Today, five years after the assault on America by jihadi Muslims, we pause to remember the 2996 people who died in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

As part of a coordinated effort to recall each and every person who died on that fateful day, I offer a few words in memory of Tony Karnes, a software trainer with Marsh & McLennan.

Tony worked in the World Trade Center in New York, and died at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. He was 37 years old, and was survived by his partner John Winter and his sisters Brenda Vandever, Vicky Ratcliff and Gayle Barker.

The New York Times had this to say about Tony Karnes.

William Anthony Karnes made his living as a software trainer for Marsh & McLennan. But his life's passion was touting the virtues of his adopted hometown, New York, regaling his sisters with stories about the wonders of living in the city where anything is possible, a place grander than anything he imagined growing up back in tiny Corryton, Tenn.

At least twice a week, Mr. Karnes, 37, would phone home to Tennessee, as much to say "I love you" as to brag about his latest favorite restaurant, usually some Indian place. "He loved that there was so much to discover in New York," said John Winter, his domestic partner.

And he made sure to share his favorite discoveries. "It was a big kick for him to show us around his city," said his sister, Gayle Barker. "He'd take us to the Empire State Building, the top of the World Trade Center, Rockefeller Center or just walking through the streets."

The one thing Mr. Karnes couldn't find in his beloved Manhattan was true Southern cooking. His love of a good plate of pinto beans, corn bread, mashed potatoes and biscuits always managed to guide him back home to one of his sisters' dinner tables. In her mind, Mrs. Barker still imagines her brother sitting around the table. "I just keep thinking that this isn't really happening, that he's not dead. He's just on a long, long trip somewhere."

Writing three months after Tony's attack, John Winter had this to say about him.

Tony, you were my soulmate and the love of my life. After 3 months I still miss you more than anyone can realize.

The 3 years we had together were blissfully happy and oh how I wish we'd had longer to share our lives with each other.

I still love you so very much. HPD

In Tony's honor, the people of East Tennessee contributed $12,000 towards the purchase of the Freedom Engine -- a fire truck which operates as part of Ladder Company 14 in Harlem.

Tony's sisters offer a ray of hope in the face of the manifest evil of the September 11 attacks.

Tony, your sisters are still hurting. We are only saying goodnight but not goodbye.

To this I simply add a heart-felt "Amen!"

UPDATE 9/14/2006: I've decided to not merely shut, but also to hide, comments on this post. A liberal commenenter could not resist the urge to politicize the non-political while claiming to eschew politics. A Fascist troll began a series of hate-comments directed at me and about Tony. As such, I have taken the only appropriate course of action.

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Originally Posted on September 11, 2004 -- As is my custom, I repost it today.

So many died that horrible day.

One was my classmate at Washington and Lee University, Commander Robert Allan Schlegel.

I would love to tell you he and I were close. That would be a lie.

I would love to share stories of great times together. I don't have any.

What I can tell you is that I remember Rob Schlegel as a good guy, a friend of some friends. I remember him as being a bright guy, sitting a couple rows over and a couple seats back in a US History class. One of those classmates you later wish you had gotten to know when you had the chance.

Rest in Peace.

May all the victims of September 11 and the many men and women of our armed forces who have died fighting terrorism since that day rest in peace.

And let us not forget those heroes who still live.

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I will not submit to the forces of jihadi Islam. I will not surrender to the Religion Of Peace My Ass.

Rhymes With Right is a No Dhimmitude Zone.

H/T Michelle Malkin & Jawa Report

UPDATE: One of Rusty's commenters suggests a better phoenetic translation would be "Lan is'tislimo". I have modified my title accordingly.

Posted by: Greg at 11:50 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
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As I read Harry Turtledove's latest book in the "Settling Accounts" Trilogy, The Grapple, I encountered the above unfamiliar Latin phrase. Attributed to the Roman poet Lucius Accius, it translates roughly as follows.

Let them hate us, so long as they fear us.

On this, the eve on the anniversary of 9/11, might I suggest that the words are the appropriate policy for the civilized nations of the world to follow regarding the jihadi Muslims who attacked the US five years ago -- and who have been permitted to conduct a campaign of terror against the civilized people's of the world for far too long.

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The terrorist shills at al-Jizzbag al-Jazeera have released another propaganda tape from al-Qaeda proclaiming their guilt for the 9/11 attacks.

Al-Jazeera broadcast Thursday what it called a previously unshown video in which al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is seen meeting with some of the Sept. 11 hijackers. The station did not say how it obtained the video, which was produced by As-Sahab, al-Qaida's media branch.

The video showed bin Laden sitting with his former lieutenant Mohammed Atef and Ramzi Binalshibh, another suspected planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings.

Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, was killed by a U.S. airstrike in
Afghanistan in 2001. Binalshibh was captured four years ago in Pakistan and is in U.S. custody, and this week President Bush announced plans to put him on military trial.

In the video, bin Laden was wearing a dark robe and white headgear walking in a mountainous area. He smiled as he greeted several men, which the tape said were Sept. 11 hijackers.

Hopefully that will shut up the folks who claim that the WTC as brought down by a government plot -- including the Democrat candidate for Congress in Florida's 15th Congressional District, Bob Bowman, who claims that Dick Cheney did it.

Posted by: Greg at 10:32 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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If this were the work of fundamentalist Christians of neo-conservatives, it would be front-page news around the globe. Instead, it gets buried on page A23 of the Washington Post -- and not given any significant play elsewhere.

But then again, we are so used to the barbarism of the jihadi Islam that this barely causes a ripple in the cosmic force of the universe.

A Sudanese newspaper editor who infuriated Muslim fundamentalists last year by printing an article that concerned questions about the parentage of the prophet Muhammad was found dead Wednesday in Khartoum, the capital.

Masked gunmen abducted Mohamed Taha, editor in chief of Al-Wifaq, from his home Tuesday. His decapitated body was found Wednesday in another section of the city. His head was beside the body, and his hands and feet had been bound, the Reuters news service reported.

Groups of tearful Sudanese reporters gathered outside a mosque in Khartoum on Wednesday night, according to news reports.

Reporters Without Borders, a group that promotes press freedoms worldwide, condemned the killing.

"We express our solidarity with our colleagues in Khartoum, for whom this cowardly murder is a harsh ordeal," the organization said in a statement. "The Sudanese authorities must do their utmost to see that light is shed on this tragedy, so that both the perpetrators and those who instigated it are brought to trial."

Last year, Taha published an article that referred to a centuries-old text by a Muslim historian that raised questions about the prophet's lineage. Religious leaders in Khartoum denounced Taha's work, and scores of protesters called for his death.

That one would be convicted of a crime for offending the religious sensibilities of one's readers is atrocious -- especially when the offense is something so trivial as raising genealogical issues. That one would be murdered for it is intolerable -- but we go right on tolerating it out of sensitivity to the followers of jihadi Islam. At what point will we recognize that jihadi Islam is noting but a gigantic conspiracy to violate basic human rights?

Posted by: Greg at 10:04 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Hat's off to Rusty Shackleford for making this pointed observations!

If Islamofascism and the Religious Right have so much in common, then how come the terrorists never quote Pat Robertson? Instead, they are constanting quoting icons of the Left to support their positions. They even use clips from Fahrenheit 9/11 in this propaganda film.

And when American Taliban Adam Gadahn decides to name drop, it isn't Jerry Falwell that he cites for moral authority. It's George Galloway, Robert Fisk, and Seymour Hersh.

