Cherie Down Under but certainly not down in the mouth!

Not all outgoing leaders are spent forces. It was in his last days in office that Ronald Reagan won the Cold War - arguably the greatest political achievement, as measured by its contribution to human happiness, of the 20th century. No one watching Reagan in Berlin as he demanded "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall" would have seen a lame duck.

Tony Blair, however, is no Reagan. As his end approaches, he must be wondering where his opportunities went. It was no mean achievement to win three consecutive elections; but what did he do with it? Mr Blair's position after 1997 was the strongest of any prime minister in 100 years. He had total control of his party, an unassailable Commons majority, a broken opposition and the goodwill of the country. Read the rest here: Blair has reached his Major moment

Mark

Abdul Rahman set to be freed

An Afghan man charged with converting to Christianity is set to be released from jail while his case is reviewed.

Abdul Rahman's case has been handed back to the attorney-general because of gaps in the evidence, an official said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that while the attorney-general looked at the papers, Mr Rahman did not need to be detained. Read the rest here: Afghan convert set to be freed

Mark

Pope appeals for clemency for Abdul Rahman

Pope Benedict XVI has asked the Afghan president to show clemency towards a man facing possible execution for converting to Christianity.

Abdul Rahman has been charged with apostasy, a religious offence.

The Vatican said the pontiff had appealed to President Hamid Karzai to respect human rights guarantees enshrined in the Afghan constitution. Read the rest here: Pope makes Afghan convert appeal

And this from Reuters

Mark

Blair says Koran is progressive and ahead of its time

There have been some who have doubted that Tony Blair could have said the things he did about the Koran being a progressive book, one ahead of its time. To put such doubts to rest, I have placed a link to the whole speech made to the Foreign Policy Centre on Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

"... This terrorism will not be defeated until its ideas, the poison that warps the minds of its adherents, are confronted, head-on, in their essence, at their core. By this I don't mean telling them terrorism is wrong.

I mean telling them their attitude to America is absurd; their concept of governance pre-feudal; their positions on women and other faiths, reactionary and regressive; and then since only by Muslims can this be done: standing up for and supporting those within Islam who will tell them all of this but more, namely that the extremist view of Islam is not just theologically backward but completely contrary to the spirit and teaching of the Koran.

"The most remarkable thing about reading the Koran - in so far as it can be truly translated from the original Arabic - is to understand how progressive it is. I speak with great diffidence and humility as a member of another faith. I am not qualified to make any judgements.

But as an outsider, the Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, rather as reformers attempted with the Christian Church centuries later. It is inclusive. It extols science and knowledge and abhors superstition. It is practical and way ahead of its time in attitudes to marriage, women and governance.

Under its guidance, the spread of Islam and its dominance over previously Christian or pagan lands was breathtaking. Over centuries it founded an Empire, leading the world in discovery, art and culture. The standard bearers of tolerance in the early Middle Ages were far more likely to be found in Muslim lands than in Christian ..." Read the whole speech here: Tony Blair's speech to the Foreign Policy centre

Mark

Blair praises the Qur'an

I first came across this item on Robert Spencer's excellent website, Dhimmi Watch this morning. The original article is to be found here: The Qur'an "is practical and way ahead of its time".

The item is not for the weak of stomach!



"The most remarkable thing about reading the Koran – in so far as it can be truly translated from the original Arabic - is to understand how progressive it is ... I speak with great diffidence and humility as a member of another faith. I am not qualified to make any judgements. But as an outsider, the Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, ..."

Really, Tony? Is this why apostates like Abdul Rahman have to be put to death under Islamic, or Shariah, law? Is this what you call progressive? Is this what you call 'being ahead of its time'?

Mark

Petition for Abdul Rahman

A kind visitor, 'Very concerned', brought this petition to my attention this morning. I have already signed it. Perhaps YOU, too, would be so kind as to sign it to help this man. He's in terrible distress. This is the least we can do to help him get released.

Of course, our thoughts and prayers are with him at this time.

The Petition

Mark

Talk of release

The latest on the fate of Abdul Rahman...

Afghan government officials are meeting in the capital, Kabul, to discuss the fate of a man facing execution for converting to Christianity.

Earlier, a senior government official told the BBC that the man, Abdul Rahman, "could be released soon".

Mr Rahman is on trial charged with rejecting Islam. He could be executed under Sharia law unless he reconverts.

Read it all here: Afghan convert 'may be released'

Karzai 'gives pledge' to save Christian convert from execution

Jack is a man of straw when Muslims talk of killing converts

Mark

Test of commitment to democracy



Our prayers should be with this poor, poor man:

Mood hardens against Christian convert

Mark

A message to all my visitors

Earlier this week, I started having problems with this website. The result: The template will not allow me to make any changes. All I can do is post a new article or blog, and post and receive comments. So, for the time being, all links will have to remain as they are.

On top of this, my browser, Internet Explorer, is no longer supported by Microsoft for Apple computers. It as been so since January 31, 2006. My browser is no longer functioning as it should and, as I use the Classic operating system, not Mac OS X, I am limited in my choice of browsers to replace IE.

I am working to correct this matter as soon as possible. I ask you for your patience while this problem is being corrected.

Mark

The chic jilbab goes oh so sportif

It's a sign of the times, folks! But it was bound to come. It really was. The jilbab is now to liberate the Muslimah! Nike have come up with ever such an exciting range of colourful jilbabs for the gay (old-fashioned meaning!), liberated and lithesome, bejilbabbed ladies of a certain persuasion. Thoroughly modern Farida!

Jilbabs for the daring! Look out for them! Coming soon to sports shops near YOU! Don't miss out!



Girls in a refugee camp in northern Kenya have started playing volleyball for the first time thanks to specially designed sportswear for Muslim women.

Some Muslims believe girls should wear a jilbab - a traditional Islamic dress - which hampers agility.

Sports wear company Nike worked with the girls to find something appropriate and presented the designs last year.

Initially camp leaders renounced the outfits, but the girls have now convinced them of their suitability.

Read it all here: Muslim girls don sporting jilbabs

Mark

Hush Shabina!

Two wasted years of court battles, and God knows how much taxpayers' money! Are we going to continue to finance this jihad against ourselves?

From The Telegraph today:



Common sense wins

The Shabina Begum case never had anything to do with modesty

Mark

Britain toughens its stance on Iran

BRITAIN is pressing for a United Nations resolution that would open the way for punitive sanctions and even the use of force if Iran were to refuse to halt its controversial nuclear programme.

In a confidential letter obtained by The Times, a leading British diplomat outlines a strategy for winning Russian and Chinese support by early summer for a so-called Chapter VII resolution demanding that Iran cease its nuclear activities.

Read it all here: Britain pushes for military option to restrain Tehran

Mark

Where's the money going to come from to police all this?

A terrorist cell allegedly linked to al-Qa'eda planned to blow up pubs, nightclubs and trains in a bombing campaign in Britain, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.


Some of the seven-strong gang, all British citizens, had trained at terrorist camps in Pakistan where they hatched the plot after practising causing explosions with ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder, it was alleged.

The plot to kill and maim is said to have involved more than half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertiliser and they planned to smuggle detonators into Britain through Belgium hidden in small radios, the court was told.

Read it all here: Terror plot aginst pubs and trains

Mark

Anti-dhimmitude in Britain and a kick in the teeth for Cherie Blair

Cherie Blair's defence of Shabina Begum's 'right' to wear her jilbab to school is in tatters. The Law Lords have overturned the court ruling last year which had been in her favour.

It is a disgrace that taxpayers' money should be wasted on such frivolous cases in courts which are already chock-full with more important issues. This from The Times today:


Photo by Richard Pohle

The Law Lords today overturned a court ruling that a teenager's human rights were violated when she was banned from wearing full-length Islamic dress at school.

In a ruling which many teachers will see as reaffirming the authority of schools and headteachers, the House of Lords allowed an appeal by Denbigh High School in Luton, Bedfordshire.

Lord Bingham said the school was fully justified in acting as it did when it sent Shabina Begum, then 14, home for refusing to adhere to the school uniform policy.

