This is No Way to Win a War! Weakness, Cowardice, and Damn Lies from the Leader of the Free World!

"I send greetings to the many Muslims observing Ramadan in America and around the world.

Ramadan is the holiest time of the Muslim year and an important holiday when Muslims take time for prayer, fasting, and personal sacrifice. According to Islamic teachings, this month represents when God delivered His word to the prophet Muhammad in the form of the Qur'an. Ramadan is also an opportunity to gather with friends and family and show thanks for God's blessings through works of charity.

Ramadan and the upcoming holiday seasons are a good time to remember the common values that bind us together. Our society is enriched by our Muslim citizens whose commitment to faith reminds us of the gift of religious freedom in our country.

Laura and I send our best wishes for a blessed Ramadan. Ramadan Mubarak." - GEORGE W. BUSH

Surely, I cannot be the only one sickened by these goodwill wishes to the Muslim Ummah in the US and throughout the world? Not only do I find this message sickening, but also I find it weak and cowardly! It is also offensive, because such goodwill messages are never reciprocated. Has the West already become the slave of the Islamic world?

With each passing day, President George W Bush shows himself to be weak and growing ever weaker; indeed, in my opinion, he is too weak to be the leader of the free world at this critical time. After 9/11, he gave the impression that he was going to be the political ‘saviour’ of the free and democratic West, for he talked tough. But as the years have passed, we have seen that he has grown weaker rather than stronger.

Can you imagine Churchill issuing such a statement of goodwill to the Nazis during the Second World War? Imagine it! It would have been unthinkable! Winston Churchill was strong, and he had principle. He was no pussycat. He fought the Second World War with one thing in mind: Victory!

“I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized … (To listen to the speech in all its glory, click HERE)

This, Mr Bush, is the way to win wars! Not by sending wishes of goodwill to our enemy!

Doesn’t the President of the United States of America realize that the West is engaged in a war to the death? Doesn’t he realize that such messages of goodwill, especially when they are never reciprocated, will do nothing but appease and embolden the enemy? Doesn’t he realize the nature of the enemy he is dealing with? Doesn’t he realize that Muslims, and Arabs in particular, view such gestures of goodwill as a sign of great weakness? Doesn’t he realize that the war cannot be won this way?

Click here to listen to how Churchill might have reacted:

This was their finest hour

To start with, let him tell us how “our society is enriched by our Muslim citizens whose commitment to faith reminds us of the gift of religious freedom in our country”. What the hell is he talking about? How do these people enrich our society? As far as I can see, all they do is impoverish it! Only in the past days, it has come to light that an opera, Mozart’s Idomeneo, has been cancelled in Berlin because it might offend Muslims. Two weeks ago, Pope Benedict XVI came under fire for his quotation of the emperor Palaeologos. Earlier in the year, we saw the furore caused by Muslims throughout the world when a few measly cartoons were published in Denmark. And you, Mr President, have got the unmitigated gall to say that Muslims enrich life here in the West. This is a lie. A damn lie, too! They do nothing but impoverish it! And the longer they stay in the West, and the stronger they become, the more impoverished life will be for us all. Moreover, how the hell do you think that Muslims living in the West can possibly remind us of the gift of religious freedom in the US? Of all people, Muslims do not understand the concept of religious freedom. In Muslim countries, people are put to death for converting out of the faith of Islam. Where’s the commitment to religious freedom in that? Don’t you realize that in each and every country that Islam has ever entered, and where it has been allowed to put down roots, that it has eventually taken over, and snuffed out all vestiges of freedom. Look at the evidence: Egypt, Libya, the Lebanon, Syria - these were all once Christian countries! The ultimate aim of all Muslims, Mr President, is not democracy and freedom, but theocracy and totalitarianism.

From what I can see, these goodwill wishes are an exercise in A-licking! Brown-nosing! Call it what you will! With such utterances, you show the Muslim world, and the rest of us, just how weak you are! Weak and craven and cowardly!

You seem to believe with your sophistry that you will somehow be able to change the nature of Muslims and Islam. You seem to believe that you will tame the lion by calling the lion 'a good boy'. You won’t. Be sure of that! The roaring lion that is Islam has never been tamed, and nor will it ever be. This lion can only be slain!

