Absolutely, but where is the political will to hold Syria to account? The deterrent posed by having the world’s strongest and most advanced military is attenuated by the fact that U.S. military assets are stretched thin under the burden of holding together Iraq, a country with no inherent unity. Absent that, the U.S. would not […]
Archives for March 2007
Pakistani Islamic Schools Are Rife With Extremism, Group Says
Stop the presses. By Ed Johnson for Bloomberg: March 30 (Bloomberg) — President Pervez Musharraf has failed to tackle Islamic extremism in Pakistan’s religious schools, which continue to promote a holy war against the West and foment terrorism, the International Crisis Group said. Five years after the government pledged a crackdown on the schools, known […]
Germany: Paving the Way for a Muslim Parallel Society
More on the German Qur’an case: “Paving the Way for a Muslim Parallel Society,” from Spiegel Online, with thanks to all who sent this in: A recent ruling in Germany by a judge who cited the Koran underscores the dilemma the country faces in reconciling Western values with a growing immigrant population. A disturbing number […]
Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi: “Civil Jihad” Won’t Abrogate Military Jihad
Esposito says he’s a “reformist” “Appropriate statements must be made in the appropriate setting.” Arafat was a master of that. From the MEMRI Blog : At the fifth conference of the International Al-Quds Institute, held in Algeria, institute head Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi was asked whether his recent call for “civil jihad” in Palestine would influence […]
Ethiopia: Muslims beat Christian evangelist to death
Christian proselytizing is a capital offense under Islamic law. “Ethiopian Evangelist Beaten to Death by Militant Muslims: Militant Wahabbi Islamists Drag Christian Evangelist into Mosque and Beat Him to Death,” from Christian Newswire, with thanks to Tom: WASHINGTON, Mar. 29 /Christian Newswire/ — The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has just […]
Fitzgerald: Blaming England
In the Iranian mythology, Great Britain — “England” — has a more prominent and more venerable role than those newcomers to Satanhood, the United States and Israel. The no-longer existent England of Palmerston and the Great Game, and manipulations by assorted Curzons, live on in the vivid oriental imaginations to be found both in fictional […]
Iran: Britain has “incorrect attitude”
This attitude is apparently fine Iran scolds Britain for not adopting a posture of sufficiently abject dhimmitude. “Say sorry or we won’t free mum, says Iran,” from the Daily Mail, : The release of kidnapped British sailor Faye Turney is on hold after Iran accused Britain of having an “incorrect attitude”. The hostage crisis also […]
Iran will not release female sailor if UK freezes relations or takes issue to UN Security Council
Britain has already frozen relations with Iran, and is seeking condemnation of the sailors’ and marines’ abduction at the United Nations. Iran’s initial “humanitarian” gesture of offering the early release of Faye Turney served to raise international hopes, which Iran can now exploit in using Turney as its main bargaining chip, as well as a […]
Western definition of “jihad” must be corrected — Italian “expert”
Oh, Oriana, how Italy misses you. “Western definition of “jihad” must be corrected — Italian expert,” from the Kuwait National News Agency: KUWAIT, March 29 (KUNA) — The definitions of “jihad” and “holy war” as presented by Western media need to be corrected if a true and undistorted image of Islam is be presented to […]
Fitzgerald: What worries them
As Robert Spencer says, there is no “effective theological response to Muslims” who take their Islam seriously. That is, there is no effective Islamic theological response to Muslims who take their Islam seriously enough to want to individually participate in the Jihad. But what is most troubling to the Pakistani authorities is not the fact […]
Louay Safi, “Islamophobia” and unintentional irony
Jihad Watch reader Mike has sent me a new article by Louay Safi, the Indianapolis ISNA op who is unhappy that plans are afoot for me to lead a seminar for the Joint Terrorism Task Force in that city. I have replied to his attacks before, albeit belatedly. Since he mostly rehashes what he said […]
Trouble Brews At Islamabad’s Jihad-preaching Mosque
“We teach the students complete Islam…Jihad is a big pillar of Islam.” And while putative Muslim reformers in the West self-righteously remind us that Islam is not a monolith and jihad is a spiritual struggle, these clerics and students in Islamabad teach jihad is warfare and peaceful Muslims have mounted no effective theological response to […]
Arab lesbians hold rare public meeting in Israel
Moral equivalence alert: the only place where they could hold this meeting without being in imminent danger of death was in the one that features in jihadist rhetoric as the locus of all evil, Israel. From AP, with thanks to BN: HAIFA, Israel – Arab lesbians quietly defied Islamist protesters and a social taboo to […]
Muslim Woman Sues Judge Over Veil
Ginnnah Muhammad, probably “The lawsuit says that…others have either come before Paruk or will come before him. ‘Thus, future harm is imminent.’” But in light of stories like this, I wonder who it is who is more likely to be harmed in the future. This kind of story calls for the response of General Sir […]
Four Muslims charged with terrorism in Denmark
An update on this story, from AFP: COPENHAGEN (AFP) – Four young Muslims have been charged in Denmark with planning terrorist bombings in Denmark or abroad, the justice ministry said Wednesday. The four men were accused of acquiring chemicals and laboratory instruments to make triacetone triperoxide (TATP) explosives, often used by suicide bombers. TATP bombs […]
Kosovo: A Cautionary Tale
A cautionary tale that virtually no one is heeding. By Ruth King in Mideast Outpost: It looks increasingly probable that Kosovo will gain its independence from Serbia, an outcome that should be of serious concern to Israel and its supporters. Ariel Sharon, to his credit, heard the alarm bells during the American bombing of Serbia […]
How two teens were recruited for jihad
An illuminating piece by Mushtaq Yusufzai and Carol Grisanti for NBC News (thanks to all who sent this in): “We were told to fight against Israel, America and non-Muslims,” said Muhammed Bakhtiar, 17, explaining why he wanted to become a suicide bomber. “We are so unhappy with our lives here. We have nothing,” he said. […]
Muslims keeping up the pressure to retake Cordoba cathedral
Despite being rebuffed by the local bishop and the Vatican, Muslims are still trying to retake the Cordoba cathedral. “Catholic-Muslim turf war still resonates at Cordoba cathedral: The scuffle over La Mezquita is echoed throughout Spain these days as members of each faith tests the other’s tolerance” is a weepy piece by Tracy Wilkinson in […]
General McCaffrey: “No Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat, reporter, foreign NGO, nor contractor can walk the streets of Baghdad, nor Mosul, nor Kirkuk, nor Basra, nor Tikrit, nor Najaf, nor Ramadi, without heavily armed protection”
And why is that? From the Washington Post: The retired general, who on his latest visit also interviewed a U.S. intelligence official and some Iraqi officers, is especially critical of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It is “despised” by the Sunnis, he writes, is seen as “untrustworthy and incompetent” by the Kurds, […]
British hostages “confess” on Iranian TV
“Hopefully it won’t be long till I’m home to get ready for Molly’s birthday party and with a present from the Iranian people.” Oh, I am sure it will be a most memorable present. “Paraded On Iranian TV,” from SkyNews, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist: Footage of the 15 British sailors and marines being […]