Archived
news and commentary: September 18 - 24, 2006
2006/09/18 - 2006/09/24
2006/09/11 - 2006/09/17
2006/09/04 - 2006/09/10
2006/08/28 - 2006/09/03
2006/08/21 - 2006/08/27
2006/08/14 - 2006/08/20
Sunday,
September 24, 2006
News and
commentary:
"Does AP stand for Al-Qaeda Propaganda?" (Jules Crittenden, Boston Herald, 2006/09/24)
"The Associated Press, the reliable just-the-facts news agency you and I once knew, no longer exists. Amoral propagandists have taken over.
It is not only in the disturbing matter of Bilal Hussein, AP photograher and al-Qaeda associate, being held without charge in U.S. custody in Iraq that this is evident. But also in the departure from balanced, nonpartisan coverage that has always been the AP’s promise to us, its customers. ...
There is the bizarre work of Charles J. Hanley, an AP apologist for Saddam Hussein. He dismisses evidence of weapons programs and reports on the deep frustration Saddam felt when he could not convince the world of his good intentions, in those years when he was murdering his own people and playing a hard-nosed game of cat-and-mouse with U.N. weapons inspectors that led to their removal. ...
I look at Hussein’s photos. Terrorists trying to kill Americans. Terrorists posing with dead civilians. Bilal Hussein knows things about these men, who they are, how they operate. I’m thinking, Bilal Hussein looks like an accessory to murder. I’m thinking, I hope the U.S. intelligence agents who have him are getting good information out of him. And I’m wondering, who does The Associated Press want to win this war?" (Hat tip: Instapundit.)See also:
"The Associated (with terrorists) Press" (Michelle Malkin, Jewish World Review, 2006/09/20)
"Associated Press and the Bilal Hussein case" (Michelle Malkin, michellemalkin.com, 2006/09/17)
"Pulitzer Prize Given to Terrorists" (Rusty Shackleford, The Jawa Report, 2005/04/04)
"Insurgents, using small arms and mortars..." (Bilal Hussein, AP, 2004/11/08)"One in 10 Muslims 'ignore terror'" (The Guardian, 2006/09/24)
"Almost one in 10 British Muslims would not inform police if they suspected that someone of the same faith was involved in a terror attack, a poll suggested.
The ICM poll for the News of the World found 9% of the 502 questioned would not tell police if they had such suspicions about a fellow Muslim.
With a Muslim population aged over 16 in Britain of around one million, that would translate to 90,000 "turning a blind eye", the newspaper said.
However, almost nine out of every 10 (86%) would contact police, according to the survey.
Among young Muslims, the figures for keeping quiet were higher with 15% of 16 to 24-year-olds saying they would not tell police and 81% saying they would.""The cemetery where all face Mecca" (Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Tom Harper, The Sunday Telegraph, 2006/09/24)
"The graves in a new cemetery are to be aligned with Mecca – for Muslims and non-Muslims alike – in a move that has upset many Christians.
Burial plots have, by tradition, pointed east, in line with Christian beliefs. But a council in the East Midlands has taken the controversial decision to position thousands of headstones in a new £4 million cemetery facing in a north-easterly direction.
Muslims bury their dead facing north-east because they believe that they look over their right shoulder towards Mecca in the south-east, 3,000 miles away. Headstones in Christian churchyards point east in anticipation of Christ's second coming from that direction.
Muslims are predicted to take up only around 15 per cent of the available burial plots in the cemetery.
Christian groups yesterday expressed dismay at a policy that they say "marginalises" them and accommodates Muslims at the expense of other faiths.
The Nottingham city council decision rubber-stamps a proposal by the local Cemeteries Consultative Committee (CCC), which claims it will give the new High Wood cemetery in Bulwell, "a tidy appearance". Local Muslims have welcomed the move as 'a sign of tolerance and acceptance.'""Police to brief Muslims before terror raids" (Abul Taher, The Sunday Times, 2006/09/24)
TigerHawk: "This is, of course, the single worst idea in law enforcement since Prohibition. For starters, why wouldn't the principle behind it, if it can be said there is a principle, extend to all groups? Did the British meet with the Irish before raiding the IRA so as to avoid offending Irish sensibilities? If this concept is valid in the country that gave us our legal system, it is hard to see why American police shouldn't meet with Italians and Russians before raiding the Mafia, Columbians before busting cocaine dealers, and a panel of CEOs before pursuing Sarbanes-Oxley violations. Otherwise there might be consequences for 'community relations.'":
"POLICE have agreed to consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests. Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid.
Members will be security vetted and will have to promise not to reveal any intelligence they are shown. They will not have to sign the Official Secrets Act.
The first panel, expected to consist of four people, will be set up initially in London. Tomorrow representatives from police forces across England and Wales will decide whether to make the scheme national.
Muslim groups have welcomed the move, which is understood to be backed by Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner.""Fiery Blast in Baghdad Kills 38" (Amit R. Paley and Salih Dehema, The Washington Post, 2006/09/24)
"BAGHDAD, Sept. 23 -- A fiery explosion tore through a line of people waiting to buy fuel on Saturday and killed at least 38 people, most of them women and children, continuing the wave of tit-for-tat sectarian killings.
The horrific blast sent women engulfed in flames screaming through the streets. Two preteen girls embraced each other as they burned to death, witnesses said. Later, wailing mourners thronged the scene of the blast, which was strewn with the shoes of victims and a woman's bloodied cloak, and voiced doubt that the reprisal violence would ever end.
"We carry our death certificates with us now, waiting only to fill in the date of death," said Bayan Jasem al-Kaaby, 40, a minibus driver, after he was burned by the explosion that rocked the Shiite Muslim slum of Sadr City at about 10 a.m."
Saturday,
September 23, 2006
News and
commentary:
"Barroso disappointed at lack of EU support for Pope" (Reuters/The Washington Post, 2006/09/23)
"European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was quoted as saying on Saturday that more European leaders should have spoken out in support of the Pope after he made his disputed comments on Islam.
"I was disappointed there were not more European leaders who said 'naturally the Pope has the right to express his views'," Barroso was quoted as saying to the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
"The problem is not the statements of the Pope but the reaction of the extremists," the paper quoted him as saying in a preview of an article to appear on Sunday. ...