You, Mr President, made a fatal error of judgment the day after 9/11. Probably out of cowardice, you failed to identify the enemy to the citizens of the USA and the world. You had your chance, and you blew it. You should have stated that while, hitherto, America had not been at war with Islam, it is clear now that Islam is at war with your country. That, Mr President, was your first grave error. You should then have asked the citizens of your fine nation for their co-operation and unity. You should have stated that in order to win this war being waged against your country, you would need everyone to pull all the stops out, and to be prepared to sacrifice for the cause of eventual victory.

Further, you should have drawn together all sides in Congress, the right, the centre, and the left, in order to build a government of national unity. In time war, there is no room for divisions between left and right. War is the time when the people need to put aside their political differences in the cause of the war effort.

Furthermore, the people should have been asked to tighten their belts, and war bonds should have been issued to help finance the war ahead. No war was ever won without the sacrifice of the people. This sacrifice also includes the sacrifice of rights such as the right to sue others because of criticism. All those things, manifestations of life in a free and peaceful world, should have been suspended for the duration of the war.

During World War II, Japanese people living in the US at that time were interned. Likewise, Muslim people living in the US post-9/11 should also have been interned. You cannot wage a war with a fifth column spread across the nation. It is just not possible. You, Mr President, might say that it is not just to punish the majority for the sins of the extreme minority. I would say to you, Mr President, that it is always the case in this life that the majority has to pay for the sins of the minority. This is the nature of life, as unfair as it may be.

Because of the way you have tried to wage this war, because you have tried to wage this war on the defensive, Islam in the West has actually gained in strength since the attack on 9/11. Now the average person in the street doesn’t know what to believe. Their leaders are stating that Islam is really a “religion of peace” which has been “distorted” by the likes of the members of Al-Qaeda which, of course, is balderdash; and yet the news, despite the concealing distemper painted on it by the MSM, shows them that Islam is belligerent and malign, and that it is growing apace here in the West. Naturally, this disturbs many, many people.

All this has come about because you, Mr President, and your incompetent administration, have refused to look truth in the face. This is no way to wage a war, Mr President. This is no way to win this war, Mr President. This is no way to victory, Mr President! You are engaged in mendacity, prevarication, and sophistry. Historians will not be kind to you for enabling the enemy to take away our freedom and democracy. Shame on you!

©Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

More evidence 'New Dark Age' is 'Dawning': Freedom of expression ebbing away in Germany
This also goes to prove my point, namely that Islam is the enemy of democracy and freedom!

“It is an act of pure cowardice. We are opening ourselves up to cultural blackmail.” - Peter Ramsauer, the head of the conservative Christian Social Union parliamentary faction

“This self-censorship shouldn’t be happening anywhere, but least of all in Germany. This is where the Nazis burnt books. If you cancel performances because you’re scared, then you’re burning your own books on behalf of the fanatics. You don’t get crazier than that.” - Tenenbom

German politicians and writers have damned ruling as blow to freedom of expression

THE bloodstained King of Crete stumbles onstage and holds aloft the decapitated heads of Poseidon, Jesus, Buddha and the Prophet Muhammad. “The gods are dead!” he calls out to the audience.

German operagoers will not be seeing that scene or, indeed, any scene from one of Mozart’s most powerful works. For fear of Muslim anger, the bosses of the world-renowned Deutsche Oper in Berlin have cancelled performances of Mozart’s Idomeneo. The decision has unleashed a storm of disapproval from politicians and writers, who claim that Germany has fatally compromised the freedom of expression.

Wolfgang Schäuble, the German Interior Minister who is due to open a conference today on Islam and German society, said that the decision to cancel the opera was insane, laughable and unacceptable. Other politicians said it was irresponsible. Opera boss censors Mozart over stage beheading of Muhammad by Roger Boyes

Mark Alexander

Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom!
Until 9/11, the western world was largely ignorant of the religion of Islam, of its goals, of its aspirations. Indeed, even since 9/11, most people, and that includes our politicians, would not score very highly in a test of their knowledge on the subject. It should be obvious to all thinking people that our politicians are actually unaware, dare I say blind, to the dangers that Islam will increasingly cause us. It is truly a case of the blind leading the blind! That means to say, uninformed and unthinking politicians leading an ill-informed electorate. But this is what we have right now. The same can hardly be said of Muslims in the Islamic world, though; for their knowledge of Christianity far surpasses - even though much of their knowledge is quite distorted - any knowledge of Islam by the man in the street in the West.

