Entries Tagged 'Afghanistan' ↓
August 31st, 2010 — 1389, Afghanistan, Balkans, Blogmocracy, Islam, Jihad Watch, Kosovo, Russia, agent provocateur, smiley
Originally posted on 2.0: The Blogmocracy
This post on Jihad Watch describes an attack that could easily have gone much worse:
Quoth Muhammad: War is deceit.” “Insurgents attack 2 bases in east Afghanistan,” by Rahim Faiez for the Associated Press, August 28:
KABUL, Afghanistan – Insurgents wearing U.S. Army uniforms launched pre-dawn attacks Saturday on a major NATO base in eastern Afghanistan and a nearby camp where seven CIA employees were killed last year in a suicide bombing. NATO said there were no coalition casualties and the attacks were repelled.
…
Afghan police said about 50 insurgents attacked using rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons, but had been repelled.
After being driven away from the bases, the insurgents approached the nearby offices of the governor and provincial police headquarters but were driven off, said Khost provincial police Chief Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai.
“Given the size of the enemy’s force, this could have been a major catastrophe for Khost. Luckily we prevented it,” he said.
Small arms fire continued through the morning, while NATO helicopters patrolled overhead.
NATO said two insurgents had managed to breach Salerno’s perimeter, but were observed cutting the fence and killed immediately.
Dead insurgents were seen wearing camouflage jackets and pants seemingly identical to those warn by U.S. Army soldiers….
Read the rest.
It always happens whenever we trust Muslims
The following is an excerpt from a 1999 article about another false-flag operation carried out by the narcoterrorist/Islamist KLA, who, under various names and guises, were then, and still are, the local branch of al Qaeda in Kosovo.
This, of course, took place during the aftermath of the Kosovo War. For those not old enough to remember, Bill Clinton arm-twisted NATO into going along with him in his unprovoked war against the Christian Serbs, on behalf of the Muslim KLA.
The KLA obligingly helped him out by masquerading as Serb soldiers to commit acts of violence against civilians, so as to give Clinton some halfway-credible pretext to bolster his shaky rationale for committing the US and NATO militaries to make war on the Serbs.
On December 3, 1999, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that UN police and KFOR [that is, NATO] troops found illegal weapons, KLA uniforms, and Serb police uniforms in a house “inhabited by members of the future Kosovo Protection Corps” [the successor to the supposedly-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA].
Would someone please tell us: what are KLA operatives doing with Serbian police uniforms?
Remember all of those news stories about various war crimes and atrocities that were supposedly committed by Serbian police, often wearing masks, during the NATO bombing and before?
The stories completely contradicted other reports, such as official documents from the German Courts, which ruled that there was no persecution of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. [See note #2 at the end]
Of course, the stories did not offer any hard evidence that the culprits were actually Serbian police.
But these stories certainly were convenient for the NATO sales team, and the mass media, in terms of selling the war against the Serbs. What an effective way to turn public opinion against the Yugoslav nation and the entire Serbian people!
One thought we had at the time: ANYBODY can put on a stolen police uniform. And the KLA wouldn’t have to steal the uniforms either; they could simply manufacture identical uniforms in any clothing factory.
This is all especially eerie because we read a Reuters story dated December 4, 1999 about the fighting going on in Chechnya, in Russia. According to the story the “US-sponsored Radio Liberty” reported that “masked Russian troops had opened fire at close range on the column of refugees.”
“Masked Russian troops”? Again, why the masks? IF they were trying to disguise who they were, why wear Russian uniforms? Unless of course they really anti-Russian troops trying to provide negative media coverage to be played in the West, where the governments (especially the Clinton administration) are supporting the Chechnya rebels behind the scenes because they want to see Russia broken up into edible pieces.
Here is the first half of the AFP story about the uniforms:
Illegal arms cache found in homes of Kosovo Corps members
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Dec 3 (AFP) – A stash of weapons was found in a house in southern Kosovo inhabited by members of the future Kosovo Protection Corps, UN police said Friday. UN police officers and members of the NATO-led forces in Kosovo (KFOR) searched two houses in Stimje, where they said they found “anti-tank rockets, anti-personnel land mines, sub-machine guns, thousands of bullets, as well as Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Serb police uniforms.” They arrested two members of the Kosovo Protection Corps, who police said would be charged with “illegal possession of military armaments.” Police did not specify the number of weapons found, only indicating that the number was “substantial.”
Read the rest.
The take-home lesson
Never fight on behalf of Muslims, and be exceedingly wary of Muslims as enemies. Muslims can never be counted on to follow the ‘normal’ (i.e.,customary European) rules of warfare, though Muslims are always the first ones to complain whenever they can find a way to make it look as though we are not following our own rules.
July 20th, 2010 — 1389, Afghanistan, Iraq, Islam, Obama, counterjihad, evil, military
Originally published at 2.0: The Blogmocracy.
by 1389AD
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. – Ephesians 6:12 (King James Version)
In General Casey obscures the pellucid air of Aspen, Fitzgerald of Jihad Watch gets it almost completely right. After roundly condemning George Casey for his dhimmitude under the guise of “diversity,” he proceeds to question America’s entire vision of what we are up against. And rightly so:
Former Vice President Cheney famously said that this would be a “Long War.”