Read it all here: Law Lords overturn school uniform 'jilbab' ruling

Mark

Camilla in Egypt

Mark

More evidence of the 'New Dark Age'

A man is being held by German police after walking into a petrol station with his wife's severed head in a bag.

The 40-year-old man, of Turkish origin, was covered in blood when he approached the night counter at about 0400 GMT and asked the attendant to call the police.

Hamburg police said officers found the head in a bag on a grass verge and arrested the man, who was in a confused state and admitted killing his wife.

The body of the woman, aged 39, was found in their nearby flat.

Read it all: Man found with wife's head in bag

Mark

Civil War in Iraq?

Iyad Allawi believes that civil war has already begun in Iraq! This from The Times today:

IYAD ALLAWI, Iraq’s former Prime Minister, chose the third anniversary of the invasion yesterday to say that he believed that civil war had begun.

John Reid, the Defence Secretary, spent the day in Iraq insisting that it had not, and that Iraqis were bravely resisting terrorist efforts to provoke them into a destructive sectarian conflict.

Mr Reid, who shuttled around southern Iraq in a helicopter, visiting British troops, appeared surprised that Mr Allawi had issued the warning a day after the two had met in Baghdad to discuss the political situation.

Three months after December’s election, a new government has not been formed, despite alarming levels of sectarian violence. The violence has thrown a long shadow over the anniversary, with Iraqis complaining bitterly of a terrible security situation, a continuing political vacuum, dire power and fuel shortages, economic problems and a growing fear of civil war.

Mr Allawi told the BBC that civil war had already started and that violence could spread to Europe and the US. He said: "We are losing each day an average 50 to 60 people throughout the country, if not more. If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is." As he made his comments yesterday, 12 Iraqis were killed in insurgent attacks and a US raid north of Baghdad. Four bodies turned up in a sewage plant and Shia pilgrims were attacked with a mortar.

Read the article here: Three years after Iraq invasion leader says civil war has begun And this one from The Telegraph Iraq is now 'in a terrible civil war', admits Allawi

Mark

Darkness to fall on Britain!

In an excellent article in today's Daily Telegraph, Philip Johnston shows the stupidity that has befallen the British, and European, lawmakers. One can only ask oneself one question: Is this a process to inure the british (and Europeans) to the Draconian laws that will inevitably be put in place once Europe becomes Eurabia?...

For the greatest part of human existence, we have lived our nights in almost total darkness, brightened occasionally by a full moon or the glow of a fire.

We came to fear and distrust the dark and the dangers it shrouded: bandits or wild animals in the countryside; footpads in the towns.

Only in the past 200 years have our cities been properly lit, from the introduction of gas lamps to London in 1807 through to the all-encompassing glare that can now be seen from miles away. Those of us who live in big towns rarely see the night sky any more, but its disappearance was a trade-off for safety and ease of movement.

Over many years, astronomers and groups such as the Campaign for Dark Skies have agitated against this "light pollution", at which our forefathers would have marvelled, and have pressed for new legislation to stop it. From April 6, it will duly arrive.

Light pollution will become a statutory nuisance for the first time and refusal to obey an order to dim an offending illumination is to be a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of up to £50,000. Read it all here: Benighted laws that oppress us all

Mark

Turkey: Too conservative to join the liberal EU?

Did we really need a poll to inform us that the Turks are conservative? Isn't it ludicrous even to think of allowing Turkey to accede to the EU?

This from the BBC:

An opinion poll in Turkey has revealed deep conservatism on all matters concerning the family and sexuality.

The survey from across the country showed a strong intolerance towards homosexuality and co-habitation.

The survey, which polled over-18s of both sexes in 15 regions, also revealed a considerable fall in support for European Union membership.

There were also signs of strong scepticism about some of the EU's intentions towards Turkey.

You would not know it from a night out in cosmopolitan Istanbul, but it seems two-thirds of Turks across the country disapprove of people who go to bars and nightclubs.

Even more are apparently uncomfortable with homosexuality. And 56% say they disapprove of men who wear earrings.

Read it all here: Poll reveals Turkish conservatism

Mark

Major US air assault in Iraq underway

The US military has launched its biggest air offensive in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

A military statement said that the operation, which involves more than 50 aircraft and 1,500 Iraqi and US troops, is targeting suspected insurgents operating near the town of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Two-hundred tactical vehicles are also taking part in the operation.

The US military says it has already captured a number of weapons caches, containing artillery shells, explosives, bomb-making materials, and military uniforms.

There is no immediate word on casualties.

The US statement said "Operation Swarmer" was launched this morning and is "expected to continue for several days as a thorough search of the objective area is conducted."

Read it all in The Daily Telegraph here: US launches massive Iraq air assault

Und von der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung:

Luft- und Bodentruppen im Einsatz

Die amerikanische Armee hat im Irak nach eigenen Angaben den grössten Luftangriff seit ihrem Einmarsch in den Golfstaat vor gut drei Jahren gestartet. Mehr als 50 Maschinen sowie 1500 irakische und amerikanische Soldaten seien an der Offensive beteiligt.

Den Artikel im ganzen hier lesen: USA starten im Irak grösste Offensive seit Einmarsch

Mark

Saudi Billionaire who buys up Western assets opts for Saudi stocks this time

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal continues to buy up the world, but this time in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam, the 'religion of love and peace and tolerance'! The West can breathe a sigh of relief for now, but not for long! Rest assured: His spending spree in the West will continue apace. At the rate these people are buying up our assets, will we own anything of value in the West for much longer? We should, perhaps, note the old saying, He who pays the piper calls the tune!

Saudi stocks have rebounded after Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced he would invest significantly in the Saudi bourse.

Kingdom Holding, the Prince's business, could invest up to 10bn Riyals ($2.7bn)(£1.54bn) in the near future.

Stocks across the region had been at an 11 month low, but rose by over 4% after Prince Alwaleed's statements.

Read it all! Billionaire boosts Saudi stocks

Mark

A recent email exchange with a Pakistani

Since my article, Islam: The enemy of democracy and freedom appeared on FaithFreedom.org, I have been locked in an exchange with a Muslim from Pakistan. We'll call him Abdullah. He asks me why I am against Islam! I should like to share my last two emails to him with you. You can guess what is being discussed from the emails.

The exchange between us pulls no punches...

Dear Mr. Abdullah,

Thank you for your email, received this morning.

You accuse me of being biassed. Mr. Fayyaz, I can assure you that I am NOT. I can understand why you think I might be, because you have been raised in an Islamic country. Islam is your religion, and children in your country are raised to believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. Islam is believed by Muslims to be 'ad din al kamal'. Well, that's an opinion; and it's your opinion, no doubt. We Christians, naturally, do not subscribe to this view. How could we? We would have to convert to Islam were we to believe that.

Can you assure me that you are not biassed? I have yet to meet a Muslim who isn't! After all is said and done, isn't this one of the reasons why Muslims believe in the jihad, or holy war, in a constant struggle to bring Islam to all parts of the non-Islamized world? To Dar ul Harb? To the lands of the 'Kuffar'?

You say that poverty, illiteracy and ignorance are the root causes of all the violence perpetrated by Muslims throughout the world. I disagree. And strongly! The jihad is the root cause of all the violence. You can hardly suggest that Osama bin Laden is poor, illiterate or ignorant, can you? On the contrary, he is an extremely rich man, and he is using his riches to wreak havoc everywhere in the world!

Moreover, it is Wahhabi ideology which is causing much of the trouble. Wahhabi ideology, as you know, is not only puritanical, but expansive in its aims, too. There are very many Wahhabis, especially in Saudi Arabia, who are neither poor, nor illiterate, nor ignorant.

You say that you are a Pakistani Muslim, and that you do not have anything against anybody of any religion. I am so glad to learn that. I also believe you. However, the same cannot be said for many of your countrymen. Look at how Christians are being persecuted in your country. Churches are often burned down, and Christians are killed in the name of Islam.

I do not absolve the West of all responsibility. As you rightly say, Westerners also have to shoulder some of the blame. But not for terrorism! If the West is to blame for anything, then it is to blame for allowing - out of ignorance of the nature of the faith - Islam to grow in the West. It has allowed the darkness of Islam to penetrate our more enlightened countries. This is indeed reprehensible.