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. But what we often don't hear uttered is its converse: Ignorance is weakness!

The West is far weaker than it need be because of this ignorance of Islam, since Islam is our greatest enemy. The greatest enemy since Nazism and communism. I'll give you some good reasons why this is so. And none of them - absolutely none of them - are based on hatred!

Islam is the enemy of the West for a plethora of good, solid reasons, and if we wish to survive as a civilization, we are going to have to bite the bullet and deal, head on, with the issues these reasons raise. Let us begin...

First and foremost, we are dealing with a religion which does not recognize any separation of politics and religion, any separation of the political from the spiritual. For Muslims, life is one coherent whole: the political and spiritual both meld into one. This has always been so, and always will be. No re-classification of the religion into two separate parts is possible because of Islam's very nature.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, the god of Muslims. The Qur'an, their holy book, is always taken literally. Those words are considered to be the actual words of Allah. Therefore, none of these words can be changed, for to change any of them would be tantamount to tampering with Allah's words. This would be a grave sin in their eyes.

For the same reason that the words contained in the Qur'an cannot be changed, they cannot, therefore, be re-interpreted either. So do not hold your breath for any kind of reformation in this religion, because it ain't gonna happen!

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, and it filters down via his vice-gerents on earth to the people. Hence the great desire among Muslims to restore the caliphate. Contrast this with the Western model of government!

In the West, the ideal political system is democracy. In democracy, all power rests with the people, and they exercise that power at the polls. In a democracy, all power filters in the opposite direction from Islam. In democracy it filters up; in Islam, down! Herein lies the greatest barrier to the miscibility of the two worlds: the western world and the Islamic world!

Without digressing too much here, I should like to add that this is the main reason why George W Bush and Blair's venture into Iraq to bring democracy there was a grave error of judgment. We are now seeing the experiment failing before our very eyes. How can one bring democracy to a region of the world where the people who inhabit that region believe that all power rests with Allah, and where they believe that Allah has prescribed their way of life for them for then, for now, and for all time?

I would suggest that where such a dichotomy exists, the most sensible and prudent thing to do would be for us to lead our lives as we see fit, and for those people to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. That way, there would be hope of some peace in this world.

But this is not what we have done. We have done the very opposite of this: We have entered the Middle East in the hope - the vain hope in my opinion - of bringing our way of doing things, our way of life, to them; furthermore, we have allowed millions and millions of Muslims into the West - and at the very time when Christianity, the religion which underpins the West, is greatly weakened anyway - which will only give us headaches for the years ahead. Why? Because Muslims who immigrate bring their hopes and dreams and aspirations with them of establishing Islam everywhere on earth. To Islamize the world is the main aspiration of the Muslim; and we have seen the recent past, the manifestation of aggression in its cause in France. For what happened in France was in no small part because of the Muslim's desire to establish Allah's caliphate here on earth. These were the first rumblings, the first roar of the lion! Expect more of this in the future, as Islam grows stronger and stronger.

Muslims, by and large, do not respect non-Muslims. How can they? Their religion does not allow them to do so. Their religion preaches that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims; indeed, they use the derogatory term infidel for us. This word to some Westerners might simply mean that they call us infidels because we are people who do not subscribe to their faith. This, after all, would be quite logical, since to us it simply means not fidele, or not true to the faith. But this does not completely describe what Muslims mean by this term. To Muslims, to be called an infidel is an insult indeed! It has connotations of inferiority, backwardness, and even uncleanness!

You see, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They call it ad deen al kamal, the perfect religion. People, in their eyes, who have not yet submitted to the will of Allah, are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, a state known to them as jahiliyyah! To Muslims, all Muslims, the whole world is classified in two parts: that part of the world which has submitted, and is therefore in the Islamic state, known as Dar ul Islam, or 'the House of Islam', and that part of the world which has yet to submit, and is therefore in a pre-Islamic, chaotic, jahiliyyic state, known as Dar ul Harb, or the 'House of War'!

The 'House of War' is the part of the world which has yet to be taken over, and must at some point be taken over in the future. We, I am sorry to inform you, are in the 'House of War'. So we can expect anything at anytime.