Indeed.

H/T Right Wing News & Right On The Left Coast

Posted by: Greg at 10:36 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Imagine that -- President Bush would do something so shockingly unfair as to turn the words of the jihadi terrorists against them in order to make the case that they remain a threat!

President Bush issued a stern warning yesterday about what he called the continuing terrorist threat confronting the nation, using the haunting words of Islamic extremists to support his assertion that they remain determined to attack the United States.

Abandoning his practice of only rarely mentioning al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Bush repeatedly quoted him and purported terrorist letters, recordings and documents to make his case that terrorists have broad totalitarian ambitions and believe the war in Iraq is a key theater in a wider struggle.

"Iraq is not a distraction in their war against America" but the "central battlefield where this war will be decided," Bush said in an address before the Military Officers Association of America.

Citing the internal communications of terrorists was a dramatic new tactic to advance familiar arguments from Bush in defense of his strategy. The remarks came less than a week before the nation observes the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and two months before midterm elections in which the administration's national strategy and competence promise to be pivotal questions.

The terrorists in Iraq see themselves as part of the same struggle that brought about 9/11 -- why can't the president's opponents?

Posted by: Greg at 10:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Just yesterday, I noted that Muslims are quick to claim increases in anti-Muslim attacks whenever tehre is more news about jihadi terrorist activities -- even if there is no evidence to support the claim and even if the "attacks" are really committed by Muslims themselves.

But did anyone realize that there was an increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Great Britain over the last few weeks, as Israel fought to defend its existance?

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Great Britain has risen sharply since the start of the Lebanon war, according to an organization dedicated to the safety of Britain's Jewish community.

According to Mark Gardner, spokesman of the Community Security Trust, there were over 90 incidents of anti-Semitism in Britain during July, including attacks on Jewish-owned stores, hate mail sent to representatives of the Jewish community and verbal and physical attacks on Jews in public. Over the past few years, the monthly average has been 10 to 30 such attacks.

The British report is merely the latest in a series of reports documenting an increase in anti-Semitic incidents throughout Europe in the past two months.

On Thursday, an all-party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism in Britain will publish a report that is expected to declare anti-Semitism a serious problem and call on the government to fight it. Committee Chair Denis MacShane MP said in yesterday's London Times that the CST's figures "confirm the evidence given to us that anti-Semitic attacks are a very real problem."

Gardner told The Times that the July incidents "were more dispersed than usual," noting that "it is usually a small number [of people] responsible for a large number of attacks, but these were very widespread across the country and included graffiti attacks on synagogues in Edinburgh and Glasgow."

Hate mail sent to senior Jewish figures blamed them for the deaths of Lebanese children in Beirut, Gardner told The Times.

I wonder -- would the same be found here in the United States? And if so, why haven't such attacks been highlighted? After all, such incidents against muslims are freely reported and loudly decried in the media -- why not some equal treatment?

Posted by: Greg at 09:19 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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These dirtbags are clearly upset by the barbarism of the followers of the Religion Of Peace, but mimicking it is clearly not the answer.

FAR-RIGHT extremists have adopted the tactics of Islamic jihadists by posting videos on the internet in which they threaten to behead British Muslims.

The films show balaclava-clad white British men brandishing guns, knives and clubs, calling on all Muslims to leave the United Kingdom or be killed. One appears to be a soldier who has served in the Gulf.

In one film a man tells Muslims to “go homeâ€� or risk being burnt alive. He threatens: “I’ll cut your head off,â€� and claims to have “comradesâ€� across Britain who have “had enoughâ€�.

The videos have all been made since the arrest three weeks ago of suspects connected to the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic jets. Their style mimics the “martyrdom videosâ€� of Islamic radicals talking about their plans for terrorist outrages against the West.

The release of the videos on YouTube, an American-based open-access website, coincides with reports of a rise in the number of attacks on mosques.

I'm curious -- is there an actual rise in the number of attacks on mosques that has been documented, or are we simply talking about claims by Muslim groups of such an increase. After all, it seems like every time Islamists engage in an act of barbarism, the usual apologists for Muslim terror claim that they are te evictims of eve more hatred -- claims that are never retracted after the events are shown to be hoaxes or frauds committed by Muslims themselves.

But I do have a question about these videos -- are they really threats against Muslims, or are they parodies intended to satirize the barbarism of the jihadi pigs around the world? Not, of course, that it makes a particular difference, for the apologists for islamist terrorism won't be willing to distinguish between the two, any more than they are willing to condemn the real videos from their co-religionists engaged in terrorism around the globe.

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Posted by: Greg at 05:44 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Certainly sounds like a hate crime to me -- and a terrorist attack to boot.

Surveillance video recovered by Montreal police shows a masked man throwing a firebomb at the door of an orthodox Jewish school in an attack early Saturday.

The bomb started a fire but the damage was described as minimal.

Police said a neighbour heard what sounded like a window breaking just after midnight and looked out to see the main entrance of the Taldos Yakov Yosef school in Outremont in flames.

In the video, the man takes a few steps toward the entrance, then steps back to throw a lighted Molotov cocktail. He removes his mask as he steps out of the video frame, but his face is not visible.

Although officials of Jewish groups disagree, police have been unwilling to declare the attack a hate crime. In the absence of graffiti or other other evidence, it is being treated as an unexplained case of arson.

I wonder -- in the absence of a note or grafitti, would a similar attack on a Muslim institution be treated as "an unexplained case of arson"? Or would it be presumed to be a bias-related attack?

I think we can all answer that without too much trouble.

Posted by: Greg at 05:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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That's the Religion Of Peace My Ass, of course.

And if you don't, you can die at the hands of the jihadi faithful. Malkin transcribes part of the video.

"Islam is the only religion acceptable to God and came with the revealed book, the Koran, which abrogates all previous revelations, like the Torah and Evangel... God recognizes no separation between religion and state..."

"To Americans and the rest of Christendom we say, either repent (your) misguided ways and enter into the light of truth or keep your poison to yourself and suffer the consequences in this world and the next..."

"If the Zionist crusader missionaries of hate and counter-Islam consultants like Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, Michael Scheuer, Steven Emerson, and yes, even the crusader-in-chief George W. Bush were to abandon their unbelief and repent and enter into the light of Islam and turn their swords against the enemies of God, it would be accepted of them and they would be our brothers in Islam. And we send a special invitation to all of you fighting Bush's crusader pipe dream in Afghanistan, Iraq, and wherever else W. has sent you to die."

So much for the believe that the God of the Jews, of the Christians, and the Muslims are the same God. They don't seem to believe that, so why should the rest of us -- no matter what my troll Ken Hoop and his "religious experts" say about the matter.

Captain Ed points to a historical analog for the American propagandist for the Religion Of Peace -- Lord Haw-Haw, the Nazi propagandist of WWII. May they meet the same fate.

Posted by: Greg at 01:35 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Representatives of ROPMA (Religion of Peace, My Ass!) have issued a statement making it clear what their attitude is towards we infidels.

Palestinian militants who held two Fox News journalists hostage for nearly two weeks threatened in a statement posted online Saturday to abduct non-Muslims visiting the Palestinian territories and kill them unless their demands were met.

The statement, posted in the name of the Holy Jihad Brigades on a Web site frequently used by militants, said the group would kill any hostages it takes unless they converted to Islam, paid a ransom or Muslim prisoners were exchanged for their release.

"Any infidel blood will have no sanctity," the group said in the statement.