You say that whatever is happening around the world is due to politics. I agree with you. But you do realize that it is the politics of Islam which has to shoulder the lion's share of the blame. And, as you know, Islam understands no separation of politics and religion; so, wherever there are Muslims, Islamic politics comes into play. This is the sad part.

With many thanks for your thoughts.

Kind regards,

Mark Alexander

A New Dark Age Is Dawning

Then there was this email this morning:

Dear Mr. Abdullah,

For your information, I have lived in the Middle East for MANY years. I KNOW what the REAL Islam is: It's harsh and brutal, fanatical and hypocritical, loveless and merciless! Witness the beheadings, the stonings to death, and the amputations.

You say the vast majority of Muslims have nothing against Christianity. Then why do they continue to call us infidels in such a derogatory way? That word is a disgusting word, since it has all kinds of overtones and connotations for Muslims. It means also that non-believers are unclean! It is an insult indeed!

Further, why do your moderate brothers and sisters not speak up against the atrocities such as the beheadings of 'infidels' committed in the name of your faith? Personally, I should be ashamed to call myself a Muslim right now! No right thinking, reasonable person could ever feel comfortable as a Muslim today with all these disgusting crimes being committed in its name!

Your people go out onto the streets to demonstrate against the cartoons because their 'feelings have been hurt'. So what? What about our feelings being hurt when you call us disgusting names? What about the feelings of the families being hurt when Muslims kill and maim innocent people in their bombings? Do you see Westerners out on the streets demonstrating? No! We have a more mature outlook! And why don't Muslims go out onto the streets to demonstrate against the beheadings and suicide bombings committed in the name of Islam?

Be sure of this: If Islam were ever to rule the world, the world would be plunged into DARKNESS! A pall has already come over the world because of your faith. Your faith is joyless and bloody and cruel!

If you wish to practise a faith, then may I suggest that you find another one? Perhaps you could find the love of Jesus. Accept Him as your Saviour and Redeemer. After all, Jesus brought only love into the world. He was no warrior, no politician, and no marauder. He came to save our souls. What did Muhammad come for?

If Muslims started living like reasonable people, then others would start treating them in a reasonable manner. Sadly, Islam doesn't allow for this. To Muslims, it is far more important to spread the word and Islamize the world.

One can only fear for the future peace and security of this world!

May you find the love of Jesus!

Sincerely,

Mark Alexander
Author: The Dawning of a New Dark Age

A New Dark Age Is Dawning
Book in Focus 1
Book in Focus 2
Book in Focus 3

Boycotting the Fruit of the Infidel Mind

To the Muslims of the world, who have participated in, or endorse by their silence, the protests concerning the cartoons depicting Muhammed bin Abdullah, and who are engaging in the boycott of Danish goods, this is an appeal from the heart: Please, please demonstrate your rationality and capacity for logical consistency. After all, it is this capacity for rationality, together with the refusal to fall into the inconsistency of a double standard of morality, which separates us humans both from animals, and your average bully, despot, tyrant and psychopath.

Therefore, all the fruits of the enquiring human mind, (which accepts no authority beyond what can be proven by rational means to be true) should also be boycotted. So Muslims of the world, unite and boycott western goods invented and developed by the infidel mind - for example, no more flying in aeroplanes - try instead to locate that horse with the face of a woman, which you believe, Muhammad bin Abdullah used to visit, his 7th layer of heaven. No more microwaves and gas cookers and air conditioners - use the heat of firewood, and hand held fans - they were good enough for your Prophet, and his Allah in His Infinite Wisdom, did not think otherwise. You don’t like images of the human form? No more TV, DVD’s and whatnots. No more phones and cameras too. Cars, motorbikes, bicycles - why do you use them when your Allah’s Prophet got by on camels? Even in emergency situations, when he was battling the infidels of that time, he did not call for a Ferrari car to get him out of trouble, or machine guns to see to the Kaffirs. Newspapers and the internet for the dissemination of facts, ideas, and information and opinion? Well, your Prophet and his God found writing on bones, leaves and bits of parchment good enough. Finally, to the rich Muslim intellectuals and other such elites, don’t come to the West for medical treatments using the latest infra scan and phamaceutical developments - instead, stick to black mustard seeds as recommended for all maladies by your esteemed and learned Prophet.

In the name not of beneficence or mercy but in the name of the defining characteristic of homo sapiens, demonstrate your rationality and capacity for logical consistency.

If you find that you can’t live very well without the material fruit of infidel minds then please, do not have tantrums and issue threats concerning their moral, spiritual and aesthetic sensibilities either. Instead, that time could be used more wisely, to ponder on why, for centuries, Muslim minds have contributed virtually nothing to Humanity’s progress.

©Azadi-Ruh-Alam

Email Azadi-Ruh-Alam

Is Britain about to break relations with Palestine?

Even before the dramatic events at Jericho prison in the West Bank, Britain's support for the Palestinian Authority had been strained by Gaza's gradual descent into chaos before the Palestinian elections and by the election of the extremist Hamas.

Kidnappings - including the abduction of the British aid worker Kate Burton and her parents in December - blood feuds and violence linked to the non-payment of wages meant the number of international staff remaining in Gaza had declined to only a few dozen in the past year.

Read the whole story from The Independent here: British relations with Palestinians at breaking point

Mark

A reader's viewpoint

In response to my article, Islamism: A concept invented by the infidel for the infidel!, I received this wonderful email this morning. I would like to share it with you.

Hi Mark,

I was impressed by your blog, Islamism: A Concept invented by the infidel for the infidel!. Well done. Congratulations.

You have taken the discussion of the Muslim, Islamic, threat further from an incoherent expression of disgust at - or the simple acknowledgment of - their repeated atrocities. Of course, the mainstream media lacks even this simple, truthful acknowledgment. Your forward step is in your pointing out the irrefutable truth of euphemism on the subject of Islam. Many blogs also allude to it, but none, as far as I know, have dealt with it in the seriousness you have.

When the consequences of any logic is grave, civilised human beings are reluctant to agree with such logic unless it is unequivocally and conclusively established. The truth of the Islam ideology is certainly very grave. An acceptance of this truth of Islam is full of foreboding to all persons who do not share in this destructive ideology.

From the countries in the Far East to the Americas, from the Scandinavian countries to the tip of Africa, all the peoples are hesitant to contemplate this one fact. The consequences are far too dire by conceding it. In light of this truth also, another important step suggests itself.

The truth of Islam may be better admitted by all when all the peoples, of whom mainstream media commentators are but a part, will see that facing up to this malignant force is better than continuing our illusions.

In short, yes, of course, the atrocities committed by the followers of Islam has to be broadcast again and again - as the ReligionOfPeace.com does; of course, such atrocities must not be dismissed as aberrations but the general rule - as JihadWatch.org does; and, of course, the truth must be faced - just as you have done; but a voice must also go out that emphasises the much worse outcome of continued denial.

This is no Star Wars. Ours is not a drama with superhuman heroes. Yet there is a way to face up to and defeat the forces that threaten all civilized aims of life. This way lies in all the peoples of the world uniting their efforts against Islam and all that it stands for.

An argument has to be made that reveals this truth: that we will all fall singly or attain victory over Islam together. This unity of purpose is needed. Whilst there remain any significant and vocal apologists for Islam among the non-Muslims, this unity will to elude us. Whilst non-Muslims are content to delude themselves in transitory material distractions - from toys to cars, from Hollywood to Bollywood, from individual to corporate greed - this unity will elude us. Yet, it is in unity only that the Islam ideology will be challenged and defeated.

Media commentators, politicians and the general public have to wake up from the illusion of comfortable world. The values that we aspire for will have to be fought for. By our minds, words and deeds.

Sir, I commend your efforts.

Regards,

Hari

And here is the original article:

Islamism’: A Concept invented by the infidel for the infidel!

The mantra, ‘Islamism’, is repeated time and time again, over and over, ad nauseum, ad infinitum, especially by those who are in denial: ‘Islamism’, they say, not Islam, is the source of our problems. It is what feeds the perpetrators of Islamic terror.

