Archived news and commentary: June 10 - 16, 2002

2002/06/24 - 2002/06/30
2002/06/17 - 2002/06/23
2002/06/10 - 2002/06/16
2002/06/03 - 2002/06/09
2002/05/27 - 2002/06/02
2002/05/20 - 2002/05/26
2002/05/13 - 2002/05/19
2002/05/06 - 2002/05/12
2002/04/29 - 2002/05/05
2002/04/22 - 2002/04/28
2002/04/15 - 2002/04/21
2002/04/08 - 2002/04/14
2002/04/01 - 2002/04/07

Sunday, June 16, 2002

News and commentary:

"Israel fences off West Bank towns" (BBC News, 2002/06/16)
"Israel has begun building a controversial new security fence to try to stop Palestinian militants crossing into its territory. It is the latest effort by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to halt the wave of suicide attacks in Israeli cities and towns. ... Bulldozers began digging up ground at a ceremony attended by Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer. The fence "will provide a defensive answer to the... infiltration of terrorists," said Amos Yaron of the Israeli Defence Ministry. ... The first phase of the plan is reported to involve 110 kilometres (70 miles) of trenches and electric fencing separating the towns of Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya from Israeli cities. ... Opinion polls show at least 80% of Israelis are in favour of the fence. ... Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat accused Israel of seeking to divide Palestinian territories into small cantons and 'start a new apartheid system which is worse than what happened in South Africa.'"

"Forget the small fry: the big guys are still out there" (Mark Steyn, The Daily Telegraph, 2002/06/16)
"As the number of incompetent Palestinian suicide bombers suggests, in this field it's hard, by definition, to get people with experience. If the British shoebomber, Richard Reid, had invested a handful of euros in a lighter instead of relying on a damp, bent book of matches from the airport EconoLodge, he'd have blown American Airlines Flight 63 to pieces. ... Not surprisingly, al-Qaeda finds it hard to recruit top-quality psychopaths willing to kill themselves to protest the fall of Andalucia in 1492 or whatever other ancient grievance is itching Osama's yak-wool undies. ... Unless he really is "John Doe No 2", Mr Padilla is almost certainly of no importance, just some despised taco-breathed terrorist wannabe that Zubaydah had reasons to sell out. President Bush's scoreboard will be a lot higher than 2,401 before he gets to anyone who matters."

"Al Qaeda's Not the Only Danger" (Khidir Hamza, The Wall Street Journal, 2002/06/16)
Khidir Hamza is president of the Council on Middle Eastern Affairs and the former director of Iraq's nuclear program: "Newly transferred to the Military Industrialization Corp., headed by Saddam's son-in-law Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel, I discovered that a team from the Atomic Energy Commission was already working on radiation weapons on the theory that they could achieve the same effect. ... But a test was made in a desert region after enough radioactive material was assembled. As expected, the radioactive materials dispersed too fast and the lethal zone was almost nonexistent outside the blast area. Within a few days there was no more than background radiation outside a very small area. Another test gave the same results and the project was dropped. ... Restricting the lookout for this source of terrorism to al Qaeda is taking the easy way out. No matter how much their caves and former dwellings were searched, all that was found were some primitive documents about nuclear radiation. The real expertise - and the real stockpiles of nuclear material - remain in countries like Iraq and Iran. With Afghanistan removed as a safe haven, terrorist training grounds and sources of expertise have to come from these countries. It is time to face the real problem and deal with it."

"Qaeda's New Links Increase Threats From Global Sites" (David Johnston et al., The New York Times, 2002/06/16)
"A group of midlevel operatives has assumed a more prominent role in Al Qaeda and is working in tandem with Middle Eastern extremists across the Islamic world, senior government officials say. They say the alliance, which extends from North Africa to Southeast Asia, now poses the most serious terrorist threat to the United States. This new alliance of terrorists, though loosely knit, is as fully capable of planning and carrying out potent attacks on American targets as the more centralized network once led by Osama bin Laden, the officials said. Classified investigations of the Qaeda threat now under way at the F.B.I. and C.I.A. have concluded that the war in Afghanistan failed to diminish the threat to the United States, the officials said. Instead, the war might have complicated counterterrorism efforts by dispersing potential attackers across a wider geographic area. ... "Al Qaeda at its core was really a small group, even though thousands of people went through their camps," one official said of the bin Laden training camps in Afghanistan. 'What we're seeing now is a radical international jihad that will be a potent force for many years to come.'"

"Arrests Reveal Al Qaeda Plans" (Peter Finn, The Washington Post, 2002/06/16)
"Besieged by U.S. and allied forces in December in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden commanded his fighters to disperse across the globe to attack "American and Jewish interests," according to accounts officials here say they have obtained from three al Qaeda operatives captured in Morocco. The three men, citizens of Saudi Arabia, have told interrogators that they escaped Afghanistan and came to Morocco on a mission to use bomb-laden speedboats for suicide attacks on U.S. and British warships in the Strait of Gibraltar, senior Moroccan officials said. The men were captured in May in a joint Moroccan-CIA operation. ... Officials here said bin Laden's instructions were behind a string of recent attacks, including Friday's bombing at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. They said that information from prisoners and other evidence shows that al Qaeda leaders continue to direct missions from afar."

"An Impossible Position" (Ari Shavit, The Washington Post, 2002/06/16)
Shavit on the Israeli settlement in Adora: "He was coming back from the local synagogue when he saw two men in Israel Defense Forces uniforms standing in the small front yard, trying to get into his home, two doors down the pink cobbled road from the Greenbergs. "Hey, guys, what's up?" he asked them, but they didn't reply. Instead they started shooting at him. As he rolled down the hill to get away and find shelter at a neighbor's place, the two men, who turned out to be members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, broke into Sheffi's cottage. They passed by the TV set, the Disney videocassettes and goldfish aquarium, and went up the three stairs that led to the nursery. There they found his wife, Shiri, combing the hair of their daughter, Danielle, age 5. And while Shiri was trying to hide Danielle under the toddler's bed, along with 4-year-old Eliad and 18-month-old Uriel, one of the liberation fighters put the barrel of an AK-47 against Danielle's little head and pulled the trigger."