That's right -- we infidels are all targets, and we are subject to killing if we don't knuckle under to the demands of the followers of ROPMA.

I'm curious -- where are all the outraged liberals and "moderate Muslims" who were offended by Ann Coulter's comments about forcibly converting terrorists and their supporters to Christianity in the wake of 9/11? They seem strangely silent following the forced conversion of the Fox News hostages and this statement.

So let me proudly proclaim my position on this matter.

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Looks like the UK is serious about rooting out terrorists in their midst. According to reports, 16 suspects have been arrested in connection with the latest disruption of terrorist plots.

ritish police said on Saturday they had arrested 16 men in two separate anti-terrorism operations just three weeks after uncovering a suspected plot to bring down U.S.-bound airliners over the Atlantic.

Fourteen of the men were held in London in an operation that a police source said focused on suspected “training, recruitment and encouraging others to take part in terrorist activity”.

Anti-terrorist police in Manchester arrested two men early on Saturday and were carrying out three searches but this was not linked to the London arrests, police there said.

Most of these arrests seem to be related to terrorist training camps within Great britain, and are unrelated to the airline bombing plot that was recently disrupted.

Furthermore, it appears that the Brits are taking no chances, and are engaged in a great deal of surveilance of those with suspected links to terrorism.

British police are currently trying to monitor "thousands" of potential security suspects, the head of the anti-terrorism unit at London's Metropolitan Police said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday.

In an interview recorded in July, before the arrest of more than two dozen people on suspicion of an alleged plot to blow up US-bound aircraft, Peter Clarke said Britain was facing an increasing threat from homegrown extremists.

He refused to give an exact figure about how many people he said were either directly or indirectly involved in plotting atrocities on British soil but said the number ran into four figures.

"I don't want to go down the numbers game, I don't think it's helpful," he told a BBC television programme entitled "Al-Qaida -- Time to Talk?"

"All I can say is that our knowledge is increasing and certainly in terms of broad description, the numbers of people who we have to be interested in are into the thousands."

He added: "That includes a whole range of people, not just terrorists, not just attackers, but people who might be tempted to support or encourage or to assist."

Clarke highlighted the potential for home-grown terrorism in Britain since the September 2001 attacks on the United States, implicitly citing the July 2005 London bombings carried out by four British Muslim suicide bombers.

"What we've learnt since 9/11 is that the threat is not something that's simply coming from overseas into the United Kingdom. What we've learnt, and what we've seen all too graphically and all too murderously, is that we have a threat which is being generated here within the United Kingdom."

here's hoping that we are doing the same sort of thing here in the US -- and that we can keep it secret from the ACLU, New York Times, Washington Post and other al-Qaeda associates who would rather embarrass the Bush Administration than keep America safe.

UPDATE: Surprise! Surprise! Looks like one of the targets in the current investigation may be a Muslim "school" in East Sussex. It seems like it was less interested in education students thanindotrinating them in violent jihad. So much for the "Religion of Peace".

Posted by: Greg at 03:04 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Home is the place, where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.

Well, that is what Robert Frost says.

But what if you are a naturalized citizen seeking to return to the United States after an extended stay in the country of your birth? Or the US native son of such a naturalized citizen, traveling with his father in the Old Country? That doesn't seem to be the opinion of the federal government in this case.

Federal authorities have prevented two relatives of a father and son convicted recently in a terrorism-related case from returning home to California from Pakistan unless they agree to be interviewed by the F.B.I.

It is unclear whether the men, Muhammad Ismail, 45, and his son Jaber, 18, have a direct connection to the terrorism case or if they have been caught up in circumstance.

The United States attorneyÂ’s office in Sacramento declined Monday to answer questions about the Ismails beyond confirming that the men had not been permitted to fly into the United States and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation wanted to question them.

The United States attorney, McGregor W. Scott, reiterated a comment he had made to The San Francisco Chronicle, which reported Saturday about the IsmailsÂ’ troubles.

“They’ve been given the opportunity to meet with the F.B.I. over there and answer a few questions, and they’ve declined to do that,” Mr. Scott said through a spokeswoman, Mary Wenger.

Part of the problem is the conviction of two family members from California on terrorism charges -- charges related to their activities during a visit to Pakistan. The Ismails, however, have not been charged with any crime. But they have been placed on the "no-fly" list, and have been told they will not be permitted to enter the US without an FBI interview.

But just a moment. Upon what theory can the Federal Government effectively exile American citizens? Is there not, as held repeatedly by the Supreme Court, a right for American citizens to travel, both within the United States and abroad? And while ertain travel restrictions may reasonably be imposed (such as the ban on travel to Cuba), shouldn't such restrictions be clearly spelled out in advance and generally applicable?

We are not the old Soviet Union, with internal passports and heavy travel rsetrictions placed upon enslaved citizens. This course of action does not feel right to me. Because these are Americans, when they seek to come home, we have to take them in -- and they cannot be required to surrender their rights under the Constitution of the United States as a condition of return, which is precisely what is being demanded of them.

A number of my conservative brother and sister bloggers take the opposite position, including Stop the ACLU, Woman Honor Thyself, Cigar Intelligence Agencyand Uncooperative Blogger.

Hammer of Truth Practical Nomad, and Volokh Conspiracy (sort of) are on my side of the issue.

Posted by: Greg at 01:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Undermining American foreign policy AND promoting the dual-loyalty canard against American Jews. No wonder the terror-apologists from CAIR love Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.

Yesterday, at the invitation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), they held a forum at the National Press Club to expand on their allegations about the Israel lobby. Blurring the line between academics and activism, they accepted a button proclaiming "Fight the Israel Lobby" and won cheers from the Muslim group for their denunciation of Israel and its friends in the United States.

Whatever motivated the performance, the result wasn't exactly scholarly.

Walt singled out two Jews who worked at the Pentagon for their pro-Israel views. "People like Paul Wolfowitz or Doug Feith . . . advocate policies they think are good for Israel and the United States alike," he said. "We don't think there's anything wrong with that, but we also don't think there's anything wrong for others to point out that these individuals do have attachments that shape how they think about the Middle East."

"Attachments" sounds much better than "dual loyalties." But why single out Wolfowitz and Feith and not their non-Jewish boss, Donald Rumsfeld?

"I could have mentioned non-Jewish people like John Bolton," Walt allowed when the question was put to him.

Picking up on the "attachments" lingo, Mearsheimer did mention Bolton but cited two Jews, Elliott Abrams and David Wurmser, as "the two most influential advisers on Middle East affairs in the White House. Both, he said, are " fervent supporters of Israel." Never mind that others in the White House, such as national security adviser Stephen Hadley, Vice President Cheney and President Bush, have been just as fervent despite the lack of "attachments."

Yeah, but it is so much easier to play on the ant-Semitism of Muslims and their fellow travelers (like my old toll, Ken Hoop) by mentioning the officials of Jewish heritage. After all, to such folks everything is the fault of the Jews. And by highlighting them, it makes it easier to claim that other officials are puppets of the Jews and that the US is controlled by (as my troll regularly stated in emailed to me and Christian Identity militias often assert) a Zionist Occupied Government.

The association between these professors and the terrorist-supporting CAIR should be enough to discredit these pseudo-academics -- and to discredit the organizatation, which sponsored them despite their having been iscreditted as dressing up old anti-Semitism in new garments.

Posted by: Greg at 10:31 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Davud Frum makes this point regarding the forced conversion to Islam of Fox journalists Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig.

