Go on Tsarko! Give Libya a Prize for Holding the Nurses for Eight Years on Ridiculous Trumped Up Charges, Why Don’t You? And by Drawing the EU Ever Closer to Libya, You Can Islamize Europe Still Further!

Photo of Sarkozy courtesy of the BBC

BBC: French President Nicolas Sarkozy is travelling to Tripoli to meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a day after the release of six foreign medics.

The meeting is being seen as a sign of the normalisation of ties between Libya and the EU following the release.

The foreign workers were held for eight years for infecting children with HIV.

The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor, who served eight years of their life sentences, always maintained they were innocent.

All six were pardoned on their arrival in Sofia by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

Immigration support

Europe and the US had made it clear to Libya that resolving their situation was the key to improving ties.
Mr Sarkozy wants to further Libyan help in the fight against terrorism, says the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby in Paris. Sarkozy to boost EU-Libya links (more)

Mark Alexander

The Case for Bombing Iran: Norman Podhoretz

Although many persist in denying it, I continue to believe that what September 11, 2001 did was to plunge us headlong into nothing less than another world war. I call this new war World War IV, because I also believe that what is generally known as the cold war was actually World War III, and that this one bears a closer resemblance to that great conflict than it does to World War II. Like the cold war, as the military historian Eliot Cohen was the first to recognize, the one we are now in has ideological roots, pitting us against Islamofascism, yet another mutation of the totalitarian disease we defeated first in the shape of Nazism and fascism and then in the shape of Communism; it is global in scope; it is being fought with a variety of weapons, not all of them military; and it is likely to go on for decades.

What follows from this way of looking at the last five years is that the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq cannot be understood if they are regarded as self-contained wars in their own right. Instead we have to see them as fronts or theaters that have been opened up in the early stages of a protracted global struggle. The same thing is true of Iran. As the currently main center of the Islamofascist ideology against which we have been fighting since 9/11, and as (according to the State Department’s latest annual report on the subject) the main sponsor of the terrorism that is Islamofascism’s weapon of choice, Iran too is a front in World War IV. Moreover, its effort to build a nuclear arsenal makes it the potentially most dangerous one of all.

The Iranians, of course, never cease denying that they intend to build a nuclear arsenal, and yet in the same breath they openly tell us what they intend to do with it. Their first priority, as repeatedly and unequivocally announced by their president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is to “wipe Israel off the map”—a feat that could not be accomplished by conventional weapons alone. The Case for Bombing Iran (more) By Norman Pod horetz

Mark Alexander

Under ‘Super-Sarko’, France Refinds Its Commitment to Human Rights
TIMESONLINE: President Sarkozy will meet Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya today as he seeks to reap political, economic and diplomatic benefits from his role in the medical workers’ release.

The French President, who is claiming credit for ending their eight-year ordeal, will want to enhance the international stature he has acquired since his election in May. He is also hoping to foster a special relationship with Libya that would pave the way for lucrative contracts for French companies with the oil-rich African state.

Having earned his Super-Sarko nickname after an active first two and a half months in office, he moved swiftly to capitalise on what is being portrayed in France as his latest triumph. “I promised to obtain the liberation of these women and that man and we have obtained it,” he said, while his advisers told journalists that he had been up all night finalising the deal.

President Sarkozy said that he had intervened out of compassion and a sense of duty that came from being at the head of a country claiming to be the birthplace of human rights. “The nurses, in my heart, were French,” he said. “They were French because they were unjustly accused and because they suffered and because we had to get them out of there.” He paid tribute to his wife, Cécilia, who visited Tripoli twice before flying the five nurses and the doctor to Sofia in the presidency’s Airbus 317. “Cécilia did a quite remarkable job,” he said. Super-Sarko flies to the rescue (more) By Adam Sage in Paris

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
Why Did Cecilia Sarkozy Go to Tripoli?

Mark Alexander

Iran Will Not Suspend Enrichment
THE GUARDIAN: · Weapons treaty at risk if UN increases sanctions
· Threat paired with olive branch to atom watchdog
Iran warned yesterday that it would consider taking "illegal" steps, including possible abrogation of the non-proliferation treaty, if further UN sanctions are imposed because of its nuclear programme.

The warning was given by a senior Iranian official in an increasingly fraught war of nerves with the US and its allies over Iran's enrichment of uranium.

However, it was accompanied by an olive branch, a promise by Iran's chief negotiator to give a comprehensive account of its nuclear past to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA.

Tehran has made clear that it will not suspend enrichment as the UN security council has demanded, despite two earlier rounds of financial, travel and arms sanctions. A decision on a third round has been put off until September. "If there is another resolution, we will react with whatever we have," the senior official told western journalists. "So far we have answered legally, limiting [UN] inspections, and reducing cooperation with the IAEA within the legal framework.

"But if there is no legal option left, it is obvious we will be tempted to do illegal things. What is very important to us is our dignity, and we are prepared to act." Iran raises stakes in war of nerves over enriching uranium (more) By Julian Borger in Tehran

Mark Alexander

Brown Gets Tough On Foreign Prisoners and Islamic Terrorists
DAILY MAIL: Gordon Brown has promised to deport 4,000 foreign prisoners this year.

The Prime Minister vowed to make a vast increase on the 2,700 sent home last year.

There are currently more than 12,000 foreign convicts in Britain's overcrowded prison system - 15 per cent of the 80,000-strong jail population.

Mr Brown said: 'We are going to take a far tougher line. I want a message to go out - if you come here you work and learn our language. If you commit a crime you will be deported. You play by the rules or you face the consequences.'

He told the Sun: 'I'm not prepared to tolerate a situation where we have people breaking the rules in our country when we cannot act.' I'll kick out 4,000 foreign prisoners, vows Brown (more) By James Slack

Mark Alexander

Erhöhte Wachsamkeit in den USA gegen Terroranschlägen
NZZ ONLINE: Die amerikanischen Bundesbehörden haben die Sicherheitskräfte an allen Flughäfen des Landes zu erhöhter Wachsamkeit aufgefordert. Terroristen probten möglicherweise für künftige Anschläge und könnten versuchen, Bauteile für den Bau von Bomben an Bord zu schmuggeln. USA warnen vor Terroranschlägen auf Flugzeuge: Terroristen könnten Attacken auf US-Maschinen proben (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Nicolas Sarkozy est l’hôte de son nouvel ami, Mouammar Kadhafi
LE FIGARO: Le chef de l’Etat est attendu à Tripoli en fin d’après-midi.

