-issued) and have all Western governments put him on their "deny entry" list?
Let them all go to Pakistan, with the understanding that it's a one-way trip.

Posted by: PMK at May 10, 2008 10:33 AM

Like the persecution of Channel Four for quoting Muslims, are we sure this isn't typical UK anti-anti-terror work by the local police?

Posted by: Beagle at May 10, 2008 10:54 AM

I remember how this guy said he and his fellow rats used to laugh at how Tony Blair and others were always willing to overlook the obvious about Jihad's source. Maybe he was looking for a bigger laugh. If so, he has really done a job on his 'cause' and made an already cautious people even more so now.

Hype:

Here's a long, mostly sarcastic piece on 'Islam means peace' that I posted on my blog:

Islam vs Peace

There are things such as:

Islam means peace and Jimmy Carter means Jack Bauer.
&
Islam means peace is the equivalent of ‘Nice doggy...’

Islam means peace, and the Muslim leader who most embodies that is……………um………………

Half Americans don’t want to fight Jihad. Full Americans do.

Take a look, and contribute your own in the comments section if you like.

Posted by: Bosch Fawstin at May 10, 2008 11:10 AM

Do you know anyone who goes on an overseas trip and buys his ticket just 45 minutes before departure? This guy would be the king of- or rather the butt of spontaneity.

Or was he simply trying to butt out?

Posted by: sheik yer'mami at May 10, 2008 11:17 AM

Hassan Butt could be a kind of double-agent, hist story of having given up terrorism merely a ruse. Or, on the other hand, it might be true, and he has been set-up by those who haven't relished his truth-telling about him, and have reported him (and possibly planted evidence as well). At this point, who knows?

Posted by: Hugh at May 10, 2008 12:04 PM

Do you know anyone who goes on an overseas trip and buys his ticket just 45 minutes before departure?

No, but I also don't see how anyone can do it on a domestic trip, either. TV shows from the past usually showed someone saying he could take a flight that leaves "within an hour" and he wasn't at the airport and he hadn't bought a ticket. Today that has to be impossible.
But let's give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was a "family emergency". It still seems unlikely.
45 minutes before departure means probably 30 to 40 minutes before the plane leaves the gate.
But who knows? Maybe Manchester is quicker getting people in and out. Probably has fewer planes leaving at the same time, so passenger traffic is more even. Not every airport is the size of JFK, Dulles or LAX.
Do you buy a ticket before or after going through security? If it's before, the guy would have to be a young OJ Simpson to have half a chance of making it through the terminal of even a mid-sized airport. Maybe Manchester is smaller.

Posted by: PMK at May 10, 2008 12:21 PM

If this rings true,war is not deceit.
But Islam is up there in the running.

Posted by: haramfidel at May 10, 2008 12:26 PM

Looks like Hassan has made an abutt face.

Posted by: sheik yer booty at May 10, 2008 1:32 PM

Too early to call on this one.
He has made a lot of public statements incriminating himself and Plod may be 'doing what they're supposed to do'.

Butt made a lot of enemies writing his book even though (or because) he belongs to the 'islam can be reformed school'.

OK, a late minute ticket is odd, but an emergency scenario is possible.

Definitely watching this.

Posted by: zoltix at May 10, 2008 2:19 PM

Memo to all MSM, politicians, etc:

unless a Muslim out-and-out apostasises, best to take everything they say with a grain of salt.

Even when a Muslim does apostasise, be cautious. Observe their conduct carefully over time.

Genuine apostates should be only too eager to allay fears that they might be 'faking it', by cheerfully submitting to background checks and regularly reporting in for 'follow up' interviews with police and (if they have converted to Christianity, say, in-depth discussion of their progress with a good psychologist and/or spiritual counsellor); rather like a prisoner 'on parole'.

Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at May 10, 2008 4:41 PM

I never believed that he had defected from jihad. In the interview he was rubbing his nose and blinking - dead giveaways - and his voice was glib and flat, his eyes glassy. This news just confirms what I knew all along in my gut.

Why should Muslims be honest with kafirs? Their scripture declares that we are najis, filth on the level of urine and stool. Anyone who has read Robert's Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam knows that. They laugh at our goodness and willingness to meet them halfway and despise us as stupid.

Yet somehow they are the ones who always shoot themselves in the foot or reach too far before the time is ripe.

Posted by: rishika at May 10, 2008 5:52 PM

Hassan Butt may have been arrested but knowing the cack handed way the British authorities go about things even if he's convicted of any crime he'll be out on bail before he can kick his own butt.

That's what comes of being over concerned with the human rights of would-be and actual terrorists.

I hope the authorities do get their act together. If they ever need my help, there are a few others I'd like to tell them about!

Posted by: AR at May 11, 2008 4:12 PM

He told Newsnight in April: "I realised that the Jihadi network was not killing for the sake of Islam, it was killing for the sake of causing terror and causing havoc."

There you have it - Taqqiya all the way, while not disowning Islam and Jihad.

Posted by: DP111 at May 11, 2008 5:18 PM