Does not the gunpoint forced conversion to Islam of two Western journalists provide an opportunity for Western Muslim groups to condemn attempts to spread Islam by violence and to declare their support for the principle enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

CAIR? The Muslim Council of Britain? The Canadian Islamic Congress? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Do YOU hear crickets chirping?

Posted by: Greg at 09:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sometimes the government does really dumb things in the name of protecting us from terrorism. You know, like making 90-year-old quadraplegic Swedish nuns disassemble their wheelchairs to prove they are not al-Qaeda terrorists. Or giving heightened scrutiny at airports to military personnel in uniform carrying travel orders from the Department of Defense.

Or investigating this case.

Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam.

Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.

The case "shows just how easy it is to be labeled a suspected terrorist," he says.

It all started on July 25 in Alton, Ill., when the Army Corps of Engineers invited public discussion about options for improving fish movement at the nearby Melvin Price Locks and Dam, considered a major impediment to roughly three dozen species that migrate upstream.

During the 90-minute hearing that included on the agenda whether to build a fish channel, Bensman says, he reiterated he's no fan of dams, contending they're environmentally destructive and amount to billions of dollars in corporate welfare for boating interests.

He urged that the dam be torn out. He said he never mentioned blowing the dam up, though the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited.

The next day, however, a local newspaper reported that Bensman "said he would like to see the dam blown up and resents paying taxes to fix dam problems when it is barge companies that profit from the dam."

Workers at the corps' St. Louis office "took a dim view (of the article) and questioned if it was a potential threat," and a security manager forwarded the clipping to the FBI, said corps spokesman Alan Dooley.

Now hold on here -- the guy gets words attributed to him in a newspaper -- words that can easily be refuted by listening to the tape of the public hearing (such things are recorded by the government, you know, to provide a full record of the public hearings). The only mention of blowing up the dam was in the Corps' own presentation ,not in Bensman's comments. But the FBI conducted a full-scale investigation?

What's more, the Corps of Engineers refuses to make any apology or even acknowledge that it had over-reacted in calling the FBI over a newspaper article without even checking its own records of the event.

I'm all for keeping America safe -- but this is ridiculous.

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Columnist Jack Kelley makes an important point about the inane and ungrounded ruling of Judge Anna Diggs Taylor on the rights of terrorists to attack America free from government interference. It highlights the decision we face this November.

We suffered on Sept. 11, 2001, the most devastating attack ever on our soil. It likely would have been repeated this month, were it not for the program Judge Taylor wants to terminate.

President Bush has made mistakes in his conduct of the war on terror. But thanks in part to Judge Taylor's ruling, voters this November will be asking themselves whether they would rather be governed by a political party that thinks Islamic terror is the greatest threat to Americans, or by a political party which is more concerned about Wal-Mart.

Let us hope the American people answer wisely.

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And I don’t say that lightly – but when a member of Congress is taking trips funded by a terrorist organization, it is inconceivable that he or she can remain in that body.

Illinois congressman Danny Davis and an aide took a trip to Sri Lanka last year that was paid for by the Tamil Tigers, a group that the U.S. government has designated as a terrorist organization for its use of suicide bombers and child soldiers, law enforcement sources said.

Davis' seven-day trip came under new scrutiny this week following the arrests of 11 supporters of the organization on charges of participating in a broad conspiracy to support the terrorist group through money laundering, arms procurement and bribery of U.S. officials.

The five-term Democratic congressman said he was unaware that the Tigers paid for the trip and on his required congressional disclosure form he reported that the trip was paid for by a Hickory Hills, Ill.-based Tamil cultural organization, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America.

During the visit, Davis spent most of his time in a region controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the group is formally known, and visited the organization's political headquarters. He also met with a police chief for the region appointed by the Tigers.

The Tamil Tigers is a separatist group that has been fighting since 1983 for an independent state for 3.2 million ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, a tear-shaped island nation of 20 million off the southern tip of India. In addition to conventional guerrilla tactics, the group has used terrorist methods, including 200 suicide bombings, in a bloody conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives. Though the violence between the government and the separatist group abated during the past several years, it recently surged again, threatening a renewed civil war.

Davis said he believed that the trip, from March 30 to April 5, 2005, was paid for by the Tamil federation, which in accordance with congressional ethics rules sent him a written statement of the travel expenses, more than $7,000 each for Davis and his aide, Daniel Cantrell. Davis said he knew that the group was "associated" with the Tamil Tigers but did not realize that the trip's costs were covered with funds controlled by the rebel group.

"I know who I got the trip from," Davis said. "I don't know if any clandestine group gave them money. All I know is what I saw and was told."

Sorry, Congressman, but that explanation does not cut it. Would you consider it appropriate to take a trip or money from an al-Qaeda “associated” group? Hardly! By your own admission, you have engaged in equivalent conduct. You have no place serving in any position of public trust.

MORE AT Wizbang & LankaWeb.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT: Stop the ACLU, Wizbang, Samantha Burns, Is It Just Me?, Adam's Blog, Bacon Bits, Bullwinkle Blog, Stuck on Stupid, Conservative Cat, Third World County

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This just in from Denmark, where they understand that Islamic extremism is a threat to freedom and safety of everyone else.

A Danish prosecutor on Thursday charged four young Muslims with helping to supply weapons and explosives for a planned terror attack in Europe.

Five other suspects in the case have been charged in Bosnia, including two men accused of preparing to blow up an unidentified European target. Three other suspects have been charged in Britain.

Prosecutor Henning Fode said the four men arrested in Denmark last October helped the two main suspects in Bosnia get hold of "weapons and explosives with the aim of committing a terror act."

All four, who cannot be named under a court order, have denied wrongdoing. Danish investigators have released little information about the suspects, but said two of them are 17, and the others are aged 20 and 21.

If convicted they could face life in prison, although such sentences are commuted after 16 years under Danish law. A trial date has not yet been set.

The probe stems from the Oct. 19 arrests in Sarajevo of Swedish national Mirsad Bektasevic, 19, and Abdulkadir Cesur, an 18-year-old Turkish national living in Denmark.

Bosnian prosecutors said Bektasevic and Cesur were planning an attack in Bosnia-Herzegovina or at some other unidentified site in Europe with the aim of forcing the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Police raiding their Sarajevo apartment allegedly found a suicide bomber belt, explosives, firearms and other military equipment, as well as a videotape showing masked men asking for God's forgiveness.

Where are the peacemakers from the Religion of Peace®? All I see are jihadi swine.

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Israel has the capability to nuke your camel-humping @$$. And that means you, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

With the purchase of two more German-made Dolphin submarines capable of carrying nuclear warheads, military experts say Israel is sending a clear message to Iran that it can strike back if attacked by nuclear weapons.

The purchases come at a time when Iran is refusing to bow to growing Western demands to halt its nuclear program, and after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

The new submarines, built at a cost of $1.3 billion with Germany footing one-third of the bill, have diesel-electric propulsion systems that allow them to remain submerged for longer periods of time than the three nuclear arms-capable submarines already in Israel's fleet, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The latest submarines not only would be able to carry out a first strike should Israel choose to do so, but they also would provide Israel with crucial second-strike capabilities, said Paul Beaver, a London-based independent defense analyst.

* * *

German officials have said the contract for the new submarines was signed July 6, and the Jerusalem Post reported this week the subs will be operational shortly.