Attendu à Tripoli en fin d’après-midi, au lendemain de l’extradition des infirmières bulgares, Nicolas Sarkozy devrait s’entretenir avec Mouammar Kadhafi de "coopération tous azimuts, dans tous les domaines" avec la Libye, selon le porte-parole de l’Elysée, David Martinon. Même de coopération nucléaire ? La réponse est moins claire : "Je ne dis pas que la question ne sera pas évoquée, mais il n'y a rien de prêt sur ce sujet", a assuré David Martinon. Même flou chez la ministre de l'Economie et des Finances, Christine Lagarde : "On n'en est pas là (…) A chaque temps suffit sa peine", a-t-elle répondu, interrogée sur ce thème sur la chaîne LCI. Nicolas Sarkozy parlera de "coopération tous azimuts" en Libye (suivant)

Mark Alexander

Medics Imprisoned in Libya Arrive in Bulgaria, Free
BBC: Six Bulgarian medical workers who were imprisoned in Libya for deliberately infecting children with HIV have arrived in Bulgaria after being freed.

The five nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor, who served eight years of the life sentences they received, had always maintained they were innocent.

All six were pardoned on their arrival by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

The release was made possible by a deal struck in Tripoli on improving Libya-EU ties, following years of negotiations.

The EU's External Affairs Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, made many trips to Libya, meeting the prisoners and working to improve conditions for children infected with HIV/Aids.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, were also involved in the final negotiations.

Mr Sarkozy is now scheduled to visit Libya on Wednesday and meet the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, to discuss Tripoli's re-integration into the international community. HIV medics released to Bulgaria (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Libya releases HIV medics

Mark Alexander

The Tragic Case of Atefah from Neka, Iran: A 16 Year Old Iranian Girl Executed by Islamic Police – A BBC 2 Documentary
Is this execution the hallmark of a civilized society, the hallmark of a civilized religion? Is there really much difference between Islam and Nazism? WARNING: These SIX videos are not for the faint-hearted!

Part 1:


Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Mark Alexander

Interview with Ex-muslim Christian Matthew Ashimolowo

Part 1:


Part 2:


Mark Alexander

Europa – dein Name ist Feigheit
Dieser Kommentar vom 20. November 2004 von Mathias Döpfner geschrieben ist wirklich noch lesenswert:

WELTONLINE: "Europa, dein Familienname ist Appeasement!", schrieb vor einigen Tagen Henryk M. Broder in der "Welt am Sonntag". Ein Satz, der einem nicht mehr aus dem Kopf geht, weil er so schrecklich richtig ist.

Appeasement kostete Millionen Juden und Nichtjuden das Leben, weil die Alliierten in England und Frankreich zu lange verhandelten und zögerten, bis sie merkten, daß man Hitler nicht einbinden, sondern nur bekämpfen kann. Appeasement stabilisierte den Sowjetkommunismus und die DDR, indem Teile Europas den inhumanen Unterdrückungsstaat zur ideologischen Alternative verklärten. Appeasement lähmte Europa, als im Kosovo der Völkermord wütete und man so lange debattierte, bis die Amerikaner dort unsere Aufgaben erledigten. Europäisches Appeasement, getarnt in dem Nebelwort "Äquidistanz", relativiert in Israel die Selbstmordattentate fundamentalistischer Palästinenser, anstatt die einzige Demokratie im mittleren Osten zu schützen. Appeasement prägt die Mentalität, wenn Europa im Irak über die 300 000 von Saddam ermordeten und gefolterten Opfer hinwegsieht und in friedensbewegter Selbstgerechtigkeit George Bush schlechte Noten erteilt. Und Appeasement in seiner groteskesten Form ist es schließlich auch, wenn man auf die eskalierende Gewalt islamistischer Fundamentalisten in Holland und anderswo mit dem Vorschlag reagiert, in Deutschland doch einen muslimischen Feiertag einzuführen.

Was muß noch passieren, bis die europäische Öffentlichkeit und das politische Führungspersonal realisieren: Es herrscht eine Art Kreuzzug, eine besonders perfide, auf Zivilisten konzentrierte, gegen unsere freien, offenen, westlichen Gesellschaften gerichtete System-Attacke fanatisierter Muslime. Ein Konflikt, der voraussichtlich länger dauern wird als die großen militärischen Auseinandersetzungen der letzten hundert Jahre. Geführt von einem Gegner, der sich nicht durch Toleranz und Entgegenkommen bezähmen läßt, sondern den solche Gesten, mißverstanden als Zeichen der Schwäche, nur anspornen. Europa – dein Name ist Feigheit (mehr)

This article was also translated into English by Hartmut Lau, and was published by FRONTPAGEMAG on January 7, 2005. Although it was published some time ago, it is still well worth reading:

A few days ago Henryk M. Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, "Europe -- your family name is appeasement." It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so terribly true.

Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to agreements. Appeasement stabilized communism in the Soviet Union and East Germany in that part of Europe where inhuman, suppressive governments were glorified as the ideologically correct alternative to all other possibilities. Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo and we Europeans debated and debated until the Americans came in and did our work for us.

Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East, European appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians. Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore 300,000 victims of Saddam's torture and murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace-movement, to issue bad grades to George Bush. A particularly grotesque form of appeasement is reacting to the escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere by suggesting that we should really have a Muslim holiday in Germany. Europe – Thy Name Is Cowardice (more)

Mark Alexander

Charlie Rose Interviews Nicolas Sarkozy: Sarkozy Says No to Turkey in Europe. Thank God for Sarkozy!


Mark Alexander

Two Germans Killed in Afghanistan; Eighteen Korean Hostages in Great Danger
BBC: Two Germans kidnapped near Kabul in Afghanistan this week have been killed, a spokesman for the Taleban has said.

The spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said the Taleban's demand that Germany withdraw its 3,000 troops in Afghanistan had been ignored.

Afghan and German officials say they have no confirmation of the killings and are seeking evidence.

The Taleban has also threatened to kill at least 18 hostages from South Korea, captured separately on Thursday. Taleban 'kill captured Germans' (more)

Mark Alexander

Father Gets Life for the Barbaric Honour Killing of His Daughter

Photos courtesy of the BBC

BBC: A father who ordered the killing of his daughter after finding out she had a boyfriend has been jailed for life.

Banaz Mahmod, 20, was raped and tortured before being strangled and buried in a suitcase in Birmingham.

Her Iraqi Kurd father Mahmod Mahmod, 52, of Mitcham, south London, will serve at least 20 years.

Her uncle Ari Mahmod, 50, who helped arrange the murder, and killer Mohammed Hama, 30, got life terms and will serve at least 23 and 17 years respectively. Life for 'honour killing' father (more)

Mark Alexander

You ‘Interfaith’ If You Want To. This Gentleman Is Not For ‘Interfaithing’!
Ex nihilo nihil fit
EDITORIAL: After the shocking news that “home grown” Muslim “terrorists” (more rightfully called jihadis) planned to blow up nine aircraft full of passengers mid-flight over US metropolitan areas which would have killed thousands of innocent people (mostly infidels in their eyes) – in other words, mass murder of enormous proportions – there have been renewed calls for more interfaith dialogue with “our Muslim brothers and sisters”. These calls for more interfaith dialogue are naïve at best, downright stupid, dangerous and appeasing at worst.

One engages in dialogue with people who are yielding enough, with people who are willing enough to shift their opinions somewhat, in order to be able to reach a compromise. Muslims are totally and utterly unyielding. There can be no compromise with them. None at all! They believe they are right. They believe they are God’s (more correctly Allah’s) chosen people, the people who have a monopoly on the truth. They believe that we are inferior beings to them simply because we do not belong to their faith group, because we have not accepted Muhammad as the final messenger of Allah. Further, they believe that we are unclean and unworthy. Their stated aim is to take over the world, to Islamize it. This is the aim of jihad. How can one engage successfully in dialogue with such people?

To engage in dialogue with Muslims is a futile exercise. Nothing will come out of it. Ex niliho nihil fit. This is not a defeatist attitude; rather, it is a realistic one. Islam is out to dominate the world, out to supersede Christianity as the only worthy faith, and out to annihilate Israel and the Jews. With such people, one does not engage in dialogue; rather, one fights them, one thwarts their ambitions, one vanquishes them.

In any case, what is there to discuss? Muslims deny all the basic tenets of Christianity: They deny that Jesus was the Son of God; they deny that Jesus was crucified (hence the cross is anathema to them); they deny that true Salvation can be found only when one accepts Jesus as one’s Redeemer; indeed, they deny that Jesus is the Christ.

If someone doesn’t believe in these basic tenets of our faith, then there is absolutely nothing to talk about.

In actual fact, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They believe that Muhammad came to bring this perfection about. They believe that Muhammad was the ultimate prophet of Allah, and that Jesus was the penultimate one. Jesus is therefore a lesser ‘prophet’ in their eyes than Muhammad is. This should surely be anathema to Church leaders; but apparently it is not. So dilute has our faith become in the eyes of the Church elders!

It defies belief that our Church leaders are prepared and willing for Muslims to deny - absolutely - the raison d’être of the Church. What Church leaders should be urging their priests to do is evangelize, they should be bringing Muslims to task for their heinous crimes against humanity, and showing them the Way, the Truth and the Light. That, after all, is what they are paid to do; it’s their raison d’être. But they seem not to know it!

Do churchmen not know that every country in which Islam has put down roots it has eventually taken over and snuffed out Christianity almost for good. Egypt, Libya, Syria, and the Lebanon are good cases in point. Yes, there are still some Christians left in some of these countries – just – but these countries are now Islamic, and the indigenous populations are minorities in their own lands. Christianity never thrives where Islam takes hold. So what on earth are our Church leaders aiding this process of our own destruction for? Don’t they really believe that Jesus is the Christ? Don’t they really believe that Jesus was crucified for our sins? Don’t they really believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light?

Interfaith dialogue with Muslims is a waste of time and effort; so I do not believe in it. Rather, I believe in thwarting the enemy within, and making the enemy submit to our way of life. After all, if they don’t like it here, then they are free to leave and find other pastures. Nobody is keeping Muslims here; and there is easy access to airports throughout the UK. This is true not only for the UK, but for other Western countries, too. In fact, I would hazard a guess and say that the vast majority of Westerners would be relieved if they did leave, since hell will freeze over before Muslims integrate!

To get to this point, we have made many, many mistakes. Here are some of them…

First of all, we shouldn’t have allowed so many Muslims into the West in the first place. We should have done our homework first. Successive political leaders should have read a few history books on the 1400-year struggle between Christendom and Islam. That would have set off some alarms. Instead of this, nothing was learnt from history. People thought that the wheel could be reinvented. They were let in in their droves. And – astoundingly – they are still being let in! Moreover, if we truly live in a democracy, as our leaders keep telling us, then the people should have been consulted about allowing them in, and warned of the dangers of such a course of action.

Secondly, the ones that were let in should have been told – in no uncertain terms – that they can come here if they abide by our laws, and live according to our customs; otherwise they would not be welcome here. Instead of that, the West has gone down the politically-correct, multicultural route, thus forcing the indigenous population to make all the concessions. I always liken it to guests in my home: They are always welcome, as long as they abide by the rules of the house. I make the rules in my household. I am always the boss in my own home. Once someone starts to tell me how I should run my home, I politely show him/her the door. This should have been done with these immigrants from the start. They need to be placed on the defensive. They must be shown that they are not in the driving seat in our countries, no more than we are in the driving seat in theirs.