Barroso said the caution on the part of European leaders was probably due to "worries about a possible confrontation" as well as a "certain form of political correctness."
"We have to defend our values," he said. "We should also encourage the moderate leaders in the Muslim world -- and they're the majority -- to distance themselves from this extremism," Barroso was quoted as saying.""Pakistan Surrenders" (Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Bill Roggio, The Weekly Standard, 2006/10/02)
"INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS woke up on September 5 to unsettling news. The government of Pakistan, they learned, had entered into a peace agreement with the Taliban insurgency that essentially cedes authority in North Waziristan, the mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan, to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Just ten days later, the blow was compounded when the government of Pakistan released a large number of jihadists from prison. Together, these events may constitute the most significant development in the global war on terror in the past year--yet the media have taken little notice.":
"The agreement is, to put it mildly, a boon to the terrorists and a humiliation for the Pakistani government. Even the circumstances under which it was signed point to Pakistan's impotence in the face of a determined adversary. Taliban fighters searched government negotiators and military officers for weapons before allowing them to enter the meeting, which took place in a soccer stadium in the North Waziristan capital of Miranshah. According to three separate intelligence sources, heavily armed Taliban were posted as guards around the ceremony, and al Qaeda's black flag hung over the scoreboard.
Immediately after the Pakistani delegation left, al Qaeda's flag was run up the flagpole of abandoned military checkpoints, and the Taliban began looting leftover small arms. The Taliban also held a "parade" in the streets of Miranshah. Clearly, they view their "truce" with Pakistan as a victory. It is trumpeted as such on jihadist websites. ...
Internationally, Waziristan will serve as a training base for al Qaeda operatives of all stripes, as well as jihadists who want to attack their home countries. The 9/11 Commission Report notes that catastrophic terror attacks require sanctuaries that provide "time, space, and ability to perform competent planning and staff work." Al Qaeda has gained a new sanctuary in Waziristan." (See also: "US outraged as Pakistan frees Taliban fighters" (Isambard Wilkinson, The Daily Telegraph, 2006/09/15), "Report: Pakistan truce gives Taliban a free hand in N. Waziristan, even bin Laden immune there if he is 'peaceful'" (Jihad Watch, 2006/09/05) and "Pakistan, militants sign peace deal" (Bashirullah Khan, AP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/05))
Friday,
September 22, 2006
News and
commentary:
"A Palestinian protester holds an unflattering picture..."
(Muhammed Muheisen, AP, 2006/09/22)
"A Palestinian protester holds an unflattering picture showing Pope Benedict XVI during a demonstration against his recent speech about Islam, following prayers in front of the Dome of the Rock mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, Friday, Sept. 22, 2006. Thousands of Muslim worshippers staged anti-pope marches in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza on Friday, waving green Hamas banners and denouncing the pontiff as a coward. The Arabic writing on the poster reads, 'There are many lies that go out of their mouths.'""Plan to behead Israeli envoy foiled" (AP/Ynetnews, 2006/09/22)
"Norwegian authorities say terrorists had planned to bomb US and Israeli embassies
Four men suspected in connection with an attack on an Oslo synagogue are also accused of plotting to blow up the US and Israeli embassies, and killing Israel's ambassador, media reports said Friday.
The four were arrested Tuesday in connection with an attack on the Mosaic Religious Community synagogue. The Jewish house of worship was hit with at least 10 bullets early Sunday. No one was injured. ...
NRK and other major Norwegian news media said the suspects discussed blowing up the embassies and decapitating the Israeli ambassador to Norway, Miriam Shomrat. ...
One of the suspects, a 29-year-old Norwegian of Pakistani descent, was briefly held in Germany in June on suspicion of planning an act of terrorism against the soccer World Cup.
He was released without charges. He also was charged last week with firing gunshots at the home of a Norwegian journalist in Oslo earlier this year, reports said." (See also: "Synagogue shooting spurs calls for tighter security" (Aftenposten, 2006/09/18))"Nasrallah hails 'victory' in first appearance since July" (The Jerusalem Post, 2006/09/22)
"Kidnapped IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser will be released only when all Hizbullah prisoners currently imprisoned in Israel are freed, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Friday in his first public appearance since July.
Nasrallah furthermore said that his guerrillas will give up their weapons only when Israel's "threats" end and the Lebanese government is strong enough to protect the country, and added that Hizbullah still has some 20,000 rockets, Army Radio reported.
Nasrallah, under heavy guard and speaking behind bullet-proof glass, thanked God for what he called a "divine victory" against the Jewish state.
"Today we celebrate a great divine, historic and strategic victory," the black turbaned cleric told a crowd of hundreds of thousands gathered in Beirut's bombed-out suburbs.""Pakistanis protest, cleric says Pope should be crucified" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/22)
Pope III. But remember, what might seem like inflammatory language is actually not inflammatory:
"Hundreds of Pakistani Islamists held street protests to condemn Pope Benedict XVI for remarks they regard as anti-Islamic, with one leader saying the pontiff should be crucified.
Demonstrators Friday poured out of mosques after the main weekly Muslim prayers in Pakistan's largest city Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore, the capital Islamabad and other urban centres.
"If the pope comes here we will hang him on the Cross," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of Pakistan's main alliance of radical parties, told around 200 noisy demonstrators in Islamabad." (Hat tip: Gateway Pundit.)"Thousands rally against pope in Mideast" (Sarah El Deeb, AP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/22)
Pope III: "Thousands of Muslim worshippers staged marches against Pope Benedict XVI in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza on Friday, waving green Hamas banners and denouncing him as a "coward" and an "agent of the Americans." ...
At Islam's third-holiest shrine, the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, hundreds of worshippers hoisted black flags and banners that read, "Conquering Rome is the answer." Protesters chanted, "The army of Islam will return." The march dispersed peacefully. ...
"If I get hold of the pope, I will hang him," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior MMA leader, told protesters in Islamabad, who carried placards reading "Terrorist, extremist Pope be hanged!" and "Down with Muslims' enemies!" ...
Malaysia's opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party staged demonstrations outside mosques nationwide, calling for the pope to fully retract his remarks. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, some 150 party members chanted "Stop the insults" and held a banner that read 'We Muslims are peace-loving people.'""Pope to meet Muslim envoys after speech offends" (Philip Pullella and Stephen Brown, Reuters/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/22)
Pope II: "VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict will meet Muslim ambassadors to the
Vatican and Italian Islamic leaders on Monday to try to calm lingering anger over his use of a medieval text saying their religion was spread by violence.