The liberal media, in particular, love this word, since it allows them to talk about the problems we face with Islam, without causing offence to Muslims throughout the world. It creates a distinction between good, practising Muslims and their extremist co-religionists. Alas, it is a false distinction!

Our politicians love the term, because it allows them to duck the obvious need to come to terms with the fact that a major world religion – Islam – is out to destroy our way of life, out to destroy our social structure, out to destroy our civilization! In short, ‘Islamism’ is a concept dreamt up by the infidel for the infidel. It lets him off the hook!

The fact of the matter, however, is that the use of the term ‘Islamism’ obfuscates the true problem we face, namely the growth of Islam in the West, and therefore the increasing Islamization of our societies and our civilization. It also obfuscates the causes of the jihad itself – the tool of the Muslim to bring Islam to the rest of the world, the tool to turn Dar ul Harb, the House of War, into Dar ul Islam, the House of Islam, the tool to Islamize the regions of the world which have yet to be Islamized, to Islamize the regions of the world still living, in their opinion, in a state of moral chaos, in a state of pre-Islamic disorder, otherwise known among Muslims as a state of Jahiliyyah.

Our real problem is Islam, the real thing. Muslims do not use the term ‘Islamism’. The concept is unknown to them, other than as a term used by the infidel to try and make sense of the aggressive nature of their faith.

Let us, for goodness' sake, think clearly, for without clear-thinking, we shall never overcome this grave threat to our civilization. To talk of 'Islamism', and make a false distinction between that and Islam, is like making a false distinction between Christianity and 'Christianism'! We don't do this with Christianity, so why should we do it with Islam?

The jihad is fed by nothing other than Islam itself! That means to say that it is fed by the Qur'an, the teachings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (Ahadith), and the life of the Prophet (As Sirah). These are the sources of the problem - die Quelle des Übels, la source du mal! It is what so-called 'Islamism' is based on! ‘Islamism', if it is anything at all, is not a source, but the result of taking the religion of Islam literally; and that's what all true Muslims do anyway.

The Jihad is a duty resting on the shoulders of all Muslims. It is a must, or wajib. It is an integral part of the faith of Islam. One cannot be a true, practising Muslim and reject the call to Jihad, or holy war.

To accept this term ‘Islamism’ is tantamount to playing with the meaning of words; to use the term is tantamount to engaging in semantics! One is engaging in verbal acrobatics; one is contorting the brain!

Our problem is Islam. Islam, based as it is on al Qur’an, Ahadith, and as Sirah, is the source of the Jihad, and inspiration for it. Nothing else!

We must come to terms with this fact if we ever wish to get a handle on the problems facing us. To talk in riddles helps not a soul, and it certainly doesn’t help the war effort!

©Mark Alexander

Our stalwart 'friends' in the Gulf!

This report from the BBC shows us the level of co-operation the US, the EU, and the rest of the West can depend on from our 'friends and allies' in Saudi Arabia...

Hamas has claimed "excellent" Saudi backing for the Palestinian Authority amid US and EU threats to cut funding after the group's election win.

A delegation of Hamas leaders has been visiting Riyadh as part of a tour to enlist financial and political support for the new government it is forming.

Saudi Arabia has traditionally been one of the biggest financial backers of the Palestinian Authority.

Read it all here: Hamas claims strong Saudi support

Mark

Is Denmark now opting for dhimmitude, too?

Denmark is hosting a conference aimed at improving its ties with the Muslim world, after the uproar over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

The talks are being attended by Muslim and Christian scholars and clerics, including a popular Egyptian preacher.

Read it all here: Danes in bid to boost Muslim ties

Mark

Civil War in Iraq?

America may be terrified of admitting it, but the Shia-Sunni violence has reached a new pitch

CIVIL WAR occurs when the last vestige of civility collapses. It is the merciless, intimate, internecine “war of every man against every man” imagined by Thomas Hobbes: “No arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear of danger and violent death.” Civil war is the war of brother against brother, neighbour against neighbour, tribe against tribe. It often begins in ideology or ethnicity, but it is sustained by vengeance, feud building on feud, in a cycle of murder that can last for generations.

We think of civil war as the ultimate barbarity, yet it is the rule more than the exception in recent history. Over the past half century, about 3.3 million people have died in battle as a result of wars between countries, each lasting on average for three months; during the same period, about 16 million people perished in 127 civil wars, with an average duration of six years. Civil war is far more widespread, bloody and sustained than war itself.

In Britain and America, civil war comes freighted with historical resonance, the very antithesis of a society that is stable and free. Britain’s parliamentary democracy was profoundly shaped by a gruesome civil war; America’s ideal of nationhood was founded on the resolution of a civil war that nearly shattered the country.

For months, we have heard that Iraq is on the brink, the cusp, the verge of civil war. But the ugly truth is that by every practical definition — historical, numerical and political — Iraq is already in the grip of a civil war.

Read the whole article in The Times: The brutal truth: it's civil war

Mark

A letter from a reader

I’d like to share with you all this very interesting email* I received from a reader – we’ll call here Christine to preserve her identity – only yesterday, as a response to my article, Islam: The enemy of democracy and freedom! which appears on FaithFreedom.org.

Hello Mark,

Your view on Islam and the West is very precise. I could not agree with you more. I am married to an Egyptian Muslim. I am, and will always be, a devoted Christian.

One thing is true about MODERATE Muslims...

My husband has never read the Quran. Ask him about Jesus or about Mohammad and he knows very little, only what he has been taught by his parents and his role-playing. I have studied Islam, and have read the Quran and much of the Hadith. It’s extremely alarming. I cannot believe how little we know about this enemy of ours! I think a lot of the people here in the US are brainwashed by President Bush that Islam is a peaceful religion. Little do they now that it is a cult!

I have learned that a Muslim is a solider for Allah and will never believe in our way of life. Yes, any person that believes in the Quran and Hadith, etc., is, or has the potential to be, a terrorist! They come in all sizes, colors and genders! Because they are willing to deceive and lie and cheat, they are the most dangerous of the human species! I care about the world and every day I pray that we open our eyes and stop sucking up to these people. We are pathetic. Is it all for money?

Have we forgotten what humanity is, or how to feel compassion for our fellow brother and sister? Once, I asked my husband a question after 9/11: Could you strap on a bomb to yourself and detonate it? His reply: Only if I had to! Those words stay with me always. I shall never forget the potential of a moderate Muslim to crack.

I believe that the fuss over those cartoons to be a way of educating the West before we will all be having to pray 5 times a day, before our women will be enslaved. Wait till the world religion is Islam! If we do nothing, it will happen. I once read an article by a Muslim politician. He claimed that Muslims are great in number here in the US, and if Muslims had more knowledge of the political system, they could take over the US permanently! He kids us not!

We must inform the public about this impending disaster. I beg my husband to read this Quran of his, which he knows nothing about. So he knows nothing of the evil in it. Only that it’s God’s last word and that Mohammad is the prophet to the world as they understand it.

I do not hate anyone but no-one has the right to take another's life and be the judge and jury. Do we retaliate when our citizens get captured and are beheaded? Is that not permissible because we are less than human? Who made them God, and who gives them this right? One diseased and deranged man called Mohammad. He is the culprit. I know a lot of people, and when I speak to them about Mohammad and Islam, it is always the same: Oh they are not all bad, or terrorists. Wrong! There’s always that potential for the weak-minded just to snap. The imams here in the US have the power to abuse and brainwash that moderate Muslim to spring him into action here in the States, and all around the world. I pray for us, and for them, every day, that they come out of the devil's powers.

Again, I have enjoyed your article. Keep up the good work.

Christine

* Please note: When emails or letters appear on this site, this does not mean that I endorse each and every point expressed in them. They are, and remain, the views of the writer, and the writer alone!

Can we really engage successfully in interfaith dialogue with followers of Muhammad?