If the Iranians really want to go there by hitting Israel with a primitive nuclear device, it seems to me that Israel would be more than capable of ensuring that Iran remains uninhabitable for approximately the next 25,000 years

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Is it to be "Never Again"?

Or "Here We Go Again"?

Put differently, are Jewish lives less valuable than Arab lives?

Rabbi Jonathan Pearl looks at the issue, and does not like what he sees.

As we witnessed the incessant calls and declarations for “an immediate cease-fire" from Israel's detractors – whether politicians, journalists, religious and community leaders, or the United Nations with its resolution mandating a “cessation of hostilities” – I couldn't help but conclude that for all of these addressing the Middle East “conflict” boils down to this guiding principle: Jewish/Israeli lives are simply worth less than Muslim/Arab lives.

When missiles are blasted into Israel by Muslim/Arab terrorists living in their non-disputed Muslim/Arab territory, resulting in the murder of innocent Israelis/Jews, the world tells Israel to show restraint and refrain from retaliating with targeted responses against the origins of the rocket launches. Why? Because some Muslim/Arab civilians might inadvertently be killed.

And when Muslim/Arab suicide-bombing murderers steal into Israel and blow to smithereens innocent Jewish/Israeli civilians in pizza parlors and discotheques, Israel is admonished to show restraint and refrain from targeting the planners, facilitators, and future perpetrators of suicide-murder actions. Why? Because some Muslim/Arab civilians might inadvertently be killed.

Read the entire piece, for it shows pretty clearly that the international comunity clearly has not renounced the genocidal anti-Semitism that was pursued by the Third Reich. After all, if the jihadi terrorists stop shooting at and bombing Israel, Israel will have no need to respond with force in self-defense.

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Lock this terrorist-supporting homicide-bomber wannabe away forever. His threat in this speech makes him too dangerous to remain free to do harm to the innocent.

The audience at a Muslim rally today were told that dying for your beliefs was "just" and the "greatest act of martyrdom".

Dr Azzam Tamimi, a firebrand Islamic academic and self-styled Hamas sympathiser, claimed he is prepared to become a suicide bomber.

Religion of Peace my ass!

UPDATE: Get this litle tidbit.

Dr Tamimi, a prominent member of the Stop The War coalition, is married with three children and lives in Willesden, North West London. After coming to Britain from the Middle East more than 30 years ago, he and his family have become British citizens and live in a council block.

This friggin' savage wants to "Stop the War" -- and is willing to blow up innocents to do it. Not one member of the so-called "peace movement" has denounced this jihadi swine, which makes it quite clear that "Peace" equals "Surrender" in their eyes.

Like I said -- Religion of Peace my ass!

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If the current NSA program is unlawful, let us consider other eavesdropping programs when America fought foreign enemies.

Her outrageous ruling means that our past activities in Magic, in Ultra, at the Coral Sea, at Midway, at Bletchley Park, in Venona, were illegal also. Imagine the cheek we used in defeating the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Oh, let the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin and the crying towels appear. Let’s revisit the unfair treatment afforded the Axis at Normandy, the Marianas, the Philippines, and the Battle of Britain — where radar and radio intercepts were unfairly used to outwit and outfox the wily Germans and the cunning Japanese.

That mean old Mr. Roosevelt didn't have the decency to respect the First and Fourth Amendment rights of the Axis powers and their supporters here in America. Just because they were our enemies didn't mean that Roosevelt could act like a hereditary king, did it judge? Surely such spying programs were indisputibly illegal -- just like the current NSA program.

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Well, more support for the pro-terrorist position from Western "intellectuals" writing for Arab sources.

Perhaps it is time, if not to rewrite, at least to redirect the Balfour declaration back to Europe from whence most Jewish settlers in Israel have come.

The animosity that is making the clash of civilisations a current reality is driven first and foremost by the unsettled issue of the division of Palestine. If this could be solved, Al QaedaÂ’s influence would sharply diminish. So would HamasÂ’ and HizbollahÂ’s. But left to stew as it is now, it is spilling over into Lebanon and perhaps in a few years into a nuclear confrontation between Israel and Iran, or even, if President Pervez Musharraf is assassinated and a more Islamic-minded president comes to power, between Israel and Pakistan.

As relations between Jew and Muslim deteriorate, not only Israel is becoming unliveable for ordinary people (read Israeli novelist Shifra Horn’s new book, “Ode to Joy”, if you want to smell the cordite and sense the everyday fear of being blown up deep in the soul), but also are parts of Europe and North America gradually becoming so. Just as Israel has “terrorists” in its midst so now do the UK, Spain, France, Russia, the US and Canada.

Power's solution? Get the Jews out of Israel and back to Europe. This disgusting piece of anti-Semitism is cloaked in feigned concern for the Israeli people, but not really.

But i have a better idea -- one which I am sure Mr. Power will support with his whole heart. If the Jews of Israel are to be uprooted, then let us settle them someplace where we know they will be safe -- the United States. We can put them in Dearborn and other areas currently occupied by Arab Muslims who support jihadi terrorism around the world. In return, we will ship the Arab Muslims in the United States -- regardless of their citizenship -- back to Middle East.

Now some may object that such a proposal is inhumane and racist -- "What about the rights of America's Arab Muslims?" some may ask. Well, if Jews who have settled in the Middle East over the last century and who have fought and died to create, maintain and protect a tiny homeland for themselves have no place in a Middle East dominated by Arab Muslims, then clearly Arab Muslims have no place in the West, and in particular not in the United States. After all, they and their relatives back in their homelands have shown their utter inablility to live at peace with neighbors who are different from themselves.

Outrageous? Sure. but then again, consider this justification for Power's exclusion of the jews from their own homeland.

Without such “out of the box” thinking we are all going to be sucked under by the maelstrom being unleashed by what is dangerously becoming a true “clash of civilisations”.

So why not consider my "outside the box" solution as a way of avoiding the "clash of civilizations" by separating the parties completely. After all, why should the Jews alone bear the cost of the capitulating to the jihadi terrorists? After all, if the Jews are not a good fit in the Middle East, why should the unassimilable Muslims be welcome in America?

And if my proposed solution -- excluding people from America based upon religion and ethnicity -- is unacceptable, upon what basis can anyone support the expulsion of Israel's Jews from the land given them by the international community in the 1940s and which they have defended time and again over the last six decades? The only possible answer is a rank, festering anti-Semitism which abides in the blackened souls of the opponents of Israel.

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Despite the fact that contemporary acts of terrorism are committed almost exclusively by Muslims, our government refuses to take the reasonable step of subjecting every Muslim to special scrutiny while flying.

There is, however, another group that gets singled out for searches -- and you will be outraged.

A little-known fact about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that the U.S. military requires soldiers to travel in uniform from theater. An even lesser known fact is that the Transportation Security Administration aggressively targets war veterans as they travel home to their loved ones.

At Baltimore's airport on my way back to Orlando from Iraq, there were about 50 soldiers in line, waiting to be cleared by TSA. I noticed soldiers taking off clothing, and then they assumed the position so commonly seen in police-chase videos, arms and legs spread wide as a screener passed a wand close to their bodies. Soldiers were asked to remove belts, boots and shirts, and their carry-on bags were ransacked.

"We're fighting a war. Do you guys think we're a threat?" I asked as I spread my legs and arms.

The screener replied, "I dunno," and kept his wand in motion.

Before long my leave was completed and I was at Orlando International Airport, standing in line, waiting to clear security again. This time my wife accompanied me through the checkpoint so we could spend every last minute together before I returned to Iraq.