"The purpose of this meeting is to relaunch dialogue with the Islamic world," said a senior Vatican official on Friday, after invitations were sent for the meeting on Monday at the Pope's summer palace in Castelgandolfo, outside Rome.
Islamic diplomats accredited to the Holy See hoped it would help restore trust between the Roman Catholic Church and Muslims offended by the Pope's speech last week in his native Germany.
"We welcome it and are definitely going to participate," said Iran's deputy ambassador to the Holy See, Ahmad Faihma.
"This is a positive signal from the Vatican. I know that this will improve relations with the Islamic world," he said.""Confronted by the Islamist threat on all sides, Europe pathetically caves in" (Gerard Baker, The Times, 2006/09/22)
"But the scale of Europe’s moral crisis is larger than ever. Opposing the war in Iraq was one thing, defensible in the light of events. But opting out of a serious fight against the Taleban, sabotaging efforts to get Iran off its path towards nuclear status, pre-emptively cringing to Muslim intolerance of free speech and criticism, all suggest something quite different.
They imply a slow but insistent collapse of the European will, the steady attrition of the self-preservation instinct. Its effects can be seen not only in the political field, but in other ways — the startling decline of birth rates across the continent that represent a sort of self-inflicted genocide; the refusal to confront the harsh realities of a global economy.
It may well be that history will judge that Europe’s decline came at the very moment of its apparent triumph. The traumas of the first half of the 20th century have combined with the economic successes of the second half to induce a collective loss of will. Great civilisations die not in the end because of external force majeure but because internally the will to thrive is sapped.""Tolerance: A Two-Way Street" (Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post, 2006/09/22)
Pope I: "'How dare you say Islam is a violent religion? I'll kill you for it' is not exactly the best way to go about refuting the charge. But of course, refuting is not the point here. The point is intimidation. ...
And the intimidation succeeds: politicians bowing and scraping to the mob over the cartoons; Saturday's craven New York Times editorial telling the pope to apologize; the plague of self-censorship about anything remotely controversial about Islam -- this in a culture in which a half-naked pop star blithely stages a mock crucifixion as the highlight of her latest concert tour.
In today's world, religious sensitivity is a one-way street. The rules of the road are enforced by Islamic mobs and abjectly followed by Western media, politicians and religious leaders."Added today:
"The house that Jacques unbuilt" (Amir Taheri, The Jerusalem Post, 2006/09/21)
Thursday,
September 21, 2006
News and
commentary:
"A Spanish U.N. peacekeeper shakes the hand..."
(Alvaro Barrientos, AP, 2006/09/21)
"A Spanish U.N. peacekeeper shakes the hand of a Lebanese Hezbollah supporter wearing a yellow T-shirt and carrying a Hezbollah flag as he marches in the southern village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006, on his way to attend the massive victory rally that will take place in Beirut Friday afternoon. Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters from across southern Lebanon began marching on foot toward Beirut for a major rally planned Friday to showcase the group's insistence it won't disarm." (Hat tip: LGF.)"BBC 'Set to Cause Enormous Problems'" (James Taranto, Best of the Web Today, 2006/09/21)
"'The BBC has obtained evidence that Israelis have been giving military training to Kurds in northern Iraq,' according to an online piece by Magdi Abdelhadi, the Beeb's "Arab affairs analyst":A report on the BBC TV programme Newsnight showed Israeli experts in northern Iraq, drilling Kurdish militias in shooting techniques. . . .
The revelation is set to cause enormous problems for the Kurds, not only in Iraq but also in the wider region.
Israel is seen as an enemy of Arabs and Muslims, both inside Iraq and elsewhere in Arab and Muslim countries.
Kurdish politicians will most likely come under pressure to explain what their semi-autonomous government has been up to. . . .
The news will most probably increase tension between the Kurds and Iraq's Arab population, both Sunnis and Shias, reinforcing fears that the Kurds are pursuing a secessionist agenda.
This would be a serious blow to efforts for national reconciliation at a time when hundreds of Iraqis are killed every month in inter-communal violence.
Iraq's neighbours, too, will be outraged.
Iran and Syria, which have long accused the Kurds of allowing the Israelis to operate on Iraqi territory, will most likely demand an explanation from the government in Baghdad. . . .
The BBC report will be like the smoking gun the Arab media has spent years looking for. ...
It certainly sounds to us as though the BBC, far from merely reporting the facts, is pandering to Arab anti-Semitism and making an active effort to promote discord in Iraq and retribution against the long-persecuted Kurds. Such despicable behavior doesn't deserve the label 'journalism.'" (See also: "Israelis 'trains Kurdish forces'" (Magdi Abdelhadi, BBC News, 2006/09/20))
"'Day of Rage': Anger Not Jihad" (Mike Lee, ABC News, 2006/09/21)
Charles Johnson: "This one is a classic of willful ignorance and multicultural doublespeak.":
"Three words suddenly have a lot of Westerners worried and, it must be said, likely making some wrong assumptions about modern Islam. "Yaum al Ghadab" is Arabic for "Day of Rage."
When the Qatari Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi called for a Day of Rage this Friday in response to Pope Benedict XVI's remarks about Muslims, it might have sounded like a call for street violence.
But if there is trouble Friday, and there could well be, it will not be because of language but because of what some people choose to do after they have answered the call for "Yaum al Ghadab."
Political manipulation of protest crowds is not a uniquely Islamic idea. It happens in the West, as well.
But why do Islamic leaders use what many Westerners regard as inflammatory language?
Because it is not inflammatory, at least not in the context of Islamic culture. "We must not try to interpret Islamic terms and cultural signals by using our Western ideas," said Fawaz Gerges, a professor in the department of international affairs and Middle Eastern studies at Sarah Lawrence College, and an ABC News consultant. Gerges pointed out that in Islamic culture "ghadab" means anger or frustration. A day of rage does not mean a day of jihad (war), added Gerges.""Religious rioters torch 10 buildings in Jigawa" (Saxone Akhaine, The Guardian, 2006/09/21)
Robert Spencer: "This story is very carefully worded, so that it is not clear that the "religious rioters" who set ten "worship centres" ablaze are Muslims torching churches until we are informed that those fleeing the wrath of the "irate youths" were Christians.":
"NIGERIA once again relapsed into sectarian violence yesterday as a band of irate youths went on rampage in Dutse, Jigawa State capital. They looted and set ablaze 10 worship centres.