From The Times today:

EVEN the Rev Julie Nicholson’s Christian faith has not helped her to forgive the suicide bombers who took her daughter’s life. Perhaps that would be too much to expect of any mother.
Exactly eight months since the London bombings on July 7 last year, Mrs Nicholson has given up her job as an inner-city vicar because she feels unable to preach a message of peace and reconciliation when she does not feel it in her heart.

Jennifer Nicholson, her talented, vivacious, 24-year-old daughter, was one of 56 people who died in the bombings.

Read it the whole article here: Vicar grappling with grief stands down over bombers who took her daughter's life

‘It’s hard to preach forgiveness when I feel far from it myself’

Mark

How times change!

Fashion just keeps on evolving and changing and moving forward!

Vogue Autumn 1939:



Vogue Autumn 1997:



Vogue Winter 2006:



Mark

Churchill speech a lesson for the present

I stated in my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age, that an 'Iron Veil' needs to be dropped between the West and the Islamic world.

It is therefore interesting to read the following article from the BBC: Churchill's speech on the 'Iron Curtain'. It's interesting, too, that the BBC finds it so relevant at this time!

Read the article in full: Churchill speech a lesson for the present

Mark Alexander

Chirac plunges Europe into even more dhimmitude!

This exercise in dhimmitude is well worth reading:

Chirac addresses Saudi parliament

Mark

Our democratic leaders are failing us!

9/11 was a turning point for the West. The US was attacked, but we have all been affected. This attack changed the nature of our democracies. Ever since, democracy the West over has started to weaken. Not only are our leaders doing nothing to arrest this weakening of democracy at home, but they are, indeed, helping it along, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes out of denial, but always out of fear!

The odd thing is this: While democracy is weakening at home, the US and the UK have embarked on a foreign policy to try and bring democracy to the Middle East! Make no mistake about it: This policy is destined to fail! Indeed, it is failing before our very eyes. Just take the mayhem in Iraq as a manifestation of this failure. Further, take Iran! There, instead of there being a softening of the régime in that theocratic land, there has been a hardening of their animosity to anything Western, to anything democratic, to anything we consider fair and balanced.

Then we have Syria. What is happening in Syria today is the very opposite of democratic. In that country, people are returning to their Islamic roots, even down to the way that women dress in public. Indeed, many Syrians are touting the idea that their future lies in Shariah law!

The knock-on effect of bringing democracy to Iraq is simply not happening. If anything, it would appear that our attempts to make the Middle East democratic have produced the opposite effect: Attitudes against anything Western, anything democratic, are hardening!

There are a few good reasons why this is so. First and foremost among them is this: Islam and democracy are totally at variance with each other. They are immiscible! Period! Unfortunately, no amount of political spin is going to change this harsh reality.

In Islam, as I have said so many times before, ALL power rests with Allah, and filters down; in a true democracy, ALL power is supposed to rest with the people and filter up. The reality of democracy, of course, is not quite as simple as that for, as we all know, the politicians who lead us so often refuse to listen to the wishes of the electorate after rising to high office. Take the example of Tony Blair taking the British to war against Iraq. Many people were against the idea; but Blair led us to war anyway.

Still, all that having been said, the notion that power in a democracy rests with the electorate still holds true, since even the ‘deafest’ of political leaders has to put himself and his party up for re-election. Pay-back time is never far away!

This is not true for Islam. Islam has never thrown up a true democracy in its almost 1400-year history save, perhaps, for the example of Turkey. But even there ‘democracy’ has had to be held together by the strong arm of the military!

The natural form of government for any country where Islam is the dominant religion is Islamic theocracy, not democracy, since Islam does not, and never will, recognize a separation of the political from the sacred, a separation of mosque and state. Indeed, such a separation is anathema to it! But such a separation is the sine qua non of democracy!

There are many other reasons why the attempt to bring democracy to the Middle East is destined to fail, too. For a democracy to function correctly, the electorate has to be well-educated, and through that sound education, the electorate is supposed to become well-informed in order to make good, solid, sound political judgements. But to be well-informed, it is essential that the electorate be allowed free access to information. Information must not be controlled by government!

The Middle East fails on both these counts. In the Middle East, the level of education is wanting, to say the least. In fact, the rates for illiteracy there are very high indeed. Illiteracy and democracy make very strange bedfellows! How can someone be well-informed if he is illiterate? If a person is not well-informed, then he is not ready to make a well-informed decision at the polls! Moreover, in the Middle East, the people are often denied access to the greatest and most powerful tool for access to information: The Internet.

There are other reasons why it was folly to try and bring democracy to the Middle East; but the reasons already given will suffice for now for the sake of argument.

It is interesting, but very disturbing, to note that whilst the US and the UK have busied themselves trying to bring democracy to the Middle East, they have also been busy trying to curtail our freedoms in our homelands!

Prime Minister Tony Blair, probably more than anyone who held the position in my lifetime, has passed so much legislation banning this, that and the other that he has seriously dented the freedoms of the British. He wants even to curtail freedom of speech and expression to make it a criminal offence to criticize Islam and the prophet of Islam, Muhammad!

Naturally, the reason why he is attempting to pass such a bill is to appease the growing Muslim vote within the UK. In recent years, they have become disaffected because of his insistence on war in Iraq!

It is ironic, isn’t it, that we should be losing our democracy at home at the very time as we are trying to establish their democracy?

As I see it, the story of Western politics ever since 9/11 is a story of failure! Even in the recent response to the fiasco caused by the publication of the cartoons of the prophet, there are signs aplenty that Westerners are losing one of their cherished freedoms: Freedom of expression. Why? Because our Western ‘leaders’ – American, British, European, Australasian - have failed to stand together against the tyranny of Islam. They have failed to re-affirm their commitment to liberty, failed to re-affirm their commitment to freedom of expression, failed to re-affirm the West’s commitment to the very values which underpin our civilization. Dear readers, make no mistake about this: Our leaders have failed us!

But there is one failure which endangers our democracy and our liberty even more. It is should be plain to see. Indeed, it should be as plain as the noses on our faces. Our politicians, with but few exceptions, have failed to see this too, however. …

9/11 was an attack not just on the Americans, but it was an attack on the West in its entirety. President George W Bush’s response to this attack was pathetically weak and appeasing. The day after 9/11, he appeared on TV to make an announcement to the Americans and the world. In front of him was a copy of the Qur’an – a book which had hitherto made no significant contribution either to the US in particular nor to the West in general - along with the Torah and the Bible. He stated that America was not at war with Islam or Muslims, insisting that Muslims were the friends of Americans!

It was at this point that the Neo-Conservative idea of bringing democracy to the Middle East was truly conceived. The great pity is that it didn’t produce a still birth!

The President’s response to 9/11 was weak and appeasing and flawed and destined to fail! Why? The main reason is that he failed to define the enemy. The enemy, of course, is Islam itself. The President tried to say that Al-Qaïda had taken a perfectly good religion – indeed, he called it a ‘religion of love and peace’! – and had twisted it, and had warped it into a religion of hatred.

His whole performance was so flawed, so very flawed. To start with, he showed that he had absolutely no understanding of Islam, no understanding of what motivates Muslims, and no knowledge of what the Qur’an says very clearly about us infidels. No, Mr President! No! Muslims are not our friends! They say so! Indeed, it says so in the Qur’an itself, the book that Muslims hold so dear! And NO again, Mr President! Al-Qaïda has not bastardized the message of Islam. On the contrary, Al-Qaïda takes the message of the Prophet Muhammad and the message of the Qur’an very seriously indeed. Al-Qaïda’s message is the true message of Islam. You had better believe it, Mr President! You, too, Mr Bair! Islam must be recognized for what it is: It is a competing civilization to Western civilization, competing in all respects!

What the President should have said that day is this: We were at war neither with Islam nor with Muslims. That would have been true. But he should have gone on to say that it is abundantly clear the Islam and Muslims are at war with America, and by extension the West. That would also have been true. If he had done this, he would surely have been able to galvanize the West in its entirety, for it was plain to see that 9/11 was not just an attack on America, but an attack on liberal democracy. If he had done this, he would have unified the West at a stroke! Furthermore, he would have displayed true leadership.

All further policies should have stemmed from the simple fact that Islam was at war with the West.