And now General Casey, and those behind and above him, say that at the very least, this war in Afghanistan alone may go on for another five or ten years. And hearing this, we may ask ourselves where else will this war, fought this way, be taken – will it go to Somalia, or to Yemen? Will these be the next Stations of the National Cross we are collectively made to bear, because those who rule over us do not know, and do not want to know, and may even not know that they do not know, what is necessary if a sensible policy of managing the war of self-defense against all those who take the duty and doctrine of Jihad seriously can be constructed and applied?
That war of self-defense is not a “Long War.” It is not a war that might go on for “five” or maybe “ten” more years, in Afghanistan or anywhere else, and then be over with.. It is a permanent war, a war without end, because the doctrine of Jihad is a permanent, and central, not tangential, part of Islam. The duty to engage, directly or indirectly, in Jihad – which should not be thought of only as involving terrorism or other forms of violence – does not disappear. It did not disappear in the century-and-a-half, from roughly 1800 to 1950, when Muslims were so obviously weak that those who wanted to engage in Jihad simply could not. But now things have unalterably changed: the OPEC trillions (more than 13 trillion dollars since 1973 alone to the Muslim members of OPEC), with more piling up every year, and the millions of Muslims foolishly allowed in, through the casually criminal negligence of political and media elites, to the countries of Western Europe. All this, and then the exploitation of Western technology that is useful in the dissemination of the message of Islam, both to Muslims (some of whom might heretofore have been unaware of the full message of Islam, but can remain so now only with difficulty) and to non-Muslims who might be seduced by the siren-song of whatever melody (e.g., “social justice”) that Muslims conducting Da’wa might wish to underhum.
Far from being “realistic” in their supposedly “glum” assessments, Cheney with his “Long War” and General Casey with his “five or ten more years in Afghanistan” are actually misleading themselves, and us. For they are refusing to grasp the nature of the war. They are thinking in terms that do not make sense. To wit: It might take us “five or ten years” to stamp out Al Qaeda, and the Taliban, in both its Afghani and Pakistani versions, and then, supposedly, we will have our “victory,” we will have “won.” But no “victory” in the conventional sense is possible. And there is to be no “winning” but only, rather, the minimizing of the threat and the conceivable damage, from Muslims. Why? Because there is no sell-by date to the doctrine and duty of Jihad. It goes on forever. And when anyone tells you, with a sober mien that is supposed to convey the message that “I’m not naïve, I’m a grim realist, I know this is going to be a long hard slog and it might take five years, ten years, twenty years, in Af-Pak and the Horn of Africa,” you should not think to yourself that at long last someone has dared to tell the truth, someone in authority is leveling with you…
Fitzgerald then pokes some well-deserved holes into the unalloyed madness and idiocy that passes for long-term strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan:
And a second part of the Aspen speech by George Casey also merits attention: “Casey highlighted job, education and economic growth as essential to success in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
This is what we are so drearily familiar with, the idea that we should do with Muslim lands what we did with the countries of Western Europe after World War II with the Marshall Plan (indeed, Al-Jaafari and others in Iraq have more than once called for a “New Marshall Plan” for Iraq, in which the United States taxpayers foot the bill; “Marshall Plan” is a phrase strangely familiar to many Arabs and Muslims). We have an official unemployment rate of nearly 10% in this country (and more, if one counts those who have given up looking for work, and still more, if one counts all the greatly under-employed). We have a collapsing educational system. We do not have economic growth. But Casey, and those for whom Casey also speaks, thinks that Americans should pay for “jobs and education and economic growth” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Never mind that Iraq has the second or possibly first largest reserves of oil in the world, and thanks to the United States had its entire debt of nearly $100 billion cancelled by the Western nations (but notice that the Arab creditors did not cancel what was owed to them), and will be raking in hundreds of billions. Never mind that “education” may make an enemy more formidable, not less, and if “education” never questions the teachings of Islam, but merely makes Muslims more dangerous because better educated, why is this something we should encourage?
After facing all of this horror head-on, Fitzgerald reaches a conclusion that is far rosier than his own evidence warrants:
Is there time for Obama to begin to see things differently, and to get rid of the brennans and bring on board the ship of state, now a dangerously listing Narrenschiff or S. S. Naufragium, others, less ignorant and less self-deceived? Yes. There is time. But only just.
No, there is no time, simply because Obama is not one of us; he is among our enemies. He sympathizes with the jihadis and he will continue to do everything he can to ensure that they win.
Read the rest.
July 17th, 2010 — Afghanistan, Gramfan (author), Islam, anti-Semitism, vehicles and transportation
By Gramfan
This true story was sent to me by one of our readers. How many of us have had interesting chats with cab drivers? Must be very many indeed. This one is a bit different.
“Yesterday, while being away in another medium-sized metropolis, I had the need of a cab driver to get me to my hotel. Like many western cities the cab drivers are usually immigrants from pretty much all over the world.This driver looked somewhat different to the ones I had had before.