Although no life was lost, the Police appeared helpless in stopping the rampaging youths.
The anger was said to have been sparked off by an alleged blasphemous comment on Prophet Muhammed by a Christian woman, who reportedly spoke in reaction to a similarly irreverent statement about Jesus Christ by a male Moslem.
As the state capital was thrown into turmoil, Christians and other non-indigenes fled to Police Barracks to escape the wrath of the rampaging youths.""The house that Jacques unbuilt" (Amir Taheri, The Jerusalem Post, 2006/09/21)
"Having failed to stop war in Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac is determined to prevent a similar fate befalling Iran.
"There will be no war against Iran," Chirac is reported to have told a special emissary of the Islamic Republic who visited him in Paris last week. "Anything other than negotiations would be resolutely opposed by France." ...
Just hours before he flew to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Chirac dropped the only condition that the 5+1 group - the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - had demanded of Teheran as a prelude to negotiations.
"Iran should not be asked to stop uranium enrichment as a precondition," Chirac said. "And there is no sense to refer the Islamic Republic back to the Security Council."
THIS MEANS that the Bush administration loses the only concession it received from its European allies as an inducement to join talks with Iran. Thanks to Chirac, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to have scored a major diplomatic victory over President George W. Bush." (See also: "Chirac urges lifting UN sanctions threat on Iran" (Marc Burleigh, AFP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/18))"'A Dissident Of Islam'" (George F. Will, The Washington Post, 2006/09/21)
Will on Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "Holland evidently tolerates everything except skepticism about the sacramental nature of multiculturalism. One million of the country's 16 million residents are Muslims, and the political left has appropriated the European right's traditional celebration of identity grounded in racial and ethnic traditions and culture. But the recoil of many Dutch people from Hirsi Ali suggests that the tolerance about which Holland preens is a compound of intellectual sloth and moral timidity. She was more trouble than the Dutch evidently think free speech is worth. ...
But Europe, she thinks, is invertebrate. After two generations without war, Europeans "have no idea what an enemy is." And they think, she says, that leadership is an antiquated notion because they believe that caring governments can socialize everyone to behave well, thereby erasing personal accountability and responsibility. "I can't even tell it without laughing," she says, laughing softly. Clearly she is where she belongs, at last.""UN: Civilian death toll in Iraq climbing" (Nick Wadhams, AP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/20)
"UNITED NATIONS - The number of civilians slain in Iraq reached an unprecedented level in July and August, which saw 6,599 violent deaths, the United Nations said Wednesday.
The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq offered a grim assessment of other indicators, from unlawful detentions to the growth of sectarian militias and death squads, and a rise in "honor killings" of women. ...
According to past U.N. reports, 710 civilians were killed in January, 1,129 in April, 2,669 in May and 3,149 in June.
Violent civilian deaths in July reached an unprecedented high of 3,590 people, an average of more than 100 a day, the new report said. The August toll was 3,009 people, the report said.
Of the total for July and August, the report said 5,106 of the dead were from Baghdad."Added today:
"The Pope and the Prophet" (Sean Matgamna, Workers' Liberty, 2006/09/20)
"Mum's the Word, Lest We Provoke a Lethal Tantrum" (James Lileks, NMS, 2006/09/20)
Wednesday,
September 20, 2006
News and
commentary:
"AP vs. the 'so-called blogosphere'"
(Michelle Malkin, michellemalkin.com, 2006/09/20)
"This is carnage. Click to watch the video and listen to the chilling sound of cameras eagerly clicking while those thugs pose with kidnapped Italian hostage Salvatore Santoro for Hussein and two other "journalists."
You tell me: What exactly is the journalistic value of having Hussein hanging out in the desert with civilian-slaughtering terrorists and snapping Theater of Jihad glamour shots for them?""The Associated (with terrorists) Press" (Michelle Malkin, Jewish World Review, 2006/09/20)
More on the Bilal Hussein case: "Let me repeat that: An Associated (with terrorists) Press journalist gets caught with an alleged al Qaeda leader and tests positive for bomb-making materials. That. Is. News. How does a news organization explain away its decision to sit on it for five months? Like this: "The AP has worked quietly until now, believing that would be the best approach."
The best approach to journalism? No. The best approach to suppressing a damning connection to terrorists. ...
Well before I reported on Hussein's capture, military bloggers and media watchdog bloggers had raised persistent questions over the past two years about Hussein's relationship with terrorists in Iraq and whether his photos were staged in collusion with our enemies. (For a thorough overview, see http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/cat_bilal_hussein.php.)
Hussein's up-close-and-personal insurgent propaganda photos include a Pulitzer Prize-winning image of four terrorists in Fallujah firing a mortar and small arms at our troops in November 2004, several chilling photos with terrorists before, during and after the Iraqi desert execution of kidnapped Italian civilian hostage Salvatore Santoro, and repeat images of Sunni locals in Theater of Jihad poses." (See also: "Associated Press and the Bilal Hussein case" (Michelle Malkin, michellemalkin.com, 2006/09/17), "Pulitzer Prize Given to Terrorists" (Rusty Shackleford, The Jawa Report, 2005/04/04) and "Insurgents, using small arms and mortars..." (Bilal Hussein, AP, 2004/11/08))"What should the free world do in the face of Islamist intimidation?" (Robert Redeker, Western Resistance, 2006/09/20)
Robert Redeker II. A translation of Redeker's "Face aux intimidations islamistes, que doit faire le monde libre?" (Robert Redeker, Le Figaro, 2006/09/19):
"The reactions caused by the analysis of Benoit XVI on Islam and violence highlight the underhanded maneuver carried out by the same Islam to stifle what the West has of more value than anything which exists in any Moslem country: the freedom to think and to express oneself.
Islam tries to impose on Europe its rules: opening of swimming pools at certain hours exclusively for women, prevention of caricaturing this religion, requirement of a particular dietary treatment for Moslem children in canteens, the battle to wear the veil at school, accusations of Islamophobia against free spirits. ...