Very unfortunately, this was not done; so the ridiculous concept of ‘Islamism’ was born – an idea conceived to let Muslims off the hook, and to let our leaders off the hook, too. This way, they could start to wage their ‘War on Terror’. This war is one which is destined to go on and on and on. The terror they refer to is actually the Jihad in action. The jihad, or holy war, is the tool used by Muslims worldwide to bring Islam to the rest of what Muslims consider the ‘chaotic, jahiliyyic, un-Islamized regions of the world. We should note, and with urgency, that the jihad in history has been employed with great success wherever it has been waged.

Our leaders steadfastly refuse to accept this simple fact. Mssrs Bush and Blair, please start listening to the people, and please, please, please grow a spine! Accept the inevitable, accept what will sometime have to be accepted if the West is to survive, namely that the Islamic world is at war with the West and all its values. You cannot, you simply cannot, duck out of this one, for to do so is a dereliction of your duties. Your first duty is to protect the very system that brought you into office – democracy; and in doing so, protect the people who entrusted you with the power you have over them. Till now, you have failed your electorates! Till now, you have failed to identify the enemy! Till now, you have therefore failed to do anything meaningful to stop the jihad, to stop the Islamization of the West!

You are failing to protect democracy! You are therefore failing the people!

©Mark Alexander

The 'Muslimization' of Western Fashion Is Already Underway!

With thanks to Bld for alerting me to this: The International Herald Tribune has recently reported on the trend by designers to 'Muslimize' fashion for the catwalks of the West! This article by Suzy Menkes:

PARIS The forecast for the new fashion season is as somber as it is certain. It is going to be a long dark winter.

After a decade of free-fall hipster pants, bared midriffs, bras on show under sheer dresses and naked legs, fashion has started on its great coverup. Forget girlie frills and celebrities flashing flesh on the red carpet. The typical outfit in the current international fashion collections is in any color as long as it is black with a silhouette long, lean and layered.

Read the article here: The New Sobriety: Covering up the body

Mark

’Islamism’: A Concept invented by the infidel for the infidel!

The mantra, ‘Islamism’, is repeated time and time again, over and over, ad nauseum, ad infinitum, especially by those who are in denial: ‘Islamism’, they say, not Islam, is the source of our problems. It is what feeds the perpetrators of Islamic terror.

The liberal media, in particular, love this word, since it allows them to talk about the problems we face with Islam, without causing offence to Muslims throughout the world. It creates a distinction between good, practising Muslims and their extremist co-religionists. Alas, it is a false distinction!

Our politicians love the term, because it allows them to duck the obvious need to come to terms with the fact that a major world religion – Islam – is out to destroy our way of life, out to destroy our social structure, out to destroy our civilization! In short, ‘Islamism’ is a concept dreamt up by the infidel for the infidel. It lets him off the hook!

The fact of the matter, however, is that the use of the term ‘Islamism’ obfuscates the true problem we face, namely the growth of Islam in the West, and therefore the increasing Islamization of our societies and our civilization. It also obfuscates the causes of the jihad itself – the tool of the Muslim to bring Islam to the rest of the world, the tool to turn Dar ul Harb, the House of War, into Dar ul Islam, the House of Islam, the tool to Islamize the regions of the world which have yet to be Islamized, to Islamize the regions of the world still living, in their opinion, in a state of moral chaos, in a state of pre-Islamic disorder, otherwise known among Muslims as a state of Jahiliyyah.

Our real problem is Islam, the real thing. Muslims do not use the term ‘Islamism’. The concept is unknown to them, other than as a term used by the infidel to try and make sense of the aggressive nature of their faith.

Let us, for goodness' sake, think clearly, for without clear-thinking, we shall never overcome this grave threat to our civilization. To talk of 'Islamism', and make a false distinction between that and Islam, is like making a false distinction between Christianity and 'Christianism'! We don't do this with Christianity, so why should we do it with Islam?

The jihad is fed by nothing other than Islam itself! That means to say that it is fed by the Qur'an, the teachings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (Ahadith), and the life of the Prophet (As Sirah). These are the sources of the problem - die Quelle des Übels, la source du mal! It is what so-called 'Islamism' is based on! ‘Islamism', if it is anything at all, is not a source, but the result of taking the religion of Islam literally; and that's what all true Muslims do anyway.

The Jihad is a duty resting on the shoulders of all Muslims. It is a must, or wajib. It is an integral part of the faith of Islam. One cannot be a true, practising Muslim and reject the call to Jihad, or holy war.

To accept this term ‘Islamism’ is tantamount to playing with the meaning of words; to use the term is tantamount to engaging in semantics! One is engaging in verbal acrobatics; one is contorting the brain!

Our problem is Islam. Islam, based as it is on al Qur’an, Ahadith, and as Sirah, is the source of the Jihad, and inspiration for it. Nothing else!

We must come to terms with this fact if we ever wish to get a handle on the problems facing us. To talk in riddles helps not a soul, and it certainly doesn’t help the war effort!

©Mark Alexander

"Dialogue and mutual understanding"



The delectable and extremely elegant Ursula Plassnik, the Foreign Minister for Austria, the European nation which holds the European Presidency for the next six months, has said that the EU will seek "dialogue and mutual understanding" with the Islamic world.

How, pray, can one hold dialogue with a people which is out to destroy Western civilization? How, too, can one have any form of meaningful mutual understanding with a people so sure of its destiny to bring Islam to every corner of the world?

Ursula, it's time to be more realistic and realize that these people are on a mission: The mission of Islamizing the world! So it's time to get tough with them, not go soft on them, as you seem to wish to do. Only recently, you put up a good fight to try and stop Turkey's accession to the EU. You showed your feisty side. Ursula, it's time to show that feisty side again.

These people are not interested in dialogue and mutual understanding; rather, they're interested in having their own way. Muslims must have everything on their terms. If you need proof, read this from the Secretary General of the 'The Organisation of Islamic Countries', (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu:

"What we are looking for is that you take our sensitivities in your definition [of freedom of expression]. If you fail to do that... it will be a problem of credibility and a problem of universality of European values."

(Source: The BBC)

©Mark Alexander

More appeasement from the EU

This from the BBC:

EU foreign ministers have expressed regret that cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in European papers were found offensive by Muslims.

At a meeting in Brussels they also agreed on a common line of action to rebuild ties with Muslim nations.

Read the ful story: EU regrets 'offensive' cartoons

Mark

Bush suffers from a credibility deficit

To say we are living in difficult times is a gross understatement. In actual fact, we are living in extremely dangerous times! They are dangerous for two main reasons: Our civilization is under attack not only from without but also from within! Indeed, the West is at a crossroads. Our very survival lies in the balance! Either we win this, or our civilization will bite the dust. This reminds me of Churchill’s fine and sage words: Without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized. No survival. …

The West has been under fire ever since 9/11, and even before that. But we have not risen to the challenges we face. The seriousness of the situation has been magnified manifold by our constant refusal to accept the reality of the challenges we do face.

To win a war, the war has to be defined in clear terms. No wars are won when the enemy is not defined. It is virtually impossible to win a war when a clear line is not drawn in the sand. There must be a clear line of demarcation. We don’t have one. So, as a result, we are fighting a war many are quite unable to understand. No wars are won that way. To win a war, the people, das Volk, the electorate, has to comprehend what the government is doing, comprehend why the war is being waged. It has to understand the objectives of that war. Moreover, it has to understand that sacrifices have to be made for a finite period of time.

Even today, even in these hedonistic times, if the electorate is made to understand that sacrifices have to be made in order to secure ultimate victory over the enemy, if the electorate is made to understand that the very survival of our way of life is at stake, then they will be prepared to make those sacrifices. However, one thing must be realized: No war was ever won without sacrifices!

Unfortunately, George W. Bush has failed to bring the people along with him in his ‘War on Terror’. There is constant bickering, and there are constant internal battles, too. Many people, Republicans and Democrats alike, do not agree with the way the President has waged this war; and in my opinion, with good reason. He has also failed to raise the morale of the people. Raising the morale of the people is extremely important. So important that it was one of Churchill’s trump cards.