As what is usually the norm, as soon as I settled into the cab we started chatting.
Cab drivers so often have a wealth of information, and insights into all things political. This, in fact, somewhat enhances the whole experience for me, even if I disagree with their perspective.
I asked him where he was from and how long he had lived here. It turns out he was a Hazara from Afghanistan.
He told me he was a Shiite Muslim, and had lived here for ten years.
He also told me that he never prayed five times a day as prescribed in the Koran because he was far too interested in making a good life for his wife and family. He felt he would not incur Allah’s wrath because he spent his time “doing good things”, and praying five times a day didn’t necessarily constitute that.
He went on to tell me that in Afghanistan things are not too good for the Hazaras. But then again one could wonder how many Afghanis are having a good time? Certainly not the women!
He asked me if I was Iranian. I was rather taken aback because I never thought I looked like an Iranian and frankly I don’t know what the “average Iranian” looks like!
“No I am not Iranian. Why do you ask?” I said.
“Because you have a moustache, and they are not so common here”, he replied.
This is not exactly accurate: many men here have moustaches, but never mind.
“So where are you from then?” he continued.
“I am, like you, an immigrant, but came here decades ago. In fact I came here after World War 2 with my parents who were Holocaust survivors. So you see I am Jewish.
“That is very interesting”, he replied. “In Afghanistan we were taught to hate Jews, even though most of us had never met one. But since I have come to this country I have realized that good people everywhere are the same.
I have changed my opinions. I really believe that more education makes a huge difference as to how one sees others and it is a pity that many people are never given this opportunity.
I no longer hate Jews or others for that matter. I have learned a lot. I do not believe in violence towards others. I just want to lead a happy life here with my wife and family”.
Needless to say I was rather impressed with his frank comments about his transformation and his attitudes.
By this time we had reached our destination. I got out of the cab, took my luggage and paid the driver. To my surprise, at this point, he shook my hand.
I know he shook it in friendship and with sincerity. I was deeply touched by his gesture. I couldn’t help but wonder what a difference a short ride in a cab can make”.
Editor’s Note: There is now only one Jew left in Afghanistan. This is possibly the most recent post on him. There is quite a lot of history of Jews in Afghanistan on this site for further reading.
June 30th, 2010 — 1389 Blog Mailbox, Afghanistan, Europe, Iraq, counterjihad, smiley, terrorism
Expansionist Islam is directly targeting Europe as a target for colonization and takeover. This is no secret; its spokesmen make no effort to hide their intentions.
From today’s mail:
By: Filip Dewinter
Published on : Cities against islamisation: Initiatives and in Dutch on Anjem Choudary: “België is zeer beloftevol. In de steden is een derde van de bevolking islamitisch: dat heb je nergens anders in Europa!”
“Belgium is a promising country. In the cities, one third of the population consists of muslims: that’s unique in Europe!”
During an interview with the Flemish magazine Humo, Anjem Choudary, the leader of the fundamentalist organisation Sharia4UK, announced that he would soon move to Belgium, because “Belgium is better than Great Britain.” “The laws there are less severe. In Belgium, I can say what I believe and do what I want.” According to Choudary, “Belgium is a promising country. If I’m not mistaken, one third of the population in cities as Antwerp and Brussels consists of muslims, and their number is constantly growing. That’s fabulous! That’s unique in Europe. Those people will no longer tolerate oppression.”
“I’ve been to neighbourhoods that are exclusively Islamic. It’s looking really good,” Choudary says. His intentions are clear as well: “We want the European people to understand that Islam is not just about spirituality, but it is a complete model of society, just like capitalism or communism (…) Islam is not a foreign invader: for centuries, we have controlled large parts of Europe. Spain, Portugal, the Balkan, parts of Switzerland and Austria,… That time will return.” Even more stunning is what Choudary thinks of terrorism: “There are two kinds of terrorists. The ones that kill innocent civilians, women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those are against life. And then there are the terrorists that fight against the enemies of God, the enemies of Allah. They are pro life. Those terrorists are no terrorists.”
It is clear for Vlaams Belang that Anjem Choudary cannot be welcome in Belgium. Choudary, whose organisation is prohibited in Great Britain, is an enemy of our European Society and has to be regarded as an undesirable person. Who calls for violence and who supports, praises and minimizes terrorism has to be refused entrance to our country.
Kind regards,
Hans Verreyt
Cities Against Islamisation
June 27th, 2010 — Afghanistan, Australia, Gramfan (author), Iraq, Islam, Sharia, clothing, counterjihad, women's issues
By Gramfan
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Feminism is defined thus:
Date: 1895
1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
2 : organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests
Who can ever forget the iconic cover of “The Female Eunuch”, by Germaine Greer?
It was everywhere when it was first published in 1970.
It was virtually the next best thing that had happened to women since Emmeline Pankhurst and her Suffragettes worked to get women the vote. So we were told.
And certainly you cannot deny the benefits and progress that have come from these two women, and the many others who have taken over the baton and changed the lives of millions.
Many of today’s other famous feminists are living very comfortably on self-earned wealth: fine with me, it’s well-deserved.
They have turned their politics and activism into income sources by working in journalism and other media.