I wore my desert uniform, and as I approached the gate, a TSA screener directed my wife and me to additional screening after my bag had been inspected and scanned. My wife was searched, making an already miserable event, my leaving for war a second time, even worse than the first time.

Travelers shook their heads in disgust. One man glared incredulously at the screeners and said, "Unbelievable."

I was humiliated, not because I was being searched, but because I was being searched while wearing the cloth of the nation -- a U.S. military uniform. While wearing the flag of our nation on my sleeve, enroute to fight a war to support my government's interests, I was categorized as suspicious.

The same government that employs both the TSA and U.S. Army sent me a contradicting message. It trusted me enough to train me, give me a weapon and send me to do its dirty work, but it didn't trust me enough to fly on commercial airplanes with other citizens without close scrutiny.

That's right -- damn near every Mohammad, Abdul, and Osama can get through the screening checkpoint without extra scrutiny by the screeners, because of concerns about profiling based upon race, ethnicity, or religion. On the other hand, American soldirs in uniform, traveling on military orders, are specially searched with frightening regularity.

Including these soldiers.

Since then I've been further dismayed to learn the TSA doesn't even exempt severely wounded war veterans. According to the TSA, it tries to gracefully screen soldiers wounded in battle by making sure security screening is conducted "with empathy and respect."

"We want to make sure the overall experience for the service member is as expeditious and pleasant," as possible, the TSA Web site states.

Odds are wounded soldiers will set off metal detectors, but the TSA won't find weapons intended for use in hijackings. Instead, the TSA will learn their detectors were set off by the shrapnel still embedded in the soldiers' bodies, or the metal components of prosthetics, or plates that now hold service members' bodies together.

Welcome home. Thanks for your service.

Incredible!

H/T Stop the ACLU, CanÂ’t Keep Quiet!, Bring It On!

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At least that is my interpretation of this latest anti-Israel move by the Secretary General of the UN.

Anticipating Hizb'allah's failure to comply with a UN-brokered ceasefire, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter to Jerusalem at the weekend, insisting Israel not respond militarily to any violations of Security Council Resolution 1701, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Annan said Israel should only respond in immediate self-defense, and not by relaunching a wider military offensive against the terror group.

In effect, the UN chief was saying that Israel should totally ignore Hizb'allah efforts to reestablish itself in southern Lebanon and Syrian efforts to resupply the group, and should only respond in a very pinpoint manner to any further firing of missiles at northern Israel.

Both the Lebanese military and French forces expected to bolster peacekeepers already on the ground in southern Lebanon have said they will not confront Hizb'allah with force if the terror group fails to go along with the ceasefire terms.

Israeli government sources said Annan's letter was unacceptable, and that a firm response was being drafted.

This is, of course, how the UN has always treated the Israelis – rules that apply to it do not apply to its enemies. In this case, Israel will be held rigorously to the letter of the agreement, but Hezbollah will be allowed to act with impunity – just as it was when it was required to disarm under resolution 1559 several years ago.

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At least that is my interpretation of this latest anti-Israel move by the Secretary General of the UN.

Anticipating Hizb'allah's failure to comply with a UN-brokered ceasefire, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter to Jerusalem at the weekend, insisting Israel not respond militarily to any violations of Security Council Resolution 1701, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Annan said Israel should only respond in immediate self-defense, and not by relaunching a wider military offensive against the terror group.

In effect, the UN chief was saying that Israel should totally ignore Hizb'allah efforts to reestablish itself in southern Lebanon and Syrian efforts to resupply the group, and should only respond in a very pinpoint manner to any further firing of missiles at northern Israel.

Both the Lebanese military and French forces expected to bolster peacekeepers already on the ground in southern Lebanon have said they will not confront Hizb'allah with force if the terror group fails to go along with the ceasefire terms.

Israeli government sources said Annan's letter was unacceptable, and that a firm response was being drafted.

This is, of course, how the UN has always treated the Israelis – rules that apply to it do not apply to its enemies. In this case, Israel will be held rigorously to the letter of the agreement, but Hezbollah will be allowed to act with impunity – just as it was when it was required to disarm under resolution 1559 several years ago.

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And before it even went into effect.

Hezbollah, you see, refuses to comply with a major precondition for peace.

A meeting of the Lebanese government on the disarming of Hezbollah south of the Litani River was canceled on Sunday following an announcement by the Shi'ite organization that it was not willing to discuss the subject. Hezbollah informed the government of its stance through the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Beri, who serves as a conduit to the organization.

Beri informed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora of Hezbollah's decision, and Siniora decided to cancel the meeting.

This is the first time in weeks that a rift emerged in the official Lebanese stance. Officially, the government of Lebanon denied reports that any dispute has emerged.

Interesting, isn't it, that the government of Lebanon is taking directions from the terrorists? And that the jihadi swine are refusing not only to abide by UN Resolution 1701, but also by the earlier Resolution 1559, which required that the governmetn of Lebanon disarm the UN after Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon the last time the world community demanded that the Jewish state stop defending itself from Hezbollah attacks.

Olmert must go, and his successor must utterly destroy the terrorist bases in southern Lebanon.

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My troll Ken, who claims to love Jews (but only the ones he claims are real Jews -- the anti-Zionist ones) is thrilled that more "Yids" (his word) have been killed by "God's troops" (again, his term for Hezbollah).

Why post this? So that it will be on the record what a pathetic wretch this anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying, dhimmified apologist for terrorism really is.

Oh, yeah -- he also praised Hezbollah for killing Marines in Beirut in 1983 in a note today.

Update: I meant to include this wonderful comment about Hezbollah.

Aquinas' 'baptism of desire' easily includes Moslem warriors who fight antichrists

Gee -- this stuff comes right out the neo-Nazi playbook.

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He opposed Israel and went to help Palestinian children -- only to be murdered by Palestinian terrorists. I wondered if he changed his mind as his life's blood drained from his body through a stab wound in the back?

Angelo Frammartino, a 24 year-old student from Italy who arrived in Israel as a human rights organization activist, was stabbed to death Thursday by an Arab knifeman.

"He believed in what he did and was always ready to help others," a friend described him.

The website of Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported that Frammartino was working for the setting up of a children's supper camp for Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City, and was supposed to return to Italy on Friday.

The youth was stabbed in the back while walking with four friends in the Sultan Suleiman street in the capital, near the Prahim Gate.

The attacker left the knife at the scene of the crime and fled. Police set up checkpoints in the area and arrested three suspects for suspected involvement.

It is believed that the attack was a nationalistically motivated terror attack, and not an attempted robbery.

This guy opposed any Israeli effort at self-defense, and considered the various terrorist factions to be heroes.

In a letter sent a few months ago to a local newspaper, Angelo expressed his world view: "We must recognize that in a situation with no violence is a luxury in many parts of the world, but we are not seeking to prevent legitimate self defense operations. I never dreamt of condemning the resistance, the blood of the Vietnamese, the blood of nations under colonial occupation, or the blood of Palestinian youths from the first intifada," he said.

Well, they don't call them "useful idiots" for nothing.

H/t Israelly Cool, Jawa Report

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He is a hero to anti-war, anti-Semitic leftists on both sides of the Atlantic. He accepted bribes from Saddam. And now there seems to be a more explicit terrorist connection.

TERROR suspect Waheed Zaman met controversial MP George Galloway many times, his sister said last night.