 

Saturday, June 15, 2002

News and commentary:

"Feds arrest man linked to 'dirty bomb' suspect" (CNN.com, 2002/06/15)
"Federal officials in Miami told CNN Saturday they had arrested a south Florida Muslim activist with ties to "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla. Adham Amin Hassoun was arrested during a Wednesday night traffic stop by members of South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force, according to FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela and Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman Rodney Germain. ... The Miami Herald quoted a federal source as saying that Hassoun was charged with overstaying his visa, and that officials hoped he could shed light on how Padilla, raised in Chicago by Puerto Rican parents, became someone the government characterizes as a Muslim extremist."

"A Bomb Suspect's Search for Identity" (Manuel Roig-Franzia and Amy Goldstein, The Washington Post, 2002/06/15)
A profile of Jose Padilla: "Padilla's attraction to Islam coincided with a time of upheaval in South Florida's Muslim community, as the moderate temperament of its mosques and Islamic institutions became mingled with new anti-American vitriol and talk of jihad. ... Another influential figure in the community was Adham Hassoun, who founded the South Florida chapter of a large Muslim charity, Benevolence International Foundation. U.S. officials alleged in court documents in April that the Illinois-based foundation has been intimately connected to Osama bin Laden for years and has moved large sums of money to fund the operations of his al Qaeda network around the world. ... Although it is unclear whether Padilla and Hassoun ever met, extremists gained a foothold in the Muslim community of the early- and mid-1990s by focusing largely on young people and recent converts, according to Walid Phares, a Florida Atlantic University professor who specializes in international terrorism. Padilla was both. Hassoun gave speeches at the University of Miami, saying Muslims had a duty to participate in religious wars and to kill infidels, recalled Diana Elson of Coral Gables, Fla., who heard him speak at the university's Institute for Retired Professionals."

"Hezbollah Buildup in Lebanon Cited" (Karen DeYoung, The Washington Post, 2002/06/15)
"The Iranian- and Syrian-backed group Hezbollah has built up forces along Lebanon's southern border with Israel, while humanitarian conditions inside Palestinian territories have deteriorated rapidly, diplomatic sources here said yesterday. Sources said signs of a variety of new weaponry, including missiles capable of reaching major northern Israeli population centers and of shooting down planes, have been detected along the border in recent weeks, together with the increased presence and activity of Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. There was concern an attack into Israeli territory could be launched within the next several days. Of equal concern, sources said, was the likelihood of massive Israeli retaliation, including movement into Lebanese and possibly Syrian territory."

"Pressure on Musharraf: Anti-West Forces Brew" (Dexter Filkins, The New York Times, 2002/06/15)
"The new coalition of militant groups is called Lashkar-e-Omar, formed by guerrilla fighters in January after leaders of several extremist groups had been arrested. Officials said the members of the coalition share a doctrinaire vision of Islam, a hatred of the West and, often, the common bond of having trained and fought in Afghanistan. ... The new coalition, Lashkar-e-Omar, drew its name and inspiration from Ahmed Omar Sheikh, the former leader of Jaish-e-Muhammad accused of masterminding the kidnapping and murder of the American journalist Daniel Pearl. While a group calling itself Al Qanoon took responsibility tonight for the attack in Karachi, Pakistani officials said the claim appeared to mirror a common pattern of larger groups of militant guerrillas spinning off smaller units assigned to stage single attacks." (See also: "Suicide Bomber Kills 11 in Karachi" (Zarar Khan, AP/Yahoo! News, 2002/06/14))

 

Friday, June 14, 2002

News and commentary:

"US artists damn 'war without limit'" (Duncan Campbell, The Guardian, 2002/06/14)
Stupidy watch en masse: "A group of leading American writers, actors and academics have signed a statement strongly criticising their government's policies since September 11. It is an indication of a growing feeling that the administration is promoting its own agenda on the back of the attacks. In a statement called Not In Our Name, the signatories say the government has "declared a war without limit and instituted stark new measures of repression". ... They include the musicians Laurie Anderson and Mos Def, the actors Ossie Davis and Ed Asner, the writers Alice Walker, Russell Banks, Barbara Kingsolver and Grace Paley, and the playwrights Eve Ensler and Tony Kushner. Martin Luther King III, Gloria Steinem, Noam Chomsky, Edward Said and Rabbi Michael Lerner have added their names, making this the widest ranging group of opponents of government policy since September 11. ... The statement, which the signatories hope will be published by the American media, says: "We must take the highest officers of the land seriously when they talk of a war that will last a generation and when they speak of a new domestic order. ... We are confronting a new openly imperial policy towards the world and a domestic policy that manufactures and manipulates fear to curtail rights." (See also: Not In Our Name ("'Because the psychopaths in power wrap themselves in the flag and hide behind the law as they terrorize people everywhere.' - Statement from Plowshares Activist Philip Berrigan for June 6 Pledge Kick-off Events") and the full statement - "We won't deny our consciences" (The Guardian, 2002/06/14): "We believe that peoples and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, free from military coercion by great powers. ... Thus we call on all Americans to resist the war and repression that has been loosed on the world by the Bush administration. It is unjust, immoral, and illegitimate. We choose to make common cause with the people of the world.")

"The Roots of Our Discontent" (Katie Bacon, The Atlantic, 2002/06/14)
An interview with Michael B. Oren, the author of "Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East": "What does persist is the belief that Israel is basically a proxy for the United States, that Israel's power is a direct product of American power. Part of it is the reluctance of Arabs to actually admit that Israel has its own power. How else can a handful of Jews have such influence? It's a way of avoiding responsibility for the Six-Day War, and it's amazing how much that big lie is still believed in large quarters of the Arab world. I encountered it many times in my research. As a matter of fact, the last interview I conducted was with some Palestinian intellectuals, and the interview was so disturbing that I didn't include it in the book. They told me outright that not only had the British and the Americans flown sorties for the Israeli Air Force, but that British and French mercenaries were used to conquer East Jerusalem. Because the soldiers, they said, were blond-haired and blue-eyed and spoke French and English, and of course the Israelis were incapable of beating the Jordanian army. The big lie as a cultural facet is very much alive today in the Middle East."