Thirdly, who gave our leaders the permission to try and turn our countries into pluralistic havens anyway, into utopias for all the peoples of the world. Were you ever asked to vote on this? I wasn’t; I know that. And had I been asked, I would have voted a firm ‘no’, without any hesitation.

The politicians have got themselves into a fix; and they don’t know how to get out of it. They haven’t got the courage to take the necessary Draconian measures to fix this problem, so they ask for dialogue instead. This goes for the Church, too. They no longer believe in the Scriptures as they should do; so they embark on a dilution of our faith instead, so that it doesn’t offend Muslims. Church leaders will never fill the empty pews that way. People are sick and tired of their prattling! That probably goes a long way to answer why the pews in Europe are pretty empty, and are continuing to empty still further, too.

We have embarked on a perilous journey: a journey of self-destruction. If people don’t wake up to the realities of what we are facing soon, then it will be too late. It is already five to midnight!

President Bush, for the first time in a long time, had the courage recently to state that we are engaged in a war with “Islamic fascists”. This is the most truthful thing he has stated in a very long time. I applaud him for having the courage to say it. He should say it again and again, until it sinks in with the general public. But if he really wants to hit the nail on the head, he should come out and say that this is not so much a “war on terror”, but a ‘war on the jihad’, the jihad which is out to annihilate us, and annihilate freedom and democracy, and annihilate all that the West stands for. This is indeed a battle between two civilizations. In such a battle, there is no room for dialogue, there is room only for victory. For, as Churchill so wisely stated during the Second World War, “without victory, there is no survival”. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why I say: You 'interfaith' if you want to. This gentleman is not for ‘interfaithing’!

©Mark Alexander

All rights reserved

The West’s Problems with Islam Exacerbated by Bush’s Determination Not to Identify the Enemy!
EDITORIAL: 9/11, a day that will go down in history as a ‘day of infamy’, should have marked a turning point in our dealing with the Islamic world. Alas, no such ‘turning point’ came about.

Instead, the President of the US, George W Bush, insisted that the US was not at war with the Islamic world. I dare say it was true – to a point. What he failed to say was its corollary: namely, that the Islamic world was at war with America, and by extension, the West!

That this was so should have been made clear to all Americans, and to all Westerners alike. It wasn’t. The result of this is that we now have fuzzy thinking on the war we are engaged in, fuzzy thinking on the problems we face, fuzzy thinking on the growth of Islam in the West, fuzzy thinking on how to tackle our enemy: Islam!

Make no mistake about it: Islam is our enemy. Islam represents all that is abhorrent to the West: coercion, lack of religious freedom, totalitarianism, and much else besides. But, as the West was built up on largely Christian principles, it is also the negation of the notion that Jesus Christ is man’s Saviour, man’s Redeemer. They say that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God; we say that He was! The West, as a civilization, has been built up on that notion.

No problem, you say. Let them believe what they will. Wrong! You are wrong, so wrong, to take this viewpoint.

Muslims have principles. Indeed, it may be said that they have very strong principles. And they fight for them. How many of YOU have principles that you will fight for? It would appear that Westerners have few principles they are willing to fight for; indeed, many Westerners are not sure what their principles are! And therein lies one of the major problems we face today: not knowing what the West stands for; and, by extension, not knowing what we must fight for.

Yes, all right, we have some vague notions of freedom and democracy. But let’s face it, they are just that: vague notions! How many people truly understand what freedom is, still less what democracy entails? Do we really understand both concepts? Freedom is not just being able to go on your favourite foreign holiday when you please; democracy isn’t just about voting for this handsome guy, or that one. No! It’s about more than that. Much more!

How is the West going to deal with the onslaught of Islam when Westerners don’t even know what they should believe in? In years gone by, Westerners knew exactly what they should believe in: in Judeo-Christian principles. But as churches have emptied, many people now know sweet little about Judeo-Christian principles, and care still less about them.

It may be said, in no uncertain terms I have to say, that we ignore our Judeo-Christian heritage at our own peril! Islam is knocking on our door; in fact, we have already let it in. And the religion is growing apace in the West; and make no mistake about it: it is DIAMETRICALLY-OPPOSED to EVERYTHING we stand for; and it is only biding its time to take us over. The sickness of out time is that ordinary folk have no understanding of what is going on!

It is my belief that George W Bush must shoulder a lot of the blame for this ignorance. For, in stubbornly refusing to apportion blame for the atrocities of 9/11 on Muslims, he has also brought confusion into the minds of many Westerners. Westerners, as a result, have little understanding of what motivates Muslims. To be fed the nonsense that Muslims are our friends is a lie. A damn lie! And Bush, unless he is stupid, knows that very well. Islam is our enemy. It has to be, for it seeks to destroy us.

Make no mistake about it: Islam is waiting in the wings; it is just ready to take us over. Do you think that Muslims don’t realize and understand that Westerners have little stomach for a fight? Have none of it! They perceive YOU as WEAK! Really weak! After all, look what we are allowing them to get away with!

Only this week, it has come to our attention that our bankers are allowing the ideas of Shari’ah banking to be put in place here in the West. Now, in the United Kingdom, Shari’ah banking is to be made available to Muslims and Muslimahs across the United Kingdom, on every high street. Imagine the uproar in the UK in the 1940s with headlines such as Nazi banking to be made available to Nazis by all high street banks across the United Kingdom! It would have been totally unacceptable to people then; and it should be totally unacceptable to people now, too.

In the States, shrines to Islam, our enemy, are to be built by the US Marines. Just how stupid and naïve is that? How many shrines to Christianity are there in Saudi Arabia? We are giving these people an importance above their station!

A war – and George W Bush tells us we are at war – has to be fought from a position of strength. Furthermore, for a war to be successful, it has to be fought in the right atmosphere. The enemy has to be - yes, wait for it – demonized! I make no apologies for the use of that word. We are either at war with an enemy, or we are not! It’s as simple and straightforward as that!

No war in history has been fought like this ridiculous war! We are trying to fight a war without demonizing the enemy. It cannot be done! Either we are at war, or we are not. To say that we are at war with some vague notion of terrorists is nothing less than absurd. Terrorism equates to the Jihad. Indeed, the Jihad is terrorism unadulterated. The Jihad is nothing more and nothing less than terrorism used for the furtherance of the cause of Islam. It is used to Islamize your country and mine. Make no mistake about that!