Hatred and violence inhabit the book with which every Muslim is brought up, the Koran. As in the Cold War, where violence and intimidation were the methods used by an ideology intent on forcing hegemony, so too does Islam, to place its leaden cloak over the world. Benedict XVI suffered a cruel experience. In these times, one must call the West the "free world" compared to the Muslim world, for in these times, the enemies of the "free world", zealous functionaries of the Koran's vision, are swarming at its center.""Tunisia: Muslims Ban French Newspaper For Questioning Islamic Intimidation" (Giraldus Cambrensis, Western Resistance, 2006/09/20)
Robert Redeker I: "Today, according to Deutsche Presse Agentur via The Raw Story and also from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) news comes that the French right-leaning newspaper Le Figaro has been banned in Tunisia. The reason for the ban is an article by French philosopher Robert Redeker ..., entitled: "Face aux intimidations islamistes, que doit faire le monde libre?" or "What should the free world do in the face of Islamist intimidation?".
The decision was announced by an official from the Tunisian government's interior ministry. RSF claims that the piece is aggressive against Muslims, but having spent nearly two hours translating it into English, I do not think it is aggressive. It is honest.
RSF states: 'Without taking a position on the content of the op-ed piece, which was very aggressive towards Muslims, we point out that it is up to Tunisian readers to form their own opinion and not for the Tunisian authorities to filter information.'""The Pope and the Prophet" (Sean Matgamna, Workers' Liberty, 2006/09/20)
Pope II: "He is forced to deny that he said what he said, and what he clearly intended to say! Just like a heretic of old, in the torturing hands of the Catholic Inquisition! Like, say, Galileo Galilei, who, in the late 17th century, was forced, under threat of being burned alive, to deny his belief that the earth moved around the sun.
I repeat: if political Islam can do that to the Bishop of Rome, what can it not do to secularists, male and female sexual rebels, infidels, apostates from Islam, and socialists in the countries where it is dominant, and in the communities in Western Europe where it is immensely powerful? What does it do? Everywhere it is repressive, often murderously. ...
All the more shameful then, for the Guardian, the chief “organ” of British invertebrate liberalism, to editorialise, magisterially about Islamic-Christian relations (18-9-06). What needs to be done is to defend free speech, without weaseling equivocation! The Guardian? It argues, essentially, that the sensibilities and demands of political Islam should be pandered to. Theirs is liberalism rendered helplessly unprincipled, denuded both of historical perspective and historical memory. It is without even a spark of the will to defend the liberal values it professes to hold.
The “revolutionary” kitsch-left, of course, is even worse than the invertebrate liberals. It has made itself into the bigots-cheering advocate of the cause and the demands of Islamic clerical fascism. ...
When both the “revolutionary” kitsch-left and the backbone-free liberals do what they are doing, then secularists, consistent liberals and socialists who haven't lost their wits or their historical perspective, should make their voices heard." (Hat tip: Melanie Phillips.)"Mum's the Word, Lest We Provoke a Lethal Tantrum" (James Lileks, NMS, 2006/09/20)
Pope I: "Clip and save, for this may come in handy:
If you mock Islam with a drawing or a novel, you get riots and dead people. News of mishandled holy books yields riots and dead people. Insufficiently reverent short films by a Dutchman yields a dead person, specifically the Dutchman.
Now we add this detail: Quoting medieval religious colloquies is a reasonable justification for burning churches, shooting a nun and holding up signs demanding that the pope convert to Islam or saw off his own head. (There have been reports of carpal tunnel syndrome among radical Islam's enforcers, and they have requested we all help out.)
This is a new twist: Now history itself cannot be discussed. Since it's difficult to predict what else will enflame the devout, Islam has to be treated with unusual deference, like a 3-year-old child with anger management problems. ...
In the meantime, we will learn to say less and less about more and more. As the grim cliche has it: If you say Islam isn't always a religion of peace, the Islamicists will kill you. This doesn't make them hypocrites, of course. The grave is a very peaceful place.""Attack on police highlights French suburb fears" (Gwenaelle Barzic, Reuters/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/20)
"How dare you come to a Muslim area?" III: "PARIS (Reuters) - A policeman was in hospital with serious head injuries on Wednesday after youths attacked him and a colleague in an assault that renewed fears about violence and crime in France's tinderbox suburbs.
The police captain suffered a double fracture of the skull and almost lost an eye after he and his driver were lured into a trap and assaulted in the Corbeil-Essonnes suburb south of the capital, said a police union official. ...
Tuesday's attack came after the Le Monde daily said the prefect, or top government official, for Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris had written a four-page confidential report to Sarkozy warning about rocketing crime.
It had jumped 7.64 percent since the start of the year, "a deterioration in crime not been seen for many a year," Le Monde quoted prefect Jean-Francois Cordet as saying. It was the fourth warning he had written this year, the paper added.
The note panned soft sentences by judges and warned of rising demotivation among police. Turnover of staff was high in the economically depressed area, which has some of the worst crime figures in France, Le Monde said.
The situation was also playing into the hands of local Islamic extremists, Cordet's note said.""Chavez calls Bush 'the devil' at U.N." (Kim Gamel, AP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/20)
"UNITED NATIONS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling President Bush "the devil."
The impassioned speech by the leftist leader came a day after Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparred over Tehran's disputed nuclear program but managed to avoid a personal encounter.
"The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."
Standing at the podium, Chavez quipped that a day after Bush's appearance: "In this very spot it smells like sulfur still."
Chavez held up a book by American leftist writer Noam Chomsky "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance" and recommended it to everyone in the General Assembly."
"Abu Izzadeen interrupts the speech..."
(Johnny Green, AP, 2006/09/20)
"Abu Izzadeen interrupts the speech of British Home Secretary John Reid, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2006 as he addressed a Muslin audience in east London. Shouting protesters interrupted Britain's top law-and-order official during a speech Wednesday in which he urged Muslim parents to watch their children closely for signs of extremism. Home Secretary John Reid was speaking to a Muslim audience in east London when a man began berating him as an 'enemy of Islam and Muslims.'""Reid barracked during speech to Muslims" (Sam Knight, The Times, 2006/09/20)
"How dare you come to a Muslim area?" II: "Mr Izzadeen, a Muslim convert also known as Omar Brookes is said to be a former spokesman for the radical Islamic group al-Ghurabaa, an offshoot of al-Muhajiroun - both of which are now banned in the UK.