"'War on terror' turns eyes to Hizbullah" ( Nicholas Blanford, The Christian Science Monitor, 2002/06/14)
"Long hated by the defense establishment in Washington, Lebanon's Hizbullah organization would seem to be a logical target for the US war on terror after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been overthrown. ... The Israeli army has compiled a file on Hizbullah listing all its anti-Israel actions over the past two years. The file, which is expected to be made public shortly, is similar to the dossier on Yasser Arafat detailing the Palestinian leader's alleged connections with terrorism. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reportedly showed the Hizbullah file to US officials during his trip to Washington this week, the latest initiative in an ongoing diplomatic offensive by Israel against the militant group. ... Some diplomats here believe that a showdown between Hizbullah and the Israeli army is inevitable, arguing that Israel cannot live indefinitely with a hostile and well-armed guerrilla force menacing the northern part of the country. But despite periodic attacks by Hizbullah against the Israeli army, Sharon has chosen so far not to respond heavily. This could be in expectation that once Washington has dealt with Saddam Hussein, Hizbullah will be the target of phase three in America's war on terror."

"Pakistan radicals taught U.S. men" (Jack Kelley, USA Today, 2002/06/14)
"Since 1995, at least 27 Americans have attended four Pakistani religious schools, called madrassas, that preach a radical form of Islam calling for the destruction of the United States, say U.S. and Pakistani officials and clerics at the schools. Most of those students are Arab-Americans or African-Americans who joined and, in some cases, fought for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, the Taliban militia or Islamic guerrillas in Kashmir. ... The attendance of so many Americans in the madrassas indicates a more extensive involvement than had been recognized. ... "Most of the Americans go on to fight for Islam after their education," says Mufti Muhammad Iltimas, a radical cleric who runs the Arabia Husa school in the Pakistani tribal city of Bannu. 'They are told to go into all parts of the world to spread the message. The American authorities will not find them until they want to be found.'"

"Amnesty demands PFLP chief's release; new PA cabinet meets" (Amos Harel and Amira Hass, Haaretz, 2002/06/14)
"The Palestinian Authority must release the leader of a radical Palestinian faction that claimed responsibility for the killing of cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi in October, the human rights group Amnesty International said in a statement Thursday. ... Last week, a Palestinian court in Gaza ruled Sa'adat must be released, because no charges had been brought against him. The Palestinian Cabinet overrode the court decision the same day. In its statement, Amnesty called on the Palestinian Authority to abide by the court's decision to release Sa'adat immediately. It also called on Israel to "publicly guarantee that Ahmed Sa'adat will not be subjected to any extra-judicial measures, including assassination." Because of their involvement in the arrangement, Britain and the United States should "ensure that the Palestinian Authority and Israel respect Ahmed Sa'adat's rights," Amnesty said in the statement."

"Stepping Back From the Edge" (David Ignatius, The Washington Post, 2002/06/14)
"India and Pakistan this week stepped back from the brink of nuclear war over Kashmir. In a world where so many conflicts only seem to get worse, it's important to understand why this one got better. It might even provide a few lessons for dealing with the world's most maddeningly intractable problem - the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... Musharraf, in particular, deserves credit. For my money, he is the most courageous and visionary leader on the world scene today. What Musharraf decided was that, in the end, India and Pakistan were fighting a common enemy in the remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban that had infiltrated Kashmir. This common enemy was responsible for last December's bombing of the Indian parliament, just as it was responsible for recent bombings of a church in Islamabad and a French group in Karachi. The same common enemy threatened two countries that were on the brink of war. That insight made all the other diplomatic moves possible. What's more, I'm told by one of Musharraf's close military advisers that the Pakistani president concluded that elements of his own intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, were in part responsible for the rising wave of terrorism that was afflicting both Pakistan and India."

"Troubled, but Not Terrorized" (Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post, 2002/06/14)
Krauthammer reports from Jerusalem: "The parent generation is depressed because it is disillusioned. They are the ones who made the great leap of faith into the Oslo peace process - a Trojan horse that brought terrorism into the heart of Israel. They did so in the hope that their children would not have to do what they did - carry a rifle. Now that Palestinian terrorism has reminded them that to exist, Israel must remain a garrison state, they feel they have failed their mission. The kids are not responsible for the Oslo catastrophe. Moreover, they know that every Israeli generation has had to fight and sacrifice to survive. Now it is their turn." (See also: "Krauthammer: Israel has abandoned Oslo messianism" (Etgar Lefkovitz, The Jerusalem Post, 2002/06/11))

"Suicide Bomber Kills 11 in Karachi" (Zarar Khan, AP/Yahoo! News, 2002/06/14)
"A suicide driver slammed his explosives-packed vehicle into a concrete barrier in front of the U.S. consulate Friday, setting off a huge explosion that killed 11 people and injured 45. The attack - the fourth against foreigners in Pakistan since January - prompted the U.S. government to consider scaling back its diplomatic staff in this country on the front line of the war against al-Qaida. ... U.S. officials in Washington said they suspect al-Qaida or affiliated Islamic extremist groups carried out the attack, but have no direct evidence. Several Pakistani groups in Karachi have ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network. ... The blast incinerated nearly 20 cars and damaged a large tree inside the compound. Many victims were blown to bits, their body parts found hundreds of yards away. Dr. Hafiz Athar said 11 people were killed, including 10 identified by relatives or colleagues. The other remains was believed to be that of the bomber. The dead included the bomber, four Pakistani police constables, three passers-by and three women in a car who had just finished a driver's education course and were on their way to get their licenses." (See also: "US condemns Karachi bomb attack" (BBC News, 2002/06/14): "A previously unknown group called "al-Qanoon" claimed responsibility for the attack in a handwritten statement delivered to media offices in Karachi. "America, its allies and its slave Pakistani rulers should be prepared for more attacks. The bomb blast is the beginning of al-Qanoon's jihad activities in Pakistan," the statement said.")

 

Thursday, June 13, 2002

News and commentary:

"Terrorist says Palestinian VIPs smuggled weapons" (The Jerusalem Post, 2002/06/13)
"Tanzim member Amin Amar Ziad has confessed to involvement in the suicide bombing at Rehov Kibbutz Galuyot in Tel Aviv on May 24. Ziad, 25, of El Bireh, was arrested on June 7. He dispatched Amar Shkukani, who drove an explosives-laden car toward a nightclub at the Tel Aviv night club. Security guard Eli Federman spotted him and opened fire, wounding Shkukani and detonating the explosives. ... Ziad told investigators he participated in numerous West Bank shootings. He also admitted to purchasing weapons through a dealer in Jordan that were smuggled in vehicles belonging to Palestinian officials with VIP status. They smuggled the weapons into Israel via the Allenby Bridge and the King Hussein Bridge."

