Geert Wilders update from the Telegraph, with thanks to Vulcan: Mr Wilders, 42, spent eight months sleeping in a cell in a high-security prison after receiving death threats from Islamist groups before emerging for his No bus tour across the Netherlands. For security reasons, his stops are unannounced. In opposing the constitution, Mr Wilders finds […]
Archives for May 2005
Indonesian Police Deployed to Protect Churches/Christians
An update on this story, from AFX via Forbes, “Indonesian market bombing sparks fears of new sectarian clashes” TENTENA, Indonesia – Security forces were deployed at churches on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island today after yesterday’s bomb attack on a Christian town killed 20 people and threatened to re-ignite a violent conflict with Muslims. About 3,000 troops […]
Iraqi forces’ security net draws Zarqawi retaliation
Our Iraq update comes from the Lebanese Daily Star. Thousands of Iraqi forces on Sunday threw a security net over Baghdad to snare insurgents, who quickly struck back with a string of car bombings said to have been masterminded by Al-Qaeda’s Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Operation Lightning came a day after two of Iraq’s most influential […]
They “would turn right around and try to slit our throats, slit our children’s throats”
Straight talk and refreshing honesty from General Myers. “Myers Defends Treatment of Guantanamo Prisoners,” from AP, with thanks to DC Watson: WASHINGTON (May 29) – The Pentagon’s top general on Sunday defended the treatment of prisoners at the U.S. Navy prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and said the U.S. believes al-Qaida leader Abu Musab […]
Crisis in Europe: French Reject EU Constitution
Hope for Europe? “French Reject EU Constitution, Gov’t Says,” from AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist: PARIS — French voters rejected the European Union’s first constitution Sunday, early government results showed _ a stinging repudiation of the ambitious, decades-long effort to further unite the continent. With about 83 percent of the votes counted, the […]
French voting no
Word just in from Nidra Poller on France’s vote on the EU charter: 55% NON 45% OUI Let’s hope it continues this way.
Financial Jihad Against the Infidels
Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi writes in IMRA, “What Drives Saudi Arabia to Persist in Terrorist Financing?” The U.S. offensive against terrorism has succeeded in reducing the extent of global terrorism. However, under the surface, the financial channels that are the arteries of radical Islamic movements from Hamas to the Chechens continue to operate. U.S. […]
Houser: French Muslims battle internal, external strife
Mark Houser continues his series in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, with thanks to KAOSKTRL. PARIS — Waiting for his train in a metro station named for the battle of Stalingrad, Moun R’Quibe spoke with pride of the men he considers heroes fighting in another bloody conflict — Iraq. R’Quibe, 20, born in France of Moroccan […]
Many Iraqis See Sectarian Roots in New Killings
An unsurprising assessment from the New Duranty Times. BAGHDAD – No one knows who tortured and killed Hassan al-Nuaimi, a Sunni Arab cleric whose body was found in an empty lot here last week, with a hole drilled in his head and both eyes missing. But the various theories have a distinctly sectarian tinge. The […]
Review May Shift Terror Policies
A long-overdue reassessment. “U.S. Is Expected to Look Beyond Al Qaeda,” from the Washington Post, . The Bush administration has launched a high-level internal review of its efforts to battle international terrorism, aimed at moving away from a policy that has stressed efforts to capture and kill al Qaeda leaders since Sept. 11, 2001, and […]
Pakistanis Have Head, Seek Bomber’s Identity
A update on this story from the Washington Post, “Pakistanis Find Bloodied Head of Suicide Bomber,” . ISLAMABAD, Investigators have found the head of a suicide bomber who attacked a Muslim festival in the Pakistani capital, killing at least 19 people, and are trying to establish his identity, officials said on Saturday. The attack occurred […]
US: Critics Want Probe of Islamic School in Virginia
From the Washington Times, “Critics want probe of Alexandria Islamic school” The Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria is an outpost of militant Islam, say critics who point out that the school’s 1999 valedictorian is charged with joining al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush. Two other persons connected to the academy also have been […]
Syria Arrests 300 Saudis
From Arab News, “Syria Arrests 300 Saudis: Report,” . JEDDAH “” More than 300 Saudis have been arrested at the airport in Damascus and along the Syrian border on suspicion they were en route to Iraq to fight alongside insurgents, press reports said yesterday. Relatives of some of the arrested told Al-Watan Arabic daily that […]
Brothers took different paths to violence
From Boston Globe, with thanks to Skeet Street. BAGHDAD, Iraq — The younger brother was slender and serious, a former bodyguard for Saddam Hussein. He became a Muslim fundamentalist, grew his beard, and prayed five times a day. The older brother was a used-car salesman who told off-color jokes and made regular trips to a […]
Elbaz: Dangerous Liaisons Part III
Michel Elbaz, general coordinator of AxisGlobal writes about “the covert ‘love affair’ between Russia and Hezbollah.” Moscow Base for Recruiting “Shahids`” With the collapse of Soviet rule, hundreds of Islamic extremists from all over the Muslim world spread across Russia. Emissaries of the different Sunni organizations started to compete for influence among the ex-Soviet Muslims. […]
Al-Arian Defense Wants Israeli Testimony Moved Back
Sami Al-Arian Walk Watch update from Haaretz, “U.S. court asked to move Israeli testimony to end of terror trial” The defense team for four Arab Americans on trial for involvement in terror attacks has asked a Florida court not to let the Israeli witnesses testify at the trial’s opening. Professor Sami al-Arian, a computer lecturer […]
Woods: The Truth About the Crusades
Thomas Woods, author of How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, writes in RedState.org: I was stunned to hear Islamic anti-defamation groups condemn Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven.” The Muslims appear much nobler than the Christians in the film, and on the Christian side the only remotely sympathetic characters are at best agnostic. Jonathan Riley-Smith, an […]
Appeals court upholds woman’s refusal to work to make Mecca trip
From Wisconsin’s Gazette Extra, with thanks to Two Stellas. MADISON, Wis. – An appeals court ordered state labor officials Thursday to reconsider forcing a Muslim woman to repay unemployment benefits after she turned down work so she could make a pilgrimage to Mecca. The 4th District Court of Appeals reversed a finding by the state […]
Madden: Onward PC Soldiers
Thomas F. Madden writes in NRO on Ridley Scott’s execrable Kingdom of Heaven. Every May thousands of medieval scholars descend on Kalamazoo, Michigan for the International Congress on Medieval Studies. It is the largest such gathering in the world, featuring hundreds of papers on virtually every imaginable topic in medieval history and culture. This year […]
Baptist leader beheaded in Bangladesh
From the Biblical Recorder, with thanks to Fanabba. JALALPUR, Bangladesh – A Baptist lay pastor has been beheaded in Bangladesh, the second Christian leader to lose his life in that country in a year, according to a Christian news organization. Dulal Sarkar, 35, was attacked as he returned home from discussing his faith with local […]