I am reading a very good book at the moment entitled Defying Hitler. In it, the author , Sebastian Haffner, talks about how the enemy was demonized during the Great War. He talks about France’s “lust for revenge”, England’s “commercial envy”, and Russia’s “barbarism”. That’s how to do it, folks! You cannot win a war when everything has been sanitized. Everything, today, must be sanitized! No war has ever been so won! No war will ever be so won! Either we are at war; or we are not. It’s as simple as that! If we are at war, then we have to demonize the enemy.

President Bush, the day after 9/11, came on TV, almost embracing the Qur’an, stating that the US was not at war with the Islamic world. What he should have stated was that the Islamic world was at war with America and the West. And it still is. Indeed, the war has been intensified. Had he done this, we wouldn’t today be seeing the growth of Islamic banking in the West, the building of shrines to Islam in the US Marines, and we wouldn’t be in such a mess with Islam in general. President Bush! You have failed! You have failed miserably! You’ve had your chance, and you’ve blown it. Move over, Sir! Let someone else try and clear up your mess!

©Mark Alexander

All rights reserved

’Islamism’: A Concept Invented by the Infidel for the Infidel!
EDITORIAL: 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

All rights reserved

Turkey’s Ruling Party Eager to Distance Itself from its Islamist Image
MIDDLE EAST TIMES: ANKARA -- Eager to prove it has broken off with its Islamist roots, Turkey's ruling party has fielded prominent candidates with no known links to political Islam for general elections Sunday, but convincing secularists remains a tough task.

Well-known politicians from the center-left and -right, women known for their liberal views, business people, and economists are among fresh troops the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a confident front-runner in opinion polls, enrolled before the election.

Standing out among them is Ertugrul Gunay, a social-democrat ideolog and former secretary-general of the staunchly secular Republican People's Party (CHP), the AKP's main political opponent.

Observers say the new AKP line-up reflects the party's efforts to establish itself at the center of Turkish politics, taking advantage of a notoriously fractured opposition. Turkey's ruling party eager to shrug off Islamist image (more) By Burak Akinci

Mark Alexander

Russia Engages in Tit-For-Tat Expulsions: Ping-Pong!
BBC: Russia is to expel four UK diplomats in the continuing row over Moscow's refusal to extradite the man suspected of Alexander Litvinenko's murder.

The four diplomats must leave Russia within 10 days, and Moscow is to review visa applications for UK officials.

Foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said co-operation in counter terrorism would no longer be possible. Russia expels four UK diplomats (more)

Mark Alexander

Turkey: Where East Meets West
Photos of pious and secular Turkey courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Ahead of Sunday's general election, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford travels to Kayseri and Izmir to report on how the country's secular system and its democracy are being tested by a shift in power towards religious-minded Turks.

At five o'clock most mornings, the elite of Kayseri are already up and working out. In the hills that surround the city they take a brisk two-hour hike to start the day.

"We always start very early," one man puffs. Striding alongside him are the city's mayor, its business leaders and its police chief. "That's the Anatolian people. They have lots of energy," he says.

Kayseri is a clean-living city, and it is also devout. In Turkey today it is pious places like this that are on the rise. Two faces of modern Turkey (more) By Sarah Rainsford

Mark Alexander

Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh Appear on Iranian TV

Photos courtesy of the BBC

BBC: Iranian state TV has broadcast a programme based on interviews with two Iranian-American academics who have been detained in Tehran since May.

Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh are being held on suspicion of spying and endangering Iranian national security.

The academics could face the death penalty if charged and found guilty.

Correspondents say the documentary, In the Name of Democracy, was an apparent attempt to implicate them in a plot to destabilise the government in Tehran.

The programme also included an interview with Ramin Jahanbaglou, an Iranian-Canadian who has been told he cannot leave the country. Detained US-Iranians interviewed (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Detained US-Iranians on TV

Mark Alexander

Tony Blair: A Questionable Legacy
With thanks to George Mason at Brushfires Of Freedom for kindly alerting me to this most interesting and thought-provoking opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal:

WALL STREET JOURNAL / OPINION JOURNAL: When Tony Blair announced his resignation after 10 years as prime minister of the United Kingdom, his voice choked with emotion and he nearly shed a tear. He asked his audience to believe that he had always done what he thought was right. He would have been nearer the mark had he said that he always thought that what was right was whatever he had done. Throughout his years in office, he kept inviolable his belief in the existence of a purely beneficent essence of himself, a belief so strong that no quantity of untruthfulness, shady dealings, unscrupulousness, or constitutional impropriety could undermine or destroy it. Having come into the world marked by Original Virtue, Mr. Blair was also a natural-born preacher.

In a confessional mood, Mr. Blair admitted that he had sometimes fallen short of what was expected of him. He did not give specifics, but we were expected to admire his candor and humility in making such an admission. It is no coincidence, however, that Mr. Blair reached maturity at the time of the publication of the famous book "Psychobabble," which dissects the modern tendency to indulge in self-obsession without self-examination. Here was a mea culpa without the culpa. Bless me, people (Mr. Blair appeared to be saying), for I have sinned: but please don't ask me to say how.

There undoubtedly were things to be grateful for during the Blair years. His support for American policy in Iraq won him much sympathy in the U.S., of course. He was often eloquent in defense of liberty. And under Mr. Blair's leadership, Britain enjoyed 10 years of uninterrupted economic growth, leaving large parts of the country prosperous as never before. London became one of the world's richest cities, vying with New York to be the global economy's financial center. Mr. Blair did inherit a strapping economy from his predecessor, and he left its management more or less to the man who succeeds him, Gordon Brown. Still, unlike previous Labour prime ministers, he did not preside over an economic crisis: in itself, something to be proud of.