"Saudi Ambassador to London: 'I Want Peace with Israel; I Long to Die as a Martyr; Stoning and Amputating Hands Are at the Core of Every Muslim's Belief'" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 389, 2002/06/13)
Excerpts from an interview for the Saudi owned London Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat with Saudi Ambassador to London Ghazi Al-Qusaibi: "I have not changed my position regarding the Palestinian problem since I was 16... ... My position is not new. What is new is the state of horror and tension that caused the Fidaai [martyrdom] attacks in Israel. In the past, the Israelis didn't care if we said 'martyr.' Now they have begun to really fear what they call 'the culture of death' which I call the 'culture of martyrdom.' When the culture of martyrdom spreads among the Palestinians and the Arabs, the myth of Israel will come to an end... ... According to the Western view, flogging is illogical. Execution is unacceptable, and the same goes for amputating hands and stoning. These are things that in Muslim eyes are at the core of the Islamic faith. For this reason, there is a genuine cultural gap that cannot be bridged by hiring the services of a PR company - but only by West and East respecting each others' culture."

"Infirmity of Its Senior Sheiks Leaves Kuwait Stagnating" (Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times, 2002/06/13)
A report from Kuwait: "Some prayer leaders began denouncing Jews and Christians as the enemy during weekly Friday sermons. When the religious affairs minister ordered a halt, he was attacked as trying to override the Koranic verses that condone prayers against those who have wronged Muslims. The two sides compromised in late May, with the prayer leaders now singling out specific American officials. "They were against cursing all Jews and Christians," said Abdel Razak al-Shayegi, the spokesman for one Islamic organization and a leader of Friday Prayers. 'But now I can say, 'God punish Bush, God punish Rumsfeld, God punish Rice.' That is better because they are the ones practicing injustice against us.'"

"Arafat Convenes Pared Down Cabinet" (Ibrahim Hazboun, AP/Yahoo! News, 2002/06/13)
"Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat convened his new and streamlined Cabinet Thursday, responding to demands that he reform the unwieldy and corruption-ridden Palestinian administration. The first session of the new ministers came a day after Israeli forces ended a two-day blockade of Arafat's compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Arafat appointed the new Cabinet on Sunday, cutting the number of ministers from 31 to 21, under pressure from his people as well as Israel, the United States and Europe. ... The main difference in the new Cabinet, besides its streamlined size, is the appointment of an interior minister. Maj. Gen. Abdel Razak Yihiyeh, who is to oversee Palestinian security forces. Up to now, Arafat has held the position himself."

"Verdict 'Guilty,' trial to follow" (Caroline B. Glick, The Jerusalem Post, 2002/06/13)
A critique of the new International Criminal Court, set to start operating on July 1: "According to the Rome Treaty of 1998 which established the ICC, "The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies" is considered a war crime. This subtle departure from the 1949 Geneva Conventions is designed to render private citizens who move voluntarily to "occupied" lands such as French Hill in Jerusalem into war criminals on the order of Saddam Hussein who gassed thousands of his own citizens. ... The groundwork for turning Israel into the first and principal state against which the ICC will take legal action has already been laid. ... In Europe, as synagogues burn to the ground, Israel is daily portrayed by the mass media as a criminal state. And, ahead of the official opening of the ICC, Palestinian delegations have flocked to the Continent to make the case for indicting IDF officers and government officials by the new tribunal. ... The US understands the fundamental moral distortion of a court that would dare to try American nationals in front of a tribunal composed not of their peers, as the US Constitution provides, but by an international community inimical to the very values the court purports to represent."

"Pakistan Says It Seized Americans Tied to Al Qaeda" (Dexter Filkins, The New York Times, 2002/06/13)
"Several men believed to be American citizens have been taken into custody here during the past few weeks on suspicion of being linked to Al Qaeda, senior Pakistani officials said today. ... One man is believed by Pakistani officials to be an associate of Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born man detained last month on the suspicion that he was trying to build a radiation dispersal bomb intended for detonation in an American city. He goes by the name Ahmed Muhammad, which Pakistani officials say they believe is a false name, as well as Benjamin. It was unclear whether Benjamin was used as a first or a last name. Pakistani officials said several of those detained, including Mr. Muhammad, claimed to be American citizens. ... Pakistani officials said five other men believed to be of Pakistani or Middle Eastern origin were detained in France today on suspicion of being linked to Mr. Reid. The officials also said today that they had detained five more people here who are believed to be Pakistani citizens and associates of Mr. Padilla. At least some of those detained are believed to have knowledge of Mr. Padilla's activities in recent months."

 

Wednesday, June 12, 2002

News and commentary:

"'Why We Fight America': Al-Qa'ida Spokesman Explains September 11 and Declares Intentions to Kill 4 Million Americans with Weapons of Mass Destruction" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 388, 2002/06/12)
Excerpts from an article by Al-Qa'ida spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith: "How can [he] possibly [accept humiliation and inferiority] when he knows that the [divine] rule is that the entire earth must be subject to the religion of Allah — not to the East, not to the West — to no ideology and to no path except for the path of Allah?... ...
America is the head of heresy in our modern world, and it leads an infidel democratic regime that is based upon separation of religion and state and on ruling the people by the people via legislating laws that contradict the way of Allah and permit what Allah has prohibited. ...
America, with the collaboration of the Jews, is the leader of corruption and the breakdown [of values], whether moral, ideological, political, or economic corruption. ...
America is the reason for all oppression, injustice, licentiousness, or suppression that is the Muslims' lot. It stands behind all the disasters that were caused and are still being caused to the Muslims; it is immersed in the blood of Muslims and cannot hide this. ...
We have not reached parity with them. We have the right to kill 4 million Americans — 2 million of them children — and to exile twice as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands. Furthermore, it is our right to fight them with chemical and biological weapons, so as to afflict them with the fatal maladies that have afflicted the Muslims because of the [Americans'] chemical and biological weapons."