For a start, trying to wage a ‘War on Terror’ is like trying to catch flies in a high wind: One minute they are here; another, they are there. Further, they multiply rather readily, too; so when, after great difficulty, a few have been caught, the new ones, younger ones, are around to bother us. So this was his first big mistake: To try and define the enemy as an ugly offshoot from a rather beautiful tree. The tree, in this case, is Islam, of course; and Bush seems convinced that it is a religion of love and peace. He sees the bastardized version of Islam that the ‘Islamists’ practise as a mutation, a sick mutation, from the real creed. Sadly, George W. Bush is greatly mistaken. He neither knows the history of Islam and how it has been spread nor does he understand its true nature!

It is my belief that one of the most important attributes of a leader of any Western country from now on is a thorough understanding of the nature of Islam. Just as Nazism was a huge threat for the free world in the 1930’s and 40’s, and just as communism was a huge threat to us after World War II, so Islam is a huge threat to the free world today. So it is imperative that our leaders know exactly what Islam is, what Islam’s aspirations are, and what are Islam’s means of achieving its goals. Without this profound understanding, we cannot hope to survive. Our civilization will go the way of many before it! It will be snuffed out.

It is a fact of life that what happens in America is of paramount importance to the rest of the free world. Europe and Australasia, for example, take their lead from the American President, even though it may sometimes appear as though they might not. Garbled messages coming out of the White House do not inspire confidence in the rest of the world. The rest of the free world thirsts for a strong US president to give a lead. Unfortunately, George W. Bush has not provided the free world with the lead they so desired.

The US is the beacon of freedom. If its light goes out, it will plunge the world into complete darkness. This is a fact of life.

Seven of the President's main errors of judgment immediately come to mind. They are:

He has failed to understand the true nature of Islam.

He has failed to define the enemy clearly.

He has failed to draw a sharp line of demarcation between the enemy and us. This has been made particularly blurred because he has tried to engage the enemy in this war against themselves. That is never a good strategy. It is a particularly poor strategy with Muslims, because they have such a great sense of loyalty to each other. Indeed, to a Muslim, it is a cardinal sin to go against his brother or sister in Islam!

He has chosen to fight a ‘War on [Islamic] Terror’ – a war which could, and probably will, go on for decades. The people will surely tire of this war, even if they haven’t done so already. It is also a very costly war, because it is a war without end. Waging such a costly war might well bankrupt America. Many wars do bankrupt the nations that wage them. If this happens, the President will have played right into the hands of Osama bin Laden, since one of OBL’s goals was to bankrupt the nation in the first place. If America is bankrupted, it will have to go cap in hand to the rich Arab world for handouts! This will surely be disastrous for the ‘Land of the Free’!

He has chosen to try and bring democracy to the Middle East. This was a particularly grave error of judgment because Islam and democracy are totally and utterly immiscible. The President has repeatedly refused to accept this; but it is a fact. Why are they immiscible? For several reasons: First and foremost among them is the fact that for a democracy to function properly, there simply has to be a strict and clear separation of church and state, a clear separation of the secular from the sacred. The separation of mosque and state is something which the Islamic world does not have (apart, perhaps, in Turkey where it has been kept separate only with the aid of a very strong military), and nor will it ever if Islam survives as a religion in its true form, since Islam rejects the concept of separation - totally! One of the defining characteristics of Islam is that there is to be no separation of politics and religion. The both simply meld into one. This is one of the Prophet Muhammad’s injunctions. How, then, can we hope to bring democracy to them? It goes against the teachings of their Prophet. Further, and very importantly, democracy is considered to be a Western form of government. All things Western are viewed with great suspicion in the Islamic world. But there is one more thing to consider: In a democracy, all power filters up to the leadership from the people via the polls; in a theocracy, the typical and natural form of government for Muslims, all power filters down to the leadership, and further, from Allah and His final Messenger! These circles simply cannot be squared.

Fact is that Iraq is now on the brink of civil war. Even today, the headlines in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland’s prestigious and extremely unsensational newspaper reads Im Irak droht ein Bürgerkrieg, which loosely translates as ‘Civil looms on the horizon in Iraq’. The BBC, also not known for its sensationalism, also has a story today on the threat of a civil war in Iraq. It’s entitled Iraq's civil war nightmare. If civil war breaks out in Iraq, the President’s foreign policy will be in tatters!

He has failed to give a clear signal to the Islamic world in the ‘cartoon war’ that freedom of speech and freedom of expression are of extreme importance in a free and democratic society. In fact, the White House said very little about it, except to say that it disagreed with the printing of the cartoons. Hence, the President has shown, yet again, that he is willing to appease the Islamic world, probably for the sake of contracts. The West’s insatiable desire for contracts is at variance with its need to survive as a civilization. There comes a point when we have to say: Principles come before contracts; principles come before greed!

One very positive thing can be said about the Islamic world: Muslims put their religious principles above economic considerations. (Does this, perhaps, make them unassailable?) We have seen this to be true over the cartoon controversy. Businesses in many countries in the Islamic world are asking people to boycott Danish products. Many of those businesses must have large stocks of goods from Denmark which they would prefer to let perish rather than to make a buck from their sale. Why? On a point of principle! How many Western businesses would do the same for Jesus? This willingness to sacrifice for their strong beliefs is, of course, a great strength to the Islamic world. It puts power in their elbows!

He has made a grave mistake in pushing for the six ports to fall into the hands of a firm in the UAE. It makes no sense because their loyalty is to their Muslim brothers, not to the infidels! And in any case, even if this firm can be trusted, the American people, by and large, are not in favour of such a move. Indeed, they are deeply suspicious of it, as indeed they should be. It is uncomfortable for them. So this decision can do nothing but further alienate the President from the people, his electorate. Moreover, it is a decision which has GREED written all over it!

Recent developments have done nothing to aid President Bush’s credibility; indeed, they have conspired to detract from it.

There is no doubt that Bush should have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Denmark in its fight for freedom of the press and the freedoms of speech and expression. That he has failed to do so is no testimony to his determination to ensure the survival of the free world. Indeed, it makes a mockery of it.

George Bush should under no circumstances allow the sale of the ports to the UAE. His credibility depends on the sale not going through. How can he expect the people to take his ‘War on Terror’ seriously when they see that he is prepared to take such risks with America’s ports?

If Iraq slips into civil war, it will further dent his popularity and credibility. Indeed, it could be a deathblow to this President, his administration, and any credibility that may remain.

As they say in German, Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Weisheit, or, translated, caution is the mother of wisdom. It would pay President Bush to be more cautious! He can ill afford this credibility deficit. The rest of his term in office depends on it.

©Mark Alexander

Bush's Love Affair with Islam



Mark

When Economic Sense And Common Sense Collide

These days in the West, economic sense triumphs over common sense with alarming regularity. No finer example of this can be found than the recent decision here in the United States to give control of six ports to the United Arab Emirates. And this decision at a time of war with the ‘Christian’ West’s mortal enemy: Islam!

On November 6, 2001, when the ‘War on Terror’ was in its infancy, President Bush said : You are either with us or against us in the fight against terror. Indeed, Mr. President! Indeed! So who do you really think the UAE are with? With us infidels? Or, perhaps, with the believers? That means to say, Osama bin Laden and his entourage?

One thing you fail to understand, Mr. President, is that the West, not just the USA, is under attack from Islamic jihad. The jihadists will stop at nothing till they win this war against ’infideldom’. Even if, for one incredible minute, we assume that the intentions of the UAE are good and benign towards the US and its allies, how are you going to be able to ensure that the people given control of the ports won’t be infiltrated by jihadists?

Ports, because of all the containers handled in them, are notoriously difficult to police and control. It would seem that the US is doubling its headache to relinquish control to a company based in the United Arab Emirates. It must surely be tantamount to inviting trouble.

Nobody is trying to say that all people in the UAE are bad people. Far from it. But it must surely be conceded that they are Muslims. On 9/11 America was attacked by Muslims! The jihadists, people who follow the teachings of their prophet to the letter, have stated openly that they wish to destroy the West in general, and the US in particular. You surely cannot be unaware of their objectives, can you?