Some people would ask why we were able to go for quite a long time without problems with Muslims. The answer to that is a simple one indeed. First of all, there were relatively few Muslims living in the West, so the ones that did live here were not powerful. Secondly, Muslims living in the Islamic world were, for the most part and for many years, poor by anyone's standards. This all changed with the Oil Embargo of the 70s - a time when the price of oil on the world markets soared. As a result of this, the Islamic world became rich and empowered. Money is power; and it talks loudly! In recent years we have seen evidence aplenty of Islam being on the move. I tell you now: If we do not find a way of clipping its wings here in the West, we shall lose our democracy, and we shall be in deep, deep trouble.

So the trouble we will have with Muslims will not come only from without, but in the future we can expect trouble from the Muslims within. The millions of Muslims living here in the West will not integrate, because it is not in their worldview to do so. It is also forbidden them by their very own Prophet Himself, the Prophet Muhammad. He forbade Muslims even to befriend infidels. He also exhorted them to kill us. And he certainly told them that they should live separate lives, and dress and behave differently, so that they could easily tell themselves apart.

No Western politician is going to be able to change these facts. For facts they are indeed. Moreover, as Islam will grow here, their numbers will become greater and greater, and they will be able to use our democratic system to outvote us and introduce their form of government based as it is on their beloved Shari'ah, or Quranic laws! How do you propose we shall be able to stop them? We shall be outnumbered, and as the outcome of democratic elections depends on the number of votes cast, we shall be able to do nothing about it! This time will come quicker than we might think, because so few babies are being born to infidel families.

The only thing left for people to do, will be to fight. Inevitably, at some point, civil war will ensue. If the political process fails people, then this will be all that will be left for them: civil war, guerre civile, Bürgerkrieg, call it what you will.

But one thing I can assure you, no politicians' sweet talk, posturing, or manœvring, will get us out of this one without conflict at some point in the future.

You see, one of the biggest problems for the West is its devotion to the concept of freedom of religion. This is a lofty concept and ideal indeed; but this devotion blinds people to one important reality: Islam is not just a religion, but a political system also. Indeed, it is more of a political system than anything else, and it is, in addition, a political system diametrically opposed to our own. It abhors freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of anything that we so cherish! The only thing one is free to do in Islam is become a Muslim, and submit to the will of Allah!

These two systems are totally immiscible, and unfortunately, we have imported this immiscibility right into the heart of the West! To our own great disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of our long term peace and security. What, I ask you, will the Americans do when the ever growing Muslim population in America starts wanting to tinker with the Americans' beloved Constitution? When Muslims will see their way clear to supplant the Constitution with Shari'ah law?

Questions like these are the ones we should be grappling with NOW. To wait until the time comes would be foolish indeed.

Wake up to the harsh realities of life in the twenty-first century! We've got some collective thinking to do if we wish to save ourselves from darkness! Perhaps we shall, indeed, be forced to think about having to re-classify Islam as a political system first and foremost, a political system immiscible with our own, and one whose advance needs to be forestalled. This may be one of our only sensible alternatives. Since to give complete, unhampered freedom to Islam to grow here in the West is tantamount to digging our own graves!

©Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

Benoît XVI et le dialogue avec le monde islamique

À des ambassadeurs musulmans, Benoît XVI a dit hier chercher «les voies de la réconciliation».

POUR CLORE la polémique suscitée par ses propos sur l'islam, Benoît XVI a proposé hier aux vingt-deux diplomates des pays à majorité musulmane accrédités au Vatican et à une quinzaine de représentants du monde islamique en Italie une feuille de route pour que les «leçons du passé» aident à «trouver les voies de la réconciliation». Le temps des regrets est passé, celui des explications aussi, et pour Benoît XVI le moment est venu d'adresser un discours diplomatique, et non théologique, à ce panel d'ambassadeurs. Son texte a été immédiatement traduit en arabe. Le Pape définit le dialogue avec l'islam par Hervé Yannou

Mark Alexander

Egypt jumps on the bandwagon

BBC: Plans announced recently by Egypt and Turkey that they hope to build nuclear power plants are raising a ripple of concern about the long-term prospect of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

"It is easy to exaggerate and it is true that these countries have a right to seek all sources of energy but it is indisputable that there is also a strategic element to this," said Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow in non-proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

"Having a nuclear infrastructure is the step which a country needs to accomplish if it decides to embark on the path of nuclear weapons. Pakistan took that route," he said.