"The Baby Face of Hate" (David Tell, The Weekly Standard, 2002/06/12)
A report on a briefing held by MEMRI at the National Press Club in Washington on Arabic-language media coverage of "martyrdom and suicide bombers," where they screened a compilation of recent broadcasts on the Arab satellite channel Iqraa Television: "And, most harrowing of all, perhaps, especially if you have kids of your own, there is the May 7, 2002 edition of "Muslim Woman Magazine," hosted by Doaa 'Amer, a soft spoken, highly polished anchorlady who might just as well be Joan Lunden or Katie Couric - except that she's wearing a body-length robe. And also that she's a monster. Ms. 'Amer begins as follows: "Our report today will be a little different, because our guest is a girl, a Muslim girl, but a true Muslim. Allah willing, may our God give us the strength to educate our children the same way, so that the next generation will turn out to be true Muslims who understand that they are Muslims and know who their enemies are." ... The camera then begins a low pan downward and to the right as Ms. 'Amer offers a "peace be unto you" welcome to her guest. Who turns out to be . . . a toddler.
'Amer: Basmallah, how old are you?
Toddler: Three and a half.
'Amer: Are you a Muslim?
Toddler: Yes.
'Amer: Basmallah, are you familiar with the Jews?
Toddler: Yes.
'Amer: Do you like them?
Toddler: No.
'Amer: Why don't you like them?
Toddler: Because . . .
'Amer: Because they are what?
Toddler: They're apes and pigs."

"Groundhog Day" (James Taranto, The Wall Street Journal/Best of the Web Today, 2002/06/12)
"First it was the "thousands" of civilian deaths in Afghanistan. Then it was the "concentration camp" at Guantanamo Bay. Then the Israeli "massacre" at Jenin. Ever since the war started, America-haters, mostly on the far left, have been searching desperately for a peg on which to hang their opposition to our defense of civilization. ... The latest example is the "injustice" America is purportedly committing against enemy combatant Abdullah al Muhajir, né Jose Padilla, who the government says was working on a mass-murder plot on behalf of al Qaeda involving a "dirty bomb" that would release radiation into the air. Now London's far-left Independent claims that "British and European security officials are highly sceptical" that al Muhajir "was preparing to unleash a radioactive attack." After all, "no evidence has been produced to show that he had access to the radioactive material needed to build the bomb, or indeed that he had even worked out a time or place to launch the attack." Thus, "the most that could be said . . . is that he had the 'intention' of launching such an attack, security sources said." The Independent tries to spin this as evidence of al Muhajir's innocence, but in fact what it shows is that American officials stopped an attack long before it would have happened. ... It would be lunacy to suggest that officials should wait until a Sept. 12 before taking action to prevent a Sept. 11." (See also: "British security sources raise doubts over US claims about 'dirty bomber'" (Kim Sengupta and Andrew Buncombe, Independent, 2002/06/12))

"Arafat Bombs, Europe Pays" (Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff and Bruno Schirra, Shark Blog/Die Zeit, 2002/06/12)
Stefan Sharkansky's translation of a must-read article from Die Zeit (2002/06/07): "Die Zeit researched in Berlin, Brussels, Washington, in Israel and in the Palestinian territories: everywhere it looked into clues and documents that indicated how EU funds that were intended in the name of peace were turned toward war-making and funds intended for the construction of democratic structures were turned to finance a terror network. The results of the investigation are alarming. ... On April 22, 2002 Palestinian Minister Nabil Shaath presented the members of the European Commission at the Mediterranean Conference in Valencia with a demand for aid in the amount of $1.9 Billion dollars. According to consistent reports from several witnesses, Shaath's wish-list contained line items such as $20.6 Million dollars for weapons and $40.6 Million dollars for the support of refugees and "martyr families". The Palestinians expected in all seriousness that the Europeans would follow Saddam Hussein's lead and pay blood money. The assembled European diplomats did not greet this demand with alarm. They are not horrified, only embarrassed. They let the wish-list disappear into the vault. The don't want to know anything about it. They would rather be defrauded discreetly." (See also: "Arafat bombt, Europa zahlt" (Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff and Bruno Schirra, Die Zeit, 2002/06/12))

"After the Latest Arrest, Will the Left Acknowledge the Duty of Defense?" (Heather Mac Donald, The New York Sun, 2002/06/12)
"Now that America has foiled a plot to detonate a radioactive bomb on American soil, is there any chance that the New York Times, Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, or sundry crusading judges will grasp that we're fighting for our survival? Probably not. But the arrest and detention of Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang thug and wannabe Al Qaeda dirty bomber, reveals the absolute necessity for security measures taken after September 11 - measures that the liberal media, leftwing human-rights groups, and the federal judiciary have incessantly attacked as bigoted and totalitarian. ... Maybe the revelation of Padilla's radioactive bombing plans will be a wake-up call to the Times and leftwing advocacy groups to stop portraying the government's reasonable efforts to thwart future attacks as a Republican plot to overthrow the Constitution. Maybe these self-righteous critics might acknowledge that the highest constitutional duty of the government is to protect the country from destruction and that we are fighting a war, not merely preparing for a few, inconsequential criminal trials. But don't count on it."

"Big Ben 'was September 11 target'" (CNN.com, 2002/06/12)
"Suicide hijackers intended to target London's Big Ben on September 11, according to a British terrorism expert. A group of al Qaeda operatives were at Heathrow Airport waiting to take over a jet and crash it into the Houses of Parliament, according to author Rohan Gunaratna. Gunaratna, a research fellow at the Centre for Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St Andrews University in Scotland, told CNN the attack was thwarted when flights out of London were grounded following the U.S. attacks. The plan was intended to show the international reach of al Qaeda, he said. "The attack was thwarted as a result of the attacks in New York and Washington," he said. "Planes were grounded at Heathrow Airport and the al Qaeda attack team that went to Heathrow could not get into a plane in order to mount this attack," he said."