He came to public prominence last year after refusing to condemn the 7/7 London bombings, instead, describing the attacks as "Mujahidin activity" which would make people "wake up and smell the coffee". ...
Still shouting, Mr Izzadeen was ushered from the hall by a number of police officers and continued to address journalists outside as Mr Reid picked up the thread of his remarks. Minutes later though, a second protester again interrupted, shouting: "Enemy of Islam" and holding up placards reading, "John Reid Go To Hell" and "John Reid. You will pay." ...
Among others protesting today was Anjem Choudary, who objected to the insinuation that Muslim children may be brainwashed.
He said: 'Muslims do not need British values. We believe Islam is superior, we believe Islam will be implemented one day. It is very rich for you to come here and say we need to monitor our children when your Government is murdering people in Iraq and Afghanistan.'""Reid heckled during speech to Muslims" (Michael Holden, Reuters, 2006/09/20)
"How dare you come to a Muslim area?" I: "LONDON (Reuters) - A heckler who accused police of "state terrorism" interrupted a speech to Muslim leaders by Home Secretary John Reid on Wednesday.
The demonstrator shouted at Reid, calling him an "enemy of Islam" and attacking the government's anti-terrorism policies before being led away by police and stewards.
"How dare you come to a Muslim area. I am here to disrupt the meeting," said the man, who later identified himself as Abu Izzadeen. "Shame on all of us for listening to him."
Reid was forced to interrupt his speech on the need for Britain's Muslims to do more to root out possible extremists. A second heckler also briefly disrupted the speech in east London.
Izzadeen told reporters outside that Prime Minister Tony Blair's "cronies" were not welcome in the area, saying: "They can all go to hell."
The meeting was held in the east London suburb of Leyton which has a large Muslim community, but one which is nevertheless outnumbered by other religious groups.
Reid shrugged off the incident and said the protesters should have stayed to debate their concerns properly.
"We must never allow ourselves to be intimidated or shouted down. This is not a new experience for me," he said." (See also a video: "Muslim Heckler Targets John Reid" (Sky News, 2006/09/20))
Tuesday,
September 19, 2006
News and commentary:
"Young children fight U.S. troops in Iraq" (Antonio Castaneda, AP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/19)
"Shiite militias are encouraging children — some as young as 6 or 7 — to hurl stones and gasoline bombs at U.S. convoys, hoping to lure American troops into ambushes or provoke them into shooting back, U.S. soldiers say.
Gangs of up to 100 children assemble in Sadr City, stronghold of radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia, and in nearby neighborhoods, U.S. officers said in interviews this week.
American soldiers have seen young men, their faces covered by bandanas, talking with the children before the rock-throwing attacks begin — and sometimes handing out slingshots so the volleys will be more accurate, the troops said.
"It's like a militia operation. They'll mass rocks on the last or second-to-last vehicle" in a U.S. patrol, said Capt. Chris L'Heureux, 30, of Woonsocket, R.I. 'There's no doubt in my mind that they're utilizing these kids in a deliberate, thought-out way.'" (Hat tip: LGF.)"Pakistan calls for ban on 'defamation of Islam' in veiled attack on pope" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/19)
Pope IV: "UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf called for a ban on the "defamation of Islam" in a speech to the UN General Assembly in which he took a veiled swipe at Pope Benedict XVI for his remarks linking the Muslim faith to violence.
"We also need to bridge, through dialogue and understanding, the growing divide between the Islamic and Western worlds," Musharraf told the 192-member assembly. "It is imperative to end racial and religious discrimination against Muslims and to prohibit the defamation of Islam."
And in an indirect reference to Pope Benedict XVI, he added: 'It is most disappointing to see personalities of high standing oblivious of Muslim sensitivities at these critical moments.'""Terror group threatens Gaza Christians" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2006/09/19)
Pope III: "A previously unknown group calling itself the Huda [Guidance] Army Organization threatened on Tuesday to target all Christians living in the Gaza Strip unless Pope Benedict XVI apologized for his remarks against Islam and the Prophet Muhammed.
"We will target all Crusaders in the Gaza Strip," the group said in a leaflet, "until the pope issues an official apology."
The group also threatened to attack churches and Christian-owned institutions and homes. "All centers belonging to Crusaders, including churches and institutions, will from now on be targeted," it said. "We will even attack the Crusaders as they sit intoxicated in their homes."
The group said preparations had been completed "to strike at every Crusader and infidel on the purified land of Palestine." It also threatened "to strike with an iron fist anyone who dares to defend the Crusaders."
The latest threat is the second of its kind against Christians in the Gaza Strip over the past few days.""Angry Turk workers urge Pope's arrest during visit" (Reuters/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/19)
Pope II: "Employees of the state body that organizes Muslim worship in Turkey asked the authorities on Tuesday to open legal proceedings against Pope Benedict and to arrest him when he visits the country in November. ...
Employees of Ankara's Directorate General for Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, presented a petition to the Justice Ministry asking it to launch a probe into the Pope's remarks and to detain him when he arrives, the Anatolian news agency said.
They said the Pontiff had violated Turkish laws upholding freedom of belief and thought by "insulting" Islam and the Prophet Mohammad.
The protesters held banners that read 'Either apologize or don't come.'""Enough Apologies" (Anne Applebaum, The Washington Post, 2006/09/19)
Pope I: "Instead, Western politicians, writers, thinkers and speakers should stop apologizing -- and start uniting.
By this, I don't mean that we all need to rush to defend or to analyze this particular sermon; I leave that to experts on Byzantine theology. But we can all unite in our support for freedom of speech -- surely the pope is allowed to quote from medieval texts -- and of the press. And we can also unite, loudly, in our condemnation of violent, unprovoked attacks on churches, embassies and elderly nuns. ...
Maybe it's a pipe dream: The day when the White House and Greenpeace can issue a joint statement is surely distant indeed. But if stray comments by Western leaders -- not to mention Western films, books, cartoons, traditions and values -- are going to inspire regular violence, I don't feel that it's asking too much for the West to quit saying sorry and unite, occasionally, in its own defense. The fanatics attacking the pope already limit the right to free speech among their own followers. I don't see why we should allow them to limit our right to free speech, too.""Meaning Clarified" (Tim Blair, timblair.net, 2006/09/19)
"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad explains things to Time magazine:TIME: Why do your supporters chant “Death to America”?