According to this theory, Egypt and Turkey are worried at the failure of the United Nations to stop Iran from enriching uranium. They consider they might be left behind if Iran, despite its denials, does one day develop as a nuclear armed power. Concern over Middle East nuclear plans by Paul Reynolds

Mark Alexander

"This dwarf pope was wrong", says Sheikh Abu Saqer

YNET NEWS: Sheikh Abu Saqer rejects pope's apologies, calls for holy war against 'this little racist'

A prominent Gaza Strip preacher told WorldNetDaily that Pope Benedict XVI's apologies for worldwide reaction to his remarks about Islam and his invitation today for Muslim leaders to meet with him next week are "mere diplomatic acts" and prove the pontiff does not really regret his words.

Sheikh Abu Saqer, leader of Gaza's Jihadia Salafiya Islamic outreach movement, which seeks to make secular Muslims more religious, called for holy war against the Pope.

He said Christian leaders such as Benedict XVI are "afraid" because they realize Islam is Allah's favorite religion and that they are going to hell unless they convert. The Gaza preacher declared the "green flag of Muhammad" would soon be raised over the Vatican. Gaza preacher: Flag of Allah to be raised above Vatican by Aaron Klein

Mark Alexander

Castel Gandolfo
Recently, we've been hearing a lot about Castel Gandolfo, the summer palace of the Pope; so I thought it was time to take a look at it. I must say, it looks splendid.

Photos courtesy of Google Images

CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Il Papa ai 22 rappresentanti diplomatici del mondo islamico: «Dialogo musulmano-cristiano esigenza vitale. Serve reciprocità»

CASTEL GANDOLFO (Roma) «Assicuro stima e rispetto per il mondo musulmano. Il dialogo musulmano-cristiano è esigenza vitale» Con qualche minuto di ritardo rispetto alla prevista tabella di marcia, Benedetto XVI ha dato il via, con queste parole, all'incontro con gli ambasciatori musulmani e gli esponenti delle comunità islamiche italiane che fanno parte della Consulta. Nella sala degli Svizzeri, nel cuore del palazzo di Castel Gandolfo, sono presenti 22 rappresentanti diplomatici. L'unico paese tra quelli che hanno rapporti diplomatici con la Santa Sede che non è rappresentato è il Sudan. Un applauso ha accolto l'ingresso in sala del Pontefice. Rispetto a quanto precedentemente annunciato i rappresentanti diplomatici delle principali nazioni islamiche sono 22 e non 20. Sono infatti presenti anche Siria e Tunisia. «Stima e rispetto per mondo islamico»

Le Pape exprime son plus grand respect aux musulmans

Versöhnungsgeste des Papstes kommt offenbar an

El Papa insiste en la necesidad de un diálogo interreligioso ante los embajadores musulmanes

Mark Alexander

For God's sake, quit the apologies! It was only the truth!
For God's sake, isn't it about time the Pope quit issuing apologies for quoting that emperor, Palaeologos? Enough is enough! I thought this pope was once known as 'God's Rottweiler'. What's happened?

Islam is what it always was: a political ideology clothed in a deity, intent on taking over the world. The free, largely Christian world is never going to be able to stop this process of Islamization by being so defensive.

The Pope said what he said, and he had every right to say it. Western leaders, as Barroso said over the weekend, should have jumped to the Pope's defence instead of leaving him high and dry. Further, as Aznar asked so shrewdly over the weekend, when did Islam apologize for conquering Spain?

It really is time for the West to grow a backbone. We are living in tough times. The times ahead will be even tougher. Brace yourselves for a rough ride!

©Mark Alexander

BBC: Pope Benedict XVI has met envoys from Muslim nations in an attempt to defuse a crisis in relations between the Catholic Church and Islam.

The pontiff expressed "total and profound respect" for the Muslim faith and said inter-faith dialogue was vital for the future.

The meeting aimed at reconciliation after recent remarks made by the Pope caused outrage in the Islamic world.
Muslim leaders have been demanding an unequivocal apology from the Pope. Pope meets Islamic world envoys

WATCH: "Pope meets Muslim diplomats"

Mark Alexander

First Muslim in Congress?