People listen to them.
They have power, enormous power.
Camille Paglia is but one of many whose opinions are highly respected, and it is easy to see why.
Germaine Greer is still going on strongly about all kinds of issues.
Gloria Steinem is another member of this esteemed crowd and there are also very many not-so-famous feminists.
These feminists are in almost all professions from politics to pianists, parents and yes, prostitutes – the oldest “profession” of them all!
Then of course there are the other women in the world who don’t occupy this rarified space but who have decided, and yes, it is a decison now, to become home-makers and mothers. Some of them decide to resume successful careers and some chose not to.
But I wonder if we all really received so many benefits from all these feminists? Some of us didn’t.
With all that is good and liberating in human progress there are often side effects and “unintended consequences”. Sadly there are goals that have not, and will not be achieved.
Certainly many of us get equal work for equal pay nowadays but not all of us. Then there are those who chose to be wives and mothers, who are often scorned, or looked down upon, for their choices.
They had jobs, but feminists weren’t satisfied; every other woman had to get one too. So they opened fire on homemakers with a savagery that still echoes throughout our culture. A housewife is a “parasite,” [Betty] Frieden writes; such women are “less than fully human” insofar as they “have never known a commitment to an idea.”
And….
Housewives, not men, were the prey in feminism’s sights when Kate Millett decreed in 1969 that the family must go. Feminists do not speak for traditional women. Men cannot know this, however, unless we tell them how we feel about them, our children, and our role in the home.
Men must understand that our feelings towards them and our children are derided by feminists and have earned us their enmity. Whether or not this understanding garners men’s support, traditional women must defend ourselves because the feminist offensive is, most essentially, a breach of solidarity with us, a disavowel of the obligation to honor the Women’s Pact [that religious celibates, professional women, and homemakers respect each other] that women in the movement owed to us (Source).
Oh yes, this site has more. Feminism today goes on and on, intellectualising and re-defining feminism to the extent where it is almost too difficult to follow, let alone comprehend.
Quite frankly I am more interested in the practical day-to-day realities. I take the two definitions at face value and I note it doesn’t specify any nationality,political allegiance or religion.
- the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
- organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests
It is true a lot of this has happened in the West but rather than have Greer et al espouse “intellectual yada yada” I would rather see these women get militant again and do something to help their long-suffering sisters who live in Islamic countries, and who can but only dream of the lifestyle many of their famous feminist sisters enjoy.
All too often I see stories of honour killings, rape, female genital mutilation, subservience, domestic (and other) violence, forced marriage and utter discrimination perpetrated against women in Muslim countries and now also in the West.
Some women are getting hymenoplasties and buying repair kits before they marry.
Some are being recruited as homicide bombers.
One is punished for drinking beer, others face lashings or stonings.
An Australian Islamist tries to justify polygamy for everyone.
There are women who suffer terribly from acid attacks quite frequently.
Women in Gaza are not allowed to ride motorcycles, and Somali women are being scrutinised when wearing a bra!
Where’s Germaine when you need her, or would this make her happy I wonder?
And recently we have the on-going case of Rifka Bary who, as a minor, cannot chose her religion, and could become a victim of honorcide for apostasy. If she is sent back to her parents her fate is unknown. If she is allowed to remain alive the Islamists can deny honorcide even exists. This is happening in the USA now.
Yet in spite of these incidents feminists like Naomi Wolf manage to defend discrimination towards women in Islam and it then takes a compassionate feminist, Phyllis Chesler, who has actually lived in a Muslim country, to sort it out for her!
I know many feminists, and women in general, can be fearless fighters.
Code Pink, for example, have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan. True, they are an anti-war movement, but perhaps, just perhaps, they could have drawn some attention to the women who live and suffer in the war zones they are so adamantly against.
They could have easily added one more mission statement to what is on their website which mentions “social justice”.
Indeed, any other anti-war group could easily have done the same. I know they do not define themselves as feminists per se, but why not do more?
Could they not have met with Malalai Joya and offered some help?
Indeed, could not some of our famous feminists, female politicians and celebrities who spend so much time choking on their own venom over Sarah Palin have done the same? Are they afraid?
Or are they simply not interested in the women’s issues of today because they think it is another culture and therefore they shouldn’t interfere. They know it isn’t right but they can turn a blind eye to it, even as it happens under their noses, in their own countries.
It’s a cop-out.
The improvement of the condition of women in Islam is, to me, a far loftier goal than getting to wear trousers, getting equal pay, getting an abortion on demand, and having a man treat a woman more like a man! This was definitely an “unintended consequence” for me: trivial as it may seem.
I am much heartened by the fact that progress is being made, albeit in small steps.
Kuwati women in parliament refuse to wear the veil.
An Egyptian Cleric wants to ban burqas and other facial coverings.
Honor killing or honoricide is getting more attention.
Lubna Hussein got a lot of media attention over her sentence for wearing trousers.
Najwa Bin Laden and her son, Omar, wrote a book about their husband and father, Osama, and seem to be fearless about it. They have provided a fascinating insight into this man.