Safeena, 24, said of her 23-year-old brother: “He saw it as his duty to stand up for his community and that’s what led him to know George Galloway. He has a lot of respect for him and has met him many times.”

A spokesman for MP Galloway, above, said: “Waheed Zaman is not a name that George is familiar with. He is not known to him on a personal level.”

There is no suggestion Galloway is an associate of Zaman.

Given GallowayÂ’s track record, I believe Safeeen Zaman.

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The anti-American terrorist shills at the Council for American-Islamic Relations are up in arms at the President for correctly describing the terrorists who planned to blow planes out of the sky as part of their global jihad.

A Muslim group criticized President Bush for saying that America is "at war with Islamic fascists" after U.K. authorities arrested 24 British citizens of Pakistani origin in an attempt to bomb numerous flights to the U.S. Thursday. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the president's "hot button" terminology puts the name of Islam and the Muslim community at risk.

Bush called the attempted terrorist attack "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."

Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, believes Bush should not even mention Islam when referring to the would-be terrorists.

"We have to isolate these individuals because there is nothing in the Koran or the Islamic faith that encourages people to be cruel or to be vicious or to be criminal," Awad said. "Muslims world wide know that for sure."

What a load of shit. Most terrorists in the world today are Muslims, operating with an explicitly Islamic agenda based in the Quran.

WhatÂ’s more, the group wants the media to withhold information and lie to the American people about the nature of the terrorist threat.

In addition to limiting the president's comments, CAIR wants the U.S. media to disassociate Islam with terrorists "to make sure we don't start a religious war against Islam and Muslims." The group says American reporters should adopt the policies of the British media when identifying suspected terrorists.

Most British media will not identify terrorists as "Muslim," "Islamic" or "Islamists" even when physical evidence shows they were motivated by beliefs based on Islamic teachings or writings.

In other words, they want the American people to be kept in the dark regarding the true nature of our enemy.

And letÂ’s not forget this demand.

"We also urge local law enforcement agencies to coordinate with Muslim leaders to deter hate crimes," Ahmed said.

Sounds good to me. Now if the Muslim leaders of the United States would only cooperate with law enforcement in order to stop their jihadi followers from committing hate crimes against the rest of us, the situation would be much better. After all, hate crimes against Muslims (as opposed to speech protected under the First Amendment) are very rare and normally not violent – and have often been found to be hoaxes perpetrated by Muslims themselves. On the other hand, Muslims are killing people.

But I will concede this point.

"It is also important that our fellow Americans understand that Muslims are law-abiding citizens who should not be targeted or singled out because of their faith or national origin."

On the other hand, tracking chips like those placed in pets might be useful, just so we can keep track of the violent bad seed in the Muslim community.

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Seems like this is the constant complaint of the Muslim community.

``My first thought when I heard about this was that they are definitely going to blame us again," said Sima Mukhter, 27, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin who works in a McDonald's restaurant on Edgeware Road. ``They always blame us because of what happened in the past."

We’re so sorry, Sima – how could we possibly think Muslims are responsible for this horrific plot?

Umir Hussain, 24, London E14
Muhammed Usman Saddique, 24, London E17
Waheed Zaman, 22, London E17
Assan Abdullah Khan, 22, London E17
Waseem Kayani, 28, High Wycombe
Waheed Arafat Khan, 24, London E17
Cossor Ali, 24, London E17
Tayib Rauf, 21, Birmingham
Ibrahim Savant, 26, London E17
Osman Adam Khatib, 20, London E17
Shamin Mohammed Uddin, 36, Stoke Newington
Amin Asmin Tariq, 23, London E17
Shazad Khuram Ali, 27, High Wycombe
Tanvir Hussain, 24, London E10
Umar Islam, 28, (born Brian Young) High Wycombe
Assad Sarwar, 25, High Wycombe
Abdullah Ali, 26, London E17
Abdul Muneem Patel, 17, London E5
Nabeel Hussain, 21, Waltham Forest

I wonder what common link these folks do have, Ms. Mukhter?

(H/T Malkin)

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Seems like this is the constant complaint of the Muslim community.

``My first thought when I heard about this was that they are definitely going to blame us again," said Sima Mukhter, 27, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin who works in a McDonald's restaurant on Edgeware Road. ``They always blame us because of what happened in the past."

We’re so sorry, Sima – how could we possibly think Muslims are responsible for this horrific plot?

Umir Hussain, 24, London E14
Muhammed Usman Saddique, 24, London E17
Waheed Zaman, 22, London E17
Assan Abdullah Khan, 22, London E17
Waseem Kayani, 28, High Wycombe
Waheed Arafat Khan, 24, London E17
Cossor Ali, 24, London E17
Tayib Rauf, 21, Birmingham
Ibrahim Savant, 26, London E17
Osman Adam Khatib, 20, London E17
Shamin Mohammed Uddin, 36, Stoke Newington
Amin Asmin Tariq, 23, London E17
Shazad Khuram Ali, 27, High Wycombe
Tanvir Hussain, 24, London E10
Umar Islam, 28, (born Brian Young) High Wycombe
Assad Sarwar, 25, High Wycombe
Abdullah Ali, 26, London E17
Abdul Muneem Patel, 17, London E5
Nabeel Hussain, 21, Waltham Forest

I wonder what common link these folks do have, Ms. Mukhter?

(H/T Malkin)

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The Washington Post has a great piece on how the terrorists were caught before they could mount their "mega-9/11" attack.

It all began with a tip: In the aftermath of the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings on London's transit system, British authorities received a call from a worried member of the Muslim community, reporting general suspicions about an acquaintance.

From that vague but vital piece of information, according to a senior European intelligence official, British authorities opened the investigation into what they said turned out to be a well-coordinated and long-planned plot to bomb multiple transatlantic flights heading toward the United States -- an assault designed to rival the scope and lethality of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings.

By late 2005, the probe had expanded to involve several hundred investigators on three continents. They kept dozens of suspects under close surveillance for months, even as some of the plotters traveled between Britain and Pakistan to raise money, find recruits and refine their scheme, according to interviews with U.S. and European counterterrorism officials.

Precise details of the plot -- how many planes, their destinations and the date -- remain unknown. The shape of the operation changed regularly as the would-be bombers considered which transatlantic flights to target and prepared for a practice run, which was expected to take place in the next few days, U.S. law enforcement officials said.

Investigators eventually pieced together enough information from a blizzard of stakeouts, tips and wiretaps to make clear that something big was in the works, and that the plotters' preparations were nearing an end.

"It's not like three weeks ago all of a sudden MI5 knew about this plot and went to work," added a U.S. law enforcement official, speaking of the British security service. "They'd had a concern about these guys for some time -- for months. Details started to emerge, and it became clear over the last couple weeks the nature of the threat and the individuals," said the official, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on condition of anonymity.

I encourage you to read it all -- and to note that the tip that started teh investigation rolling came from within the Muslim community. I'd love to know how many such tips are received by authorities, and how many of them turn out to be valid.

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Let's look at a couple of quotes from "mainstream Democrats" on yesterday's actions to prevent a "mega-9/11" attack.

"Five years after 9-11, it is clear that our misguided policies are making America more hated in the world and making the war on terrorism harder to win," Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts said.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Bush and Congress needed to change course in Iraq and ensure Americans are protected around the world.

"The Iraq war has diverted our focus and more than $300 billion in resources from the war on terrorism and has created a rallying cry for international terrorists," Reid said.