But how history will judge him overall, and whether it will absolve him (to adapt slightly a phrase coined by a famous, though now ailing, Antillean dictator), is another matter. Strictly speaking, history doesn't absolve, or for that matter vindicate, anybody; only people absolve or vindicate, and except in the most obvious cases of villainy or sainthood, they come to different conclusions, using basically the same evidence. There can thus be no definitive judgment of Mr. Blair, especially one contemporaneous with his departure. Still, I will try.

Mr. Blair's resignation announcement was typical of the man and, one must admit, of the new culture from which he emerged: lachrymose and self-serving. It revealed an unfailing eye and ear for the ersatz and the kitsch, which allowed him so long to play upon the sensibilities of a large section of the population as upon a pipe.

He knew exactly what to say of Princess Diana when she died in a car accident, for example: that she was "the people's princess." He sensed acutely that the times were not so much democratic as demotic: that economic egalitarianism having suffered a decisive defeat both in theory and practice, the only mass appeal left to a politician calling himself radical was to cultural egalitarianism. He could gauge the feelings of the people because, in large part, he shared them. A devotee himself of the cult of celebrity, in which the marriage of glamour and banality both reassures democratic sentiment and stimulates fantasies of luxury, he sought the company of minor show-business personalities and stayed in their homes during his holidays. The practical demonstration that he worshiped at the same shrines as the people did, that his tastes were the same as theirs, more than compensated for the faint odor of impropriety that this gave off. And differences of taste, after all, unite or divide men more profoundly than anything else.

No prime minister had ever been at once so ubiquitous and so inaccessible. Instinctively understanding the dynamics of the cult of celebrity, Mr. Blair was both familiar (he insisted on being known by a diminutive) and distant (he acted more as head of state than as head of government, and spent three times more on his own office than did his predecessor). Having invited 60 ordinary citizens into Downing Street so that they could give him their views, and so that he could say that he listened to the people, he proceeded to address them via a huge plasma screen, though he was in the building. So near, and yet so far: this was a grand vizier's durbar for the age of virtual reality. With Mr. Blair, communication, like time's arrow, flew in one direction only. Delusions of Honesty: Tony Blair's domestic legacy: corruption and the erosion of liberty. By Theodore Dalrymple

Mark Alexander

British Muslim Doctors
With thanks to Anonymous over at Pedestrian Infidel for alerting me to this story:

MICH NEWS: Did the Brit doctors planning blowing up the innocents heretofore murder innocent patients under their care in the hospital?

That very well could be.

After all, when a mind is so convinced of a cultic tenet as to murder, that murder may take place once or repeatedly.

The doctors planning the carnage missed may have had rehearsals in the hospital in which they succeeded in putting to death those who otherwise might be alive right now.

After all, this is an imperfect world and those overseeing the work of those doctors just may have missed something crucial in daily proceedings. Anything is possible. Muslim Doctors: How Many Patients Murdered? By Grant Swank Jr

Mark Alexander

The Colonisation of the United Kingdom
Hat tip to Always On Watch and co-workers:

Click on the chart to enlarge
Mark Alexander

Muslims Just Will Not Integrate and Learn to Understand Freedom

Photo courtesy of the Daily Express

DAILY EXPRESS: THIS was the extraordinary scene on the streets of Britain yesterday as burka-clad protesters demanded the release of four extremists.

Swarming outside the OId Bailey, the Muslim hate mob poured scorn on the nation that guarantees their freedoms.

The woman - mostly young and dressed from head to toe in black - held placards accusing the British Government of terrorism and telling our police to "go to hell".

In their midst a WPC ignored their insults while standing ready to protect them from any counter-demonstration.

The disgraceful scenes came as four men were jailed for offences including soliciting murder and stirring up racial hatred at a demo against a cartoon of Mohammed. Outrageous (more) By John Twomey

Mark Alexander

Jail for Muslims Demonstrating in an Unacceptable Way Against the Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad
Click on the image to enlarge All the fuss was about the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad which are brought to you courtesy of Wikipedia
BBC: Four Muslim men have been jailed for their part in protests at the Danish embassy in London, against cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

Mizanur Rahman, 24, Umran Javed, 27, and Abdul Muhid, 24, were each jailed for six years for soliciting to murder after telling a crowd to bomb the UK.

A fourth man, Abdul Saleem, 32, was jailed for four years for stirring up racial hatred at the protest in 2006.

The men, from London and Birmingham, were convicted at the Old Bailey.

Judge Brian Barker said their words had been designed to encourage murder and terrorism. Four men jailed over cartoon demo (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Four jailed over cartoon demo

BBC:
Who were the jailed four and why were they jailed?

BBC:
How far can freedom of speech go?

Was the BBC ‘spineless’ in not airing the cartoons?
This from 3. February 2006:

BBC: As the row over the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has intensified, media executives - in television, print and online - have faced some difficult decisions.

Should they publish the pictures and risk offending Muslim readers and viewers? Or by not showing them, would they be preventing the public from coming to informed opinions about the controversy?

Many people have rung or called the BBC complaining that the cartoons are not being shown on television news or the website.

Reports have shown brief glimpses of the pictures in some of the European newspapers which have published them, but no close-ups.

Lawrie May wrote: "You cannot report a news subject relating to a visual matter without showing that matter." BBC's dilemma over cartoons (more)

WATCH NEWSWATCH VIDEO:
NewsWatch 3 February 2006

Mark Alexander

Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten zu sein ist in der heutigen Zeit eine undankbare Tätigkeit
WELTONLINE: Am 20. Januar 2009 scheidet George W. Bush aus dem Amt. Viele US-Amerikaner können diesen Termin schon jetzt kaum erwarten - sie kaufen massenhaft Produkte, die den Abschied des Präsidenten feiern. Das Geschäft ist äußerst lukrativ.

Sängerin Madonna hat einen Countdown auf ihrer Webseite. Er zählt die Zeit runter, bis George W. Bush aus dem Weißen Haus ausziehen muss. Am 20. Januar 2009 wird er den Schlüssel an den neu gewählten US-Präsidenten übergeben. Verlinkt ist die Uhr mit dem Urheber, der New Yorker Internetseite Backwards Bush (Bush rückwärts).