I think the real “feminist” heroines now are the ones who have literally put their lives on the line, not only for women in Islam but for the world in general.
Their goals and committment are what is truly deserving of our respect and support.
I am referring to women like Wafa Sultan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nonie Darwish, Supna Zaidi, Irshad Manji and women like them.
There is another one who would have possibly made it to this list: Neda Soltan.
Tragically she cannot, but in spirit she can inspire so much. I feel she deserves a mention among these brave, dedicated and fascinating women.
This is my challenge to todays feminists. Use your power again.
I am “just a Mom”. I do not have your platform and power.
This is indeed a most worthy cause to support and fight for.
With thanks to MuslimsAgainstSharia.
“Gramfan” has been blogging since 2002. She is “just a Mom” of two grown-up sons, and helps her husband of 38 years. She has occasionally written pieces for other ‘blogs, and posts comments. She now writes exclusively for Muslims Against Sharia.
February 15th, 2008 — Afghanistan, Atlas Shrugs, CAIR, Canada, Doctor Bulldog and Ronin, Ezra Levant, Islam, Michael Savage, Sharia, Turkey, Winds of Jihad, blog censorship, cartoon censorship, censorship, censorware, military, mobile web
Blogosphere Victory over Jihadist Mole
Hesham Islam, if you recall, is the Islamist mole who maneuvered his patron and mentor, Gordon England, into firing Steve Coughlin, the Pentagon’s only expert on Islamic law.
Hesham Islam’s ‘resume didn’t add up,’ official says
Thanx to Weasel Zippers
In a stunning turn of events, a high-level Muslim military aide blamed for costing an intelligence contractor his job will step down from his own Pentagon post, WND has learned.
Meanwhile, his rival, Maj. Stephen Coughlin, a leading authority on Islamic war doctrine, may stay in the Pentagon, moving from the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the office of the secretary of defense. However, sources say a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey is trying to block his new contract.
The top Pentagon aide, Egyptian-born Hesham H. Islam, came under a cloud of suspicion after reports raised doubt about his resume and contacts he had made with radical Muslims. He is expected to leave the government next month, officials say.
Islam and Coughlin recently quarreled over intelligence briefings Coughlin presented showing a close connection between the religion of Islam and terrorism. Coughlin’s contract with the Joint Chiefs, which ends in March, was not renewed.
The Power of the Bloggers:
But as a result of the ensuing firestorm that played out in the conservative press – led by Washington Times Pentagon reporter Bill Gertz – Islam was put under a microscope, and questions were raised regarding his background…
Hesham Islam has been in the new recently. Well, not really. He has been covered by conservative news sites like World Net Daily, NRO and The Washington Times but there’s been precious little MSM coverage outside of that. Bloggers have also covered the news.
I wrote about it here. You can catch other stories at 1389 Blog, Atlas Shrugs, The Jawa Report and elsewhere.
Hesham is a close friend, confidant and advisor to Gordon England. England is the #2 man at the Department of Defense. The problem is that Hesham is also something of a mystery. Despite a DoD published biographical profile which described his early life as akin to a Hollywood thriller, there was more to Islam than met the eye. It all came to light after Hesham Islam used his influence to punish Stephen Coughlin, possibly the best Islamic analyst at the Pentagon. Coughlin’s contract was not renewed after Islam described him as a “Christian zealot with a poison pen”. That statement came after Coughlin’s Pentagon reports became increasingly alarmist with respect to Islamic activity which precipitated an ideological conflict with Hesham Islam…
Blogosphere Victory for Ezra Levant
Ezra Levant has been prosecuted by the Alberta Human Rights Commission for having published the Muhammad cartoons.
Excellent! Chalk one up for freedom of speech. Also, Ezra Levant says he is going to sue Syed Soharwardy for the thousands of dollars in legal fees! Go get ‘em, Ezra!!!
Muslim leader drops Ezra Levant cartoon complaint
Western Standard publisher plans to launch a civil lawsuit
Graeme Morton, Canwest News Service February 12, 2008
National Post —CALGARY — Calgary Muslim leader Syed Soharwardy says he is withdrawing his Alberta Human Rights Commission complaint against former Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant.
The complaint was launched in February 2006, after the Western Standard and the Jewish Free Press reprinted cartoons from a Danish newspaper that many in the Muslim world felt insulted the prophet Muhammad. The cartoons sparked violent protests in a number of countries…
This guy is the greatest.
HUDNA! (hat tip Josef)
Today Syed Soharwardy told the Calgary Herald editorial board that he is withdrawing his human rights complaint against me that he filed two years ago when I published the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. (Seriously, if you haven’t done so, you’ve really got to look at his hand-scrawled complaint here. I know dyslexic ten-year-olds with ADD who are more coherent.)
If he’s really withdrawing the complaint, this is the first I’ve heard about it; and when I spoke with my lawyer this afternoon, the complaint was still proceeding against me.
It might be a lie — it wouldn’t be Soharwardy’s first, but then again, lying to an infidel newspaper isn’t immoral to someone like Soharwardy. It’s called taqqiyah.
But even if Soharwardy withdraws his complaint against me, an identical complaint filed by the Edmonton Muslim Council still proceeds.