"It Is a War, After All" (Michael Kelly, The Washington Post, 2002/06/12)
"When Attorney General John Ashcroft announced new regulations requiring the fingerprinting and photographing of foreign visitors from all nations deemed to harbor anti-American terrorism, Sen. Ted Kennedy was, of course, "deeply disappointed" in a plan that would "further stigmatize innocent Arab and Muslim visitors." White House press secretary Ari Fleischer was of course quick to assure that President Bush was acting "fully in accordance with protecting civil rights and civil liberties." Would it be too much to ask that we cut this out? The United States is at war - its first utterly unavoidable war since World War II and its first war since the Civil War in which the enemy has been able to significantly bring the conflict onto American soil. ... The proper response to complaints such as those voiced by Murphy and Kennedy is: Yes, it is true, this action will indeed hurt or at least insult some innocent people, and we are sorry about that. And this action does represent an infringement of the rights and liberties enjoyed not just by Americans but by visitors to America, and we are sorry about that, too. But we must do everything we can to curtail the ability of the enemy to attack us. This is necessary."

"How do you win against those who seek death?" (Janet Daley, The Daily Telegraph, 2002/06/12)
"George W Bush is surely right to say that this is war, but it is not war as we know it (or as the existing Geneva Conventions equip us for). It does not involve nation states facing one another in any comprehensible or systematic way. ... When the Western democracies were eyeball to eyeball with the Soviet Union, we at least knew what the ideological conflict was about. ... What is the question now? How do you debate with people who do not want to argue about the quality of life except insofar as it is a preparation for a glorious death? How do you protect yourself from people who are not only prepared to die (as all fighting armies must be), but who also actually wish to do so; who see death itself as the ultimate goal? What kind of battle is this? To attack America for not playing by the traditional legal rules is simply ludicrous. That it is having any degree of success at all in holding back a form of contagious murderous insanity financed by a rich lunatic is a credit to the resources and the genius of free societies."

"East meets West on high alert for fresh al-Qaeda bombings" (Michael Evans et al., The Times, 2002/06/12)
"The West was on heightened alert last night after the discovery of two al-Qaeda plots against America and Europe and warnings that other attacks may be imminent. President Bush ordered a full-scale manhunt for terrorists acting alone or in concert with Abdullah al-Mujahir, the American accused of plotting to explode a radioactive "dirty bomb" in America. "We will run down every lead, every hint," he said. At the same time, British sources revealed that Royal Navy warships in the Mediterranean had been on high alert since last month after receiving a warning from the Moroccan intelligence service of an al-Qaeda bomb plot. The disclosure came after the Moroccan Government announced that it had arrested three Saudi Arabians who were allegedly planning to use speedboats laden with explosives to attack British and American naval ships. ... The alarm also spread to India, where the Government warned Bombay financial institutions that terrorists were planning a big attack within the next ten days."

 

Tuesday, June 11, 2002

News and commentary:

"U.S. Says Dirty Bomb Suspect Plotted Other Attacks" (Deborah Charles, Reuters/Yahoo! News, 2002/06/11)
"The American accused of plotting a radioactive "dirty bomb" attack on the United States met repeatedly with top al Qaeda leaders after Sept. 11 to discuss a range of attack options including blowing up hotels and gas stations, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The officials said Abdullah al Muhajir, a New York native born as Jose Padilla, traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan several times after the Sept. 11 attacks on America to meet senior al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah for talks on plans for other types of attacks. ... Padilla, 31, who changed his name to Abdullah al Muhajir after a stint in jail in Florida, is being held in a military jail in South Carolina as an "enemy combatant." Under the rules of war that allows him to be held until the end of the conflict and questioned without an attorney present." (See also: "From Chicago Gang to Possible Al Qaeda Ties" (Jodi Wilgoren and Jo Thomas, The New York Times, 2002/06/11), for a profile of Jose Padilla: "The story of how a Chicago street criminal may have become an operative for Al Qaeda baffled law enforcement officials and gang experts. ... Though many blacks become Muslims while in prison, conversions are rare among Hispanic gang members. Mr. Padilla's mother, Estrela Ortega-LeBron, had told friends that her son joined a cult.")

"Krauthammer: Israel has abandoned Oslo messianism" (Etgar Lefkovitz, The Jerusalem Post, 2002/06/11)
"Foreign Minister Shimon Peres's vision of a "new Middle East," as espoused over the last decade, is a lethal form of secular messianism that has led to the worst bloodletting in Israel's history, internationally acclaimed American columnist Charles Krauthammer said last night. "Israel has at long last awoken from the most devastating messianic reverie the Oslo Agreements," Krauthammer said last night at a Jerusalem lecture, where he was presented with Bar-Ilan University's annual Guardian of Zion Award. Calling the 1993 Oslo Accords "the most catastrophic and self-inflicted wound by any state in modern history," which was based on "an extreme expression of post-Zionistic messianism," Krauthammer said that the secular messianism espoused by Peres was more dangerous than the religious messianism of Gush Emunim or certain followers of the Lubavitcher Rebbe because of its impact on shaping contemporary Jewish history. "For the messianic Israeli left, Oslo was more than a deal, it was a ratification [in their minds] of a new era in modern history, a new era in human relations and a radical break in history which they declared was occurring not at some point in the future, but now," he said." (See also: "He Tarries: Jewish Messianism and the Oslo Peace" (Charles Krauthammer, Bar-Ilan University, 2002/06/10), an audio recording of the speech.)

"Kristol's Unwelcome Message" (Richard Cohen, The Washington Post, 2002/06/11)
"Kristol's War, as it will henceforth be called, was declared after dinner here at the splendid Villa D'Este hotel on Lake Como. He announced a vast U.S. foreign policy agenda, beginning with a war against Iraq and ending with replacing the monarchy in Saudi Arabia. His audience of mostly Europeans at first gasped and then reacted with irritation. "Very provocative," many of them commented - a polite way of saying that he, and by extension the Bush administration, was totally mad. And yet much of what William Kristol, a former Reagan and Bush I administration official and now the editor of the influential Weekly Standard magazine, was saying is nearly commonplace in the United States."