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: MINNEAPOLIS – When Keith Ellison arrives at the Karmel Square, one of Minneapolis's Somali malls, a rock star might as well be walking by the bustling stalls of bright fabrics, jewelry, phone cards, and videos.

People laugh and cheer as they hug Mr. Ellison and pat him on the back. Some speak quickly in Somali as an interpreter translates, and others offer congratulations in fluent English.

"Asalamu aleikum, brothers," Ellison says with a smile. "Thanks for voting."

He is not Somali, or even an immigrant, but for these voters, Ellison is one of their own. After his victory in this month's Democratic primary in the Fifth District, he's likely to become the first Muslim elected to Congress. He would also be the first black congressman to come from Minnesota. Contender may become first Muslim in US Congress

Mark Alexander

Egypt shows its commitment to freedom of expression

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has banned editions of two French and German newspapers, Le Figaro and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, because of articles deemed insulting to Islam, the state news agency MENA said on Sunday.

Under a decree issued by Information Minister Anas el-Feki, the two editions will not be able to enter the country, it said.

"They published articles which disparaged Islam and claimed that the Islamic religion was spread by the sword and that the Prophet ... was the prophet of evil," it added. Egypt bans European papers for comments on Islam

Mark Alexander

Bibi Netanyahu says Iran president more dangerous than Hitler

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Likud chairman tells international counter terrorism conference ‘Hitler went out on global campaign first, and then tried to get nuclear weapons. Iran is trying to get nuclear arms first - therefore it is much more dangerous’

Knesset member Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be more dangerous than Adolf Hitler.

Speaking at the sixth International Counter Terrorism Conference, organized by the Interdisciplinary Center's (IDC) Institute for Counter Terrorism, Netanyahu told the audience: "Al-Qaeda can't develop nuclear weapons, while the militant Shiite movement is galloping forward towards developing nuclear terror."

He added: "Hitler went out on a world campaign first, and then tried to get nuclear weapons. Iran is trying to get nuclear arms first. Therefore from that perspective, it is much more dangerous."

Netanyahu said he was not downplaying the Holocaust. "Hitler was defeated because he could not develop weapons of mass destruction. But Iran stands close to developing nuclear weapons. Does the world understand? In Europe, where I returned from, there are glimpses of understanding," he said. Bibi: Iran president more dangerous than Hitler by Yaakov Lappin

Mark Alexander

Bravo! At last a politician with courage! Aznar rises to the challenge of Islam

Photo courtesy of Google Images

MOROCCO TIMES: Spain Former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has criticized Muslim demands for pope's apology for his remarks about Islam, suggesting that the Islamic world did not apologize for the 800-year Moorish occupation of Spain.

Aznar has said that when he has heard Pope Benedict XVI being asked to apologise for a speech about the Islamic faith he made in Germany last weekend, he has not heard "any Muslims apologising to me for conquering Spain and staying for eight centuries."

Speaking Friday at the Hudson Institute, a thinktank in Washington D.C, Aznar found the UN programme to encourage dialogue between Muslim and Western countries “stupid”, because according to him some Muslim countries like Iran are too radical to deal with. Pope's comments on Islam: Aznar criticizes Muslims' demand for Pope's apology

Aznar defends Pope's remarks on Islam

Mark Alexander

So Barroso: Der Papst hat das Recht zu sagen, was er will

WELT AM SONNTAG: EU-Kommissionspräsident José Manuel Durão Barroso beklagt gegenüber WELT.de den mangelnden Mut der europäischen Politiker, für Meinungsfreiheit einzutreten und Benedikt XVI. gegen die Angriffe von Extremisten zu verteidigen.

Mit Deutschland verbindet José Manuel Durão Barroso eine ungewöhnliche Leidenschaft: die deutsche Juristensprache. Sie sei logisch und präzise, schwärmt der Chef der Europäischen Kommission bei seinem Gespräch mit der "Welt am Sonntag". Und sie ist der Grund dafür, dass der 50-jährige Portugiese sehr gut deutsch spricht: Er hat es für sein Jurastudium gelernt.

WELT.de: Eine der größten Herausforderung Europas ist der islamische Fundamentalismus. War die Reaktion auf den Streit um die Papst-Äußerungen angemessen?