You stated yesterday that you were trying to conduct US foreign policy by treating the people of the world “fairly”. This is a lofty ideal, Mr. Bush, to be sure. But please don’t forget that your first duty is not to the people of the world, but to the people of the United States, to US citizens. Their safety MUST come first, and it must take the HIGHEST priority.

You would do well to remember Churchill’s words: "The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong."

One thing the President said yesterday was incomprehensible to me, and certainly insulting to Britain. He asked his opponents to explain why they were opposed to a Middle Eastern firm taking over control of the ports when they did not oppose a British company controlling them. Really, Mr. President! Are you serious?

For a start, if you didn’t know it before, the United Kingdom is the US’s staunchest ally. The British always stand four-square behind the US. The UAE does not. I see that comment as a smack in the teeth for the British. That comment certainly does not pay them any compliment; indeed, it does them a disservice.

If you, Mr. President, really think that placing the control of these six ports in the hands of a Middle Eastern company, indeed any Middle Eastern company, does not pose a greater threat to the security of the US than it does in the hands of a British company, then one can only raise serious questions about your judgment, serious questions about your ability to come to sound conclusions, serious questions about your ability to take sound decisions.

George Bush has gone further, though. He has threatened to veto any law blocking a deal giving an Arab company control of the ports. Veto the law? But why? Why is the President so keen for an Arab company to take control of the ports? To me, it seems suspect that the President should be so keen for control to be handed over to the Arab, Islamic world. One can only ask the following questions: Who stands to gain financially from this? And by how much? Because financial gain by some people, or some companies, must surely be at the root of this! Mega-money must surely be at stake!

But there is one further question I should like answered. It is this: Since when do the Emiratees have the expertise to run six American ports? To run their own country, they have to depend on foreign workers. About 84% of workers in the UAE are foreign workers, and low-paid, Third-world workers at that! So where have they gained all this experience all of a sudden?

In times of war, we cannot be circumspect enough. Common sense must prevail. This, if it goes through, will be a triumph of the power of economics over common sense, the triumph of stupidity over sound judgment. Indeed, this must surely be a fine example of the collision of economic sense with common sense!

©Mark Alexander

Debate about the craven media

CNN has refused to air the Muhammad cartoons, as have most of the MSM, so as not to offend the sensibilities of Muslims; yet anti-Semitic cartoons are aired! Does this mean that they don't care about offending the Jews?

To watch a very interesting debate, click HERE to view 'CNN Double Standard'.

With thanks and appreciation to Andy Dabydeen and You Tube.

Mark

Christopher Hitchens: Stand up for Denmark!

Put the case that we knew of a highly paranoid religious cult organization with a secretive leader. Now put the case that this cult, if criticized in the press, would take immediate revenge by kidnapping a child. Put the case that, if the secretive leader were also to be lampooned, two further children would be killed at random. Would the press be guilty of "self-censorship" if it declined to publish anything that would inflame the said cult? Well, yes it would be guilty, but very few people would insist on the full exertion of the First Amendment right. However, the consequences for the cult and its leader would be severe as well. All civilized people would regard it as hateful and dangerous, and steps would be taken to circumscribe its influence, and to ensure that no precedent was set.

The incredible thing about the ongoing Kristallnacht against Denmark (and in some places, against the embassies and citizens of any Scandinavian or even European Union nation) is that it has resulted in, not opprobrium for the religion that perpetrates and excuses it, but increased respectability! A small democratic country with an open society, a system of confessional pluralism, and a free press has been subjected to a fantastic, incredible, organized campaign of lies and hatred and violence, extending to one of the gravest imaginable breaches of international law and civility: the violation of diplomatic immunity. And nobody in authority can be found to state the obvious and the necessary—that we stand with the Danes against this defamation and blackmail and sabotage. Instead, all compassion and concern is apparently to be expended upon those who lit the powder trail, and who yell and scream for joy as the embassies of democracies are put to the torch in the capital cities of miserable, fly-blown dictatorships. Let's be sure we haven't hurt the vandals' feelings.

Read it all: Stand up for Denmark! Why are we not defending our ally?

Mark

More evidence of Eurabia

Dhimmi Europe

Mark

When society turns sick

Majority of births will soon be out of wedlock

Marriage works despite politicians' best efforts

Mark

Holocaust denial a crime: Ahmadinejad, take note!

David Irving, the revisionist historian, pleaded guilty today to criminal charges of denying the Holocaust and conceded that he had been mistaken when he claimed that there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz. Read the whole article here: Irving pleads guilty and backtracks on Holocaust denial

Doesn't it beggar belief that anyone, still less an educated person, could deny a historical fact?

Latest from the BBC: Holocaust denier Irving is jailed

From The Times: Backlash at jailing of historian who denied Holocaust

Sorry? I doubt that, says brother

Mark Alexander

When Is the Free World Finally Going to Wake Up to Reality?
If this cartoon fiasco has shown us anything, it's shown us that the free world is in grave danger of losing its freedoms; indeed, we will lose our freedoms, one by one, one step at a time, if we don't finally wake up to the reality which is staring us in the face. The reality of Islam, the enemy. Islam is not only knocking at our door, but it has been let in, and it's now trying to destroy us, our civilization, and destroy all we stand for, for its own ultimate supremacy!

Since 9/11, our leaders have been kicking out garbage by the sackful ! They've been busy placating the electorate and appeasing the Muslims, by saying that Islam really is a moderate religion of peace and love. Tosh! Poppycock! Garbage! Baloney! Rubbish!

Islam is nothing of the kind. Islam, if it is anything at all, is a ferocious killer: It's a big huge roaring lion, not a tiny little meowing pussycat!

There is nothing loving or peaceful about Islam. History shows us this is so. To be loving and peaceful is not its nature. Islam is a proselytizing, conquering, bloodthirsty religion; and in the same way that a Muslim has to submit totally to Allah, we, the conquered, will have to submit to the will of the Muslim, too!

Till now, our politicians, with very few exceptions, have been totally unwilling to admit the truth: That Islam is the problem we face; Islam is the enemy.

As I was born after the end of World War II, I have witnessed nothing like this before in my lifetime. The West, though it is not yet willing to admit it, is in crisis. This crisis is similar to the crisis of the Thirties. The crisis of the Thirties was caused by the unrelenting rise of Nazi Germany, profoundly anti-Semitic, and its aggressive ambitions to dominate the world. This crisis is caused by the unrelenting rise of the Muslim world, also profoundly anti-Semitic, and its aggressive ambitions to dominate the world! This is déjà vu! We've been here before. We've seen it before. We've experienced it all before. Yet, seemingly, we have learnt nothing!

Isn't it peculiar: In the same way that people during the Thirties were reluctant to face up to the inevitability of war with Nazi Germany, so people today are every bit as reluctant to face up to the inevitability of war with Islam. Indeed, it is very difficult to see how war can be avoided if we wish to maintain our free way of life. Why? Because Muslims will not give an inch. They just will not budge. They have come to the West and demand that we change to accommodate them. This is an outrage! Outrageous behaviour often leads to outrageous outcomes. Beware!

There will be a big difference between the war we had to endure with Nazi Germany and this war if it comes about: That war was an inter-national war. The war we shall have to endure with Islam will be scattered all over the world, because Muslims are to be found all over the world. So we could very well end up fighting a civil war. In any case, it will be a nasty, bloody conflict. And remember this: When we do start to fight, all the Muslims living in the West will have their first loyalty, nay one could say only loyalty, to the Ummah. This war, ladies and gentlemen, will be brutal indeed! There is no war worse than a holy war!

During the 'Cold War', people used to speak of "reds under the bed" - the so-called fifth column within. During this 'War on Terror', people could easily start speaking of the "greens under the burqah"! But this war needs to be re-named. Our unwillingness to call it by its rightful name is tying our hands behind our backs.

It really is high time Bush and Blair, and all the other leaders here in the free world, woke up to the reality of the situation. It's already five to midnight, and we haven't identified the enemy yet! When are we finally going to wake up?

©Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

Cross-posted to Pedestrian Infidel