Ahmadinejad: When they chanted that slogan, it means they hate aggression ..."
Added today:
"Good-bye UN, hello United Democratic Nations" (Anne Bayefsky, The Jerusalem Post, 2006/09/18)
"Rushdie, Hirsi Ali, the Pope -- Who's Next?" (Claus Christian Malzahn, Der Spiegel, 2006/09/18)
"In a Rare Step, Pope Expresses Personal Regret" (Ian Fischer, The New York Times, 2006/09/18)
Monday,
September 18, 2006
News and
commentary:
"Iraqis burn an effigy of Pope Benedict XVI..."
(Nabil Al- Jurani, AP, 2006/09/18)
"Iraqis burn an effigy of Pope Benedict XVI during a demonstration, in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Monday Sept.18, 2006.""Head-in-the-Sand Liberals" (Sam Harris, Los Angeles Times, 2006/09/18)
"And yet, despite abundant evidence to the contrary, liberals continue to imagine that Muslim terrorism springs from economic despair, lack of education and American militarism.
At its most extreme, liberal denial has found expression in a growing subculture of conspiracy theorists who believe that the atrocities of 9/11 were orchestrated by our own government. A nationwide poll conducted by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University found that more than a third of Americans suspect that the federal government "assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East;" 16% believe that the twin towers collapsed not because fully-fueled passenger jets smashed into them but because agents of the Bush administration had secretly rigged them to explode.
Such an astonishing eruption of masochistic unreason could well mark the decline of liberalism, if not the decline of Western civilization. There are books, films and conferences organized around this phantasmagoria, and they offer an unusually clear view of the debilitating dogma that lurks at the heart of liberalism: Western power is utterly malevolent, while the powerless people of the Earth can be counted on to embrace reason and tolerance, if only given sufficient economic opportunities. ...
The same failure of liberalism is evident in Western Europe, where the dogma of multiculturalism has left a secular Europe very slow to address the looming problem of religious extremism among its immigrants. The people who speak most sensibly about the threat that Islam poses to Europe are actually fascists.
To say that this does not bode well for liberalism is an understatement: It does not bode well for the future of civilization.""Good-bye UN, hello United Democratic Nations" (Anne Bayefsky, The Jerusalem Post, 2006/09/18)
"Earlier this month, the UN gave the world its answer to 9/11. The General Assembly adopted its first-ever "Global Counterterrorism Strategy." The title is grand. The substance is as follows:• The UN resolved to implement General Assembly resolutions on the elimination of international terrorism - including one from 1991 which draws a distinction between terrorism on the one hand and the "legitimacy of the struggle of national liberation movements" on the other.
• The UN gave up on a definition of terrorism, labeling the issue just "outstanding."
• The "strategy" deliberately excluded a call to sanction all states that harbor and assist terrorists.
• It omitted any reference to the state sponsorship of terrorism.
• And it began, not with the defeat of terrorists, but with "measures to address conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism" - which it describes as "prevent[ing] the defamation of religions, religious values, beliefs and cultures," "eradicate[ing] poverty" and reducing youth unemployment.
What does such a strategy do for winning the war? It throws sand in the eyes of the troops on the front lines and renders the goalposts a mirage."
"Synagogue shooting spurs calls for tighter security" (Aftenposten, 2006/09/18)
"Norway's justice minister was contacting key members of the Jewish community in Oslo on Monday, after a round of shots was fired at the capital's synagogue over the weekend. Higher security around the synagogue may involve closing off the street where it's located.
No one was injured in the shooting, which damaged the front of the synagogue in Oslo's St Hanshaugen district. Police said more than 10 shots were fired, probably from an automatic weapon, at the synagogue's façade early Sunday morning. ...
Israel's ambassador to Norway, Miryam Shomrat, likened the shooting to an act of terrorism, noting that it came just a month after the Jewish cemetery in Oslo was vandalized and stones were thrown at a window of the synagogue.""Chirac urges lifting UN sanctions threat on Iran" (Marc Burleigh, AFP/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/18)
"PARIS (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac has urged more nuclear talks with Iran during which it would not be referred to the UN Security Council -- setting the scene for another possible clash with the United States, which is pushing for sanctions.
Chirac argued Monday that more negotiations should take place with Iran, free of the threat of sanctions.
"During that negotiation, I propose that on the one hand the six refrain from referring the issue to the Security Council and that Iran renounce during the negotiation the enrichment of uranium," he told Europe 1 radio.
The six nations holding talks with Tehran are the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.
It was the first time a European leader has clearly stated that the suspension of uranium enrichment was not a precondition for opening talks on the nuclear dossier.""Rushdie, Hirsi Ali, the Pope -- Who's Next?" (Claus Christian Malzahn, Der Spiegel, 2006/09/18)
Pope VIII: "The pope has apologized for the outrage amongst Muslims sparked by his recent comments. But the episode proves once again that criticizing Islam is dangerous.
Twenty years ago in the German city of Bremen, Dutch comedian Rudi Carrell's life depended on police protection. His offense? In a satirical program on German television, he let fly with a lewd joke about the then leader of the Iranian revolution Ayatollah Khomeini. Mass demonstrations in Iran -- orchestrated, no doubt, by the government -- were the result. The threats of violence led to an apology by Carrell, and he never again made a joke about any Muslim -- at least not on television. ...
But the attacks against the pope are especially grotesque. The severe criticism -- often coupled with threats of violence -- directed at the speech held last Tuesday by Benedict XVI is not just an attack on the head of the Catholic Church. The malicious twisting of the pope's words and the absurd allegations made by representatives of Islam represent a frontal attack on open religious and philosophical dialogue.
That so many in the Muslim world joined the protests against the pope merely show just how influential Islamist extremist groups have become. The political goal of the Islamists is clear: any dispute between Christianity and Islam must obey the rules handed down by political Islamism.""If the Pope said it here, he'd be arrested" (Richard Littlejohn, The Daily Mail, 2006/09/18)
Pope VII: "The police even described the Westminster Cathedral demo as ‘peaceful’ — though that says more about the mindset in the upper echelons of Scotland Yard than anything else.
‘Peaceful’ is not an adjective most of us would use to describe the behaviour of a bunch of masked men standing outside Britain’s premier Catholic place of worship calling for the Pope to be killed.
Go along to the Regent’s Park mosque and start demanding that anyone who insults Christianity should have their head cut off and your feet wouldn’t touch the ground.
If the Pope’s remarks had been made in London, he’d probably have been arrested. In modern Britain, there’s no greater offence than giving offence, real or imagined.
But the Old Bill are servile and cowardly when it comes to Islamist troublemakers. Hand out leaflets quoting the Holy Bible on homosexuality and you get arrested for ‘hate crime’.
Urge the beheading of the Holy Father in Rome and you get a police escort and a pat on the back.""The Pope must die, says Muslim" (The Evening Standard, 2006/09/18)
Pope VI: "A notorious Muslim extremist told a demonstration in London yesterday that the Pope should face execution.
Anjem Choudary said those who insulted Islam would be "subject to capital punishment". ...
The 39-year-old lawyer organised demonstrations against the publication of cartoons of Mohammed in February in Denmark. Protesters carried placards declaring "Behead Those Who Insult Islam".
Yesterday he said: "The Muslims take their religion very seriously and non-Muslims must appreciate that and that must also understand that there may be serious consequences if you insult Islam and the prophet.
"Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment."
He added: "I am here have a peaceful demonstration. But there may be people in Italy or other parts of the world who would carry that out.
'I think that warning needs to be understood by all people who want to insult Islam and want to insult the prophet of Islam.'" (See also: "ISLAM WILL CONQUER ROME" (Joee Blogs, 2006/09/17))"'Jihad' vowed over Pope's speech" (Reuters/Yahoo! News, 2006/09/18)
Pope V: "An Iraqi militant group led by al Qaeda vowed a war against the "worshippers of the cross" in response to a recent speech by Pope Benedict on Islam that sparked anger across the Muslim world.
"We tell the worshipper of the cross (the Pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya," said an Internet statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq's branch of al Qaeda.
"We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement. ...
Another militant group in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunnah, also vowed to fight Christians in retaliation.
"You will only see our swords until you go back to God's true faith Islam," it said in a separate Internet statement.""Understanding Benedict" (Daniel Johnson, New York Sun, 2006/09/18)
Pope IV: "Yesterday, the pope insisted that he did not agree with Manuel. But it is clear that he sympathized with this monarch of a doomed Christian civilization enough to use him as a mouthpiece through which he could pose his own implicit questions to Islam. Does the Muslim understanding of Allah allow rational debate about the morality of violence, given that the doctrine of jihad is a central pillar of Islam? If Allah is above reason, might violent jihad, including terrorism, be not merely justifiable but obligatory, as many Muslim scholars argue?
By now, the answer to these questions is clear: churches firebombed in the West Bank and Gaza, a nun murdered in Somalia. Such persecution is, alas, routine in many Muslim lands, and Catholics are not the only victims. But it is clear that Muslim leaders — even those of "pro-Western" countries such as Turkey or Pakistan — are not yet ready for the "frank" dialogue proposed by the pope. By pointing out that violence is a part of medieval Islam, not a "distortion," as Western liberals like to think, Benedict has touched a raw nerve.
No, this pope is not naïve. It is our liberal, theologically illiterate politicians who are naïve. We are already at war — a holy war, which we may lose.""Subtle scholar, but what an inept politician" (Waleed Aly, The Age, 2006/09/18)
Pope III: "LET me get this straight. Pope Benedict XVI quotes the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus asserting before a Persian Islamic scholar that the prophet Muhammad brought nothing new to the world except things "evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". Some Muslims clearly interpret Benedict to be quoting Manuel with approval, and take offence at the suggestion that Islam is inherently violent. The response is to bomb five churches in the West Bank, and attack the door of another in Basra. In India, angry mobs burn effigies of Pope Benedict. In Somalia, Sheikh Abu Bakr Hassan Malin urges Muslims to "hunt down" the Pope and kill him, while an armed Iraqi group threatens to carry out attacks against Rome and the Vatican.
There. That'll show them for calling us violent." (Hat tip: Tim Blair.)"Nun shot dead as Pope fails to calm militant Muslims" (Richard Owen, The Times, 2006/09/18)
Pope II: "AN ITALIAN nun was killed by gunmen at a children’s hospital in Somalia yesterday in an apparent revenge attack for the Pope’s speech about Islam last week.
Sister Leonella Sgorbati, 65, left, was shot four times in the back by two men at the entrance to the hospital in the capital, Mogadishu. Her bodyguard was also killed. ...
Seven churches in the West Bank and Gaza were set on fire. Religious seminaries closed down in protest in Iran, where Ahmad Khatami, a leading cleric, told students at a mosque in the holy city of Qom that the Pope’s remark’s were inflammatory. The Tehran Times said that the Pope’s remarks were “code words for the start of a new Crusade”.
Morocco recalled its ambassador to the Vatican and there were further street protests by Muslims in Pakistan, India and Turkey. An Iraqi insurgent group, the Mujahidin Army, threatened a suicide bomb attack against the Vatican on a website used in the past by militants. Addressed to “the dogs of Rome”, it said: 'Our minds will not rest until we shake your thrones and break your crosses in your home.'""In a Rare Step, Pope Expresses Personal Regret" (Ian Fischer, The New York Times, 2006/09/18)
Pope I: "Pope Benedict XVI sought Sunday to extinguish days of anger and protest among Muslims by issuing an extraordinary personal apology for having caused offense with a speech last week that cited a reference to Islam as “evil and inhuman.” ...
Although Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, issued several apologies for the historical failings of the church, experts said it appeared to be the first time in recent memory that a pope had made such a direct statement of personal regret. “This is really, really abnormal,” said Alberto Melloni, professor of history at the University of Modena who has written several books on the Vatican. 'It’s never happened as far as I know.'"Added today:
"Students back imam claims" (Aftenposten, 2006/09/15)
See the archive for earlier news and commentary.
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Articles
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"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)
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"Anger and Pride" (Oriana Fallaci, dennisprager.com, 2001/12/19)
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