José Manuel Barroso: Den Papst anzugreifen, weil er sich in seiner Rede auf ein historisches Dokument bezog, ist völlig inakzeptabel. Ich war enttäuscht, dass es nicht mehr europäische Führer gab, die sagten: Natürlich hat der Papst das Recht, seine Ansichten zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Das Problem sind nicht seine Äußerungen, sondern die Reaktionen der Extremisten.

WELT.de: Warum waren da viele europäische Politiker so zurückhaltend?

José Manuel Barroso: Vielleicht, weil es Besorgnis über eine mögliche Konfrontation gibt. Und manchmal eine Art politische Korrektheit: Dass man nur dann tolerant ist, wenn man die Meinung der anderen über die eigene stellt. Ich setze mich sehr für Toleranz ein, aber wir müssen für unsere Werte einstehen. "Der Papst darf sagen, was er will"

Mark Alexander

Swiss get tough on immigration

BBC: Swiss voters have backed plans to make it harder for asylum-seekers to get into the country, projections indicate.

The government says the new legislation will reduce abuse of the asylum system, but the UN says it could lead to breaches of refugees' rights.

The laws would require asylum-seekers to have valid identity papers.

They would also cut welfare payments to those whose applications are rejected, and introduce up to two years detention for those awaiting deportation. Swiss 'back tighter asylum laws'

Mark Alexander

Cat digs his claws in the Pope

KHALEEJ TIMES: LONDON, England - Yusuf Islam, the British singer known as Cat Stevens before his conversion to Islam, on Sunday added to the criticism of Pope Benedict XVI’s recent remarks about the religion.

Islam, known for his 1970s hits including “Father And Son” and ”Wild World”, said that the pope quoting from a medieval text, which attacks some of the Prophet Mohammed’s teachings as “evil and inhuman” showed the pontiff was not infallible.

Roman Catholic theology says that the pope cannot err in teachings on faith or morals.

In an interview with BBC television, Islam said that he went to a Catholic school, “so at one point I used to believe that the Pope was infallible”.

But he added that the pope’s comments on Islam showed he was fallible Cat Stevens criticizes pope over Islam comments

Mark Alexander

Dowling no darling of the people of Nottingham

A new cemetery is to have all its graves aligned with Mecca - making it the first council graveyard in the country to bury the dead in Islamic tradition, regardless of their religion.

Headstones in the new £2.5million High Wood Cemetery in Nottingham will face north-east - as Muslims believe the dead look over their shoulder towards Mecca. This is the way in which all followers of Islam in the UK are buried.

But the move has upset the Church and led to complaints that the policy discriminates against the city's majority Christian population. The traditional direction of burial for Christians is facing east. The council cemetery where Christians are given Muslim graves by JO KNOWSLEY

Mark Alexander

The Coronation of 'Charles the Multiculturalist'
Isn't this something the people should say a firm 'NO' to? Shouldn't the voice of the people be heard in a true democracy? Must the people be ignored in this arrogant way? Or is our 'democracy' a sham? Don't these people realize that this would send the very WRONG message at this delicate time, when Islam is flexing its muscles here in the UK and throughout the world? Are the 'powers that be' clueless?

Photo courtesy of The Sunday Telegraph

"We should not pander to political correctness," she said. "There is no way that other faiths should be involved in the service. This is a Christian country and so the coronation service must remain exclusively Christian and we should not apologise for that." - Alison Ruoff, a member of the General Synod, the church's parliament

The coronation of the Prince of Wales will be a "multi-faith" event.

Prayers and readings from other denominations and religions, including from the Muslim, Sikh and Jewish faiths, are expected to be included in the ceremonies marking Prince Charles's accession to the throne.

Canon John Hall, the Dean-elect of Westminster Abbey, said that the traditional Church of England coronation service must be revised to reflect society's changes since the Queen's coronation in 1953. As dean, he will be on the committee responsible for drawing up the service.