"It's terrorism, stupid" (Dick Morris, New York Post, 2002/06/11)
"While The New York Times is preoccupied with the "swirling" investigation into the warnings about 9/11 and liberal commentators zealously focus on potential invasions of our civil liberties, voters are solidly behind tough measures to combat terror even at the expense of an erosion of certain civil liberties. The danger they see is another terrorist attack. The Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll of June 6 reflects the true priorities of most Americans. By 63 percent to 24 percent, they support "expanding law-enforcement powers to catch suspected terrorists, even if it requires sacrificing some personal civil liberties." ... By 54 percent to 34 percent, voters approve of "using racial profiling to screen Arab-male airline passengers." ... A very real and specific fear of new terror preoccupies America's mind. Half of all Americans believe that "terrorists will detonate a nuclear device on U.S. soil" within the next 10 years - and 16 percent expect it within the next 12 months. ... To read the media is to see an America turning on itself frothing with questions about who knew what and when did they know it. To read the polls is to find a nation united and committed to taking the next steps to battle terror. Largely trusting of the government, it is quite willing to see common-sense actions to fight and prevent terror, even if they outrage the civil libertarian purists in our midst."

"Bush Sees Sharon and Says Time Isn't Ripe for Peace Conference" (David E. Sanger, The New York Times, 2002/06/11)
"With Israeli troops still surrounding Yasir Arafat's headquarters, President Bush met Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today and declared that the time was not ripe to call together a summit meeting on Mideast peace because "no one has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government." ... Still, what was striking about Mr. Bush's comments today was how close he came to endorsing Mr. Sharon's position and saying the current Palestinian Authority, under Mr. Arafat, was not capable of engaging in the political talks that the administration has assured Arab leaders would be conducted simultaneously with security talks. Mr. Bush did not attempt to dispute Mr. Sharon when the Israeli said: "We must have a partner for negotiations. We don't see yet a partner." ... The president suggested that Mr. Arafat's reorganization of his Cabinet over the weekend did not solve the problem of finding a Palestinian partner."

 

Monday, June 10, 2002

News and commentary:

"Can Wieseltier, D.C.'s Big Mullah, Have It Both Ways?" (Ron Rosenbaum, The New York Observer, 2002/06/10)
A critique of Leon Wiseltier's article "Hitler is Dead": "But alas, Hitler is not dead when the Saudi government TV station broadcasts the words of a cleric who tells millions of listeners, "Defeat the usurper Jews …. O God, annihilate them soon."
Hitler is not dead when a Palestinian textbook tells teenagers the Nazi Holocaust was an understandable response to the Jews’ "greed and religious fanaticism."
Hitler is not dead when Arab daily papers publish accounts of Jewish ritual murder to obtain blood for Purim pastry.
Hitler is not dead when Arab bookstores make Mein Kampf a popular best-seller in the region. ...
Hitler is not dead when, as Paul Berman put it, "the notion that Israel’s Jews are evil demons, has swept the world in recent months."
Hitler is not dead when Saddam and the mullahs of Iran will soon have the weapons to duplicate Hitler’s feat, and terrorists have the means to deliver them.
But don’t concern yourself with it anymore, Leon. Continue down your "avenue of flight" into denial. Perhaps more study of Amalek lore will help. "We all have our avenues of flight. But when we flee, we must agree we are fleeing." (See also: "Hitler Is Dead" (Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic, 2002/05/16))

"The BBC Report" (HonestReporting, 2002/06/10)
An in-depth analysis of seven weeks of BBC News coverage of the Israeli Palestinian conflict by Trevor Asserson: "From September 2000 to November 2001, some 500 homemade mortars were fired by Palestinians at Israeli civilian targets in Gaza causing many injuries. On 24 November 2001 an Israeli soldier was killed and two injured in one of these attacks. On 25 November 2001, the Israeli army took action against Palestinian Authority installations in Gaza causing civilian injuries. Towards the end of its report of the retaliation, the BBC said: "All of this, it seems, a response to the killing of an Israeli soldier in a Palestinian attack yesterday. The 26 year-old was part of an Israeli unit guarding a Jewish settlement, built on occupied Palestinian land in the Gaza Strip. Two other Israelis were wounded in the attack." (BBC News24, 25 November 2001) The reference to 'settlements on occupied Palestinian land' implies that the killing of the soldier was arguably justifiable. The failure to include the short-term historical context gives rise to the misleading impression that the Israeli reaction is disproportionate. In fact the Israeli army was reacting to a sustained level of military aggression which would arguably test the capacity for restraint of any government."

"After the attacks by the Parisian press on "Rage and Pride" - I'm still not angry with France" (Oriana Fallaci, Dagger in hand, 2002/06/10)
Chris Newman's translation of an article by Fallaci originally published in Corriere della Sera (2002/06/08):
"But the Jacobins of today are not the ex-headchoppers who believe or believed in Robespierre: they're people like me. People who believe in Liberty and who as a result don't allow themselves to be intimidated by batons, by blackmail, by threats. People who reason with their own heads and who as a result call a spade a spade. People who don't lick anyone’s feet and who as a result cry out like the child in Grimm's fairy tale: "The Emperor has no clothes!" People who have a clean conscience and who as a result can permit themselves the luxury of fighting fascists whether they are black or red: of affirming that today the Right and the Left are two profiles of the same face. The face of cynicism and hypocrisy. People, finally, who have the courage to defend their own land. Their own country, their own culture, their own identity. People who don’t want invaders who, taking advantage of our tolerance, of our laws, of our hospitality, seek to impose on us the burka or the chador. To conquer us, to dominate us, as they conquered and for eight centuries dominated Portugal and Spain. Invaders who in Italy (in France as well?) go on television to order us to remove the crucifixes from the schools because "that cadaver on the cross frightens our Muslim scholars." And who in Italy publish ungrammatical obscenties to invite their co-religionists to kill me in the name of the Koran." (Note: The translation is down due to copyright issues.)

"Knowledge (and Power)" (Christopher Hitchens, The Nation, 2002/06/10)
"The failure to protect our society from well-organized and long-planned atrocities last September is no doubt replete with further Clouseau-like moments on the part of the bureaucracy. ... But the true failure is and was a political one. The bin Laden/Mullah Omar crime family was trained in Afghanistan by the Pakistani secret police and paid for by Saudi Arabian money. The American "national security" class looked (and looks) upon the Pakistani secret police and the Saudi Arabian royal family as friends and allies. ... Several of the nineteen suicide-murderers were already on a "watch list" for terrorism, but scornfully bought their own tickets in their own names. The general awareness that there was a hijacking risk had not led to the securing of cockpits. But now look at the vigilance and energy with which law-abiding passengers are treated like criminals as well as fools, and deprived of their in-flight cutlery and their nail-scissors. (The FAA has made sure of one thing. The next suicide-murderer who manages to get on a plane will find that his victims have been thoroughly and efficiently disarmed. No improvised resistance will be possible, unless experts in unarmed combat happen to be among the passengers. And I hesitate to mention even that, in case some bright spark in authority decides to disqualify such people from flying at all in their "weaponized" condition.)"