Viele Amerikaner können die Wahl eines neuen Präsidenten kaum abwarten. US-Verlage und kleinere Unternehmen haben auf den Trend reagiert und bringen Anti-Bush-Bücher, Bye-Bye-Bush-Kalender, Autoaufkleber und Postkarten auf den Markt. Diese fassen die denkwürdigsten Zitate und amüsantesten Fotos zusammen. Reich werden mit Anti-Bush-Produkten (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Al-Qaeda Targets America for Another Attack

Photo courtesy of the Kuwait Times

KUWAIT TIMES: WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda has regrouped in its Pakistani "safe haven" and is determined to inflict mass casualties through new attacks on the United States, a US intelligence report warned yesterday, adding the group will likely try to use battle-hardened associates in Iraq to strike inside the US. Osama bin Laden's extremist group remains bent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear and biological arms, "and would not hesitate to use them" if it develops the capability, the report said.

The "key judgements" on the terrorist threat to the United States, contained in a new National Intelligence Estimate, concluded that Al-Qaeda was gaining strength in a lawless zone of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan. "As a result, we judge the United States currently is in a heightened threat environment," said the report, which comes nearly six years after the September 11, 2001 attacks in which some 3,000 people were killed.

The report's findings, which were leaked to the US press last week, have already prompted angry reactions from Democrats who accuse President George W Bush of making the United States more vulnerable by invading Iraq. But yesterday, Bush's top counter-terrorism aide hit back saying Washington rarely gets all of the help it wants from allies like Pakistan in its efforts to hunt down violent extremists. "When people ask me about our counter-terrorism cooperation, our allies around the world, the suggestion is: 'Do they give you everything you want?' That is almost never the case," said Frances Townsend. Qaeda determined to hit US (more)

Mark Alexander

Only the Wise Stone Women to Death!
Hat tip to Robert Spencer for the following:

ADNKRONOS INTERNATIONAL: Tehran, 16 July (AKI) – Iran's chief prosecutor Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabad has defended the death penalty by stoning describing it as a "wise measure".

"Death by stoning and all the measures contained in the Sharia (Islamic law) are wise measures' he said in speech delivered Monday in Zanjan, a town located some 200 kilometres west of the capital Tehran.

"We need to distinguish between the law of bloodmoney and the of executions carried out after the death sentence has been passed. The first is a right the Sharia recognises to the victims, while the second is a law wanted by men", Najafabad said. Iran: Death by stoning a 'wise measure' (more)

Mark Alexander

Putin’s Games – Russia's Military Get Down to Some of Good, Old-Fashioned Sabre-Rattling: RAF Fighter Jets Yesterday Intercept Two Russian Strategic Bombers Heading for British Airspace
TIMESONLINE: RAF fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian strategic bombers heading for British airspace yesterday, as the spirit of the Cold War returned to the North Atlantic once again.

The incident, described as rare by the RAF, served as a telling metaphor for the stand-off between London and Moscow over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

While the Kremlin hesitated before responding to Britain’s expulsion of four diplomats, the Russian military engaged in some old-fashioned sabre-rattling.

Two Tu95 “Bear” bombers were dispatched from their base on the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic Circle and headed towards British airspace. RAF scrambles to intercept Russian bombers (more) By Richard Beeston

Mark Alexander

Bush’s Abject Failure: The Economy – US Debt Woes Pull US Dollar Further Down into the Doldrums
TIMESONLINE: Sterling soared today to levels not seen since 1981 as 'risk aversion' to the dollar grew amid US housing market fears

Renewed worries about the crisis descending on the American sub-prime housing market sent the dollar tumbling to 12-year lows on the currency markets and pushed the British pound to its highest level since 1981.

Sterling leaped to $2.05, a 26-year peak, fuelled by renewed expectations of higher UK interest rates after stronger than expected inflation data emerged yesterday.

Set alongside fresh price highs charged by Britain's retailers, it reinforced predictions the Bank of England would increase interest rates to 6 per cent as early as next month. Pound hits $2.05 as dollar struck by US debt woes (more)

Mark Alexander

Petrodollars Now Being Used to Buy Up UK’s Supermarkets: Qatari Royal Family Poised to Buy Up Sainsbury’s in £11bn Bid
Here we go again! Businessmen go selling off the family silver! Have these idiots ever asked themselves what this capitalist economy will be like for the ordinary working man once the Islamic world has bought up all there is worth owning? Don’t they have the nouse to ask one simple question? If they can buy up our businesses, why can’t we buy up theirs? The sort of capitalism these businessmen advocate is a one-sided affair. What we need is a level playing field. They probably haven't got the balls to insist on one. - ©Mark Alexander

THE TELEGRAPH: Delta Two, the investment vehicle controlled by the Qatari royal family, is poised to table a £11bn-plus bid for J Sainsbury.

In a short statement this morning, the supermarket giant said it had received "perliminary approach" and will make a further statement in due course.

Delta Two has expressed confidence in Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King and his strategy[.]

Funding for the offer has been secured in recent days and the final touches are being put to a full team of City advisers, led by investment banks Dresdner Kleinwort and Credit Suisse. Qataris in £11bn bid to buy Sainsbury (more) By Richard Fletcher and Ben Harrington

THE TELEGRAPH:
Qatar's bold ambitions (more) By Ben Bland

THE TELEGRAPH:
Business comment: Sainsbury's will learn petro dollars' buying power (more) By Damian Reece

FINANCIAL TIMES:
Delta Two in £12bn move on Sainsbury By Lina Saigol

Mark Alexander

Rußlands Zusammenarbeit mit den britischen Sicherheitsbehörden ist wegen der Ausweisung der Diplomaten eingestellt worden
NZZ ONLINE: Russland hat am Dienstag als erste Reaktion auf die Ausweisung vier seiner Diplomaten aus Grossbritannien die Zusammenarbeit mit den britischen Sicherheitsbehörden eingestellt. Weitere «angemessene und gezielte Schritte» sollen folgen. Moskau kündet Vergeltungsmassnahmen an: Russland reagiert auf Diplomaten-Ausweisung durch Grossbritannien (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Tuncay Seyranlioglu, an Independent Candidate in the Upcoming General Election in Turkey, is Shot Dead
BBC: An independent candidate has been shot dead in Istanbul ahead of Turkey's general election on 22 July.

Tuncay Seyranlioglu's car was hit by gunfire on a highway as it was taking him away from a TV studio.

The businessman, who had assets in media and property, was standing to be an MP in Istanbul. Several suspects are said to have been held over the attack.

Meanwhile, Turkey's prime minister has said he will quit politics if his party fails to win a decisive majority.

"If we can't come to power alone, I'll leave politics," local television quoted Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying.

The prime minister's AK Party wants to win a majority large enough to enable it to form a strong government without relying on coalition partners. Turkish poll candidate shot dead (more)

Mark Alexander

Al-Qaeda Intensifies Its Efforts to Put Operatives in US
BBC: Al-Qaeda is intensifying its efforts to put operatives into the US and the nation is at a heightened risk of attack, a US intelligence report says.

The terror group is weaker than it would have been had it not been for US efforts since 2002, President George W Bush's homeland security adviser said.

But al-Qaeda has found a "safe haven" in Pakistani tribal areas which has allowed it to regroup, the report says.

Officials say there is no specific terror threat in the US at present. Al-Qaeda 'stepping up US efforts' (more)

Mark Alexander

Is Switzerland Well On The Way to Dhimmitude?
With thanks to Robert Spencer, where I first saw this article:

SWISSINFO: Amid a fierce debate about minarets, public services in canton Zurich are being tested to determine if they discriminate against Muslims.

The cantonal authorities commissioned the fact-finding study to provide a more solid foundation for an ongoing political debate on how Muslims practise their religion in Zurich.

The Zurich chapter of the rightwing Swiss People's Party put forward a motion last August calling for a ban on the construction of "provocative" minaret towers on Muslim centres of worship.

This was followed by a similar national initiative earlier this year that was condemned by several government ministers.

Dr Thomas Widmer from Zurich University's Institute of Political Sciences has been given the task of assessing the suitability of the canton's health, education, penal and social services for the Muslim population.

"We will try to find out if the services provided by the cantonal authorities allow religious freedom for Muslims and, also, if these religious activities are disturbing other people using these services," he told swissinfo.

"The Swiss constitution guarantees religious freedom and the canton must examine that this is not being violated." Zurich introduces "Muslim friendliness" check (more)

Deutsch: Zürich lanciert erste Studie über Muslime

Français:
Première étude sur l'Islam à Zurich

Mark Alexander

Keith Ellison and the Hitler Jibe
FRONTPAGE: Upon assuming office, United States Congressmen swear to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) is on the job, zeroing in on a large-scale plan to subvert the Constitution, led by none other than George W. Bush. Speaking last week in Minnesota to a meeting of a group called Atheists for Human Rights, Ellison said of the September 11 attacks: “It’s almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted.”


The Nazi regime staged the fire at the Reichstag, the German Parliament building, on February 27, 1933, and blamed it on German and foreign Communist agents. The German Communist party was swiftly outlawed, thousands of Communists were arrested, and Hitler and his henchmen were able to bully the other parties in the German Parliament to grant him dictatorial powers, allowing him to legislate without approval from the assembly. But in making this comparison Ellison emphasized that he wasn’t saying that the Bush Administration staged the 9/11 attacks, because, “you know, that’s how they put you in the nut-ball box -- dismiss you.” Keith Ellison and the "Reichstag" By Robert Spencer

HOT AIR:
Watch Robert Spencer here

Mark Alexander

Breaking News: Libyan Families Drop Demands for the Execution of Five Bulgarian Nurses and One Palestinian Doctor
BBC: Families of Libyan children infected with HIV have dropped their demand for six foreign medical workers convicted in the case to be sentenced to death. Libya families end execution bid (more)

Mark Alexander

Rizana Nafeek’s Parents to Fly to Saudi Arabia in Last Minute Plea for Clemency
KUWAIT TIMES: COLOMBO: The parents of a Sri Lankan maid sentenced to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia after a baby died in her care will travel to the kingdom later this week to plea for clemency to the boy's parents, a Sri Lankan official said yesterday. A Saudi court sentenced Rizana Nafeek, 19, to death last month and gave her until yesterday to appeal the sentence. Human rights activists have said the boy's death appeared to be an accident.

The Sri Lankan Embassy has already filed an appeal on Nafeek's behalf, said Hussein Bhaila, Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister, but was also hoping that a delegation that includes Nafeek's parents would help save her from execution. The group, which is to include Bhaila and other officials as well, was to leave yesterday, but had not received visas. Bhaila met the Saudi Arabian ambassador yesterday afternoon and was told there will be "no problem" getting the visas in time for their trip, which was rescheduled for Friday, he said. "We intend to meet religious leaders and higher officials and persuade the (boy's) parents to grant clemency to Nafeek," Bhaila said. Parents of death row maid to plea for teen (more)

Mark Alexander

Is Musharraf Losing His Grip on Pakistan?
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A violent crackdown ended the Red Mosque siege in Islamabad and allowed Musharraf to reestablish his authority over Pakistan -- for the time being. With al-Qaida vowing reprisal attacks, the conflict with Islamic fundamentalists threatens to throw the country into turmoil.

In his youth, Abdul Rashid Ghazi had a reputation as a headstrong young man. As a member of the warlike Mazari tribe from northwestern Pakistan, his stubbornness appeared to indicate a certain fighting spirit. If nothing else, it definitely reflected a strong rebellious streak. He defied his father Abdullah's wish that he receive a formal Islamic education, dropped out of Koran school and refused to grow an appropriately pious full beard when he reached adulthood. Instead, he insisted on shaving.

Later, Ghazi returned to the fold after all. He studied international relations in Islamabad and went to work for the Ministry of Education. After his father, the founder of the Red Mosque, was murdered by rival Islamists in 1998, the prodigal son even embraced religion, becoming a leader known as a maulana. Are Musharraf's Days in Power Numbered? (more) By Rüdiger Falksohn, Padma Rao and Tobias Schreiter

Mark Alexander