"The coronation service needs to find the right way of including people of other faiths," Canon Hall told The Sunday Telegraph. "It must be different in some ways because of the nature of society and how things have changed." Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Jewis: multi-faith coronation for Charles by Jonathan Wynne-Jones

Mark Alexander

The Pope's Lecture at Regensburg University

THE VATICAN:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologos (1350-1425)

LECTURE OF THE HOLY FATHER: Faith, Reason and the University Memories and Reflections

"Zeig mir doch, was Mohammed Neues gebracht hat und da wirst du nur Schlechtes und Inhumanes finden wie dies, dass er vorgeschrieben hat, den Glauben, den er predigte, durch das Schwert zu verbreiten." - byzantinische Kaiser Manuel II. Palaeologos (1350-1425)

ANSPRACHE VON BENEDIKT XVI: Glaube, Vernunft und Universität. Erinnerungen und Reflexionen

"Montre-moi donc ce que Mahomet a apporté de nouveau. Tu ne trouveras que des choses mauvaises et inhumaines, comme le droit de défendre par l'épée la foi qu'il prêchait." - l'empereur byzantin Manuel II Paléologue (1350-1425)

DISCOURS DU SAINT-PÈRE: Foi, Raison et Université: souvenirs et réflexions

"Mostrami pure ciò che Maometto ha portato di nuovo, e vi troverai soltanto delle cose cattive e disumane, come la sua direttiva di diffondere per mezzo della spada la fede che egli predicava." - imperatore bizantino Manuele II Paleologo (1350-1425)

DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE: Fede, ragione e università. Ricordi e riflessioni.

"Muéstrame también lo que Mahoma ha traído de nuevo, y encontrarás solamente cosas malas e inhumanas, como su directriz de difundir por medio de la espada la fe que predicaba." - emperador bizantino Manuel II Paleólogo (1350-1425)

DISCURSO DEL SANTO PADRE: Fe, razón y universidad. Recuerdos y reflexiones

Mark Alexander

Ist Bin Laden tot?
There are unconfirmed reports emanating from the French secret service that bin Laden died last month in Pakistan from typhoid. The Saudi secret service is said to be convinced of the truth of the reports.

NZZ: Bericht des französischen Geheimdienstes nicht bestätigt

Al-Kaida-Chef Usama bin Laden soll im vergangenen Monat in Pakistan an Typhus gestorben sein. Die französische Regionalzeitung «L'Est Republicain» druckte am Samstag einen vertraulichen Bericht des französischen Geheimdienstes ab. Danach soll Saudiarabien vom Tod bin Ladins überzeugt sein. Frankreich bestätigte den Bericht nicht. Bin Laden an Typhus gestorben?

Chirac weist Bericht über Tod bin Ladens zurück

Les services secrets saoudiens auraient acquis la conviction que le fondateur d'Al-Qaïda est mort.

Si elle était prochainement confirmée, l'information tomberait à pic pour le président américain Georges Bush fortement malmené par les sondages à moins de deux mois des élections.

L'information que nous révélons aujourd'hui résulte d'une note de renseignement classifiée « confidentiel défense » émanant de la Direction générale des services extérieurs (DGSE). Les services secrets français l'ont transmise jeudi 21 septembre au Président de la république, au Premier ministre, au ministre de l'Intérieur et de la Défense. Nous vous en livrons le contenu in-extenso.

« Selon une source habituellement fiable, les services saoudiens auraient désormais acquis la conviction qu'Oussama Ben Laden est mort. Les éléments recueillis par les saoudiens indiquent que le chef d'Al-Qaïda aurait été victime, alors qu'il se trouvait au Pakistan le 23 août 2006, d'une très forte crise de typhoïde ayant entraîné une paralysie partielle de ses membres inférieurs. Son isolement géographique, provoqué par une fuite permanente, aurait rendu impossible toute assistance médicale. Le 4 septembre 2006, les services saoudiens de sécurité ont recueilli les premiers renseignements faisant état de son décès. Ils attendraient, d'obtenir davantage de détails, et notamment le lieu exact de son inhumation, pour annoncer officiellement la nouvelle ». Oussama Ben Laden serait mort

Mark Alexander

The low-down on Muslim moderates

ISRAEL INSIDER: President Bush spoke yesterday at the united Nations. And in his speech, he lauded Iran for its contributions to society.

He also spoke of America's fondness for the Iranian people, making certain to separate the people from the government.

He said a lot of nice and conciliatory things about Iran, which I won't bother writing, because they are essentially not true.

Iran is a TERRORIST state which TERRORIZES its neighbors and the entire world.

Iran is a total Theocracy which treats women with no more or less respect than we in the West treat our pets. The truth about Moslem moderates by Howard Galganov

Mark Alexander