So why would Soharwardy do this — and why now?
The answer lies in another Arabic word: hudna. A hudna isn’t a peace treaty. It’s a temporary truce called by a Muslim warrior who’s losing in battle. It’s pretty easy to understand how hudnas work by watching Israel fight Hamas and Hezbollah. Those two terrorist groups lob rockets and send suicide bombers into Israel for months; then, every once in a while, Israel deploys its military and flattens Hamas and Hezbollah, who then call for a hudna. The UN intervenes, saving Hamas and Hezbollah to fight another day. That’s a hudna: a tactical truce for a strategic advantage.
Soharwardy wants a hudna because he’s osing badly. Not financially: he hasn’t spent a penny to further the complaint against me — that has been done courtesy of Ed Stelmach’s government and the taxpayers of Alberta, to the tune of $500,000, I’d guess. Nor has Soharwardy had to spend hundreds of hours battling against me at the commission — Alberta government employees do that for him. It’s because over the past two years — and the past month in particular — Soharwardy has become known for what he is: an Islamofascist imam, who’s trying to bring Saudi values to Canada. Though I’m being pummelled in a kangaroo court, he’s being pummelled in the court of public opinion. He didn’t expect it, and he hates it.
He hates that hundreds of bloggers ridicule him. He hates that my video clips, in which I describe his illiberal nature, have been viewed almost 500,000 times. He hates that his own enemies within his mosque have taken advantage of this media coverage to shine a light of scrutiny on the way he runs his mosque - from his financial irregularities, to his abusive treatment of women.
There’s much more. Go!
What does the Afghan Constitution really say?
Does the new Constitution of Afghanistan actually mandate shari’a law – including the death penalty for blasphemy – or not?
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
February 11, 2008
(CNSNews.com) – The death penalty given to an Afghan journalist accused of insulting Islam has more to do with judges’ interpretation of the country’s laws than with a constitutional provision entrenching Islamic primacy, according to a leading scholar in Islamic law.
The Afghan government has reiterated its assurance that President Hamid Karzai will “find a just solution” to the case of Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh. A statement released by the Afghan Embassy in Washington said that this would be done “in accordance with Afghan law and our nation’s international obligations.”
A three-judge court in northern Afghanistan on January 22 sentenced the 23-year-old to death, after he was accused of distributing to students an online article questioning why Muslim men may have more than one spouse while women may not…
Broadcast Radio Talk Show Censorship
Silencing the truth tellers – run amok.
From my comrade Ron over at Rocket’s Brain:
Need I say more re the political hit and removal of the Mark Fuhrman Radio Show.
Mapleton LLC is the group that bought these stations from Citadel Broadcasting. A key factor in this sale was the termination of the Mark Fuhrman Show.
Not available on the Net yet but from the today’s S-R’s Business
Section:
S-R to broadcast on Mapleton Stations
The Spokesman-Review will begin producing radio news reports that will be broadcast over stations owned by Mapleton Communications LLC in
Spokane under an agreement announced Tuesday.
At least four daily
newscasts, plus a weekend talk show and a week-in-review program, will be broadcast from the Spokesman-Review building . . .
Isn’t it enough that it is estimated the Cowles Co control 80% of the local media in our market? As I write in a reply (draft form) to the new Spokesman-Review Ombudsman:
Because of the significant amount of property that the Cowles Co owns or controls in Downtown Spokane and along the Spokane River to the Idaho border, there inherently is a conflict of interest regarding its involvement in development projects and reporting by the S-R. A close analogy is the period genre movie Chinatown. River Park Square is only one of several projects where there is a similar pattern and practice in quasi public/private developments where the public was defrauded.
Friends of Mark Fuhrman Radio Show
The unofficial fan site of Mark Fuhrman Radio Show that was squelched in my opinion by the "usual suspects." This list is dedicated to pursuing among other things the River Park Square fraud et al in Spokane, WA and other related topics that you will never read about in the Spokesman-Review. Read regular updates from Fuhrman Show regulars, Larry Shook, Tim Conner, Cherie Rodgers, former Spokane Mayor John Talbott, Dick Adams, "Ron the Cop" and others.
nar9350@gmail.com
Recent posts at the blog Rockets Brain:
A complaint for the new S-R Ombudsman
To the Citizens of Spokane – Time to take a stand!
An Army of Davids Strikes – Spokane, WA
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing"
As many of you now know the Mark Fuhrman Radio Show was axed by KGA1510 AM (Citadel Broadcasting) in Spokane, WA.
. . .
I have information from a reliable source that the Fuhrman Show was in play from the very first contact by Mapleton representatives with Citadel about purchasing KGA. IMHO this was a "hit" plain and simple by a criminal enterprise to cover its ongoing robbery of the citizens of Spokane. This criminal enterprise has so thoroughly and systemically corrupted the political and governmental bodies in Spokane to a level I’ve never witnessed before in my entire thirty-five year law enforcement career. . .
Other News and Commentary:
February 1st, 2008 — Afghanistan, Islam, Sharia, activism, censorship, litigation jihad
Update:
Another blogosphere victory – keep the pressure on!
KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 6 (UPI) — A student journalist convicted of violating Islamic law in Afghanistan may escape the death penalty, a senior official in the Afghan government said.
An Afghan court found Sayed Pervez Kambaksh guilty of violating Islamic law for distributing information regarding women’s rights. Afghan law holds violations of Islamic law a federal offense and a court imposed a death penalty.
The Independent Wednesday quoted Najib Manalai with the Afghanistan Culture Ministry saying of the case, “I am not worried for his life. I’m sure Afghanistan’s justice system will find the best way to avoid this sentence.”
Mounting criticism of young journalist’s death sentence
By: IFEX
Posted on: 1/25/2008
SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris
**Updates IFEX alerts of 23, 17 and 15 January 2008**
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has appealed to President Hamid Karzai, currently attending the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, to quickly respond to the many appeals for clemency for Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, the young journalist who has been sentenced to death by a court in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of the northern province of Balkh.
“Kambakhsh’s death sentence was the outcome of an unfair trial orchestrated by local officials and extremist religious leaders,” the organisation said. “We urge President Karzai to take a swift and clear decision in this case, which threatens press freedom in his country.”
A petition for Kambakhsh’s release can be signed on the Reporters Without Borders website at: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25199
The United Nations, many European countries and the European parliament’s president have all condemned Kambakhsh’s arrest and death sentence.
Balkh provincial state prosecutor Hafizullah Khaliqyar has nonetheless dismissed the charges that the court violated human rights and press freedom, insisting that the verdict was given “in accordance with Islam’s values.”
The case is now supposed to go before an appeal court, but Balkh provincial judge Fazel Wahab said “only President Hamid Karzai is in a position to pardon Kambakhsh because he confessed to his crime.”
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, Kambakhsh’s brother, said the verdict was “unjust.” Kambakhsh was not represented by a lawyer and was forbidden to defend himself. It appears that Ibrahimi is the real target in this case. A respected journalist who has covered the political situation in the north for International War and Peace Reporting, an NGO, he has been getting death threats for months from the henchmen of local officials and the security forces have searched his home several times, warning him of more reprisals to come.
The culture and information ministry said it had no authority over the case because “neither Kambakhsh’s arrest nor conviction was linked to his journalistic activities” and therefore “it is not a press freedom violation.” The ministry nonetheless added that it was “confident that the Afghan judicial system will handle the issue of the death penalty with the utmost care and will render justice, especially as the lower court’s sentence is not final.”
Rahimullah Samandar, the head of the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association, firmly condemned the trial and verdict on the grounds that they violated the constitutional rights to a legal defence and to free speech. He vowed to appeal to national and international courts, and called on President Karzai to overturn the verdict.
The French foreign ministry has expressed outrage at the verdict. “France stresses that it is completely opposed to the death penalty,” the ministry said. “Freedom of expression must be guaranteed, respecting the principles and values enshrined in the Afghan constitution.”
The president of the European parliament called on the Afghan authorities on 18 January 2008 to release Kambakhsh.
For further information, contact Vincent Brossel, RSF, 47, rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 70, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: asia@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of RSF. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
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Copyright
mediaforfreedom.com
Save Sayed Kambakhsh
Sentenced to death for reading about women’s rights
A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet. The sentence is then upheld by the country’s rulers. This is Afghanistan – not in Taliban times but six years after “liberation” and under the democratic rule of the West’s ally Hamid Karzai.
The fate of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has led to domestic and international protests, and deepening concern about erosion of civil liberties in Afghanistan. He was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed.
That is terrible. We need to support Sayed Kambaksh – it is unthinkable that he should be executed merely for reading something.
Please sign the Independent petition for his release.
Posted by Yvonne
(h/t: Esra’a)
Petition for Afghan Journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh (Bumped)
Updated/Bumped 02/01/08: Come on now. Only 154 200 sigs [as of 12:30pm CST 2/1/08] and we’re the only blog running this? A man’s life hangs in the balance.
So sign the petition.
Call your public officials. Write about it.
Thanks to all those who have already signed or ran the petition. To the rest of you, Get with it people!
Who Is Perwiz Kambaksh?
Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh has been sentenced to death by the moderate regime in Afghanistan for blasphemy.
The Afghan Senate has just endorsed his death sentence.
Via AFP: KABUL (AFP) — Afghanistan’s senate has endorsed a death sentence handed down by a court to a reporter and journalism student accused of blasphemy, the parliament media office said.
The senate, called the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders), issued a statement Tuesday backing last week’s decision by the Balkh province primary court and criticising international pressure over the case, an official told AFP.
The court sentenced Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, to death for distributing articles downloaded from the Internet that were said to question the Koran and the role of women in Islam.
“The Meshrano Jirga endorses the Balkh primary court’s verdict on sentencing to death Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh who has been sentenced over insulting Islam and misinterpretation of Koran verses,” said the statement read to AFP.
The house also “strongly criticises those domestic and international organisations which are pressurising Afghanistan’s government and legal authorities when pursuing such people,” it said.