* * *

"This event exposes the misleading myth that we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here. In fact, the war in Iraq has become a dangerous distraction and a profound drain on our financial and military resources," Kerry said.

The first response? Attack Bush and seek to make political capital by denigrating the successful effort to stop the plot.

And let's not even get into quotes from the "netroots" Democrats who are claiming ascendancy.

You get the KOSsacks.

Today, we can see again what Britain gets for being a staunch ally of Bush. They get home-grown terrorists, bombings, and more terrorist plots.

You have to wonder what exactly are the benefits of hitching yourself to George W. It's like when you consider making an investment or major purchase. You look at the pros and the cons. We all know what the cons are: your people become a target for terrorists, and you breed your own terrorist cells.

So, what are the benefits? Ummmmm, well, uhhhh, okay not many. Blair has sold out his people so he can cozy up on Bush's lap. Tony is like any other man in power, he wants to more power himself, and be closer to those who have even more power.

And the DUmmies.

“Exactly—why now? Why is this major disruption being discussed NOW. What else is going on? This sounds lke another Bush diversion tactic...Get the media to discuss terror, because there is something else that they don't want us discussing. Bait & Switch technique.”

Heck, I even got a commenter here implicitly espousing a conspiracy theory for political purposes, arguing that the Bush Administration was manipulating national security for political purposes.

Curious that we're privvy to so much information. I wonder what's
REALLY goinbg on: what piece of news or bit of information is out there
that "they" want to divert us away from?

But the New York Times lives in a diffrent world -- which is the only way we can explain today's editorial.

Here is what we want to do in the wake of the arrests in Britain. We want to understand as much as possible about what terrorists were planning. To talk about airport security and how to make it better. To celebrate what worked in the British investigation and discuss how to push these efforts farther. It would be a blessed moment in modern American history if we could do that without turning this into a political game plan.

Fair enough -- except that the editorial was an attack on comments made by Dick Cheney on Wednesday and and others made by Joe Lieberman regarding ned lamon'ts weakness on terrorism issues.

I guess that only those who the editors oppose can be guilty of making tawdry political use of the terrorism issue -- it is fair comments when they agree with the comments.

But one Republican dared to pierce the Times' veil of hypocrisy.

A senior White House official on Air Force One, speaking on the condition of anonymity, dismissed the notion that there was anything wrong with these kinds of issues being mixed up in a political campaign.

“The issue is going to be discussed in the fall,” this official said. “Are you saying if the Democrats talk about the war, we shouldn’t? We will talk about the war, and we will talk about the consequences of the policies advocated by the Democrats.”

After all, the GOP has kept America safe since 9/11 -- despite the political calculations and games of the Democrats, who wouldn't mind a couple of successful terrorist attacks on American soil if it would help them take back Congress.

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Bravo to the Brits for breaking up this plot.

British authorities said today they had disrupted a "major terrorist plot" to blow up passenger flights between the United Kingdom and the United States, prompting a security clampdown at British and U.S. international airports and a cascade of delays in trans-Atlantic flights generally.

London's Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said 21 people had been arrested in London and in Birmingham England after a months-long investigation into what he said was a plan for "mass murder on an unimaginable scale." He did not say why the announcement was made today.

That seems like a bit of hyperbole to me -- after all, we can all imagine mass murder on a pretty big scale after 9/11. The plot here seems to have involved bringing down AT LEAST 10 aircraft, and as many as 50 people may have been involved.

The result has already been a disruption of trans-Atlantic air service that is only a fraction of what we would have seen if the plot had succeeded.

U.S. officials raised the "threat level" for air transport to red, the highest alert.

Passengers at Dulles airport in Washington and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport were told to expect intensified searches, considerable delays and new restrictions on carry-on items, with particular attention to liquids of all types, especially liquids with a gel-like consistency.

Medicines and baby formula was permitted but at airports in Britain, passengers were being asked to taste these liquids in the presence of security guards.

American Airlines canceled six Thursday flights between the United States and London to accommodate the delays at Heathrow airport, spokesman John Hotard told wire services.

American held three London-bound morning flights, one each from Chicago, Boston and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. To balance those cancellations, the airline also dropped three afternoon or evening flights scheduled to travel from London to those U.S. cities, Hotard said.

The British response has been even more stringent.

London's Heathrow airport, the busiest airport in Europe, was closed to most European flights Thursday morning after officials raised Britain's national security alert to its highest level -- suggesting a terrorist attack may imminent. Huge crowds formed at security barriers.

Homeland Security has responded by banning even more common items from aircraft.

" Due to the nature of the threat revealed by this investigation, we are prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions from being carried on the airplane. This determination will be constantly evaluated and updated when circumstances warrant. These changes will take effect at 4:00 AM local time across the country. Travelers should also anticipate additional security measures within the airport and at screening checkpoints.

"These measures will continue to assure that our aviation system remains safe and secure. Travelers should go about their plans confidently, while maintaining vigilance in their surroundings and exercising patience with screening and security officials.

It appears that Muslims are still permitted on aircraft, however, despite their known connection with terrorist plots -- including this one.

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That certainly seems to be the conclusion being drawn by law enforcement in this case.

Investigators in southeast Ohio said they were working to unravel how two Michigan men charged with supporting terrorism came to have airplane passenger lists and airport security information.

Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, were being held at the Washington County jail on $200,000 bond each, which could be raised at a Thursday afternoon court hearing. Each was charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism.

Deputies stopped the two on a traffic violation Tuesday and found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in their car, Sheriff Larry Mincks said.

It wasn't clear what significance the airline information might have. Assistant County Prosecutor Susan Vessels declined to comment on whether the manifests were for upcoming flights or those that already had flown. She also would not give the origin or destination of the flight or flights.

FBI spokesman Mike Brooks in Cincinnati said his office was investigating.

The pair have bought over 600 phones in recent months, phones just like thos being used in Iraq and other parts of the world by Cindy Sheehan's freedom fighters terrorists.

Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks said initially the men lied about their reasons for purchasing the phones, which led to the charges.

Abulhassan and Houssaiky are expected to appear for an arraignment this morning in Marietta Municipal Court.

“Eventually they indicated they would sell the chips inside the phones to another individual in the Dearborn, Mich., area for $5 more than they pay for the phone,” Mincks said.

Maj. John Winstanley said the sheriffÂ’s office has received notices from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warning individuals are purchasing the phones for terror related activity.

“It’s their belief that they send these TracFones overseas, and they use (the chips) against the troops, detonating bombs,” Winstanley said.

And if Dearborn, Michigan rings a bell with you, it might have something to do with recent rallies over teh war in lebanon -- rallies in favor of Hezbollah, a group with a history of killing Americans.

Mincks said Dearborn has a large Lebanese population and has been the site of pro-Hezballoh rallies recently. He said the department was not profiling, but admitted that because of the suspects’ descent the incident “caused a bit of a stir.”

Of course we wouldn't want to profile folks who look like terrorists, believe like terrorists, and speak out in support of terrorists, even if they are buying items that are used by terrorists. After all, we all know that Islam is a religion of peace, right, no matter what percentage of the world's terrorist acts are conducted by Muslims acting in the name of Islam. There is certainly no need to look at Muslim groups or houses of worship -- and certainly not to give them special scrutiny. We need to pay every other group the exact amount of attention.

After all, we all know that the cops always closely scrutinize the membership of Curves whenever there is a serial rapist, just to avoid concerns about profiling.

(H/T Schlussel, Malkin)

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