"In Growing Numbers, Palestinian Boys Are Choosing the Brief Life of a 'Martyr'" (Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 2002/06/10)
"Gazan psychiatrist Eyad Sarraj, however, believes that another phenomenon is giving rise to the increase: society's glorification of the "martyr," the person who dies fighting Israel, be it in a simple act of throwing a stone or in detonating a bomb in a crowded discotheque. ... "We have here a cultural glorification of martyrs in the eyes of children," Sarraj said. "If you asked children 20 years ago what they wanted to be when they grew up, they'd say a doctor or an engineer. Now they say they want to be a martyr." Martyrs are given status unparalleled in Palestinian society, Sarraj noted. Their pictures are plastered on public walls, their funerals are emotional celebrations, their families often receive visits from state officials. They become almost holy, praised by imams at mosques or over loudspeakers at rallies, where children are often dressed as shrouded dead or as pint-sized suicide bombers. ... Um Nidal Farahat, a Gazan mother of four, has a very different attitude. She says she encouraged her sons, from a young age, to attack Israeli targets and become martyrs. One son, Mohammed, 17, was killed in March when he attacked Atzmona, a Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip, and killed five youths there. Mohammed had been active with Hamas' military wing since he was 7, Um Nidal told the Saudi newspaper Asharq al Awsat last month. "In this atmosphere, Mohammed came to love martyrdom," she said. "As a mother, I re-enforced this love for martyrdom in the mind of Mohammed and of all my sons." She said she discussed the Atzmona operation with Mohammed before he embarked on it and posed with him for keepsake photos."

"The Left's Acrobatic Logic on Terror" (David Harsanyi, FrontPageMagazine, 2002/06/10)
"The hard Left (I appropriately include CNN in this group, despite an apparent, recent push for ideological balance) are employing acrobatic logic: blaming the CIA, FBI and President Bush for not doing enough, but then reacting hysterically to any step they take to prevent the next attack. ... Case in point. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has come up with a rather sensible idea. The U.S. government will fingerprint, photograph and register about 100,000 foreign visitors during the first year in an effort to keep tabs on foreigner visiting the U.S. This measure doesn’t hinder or tread on any citizen's constitutional rights. ... Ashcroft’s plan, said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, "smacks of the sort of tactics used by totalitarian regimes like Iraq." Totalitarian imagery has been a favorite of pro-Arab groups. They've long used Nazi metaphors to damage Israel's credibility and they are now utilizing the same tact against the mildest of security measures."

"U.S. Detains Alleged Dirty Bomb Terrorist" (Ted Bridis, AP/The Washington Post, 2002/06/10)
"The U.S. government has detained an alleged al Qaeda terrorist who plotted to build and detonate a radiological "dirty" bomb, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Monday. Ashcroft said Abdullah Al Mujahir was in the custody of the U.S. military and being treated as an enemy combatant, suggesting plans for the first military tribunal of an alleged terrorist. ... Ashcroft said Al Mujahir, also known as Jose Padilla, was arrested May 8 as he flew from Pakistan into Chicago O'Hare International Airport. "We have disrupted an unfolding terrorist plot to attack the United States by exploding a radioactive dirty bomb," Ashcroft said."

"Baghdad 'using Syria rail link to smuggle in military hardware'" (Michael Evans, The Times, 2002/06/10)
"Saddam Hussein is using a railway network linked to Syria for a smuggling operation that is supplying Baghdad with a vast range of military equipment and parts for weapons of mass destruction, intelligence sources say. ... However, intelligence reports disclose that Iraq is using the link to import a range of weaponry, including tanks sold by Bulgaria to Syria some years ago and allegedly diverted by Damascus to Baghdad, and air-defence equipment, Scud missile-guidance systems and surface-to-air missiles, originally bought by Syria from the Czech Republic. The reports also indicate that Baghdad may be receiving components for its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programme."

"Egypt considers releasing terrorist leader" (Ben Barber, The Washington Times, 2002/06/10)
"Egypt is considering the early release from prison of the leader of the country's largest terrorist group, the Gamma Islamiyah or Islamic Group (IG), who says he would continue leading the group but has renounced his past life of crime. But senior military, security and prison officials said they are not sure whether to believe the sincerity of the moderate orientation claimed by Karam Zohdy, who has served 20 years in jail for ordering the assassination of former president Anwar Sadat. ... Zohdy showed no remorse for the death of Mr. Sadat, who was gunned down during a military parade in 1981. He also said in a jailhouse interview last week that he opposed the terror attacks of September 11 mainly because they led to the fall of the Islamic regime in Afghanistan. "No use crying over spilled milk," Zohdy, 49, said of Mr. Sadat's killing. 'I approved the order to kill Sadat. We made the decision because some Islamists were arrested, and he made peace with Israel. We were young and frustrated.'"

See the archive for earlier news and commentary.

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"When people accept futility and the absurd as normal, the culture is decadent. The term is not a slur; it is a technical label."

Jacques Barzun

Articles of the week

"Losing the Enlightenment" (Victor Davis Hanson, OpinionJournal, 2006/11/29)

"Allah’s England?" (Daniel Johnson, Commentary. November 2006)

"'Sex in the Park': The latest doings of the Danish imams" (Henrik Bering, The Weekly Standard, 2006/11/18)

"Narcissism on Stilts" (Harold Evans, New York Sun, 2006/11/16)

"Terrorists are recruiting in our schools, says MI5 boss" (Philip Johnston, The Daily Telegraph, 2006/11/10)

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From the archives

Oriana Fallaci, R.I.P.

"The Rage, the Pride and the Doubt" (Oriana Fallaci, The Wall Street Journal, 2003/03/13)

"How the West Was Won and How It Will Be Lost" (Oriana Fallaci, The American Enterprise, from the January/February 2003 issue)

"On Jew-hatred in Europe" (Oriana Fallaci, dennisprager.com, 2002/04/13)

"Anger and Pride" (Oriana Fallaci, dennisprager.com, 2001/12/19)

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