Remember, death sentences are often carried out very quickly in these countries. So time is very short and its critical that we act as quickly as possible. There are only a few legal steps left before he is executed
The death sentence must pass through various higher courts and be approved by Karzai, who has been called on by international and Afghan media rights organisations to intervene in the case.
The extremist Taliban movement that is waging an insurgency against Karzai’s administration has also called for “severe punishment” for Kambakhsh, whom they called the “new Salman Rushdie”….
A petition to try and help Mr. Kambakhsh has been started here. Please sign it and spread it as far as you can. Hopefully we can help get Mr. Kambakhsh a pardon or a reduced sentence.
Never mind the absolute idiocy of allowing Afghanistan to enact a constitution based on Sharia law. If our soldiers fought and died to liberate Afghanistan we should have required they enact a better constitution like we did with Japan. I’ve been very disappointed with the new constitutions for both Iraq and Afghanistan.
More on that here.
More:
January 15th, 2008 — Afghanistan, Australia, Gramfan (author), Sharia, censorship, counterjihad, mainstream media, terrorism
Australia’s new Labour PM, Kevin Rudd, faces his first international challenge
There has been (yet another) suicide-terrorist attack:
this time in Kabul.
It took place at the five star Serena Hotel and left seven people dead. I think “murdered” is a more appropriate word and it is unfortunate that the appropriate vocabulary isn’t used.
One wonders how de-sensitised we have become, and how frequently we miss the “spin” that certain words convey. As it turns out the Australian Embassy is located at this hotel. None of the embassy staff were hurt, thankfully.
PM Rudd strongly condemned this act of terrorism as one would expect of any leader.
He is currently re-appraising the security concerns for the embassy staff and other personnel. The Australian Ambassador lives there also. Mr Rudd was recently in Afghanistan – about three weeks ago.
Brigadier Andrew Nikolic puts it well:
“We have well-established procedures to account for our people in operational areas, allowing us to confirm quite quickly after the explosion that all Australian personnel were safe,” Defence spokesman Brigadier Andrew Nikolic said in a statement.
“This is just an example of the Taliban’s ruthless and indiscriminate actions, which threaten innocent people.”
He is not mincing his words.
Neither is our new Opposition leader, Dr Brendan Nelson:
“Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, who stayed in the hotel when he was defence minister, told Fairfax Radio Network there was still a lot of work to be done in Afghanistan.
“It just underlines the fact that we still have a long way to go in Afghanistan,” he said.
“Yes, we’ve made significant progress in the reconstruction of the country and fighting the Taliban, but these terrorists will stop at nothing to see that their evil dogma prevails.
“We have a responsibility for the next generation to make sure that we win and they don’t.”
This hotel seems to be the centre for most high-level events. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it makes an “excellent target” for terrorists.
Australia does not have many troops in Afghanistan. There are currently 970 and most of them are not in Kabul. There are about 500 in Iraq. We do not have a large military and this is why we need the alliance of the USA – a fact many people, mostly the left-wingers, unfortunately forget. (It should be remembered, however, that our national population is less than that of California).
Whilst PM Rudd has stated he is committed to the reconstruction of Afghanistan he has no intention to increase troops numbers. He has also said [no link available] that the whole situation will be reviewed further.
Should the situation in Afghanistan deteriorate – and hopefully it won’t – it will be interesting to see how Rudd, the former diplomat, reacts.
Right now he also has another international headache: Japanese whalers.
The Federal Court has ordered a Japanese whaling company to stop killing whales in Australian Antarctic waters.
Guess which story got the most coverage?
Additional observations by 1389:
Censorship rears up its ugly head again
Brave, new, democratic Afghanistan: Journalist faces blasphemy charges
“Kambakhsh was accused of mocking Islam and the holy book, the Koran, and for distributing an article which said Prophet Mohammad had ignored the rights of women.”
Whatever Kambakhsh’s intent was, cases like this demonstrate the sort of resistance any potential Islamic reformers face. The simple act of acknowledging that Islamic texts, teachings, and the example of Muhammad himself are problematic with respect to women’s rights and human rights brings threats — and repercussions under shari’a law — such as those which Kambakhsh faces. And of course, U.S. and other coalition forces are putting their lives on the line in that same country. For this?
Sharia Alert. “Afghan journalists seek release of colleague,” from Reuters…
Read it all, including the comments.
Speaking of comments, this one says it all:
From the Afghanistan Consitution:
Article Thirty-Four
Ch. 2, Art. 13
Freedom of expression is inviolable.
Every Afghan has the right to express his thought through speech, writing, or illustration or other means, by observing the provisions stated in this Constitution.
Every Afghan has the right to print or publish topics without prior submission to the state authorities in accordance with the law.
***
And what will Victory in Afghanistan look like? When there is a free, stable and independent Afghanistan? How long will Afghanistan remain “free” while Article 34 is spat upon because Article 3 will always trump it?***
Article Three
Ch. 1, Art. 3
In Afghanistan, no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.
Posted by: USorThem AlEBaba at January 13, 2008 10:59 AM
This is a battle of ideology
It is time to re-think what we are trying to accomplish, both in Afghanistan and in other battlegrounds of the counterjihad.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:12.
More:
