No Sigh Of Relief Anytime Soon (Weekend Thread)

 

So, should we breathe in for the long overdue sigh of relief? Can Cpl. Gilad Shalit soon go home and restart his life? It's been over four months now; remember he was captured on Sunday, June 25th after Palestinian terrorists had dug a tunnel to attack an IDF army post in Israel. Let's hope so.

But now we need to look at the cost -- not in the sense of weighing up, of course, but rather in the way of understanding the bigger picture.

Hamas militants need the violent clashes to continue. It's what they do. It's their day job, paid for through myriad and seedy channels under the general auspice of 'Holy War', namely Jihad. [...]

Hamas is Hamas, a terrorist organization, period. It's purpose is the destruction of Israel; to them all Palestinian men are Jihadists, all boys future supplies for the course; women, necessary to keep the cycle going.

Of course they want their murdering thugs back. It's a numbers game: The more bodies to throw into the fight the sooner the genocidal dream is hoped to become a reality. Free them, and we all know, they will come back to kill and maim as many Jews as they possibly can; spare them, and you allow them to attack with increased vigor, for that is what they have been taught to be their single and only purpose in life -- oh, I forgot, apart from ensuring that every future generation carries on with the murderous objective, like so:

On Friday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar kicked things off at a rally in Khan Yunis, bringing down the house by declaring that Israel is "an abomination in the Middle East" that will someday "disappear."

"We will never recognize Israel, and in the end the [fate of] Zionists will be like that of the Crusaders, the Persians and the English, who left," said Zahar, a founding father of Hamas.

"We want all of Palestine, every centimeter, from the river to the sea, from Rosh Hanikra to Rafah. If we can form a state within the 1967 borders we will do so, but this doesn't mean that we will relinquish our right to every centimeter of Palestine's land."

There it is. No room for us Jews. No room for our history, our past presence here. No room for our common ancestry with the Palestinians. No room for Abraham. He was, after all, not from here. He was from Mesopotamia. Let him go back.

There it is. There's not a centimeter that we can call our own. But don't take Zahar's word for it. Listen to a speech from later that same day.

The occasion was the Silver Anniversary observance of al-Quds Day, a national festival of protests the length and breadth of Iran, meant as a tribute to the Jewish-occupied Holy City of Jerusalem (al-Quds in Arabic).

The speaker was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose opening reference to Israel said that there was no reason for Israel to exist.

"This regime, thanks to God, has lost the reason for its existence," Ahmadinejad told thousands at a Death to Israel pep rally in Tehran.

"Efforts to stabilize this fake (Israeli) regime, by the grace of God, have completely failed ... You should believe that this regime is disappearing," he said.

And, just in case you have been mislead to believe that Israeli violence begets Palestinian violence; that this is all one hell of a vicious circle; that U.S. and UK foreign policies are much to blame, remember the report from British policeman, Superintendent Raymond Cafferata:

"On hearing screams in a room I went up a sort of tunnel passage and saw an Arab in the act of cutting off a child's head with a sword. He had already hit him and was having another cut, but on seeing me he tried to aim the stroke at me, but missed; he was practically on the muzzle of my rifle. I shot him low in the groin. Behind him was a Jewish woman smothered in blood with a man I recognized as a[n Arab] police constable named Issa Sherif from Jaffa in mufti. He was standing over the woman with a dagger in his hand. He saw me and bolted into a room close by and tried to shut me out-shouting in Arabic, "Your Honor, I am a policeman." ... I got into the room and shot him."

Jews don't cut off children's heads, are not known to commit such unspeakable atrocities. In contrast however, look around the world and place a pin on the map wherever such horrendous crimes against humanity are being committed and you will find, that Islam seems to govern almost all the actions of the perpetrators.

No difference some 80 years ago, at the time of the 1929 Hebron massacre, described so vividly by the British policeman. And that, my friends, is what Hamas, Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood and all the rest of them, including the me-too clown in Syria, have in mind for every Jew they can lay their bloodstained mitts on. That is what Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad really dreams about, in all its gory detail.

The bomb is second-best, and only a last resort, should it fail to deter the international community so as to look the other way as Hezbollah & Co. do their worst.

Comments

[Red Violin]

nofate: Iran had more than 100,000 Jews prior to establishment of khomeini's Medieval Republic and there are only 20,000 left in Iran.

More on history of Jews in Iran.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/10/opinion/edmilani.php

Esther’s Children:
http://www.cijoh.org/publication/About_EsthersChildren.htm

[brian]

On the recent baffoonery of John Forbes Heinz-Kerry:

Kerryism [Victor Davis Hanson]

Kerry surely must be one of the saddest Democratic liabilities around. Some afterthoughts about his latest gaffe, which is one of those rare glimpses into an entire troubled ideology:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmEzZGYwYzk0ZDE3YTM0NjY4MmY3Nzg3NDNjNzM5MjY=
The Corner on National Review Online

[liquidlifehacker]

Kerry opens his mouth and inserts his foot.
I think we are living in a time that slowly but surely....things are being exposed! Including Kerry's mentality. No doubt he has pissed off many a military family and veteran over his comments. What a man *cough* boy he is to not even be able to appologize. He can't...cause it's not in him to be humble.

God help us and protect us for the future hills and mountains we must climb.

P.S. Miss you Alexandra! Hope your holiday was fun and that the little one got lots of treats!

[nofate]

I just have to say something about the "useful idiot's" banal comments on the educational level of our brave men and women "stuck" in Iraq.

Thank you sir!
With only a bit of sarcasm intended. You have given us whatever Foley may have suppressed and more on a silver server. God bless you and I hope the doctors can get your foot out of your mouth soon.

To our military: thank you for being there and keeping that thin line between the islamofascist "insurgents" (makes me want to puke every time I hear that), over there. Hopefully your sacrifices will not go unnoticed by the voting public in the face of J. F'ing K.'s gift to all our military and their families. Our outrage is your defeat. Please, keep telling us what you really think, we want to know. Sarcasm aside, I cannot say, without descending into utter profanity, what this makes me feel and think. It is despicable. It makes me want to ramble on and on aimlessly beating the air with my outrage, so I will spare you all any more of this and stop.

[brian]

"He also commented on the deployment of the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower to the Persian Gulf: "This is also one of those things. I say right now that your minds should be at ease. Two aircraft carriers are coming, so what?? Now some in Iran are shouting that two carriers are coming ... Actually I believe the fact that they're coming shows that nothing is going to happen. If they leave the area then that is dangerous - that reveals that they have plans."

This man is delusional, and he is asking for a smackdown. I hope that he gets it sooner rather than later. As I've said before, the toys he is so proud of are pretty fragile, and very vulnerable to American power. Those centrifuges can be taken out anytime we choose. We do not lack the tools or the courage, and when the time is right he'll get a dose of his own medicine. JDAMs are like Doritos "Keep crunching, we'll make more!"

[nofate]

Khatami: "The savage and devilish acts and performances of Bush, as a Republican, have placed his party in a very critical condition." Also, from the same article from Fars News Agency: "They [the U.S.] seek to confuse the world of Islam so that the main enemy, i.e. the Zionist regime, is no longer the focus of concern." So, GD, let's see, if the U.S., i.e. Bush, is trying to confuse the islamic world so that Israel ("the Zionist regime") isn't the "focus of concern", that must mean that for Khatami, and the rest of the Islamic world, Israel is the focus of all their energy. Israel is western civilization's outpost on a piece of land that, having once been conquered, no matter that a bunch of murdering camel drivers stole it. It should now remain forever as part of the Dar al Islam, but is now being defiled by the Jews as part of a new Crusade (the Zionist crusade with the U.S. backing the crusaders). Khatami continues: ...the Islamic Republic of Iran has never aggressed against any other country in the last 27 years despite its military power (!!! - technically true?), and addressing the neighboring states, said, "You must know that Iran is like your powerful brother who will certainly help you whenever you are in crisis." As in, we will help you in your efforts to murder the Israelis, and barring that subject them to the joys of dhimmitude so that they may know the truth.
GD: to the question of whether there is any difference between "this freaking mullah and those democratic party members who repeat these silly B.S as well. How about you?" "Oh yes, there is a lot of difference. The Republicans have been incompetent in every measurable way... and Iran knows that too. But Democrats are more Liberal than the Republicans ideologically, and that is the political philosophy the mullahs hate the most." I can't believe I'm reading the following, but I shouldn't be surprised anymore: "It is actually easier for Iran, with Republican policies alienating the majority of the Islamic world, and a good chunk of the West. Liberalism dilutes the basis of their criticisms... they would probably not be able, for example, to point to American hypocrisy in torturing Arab muslims, or anybody else, because the Liberal's would actually be upholding the Liberal Constitution of the United States." So they are worried about Democrats winning because then they couldn't use the torture of islamofascists by the Republicans as a point of criticism anymore??!! The strong point of the Democrats is that they are not hypocrits? And that has the armageddon obsessed Ahma... all worried that the Dems may win? OK. But what I got from the Khatami quotes was that he is concerned that the Republicans may hold on to their majority and continue the current policies which, though appearing to be confused and mired are actually stretching the resources of the islamofascists. What he is doing is a blatant attempt to influence the elections in this country by killing more people in Iraq; women, children, whatever will wear the American public down. And he is counting on the antique media to dutifully and breathlessly report every U.S. mis-step and casualty in their continuing attempt to repeat their Viet Nam era swan song. God help the Iraqui's if the Dems get the reigns and cut and run. Your analogies to the Viet Nam era would then evolve into a Cambodia comparison. The islamofascists are looking forward to us leaving without finishing the job - it's what we do since Korea. And speaking of Korea, we sure messed up the south, didn't we? At least we didn't cut and run, although the north is a lasting legacy to what happens when we don't finish the job. As is Viet Nam. As is Somalia. As is Iraq I, thanks to bowing to the will of the U.N. God help the Iraqui's.
Speaking of long term, the policies that Ahma..., Khatami, et. al. implement have been in place since the days of the founding of islam. Andrew Bostom's meticulous research has shown that in Iran, "Visceral, even annihilationist animus towards Jews is a deep-rooted phenomenon in Shi'ite Iran, hardly unique to the contemporary post-Khomeini Shi'ite theocracy, including the current regime of Ayatollah Khameini and President Ahmadinejad. The Safavid rulers, at the outset of the 16th century, formally established Si'a Islam as the Persian state religion, while permitting a clerical hierarchy nearly unlimited control and influence over all aspects of public life." He goes on to describe the humiliating nature of the "najis" regulations since the muslims came to power in Iran in the 16th century(?). These were laws that forbade Jews from doing anything that might contaminate a muslim, including going outside while raining, due to the possibility of some "Jewishness" being transferred to the exalted body of a muslim by the moisture. They were only supposed to go out when the ground was dry. And other disgusting and ridiculous minutia.
Now here is something that should warm your heart, GD: "Reza Pahlavi's spectacular rise to power in 1925 was accompanied by dramatic reforms, including secularization and westernization efforts, as well as a revitalization of Iran's pre-Islamic spiritual and cultural heritage. This profound sociopolitical transformation had very positive consequences for Iran's non-Muslims. By virtue of, "...breaking the power of the Shia clergy, which for centuries had stood in the way of progress", Walter Fischel observed that Reza Shah, "...shaped a modernized and secularized state, freed almost entirely from the fetters of a once fanatical and powerful clergy". Regarding Jews specifically, Lawrence Loeb wrote in 1976 that, "The Pahlavi period...has been the most favorable era for Persian Jews since Parthian rule [175 B.C. to 226 C.E.]"...The so-called "Khomeini revolution", which deposed Mohammad Reza Shah, was in reality a mere return to oppressive Shi'ite theocratic rule, the predominant form of Persian/Iranian governance since 1502." He goes on to outline how 20,000 Jews left Iran prior to the return of Khomeini, and the re-establishment of policies that were nearly seamlessly continued from those dating to the establishment of islam in Iran. Then..."Ahmadinejad has also reprtedly vowed, "To stop Christianity in this country" [i.e., Iran] , and his recent "letter" to President Bush emulates the jihad war precept (originally formulated by the Muslim prophet Muhammad)(my emphasis) of calling infidel powers - often Christian powers - to accept Islam, prior to initiating a jihad war against them."

1502??!!
But GD, I thought we were creating these insurgents and AMM's by our horrible policies! Maybe "Modern Republicanism has done nothing to abate any of the international issues we discuss here at ATB", and maybe it has. But a more comprehensive reading of Andrew Bostom, as well as Bat Ye'or, Ibn Warraq, Daniel Pipes, Amil Imani, etc. would, I think, give you a more long term perspective that allows for the absolute certainty that these people have domination as their goal and that the effort has been ongoing since long before the U.S. was formed, much less the Republican party.

[Red Violin]

Happy Haloween to all.

Carve your pumpkin online:

http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

[gary freedman]

great blog. any friend of israel is a friend of mine. good job.

[Ghost Dansing]

And what a menacing demon god to display...very impressive...a jagged club of an uprooted tree...who's tree? Who's roots?

"As moths rush with great speed into the blazing flame for destruction, similarly all these people are rapidly rushing into Your mouths for destruction. (11.29)

You are licking up all the worlds with Your flaming mouths, swallowing them from all sides. Your powerful radiance is burning the entire universe, and filling it with splendor, O Krishna. (11.30)

Tell me who are You in such a fierce form? My salutations to You, O best of gods, be merciful! I wish to understand You, the primal Being, because I do not know Your mission. (11.31)

The Supreme Lord said: I am death, the mighty destroyer of the world, out to destroy. Even without your participation all the warriors standing arrayed in the opposing armies shall cease to exist. (11.32)

Therefore, you get up and attain glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a prosperous kingdom. All these (warriors) have already been destroyed by Me. You are only an instrument, O Arjuna. (11.33)"

The Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Ramanand Prasad

Perhaps your demon needs a demon hunter:

http://www3.youtube.com/watch?v=cynNu1pWFwE&mode=related&search=

Krishna:

"Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for thee Those hundred thousand thousand shapes that clothe my Mystery: I show thee all my semblances, infinite, rich, divine, My changeful hues, my countless forms. See! in this face of mine, Adityas, Vasus, Rudras Aswins, and Maruts; see Wonders unnumbered, Indian Prince! revealed to none save thee. Behold! this is the Universe! - Look! what is live and dead I gather all in one - in Me! Gaze, as thy lips have said, On God Eternal, Very God! See Me! see what thou prayest!"

". . . . . . . Thou canst not! - nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light! And, look! This is My glory, unveiled to mortal sight!"

http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/extra/bl-gitatext11.htm

[Red Violin]

Here is Iran's latest shenanigans in Syria:

IRAN EXPANDS INFLUENCE IN SYRIA

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Iran was said to have significantly expanded its influence in Syria and encouraging Alawis and Sunnis to convert to Shi'ite Islam.

Syrian opposition sources said the regime of President Bashar Assad has given Iran "carte blanche" in Syria. The sources said that unlike his late father, Bashar has allowed Iranian clerics to spread the Shi'ite religion in Syria.

"Syrians have been observing over the last year a dangerous phenomena mostly witnessed by an alarming number of non-Shia turning to Khomeini-style Shia in return for financial rewards," the opposition Reform Party of Syria said. "Whole villages and urban areas are adopting the Hizbullah model whereby clinics, schools, and social services are provided by Iran in return for Syrians to convert to Shi'ism."

In August 2006, RPS said, Iran opened two centers in the Syrian port of Latakiya. The organization said the centers, designed to teach Farsi, have been converting Sunni Muslims.

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2006/october/10_31_2.html

So, are we to turn a blind eye to this terrorist production project of the IRI via exporting militant Islam a la Khomeini?

[Miluimnik]

American Hero under seige by Jihad University Ca.

Dr.Paul Williams, the man directly responsible for preventing an Islamist attack on the Canadian Parliament (June-2006)and the assassination of the Canadian P.M., is being sued by McMaster University (to the tune of 6 Million dollars!) for his efforts.

Since the lawsuit against Professor Williams was announced his "friends" in Canada have cut all communications with him (obviously out of fear that they also will be sued), leaving Paul up some Northern river without a paddle. We never expected a "thank-you" or other expression of gratitude from the Canadian public (and none was forthcoming), however, Williams' being treated like a leper was/is totally unexpected.

Paul Williams is in immediate need of a Canadian lawyer. He is required to file a response to the lawsuit within a few days (Friday actually). If anyone know of an experienced and committed advocate willing to take on such a case, please contact me at Michaelmgr@Gmail.com

Thank you,

Michael Travis

Michael Travis is solely responsible for the above letter.................so sue me, our Israeli courts will bleed you dry!

**
Paul L. Williams is an American author, journalist, and consultant. He is also an adjunct professor of [[humanities].

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Wilkes University, a Master of Divinity degree from Drew University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree also from Drew.

He is the author of six books, the most recent one being Dunces of Doomsday: 10 Blunders That Gave Rise to Radical Islam, Terrorist Regimes, and the Threat of an American Hiroshima.[1]

Williams came to international prominence in early June, 2006, as a result of his central involvement as an investigator the month prior into the suspicious activities of members of the faculty of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. These investigations, paired with investigations being conducted by Ontario police eventually led to the arrests of 17 terrorist suspects by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).[2][3]. It should be noted that no main stream media sources such as the Associated Press, BBC, and NBC do not name Williams and the only sources given are a very questionable sources at worldnetdaily.com and a online prophecy magazine. Prior to this, he served for seven years as a consultant to the FBI about terrorist and mafia criminal organizations.[4]

[John Werntz]

This is totally off topic, but it's in a good cause that is well known to many of Alexandra's readers, so here goes...

Most of you are aware, I believe, of the plight of "Isaac Schrödinger" a Pakistani-born student at a Canadian university, who faces a grave threat of deportation. The comment below, prepared for submission here and elsewhere, brings his present siutation to your attention.

FOURTH DOWN, GOAL TO GO (The case of Isaac Schrödinger)

I have posted before about Isaac Schrödinger here.  He is now within what ought to be easy striking distance of his goal of $2500CAD for legal expenses to support his plea for refugee status in Canada. If my math is correct, fifteen contributions of $27 Canadian would put him over the top. However, new donations appear to have slowed to a trickle. Just for curiousity, I anted up that amount today. At the current exchange rate, $27 Canadian comes to a bit under $25 US.  That's less than $400 total.

He is still in deep doo-doo.  One has only to scan a sample of his constant barrage of scathing criticism of Islamic religion, law, and culture to understand that if Canada deported him to his native country, he would be in mortal danger. Part II and Part III of the long post referenced in the first link above make it abundantly clear that he has crossed a red line. Once he is in their hands, the Pakistani authorities would be merciless. 

Your generosity is its own reward,  Please do what you can, and accept my sincere thanks.

[mac Brachman]

GD: You don't cite it, but much of your column reads eerily like Frank Rich's on today's (Sunday) NYT op-ed page, including the comparison of Iraq today to "not 1968 but 1971" analogous to 'Nam. Also the 51 and 58 percent poll rankings, with some of Rich's verbiage omitted. Please source your quotations. Thanks. Shalom, Mac Brachman

[Ghost Dansing]

"I don't see any difference between this freaking mullah and those democratic party members who repeat these silly B.S as well. How about you?"

Oh yes, there is a lot of difference.The Republicans have been incompetent in every measurable way... and Iran knows that too. But Democrats are more Liberal than the Republicans ideologically, and that is the political philosphy the mullahs hate the most.

It is actually easier for Iran, with Republican policies alienating the majority of the Islamic world, and a good chunk of the West.

Liberalism dilutes the basis of their criticisms... they would probably not be able, for example, to point to American hypocrisy in torturing Arab muslims, or anybody else, because the Liberal's would actually be upholding the Liberal Constitution of the United States.

Then, of course, there is nothing worse than estabishing Iraq as the central front in the war on terrorism, then failing miserably because you underestimated the situation and now find troops bogged down in a civil war so aggressive they can't even pacify Baghdad.

Iraq today is not 1968 but 1971, after the bottom had fallen out, Johnson had abdicated and America had completely turned on Vietnam.

At that point, approval of Richard Nixon’s handling of the war was at 34 percent, comparable to Mr. Bush’s current 30.

The percentage of Americans opposed to the Vietnam War was at 51, comparable to the 58 percent who now think the Iraq war was a mistake.

Many other Vietnam developments in 1971 have their counterparts in 2006: the leaking of classified Pentagon reports revealing inept and duplicitous war policy, White House demonization of the press, the joining of moderate Republican senators with Democrats to press for a specific date for American withdrawal.

The mullahs actually have much more to fear from Liberal Democrats, than they do from modern Republicanism, that has simply demonstrated itself to be inept.

Modern Republicanism has done nothing to abate any of the international issues we discuss here at ATB... they have been totally incompetent, and have made the situation more difficult in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and even in South America and Europe... Africa... pick one... failed foreign policy... making America look weak even while displaying breathtaking bellicosity.

Yeah... big difference.

[Red Violin]

The forces of radical Islam are getting very bold in Malaysia; an American couple was subjected to a humiliating, terrifying 2 am khalwat inspection by “religious enforcement officers:”

Retired American policeman Randal Barnhart, who was subjected to a 2am raid by religious enforcement officers, is reconsidering his plan to make Malaysia his second home.

“After that unpleasant episode two weeks ago, I do not feel like making Malaysia my second home. It is a pity because both my wife and I really love Langkawi,” he said.

On Oct 12, Barnhart, 62, and his wife Carole, 61, were in their rented condominium in Kuah when enforcement officers continuously knocked on their door at 2am, accusing them of committing khalwat (close proximity).

He said the officers demanded to see his marriage certificate, although he had told them that they were Christians and should not be subjected to Islamic law.

“We find it difficult to forget the unpleasant episode. My wife was so terrified by the incident that she fears sleeping in that condominium,” he added.

Banhart said the officers were rude and insisted on “seeing the woman” when he opened the door. “My wife had to show herself despite only having a sarong on at that time. We felt humiliated for being treated this way,” he said.

He said he had to send his wife back to the United States on the next available flight because she feared people might return to the condominium to terrify her in the middle of the night.
She flew home on Wednesday.

“I want the religious department to apologise to me and my wife in writing,”

For general comments on this story, please visit:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728005/posts

Alan ( Alan Peters
For many years involved in intelligence and security matters in Iran and had significant access inside Iran at high levels during the rule of the Shah, until early 1979. Currently serve as an SME (subject matter expert) Iran analyst/commentator)

Alan Note:this provides a taste of what to expect in a Moslem dominated society - be it in an "outwardly free but religiously fanatical" country like Malaysia, in the kind of society that Moslem mullahs wanted to create in Canada by applying Sharia laws - in place of Canadian ones - for Moslem civil matters and a very gentle incident compared to what would have happened in Iran (or perhaps under Sheikh Nasrallah of the Hezbollah shown in the graphic at the top)...MORE.

[Red Violin]

Mullahs & Democrats
Iranian regime news agency Fars quotes Tehran interim friday prayer leader as saying some thing that one may only hear from leftist demoNratic statesmen in the U.S.

"Addressing a large fervent congregation of the worshippers on Tehran University Campus today, Khatami noted the upcoming US Congress elections and the decisive role that the election results will play on the next presidential elections in that country, and said, "The savage and devilish acts and performances of Bush, as a Republican, have placed his party in a very critical condition."

I don't see any difference between this freaking mullah and those democratic party members who repeat these silly B.S as well. How about you?

Source: Winston an Iranian-Canadian blogger.

[Ghost Dansing]

"No difference some 80 years ago, at the time of the 1929 Hebron massacre, described so vividly by the British policeman. And that, my friends, is what Hamas, Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood and all the rest of them, including the me-too clown in Syria, have in mind for every Jew they can lay their bloodstained mitts on. That is what Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad really dreams about, in all its gory detail."

"The bomb is second-best, and only a last resort, should it fail to deter the international community so as to look the other way as Hezbollah & Co. do their worst."

I guess the real question is how Israel going to effectively deal with all that?

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20030101faessay10219/michael-scott-doran/palestine-iraq-and-american-strategy.html

[Red Violin]

Iran Playing a Clever Game
By Amir Taheri

Western diplomats dealing with Iran have expressed surprise at the Islamic republic’s decision to launch a new program aimed at doubling its capacity to enrich uranium.

The real surprise, however, is the fact that Western diplomats and politicians claim to be surprised. For the Islamic republic is doing exactly what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised it would do during his election campaign last year.

Ahmadinejad had criticized the decision by his predecessor President Muhammad Khatami to suspend Iran’s nuclear program for two years at the behest of the European Union as “an act of surrender” to imperialist powers. He had then made the pledge to re-start and speed up the nuclear program a key feature of his election manifesto.

Ahmadinejad’s critique of Khatami, and his mentor Hashemi Rafsanjani, was based on three assertions.

The first was that by allowing the European Union to dictate a key part of Iran’s nuclear program, Khatami was kowtowing to “infidel powers” ultimately linked to the United Sates. The second was that the more a developing nation such as Iran gave concessions to the Western powers the more they were likely to intervene in its domestic affairs. Iran was lucky not to depend on the West for aid or on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for loan guarantees. Therefore, there was no reason for Khatami to behave as if he were president of the Congo.

Finally, Ahmadinejad is sincerely convinced that the Western powers are in decline and that their dominant position in history is nearing its end. In contrast, he thinks that the Muslim world is destined for world leadership in the coming decades...

[Red Violin]

I forgot to mention that these so-called "reformist mullahs" are the ones Mr. Baker wants to talk to and negotiate with.

[Scott]

Arabs have claim to nothing but the sands of central Arabia.

Everything else they have conquered by force. They have no claim, no history, and no right whatsoever to any lands of the Levant or North Africa.

They don't even have claim to western Arabia, as this was Jewish land at the time of Mohammed.

I call for the lands of the Middle East to be returned to their rightful owners - the Berbers, the Hamitic Egyptians, the Christian Syrians and Mesopotamians, and the Jews.

Send the Arabs and their moon god back to the deserts from which they came.

[Red Violin]

Beware: Baker's Impending Recommendations on Iraq

To get an accurate picture of the reformist mullahs and their supports inside and outside of Iran please read this article:

(...)
The obvious cure to our problem is not arguing about this or that interpretation of Islam -- as it is implicitly proposed by these Muslims activists -- but radically rejecting political system both in fundamentalist and alleviated interpretations.

Islam originated from one of the most obscure periods of history. It characterised the relations of a primitive clan society of Arabian pagans with the most dependent rules and norms. It can never be actualised and adapted to our modern needs. There is no reason of further sacrificing people for the sake of such a religion. Furthermore, even if divinity exists, there are no original proofs and logical understanding that Islam is a divine religion. Today, Islam is a synonym of backwardness, intolerance, gender segregation and terror. It has no compatibility to be adapted to the values of democracy, social justice, peace and modernity at all.

Islam from different calibers ultimately discord with democracy. Observant Muslims perceive the banishment of religious values from most aspects of daily life is what they describe as a violation to their Islamic identity. In their last word, democracy is perceived as a Western idea, if even not, blasphemy because it dares to set people as equal to Allah. For them, the original sin of democracy is to have rejected the sovereignty of Allah and put in its place the sovereignty of the people.

Conciliatory attempts of some Iranian Muslim activists of separating Islam from the IRI is as baseless as saying that Hitler or Stalin can be separated from their totalitarian ideologies. Most of these Muslims, who are now in their tactical defense, are the yesterday’s aggressive devotees of Khomeini and, maybe, the tomorrow’s followers of another Mullah.

As if the plague of the IRI were shifting to advantage of a “better” Islam, the current Muslim activists try to convince Iranians that our problem with the IRI is nothing but political. They try to persuade us that Islam is unfairly abused by the IRI’s fundamentalists, otherwise “it is the best”. They even have audacity to falsify our history by claiming thatconversion to Islam was a free choice of our people, and the early Islamic invaders helped then Iranians to achieve an Islamic ideal society with an improvement of social justice, advanced culture and a new Islamic identity.

Needless to mention, the early Islamic invaders ruined ancient Iran and its advanced civilisation. They imposed Islam on people through massive massacres and enslaving of our ancestors. Those who tell us such aberrant lies show in fact how they are far from the facts. Although, today Iran suffers from many problems since the IRI exists, but unlike Muslims’ claims, from ahistorical perspective, we can easily recognise the effects of Islam as the roots of all ills. Iranians who cannot or do not hypocritically want to point out the religious roots of our ills cannot be honestly Iranian.

Iranian Muslim activists (reformist mullahs), with already a lack of Iranian identity, through their pseudo-intellectual pontification by sugarcoating the ills of the society demagogically spread the idea if an Iranian Renaissance within the values of Islam were possible! To see how the idea of such an alleged “Renaissance” is illusionary, if not hypocritical, let have a look at these following facts:...more
http://www.iranian.com/Rashidian/2006/October/Illusions/index.html

[Red Violin]

Ahmadinejad's divine inspiration

Now, they [Western countries] are stuck in violent waters and don't know what to do with us [on the nuclear issue]. We won't retreat even a millimeter," he said this week. "Because if we retreat a little bit, they would say that we just retreated under the pressure. Secondly, if we do so, they will say to the world that, finally, Iranians stopped their enrichment activities. But didn't we stop all our activities in the previous era [under president Mohammad Khatami]? And what did we achieve? I assure you, with God's will, we have gone most of the way, and be sure that they do not have the courage to attack us."

He also commented on the deployment of the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower to the Persian Gulf: "This is also one of those things. I say right now that your minds should be at ease. Two aircraft carriers are coming, so what?? Now some in Iran are shouting that two carriers are coming ... Actually I believe the fact that they're coming shows that nothing is going to happen. If they leave the area then that is dangerous - that reveals that they have plans."

(...)

"I met Ahmadinejad twice, when he came to deliver speeches to the General Assembly in 2005 and 2006. In our conversations, I felt his self-confidence has increased dramatically over the last year since he came to office," he said.

"Last year, I told Ahmadinejad that US-Iran relations are getting very dangerous, and I think this danger has increased even more this year, and I am sorry you did nothing to remove this danger as the leader of Iran," Amirahmadi said.

He said Ahmadinejad responded that he disagreed, and added: "Last year we were facing the threat of war. But now we have the threat of sanctions which, with God's will, we can cope with and move toward peace. Last year, the threat of war was looming, but now the real threat is just sanctions."

While his statements seem designed to appeal to Iran's conservative religious base, critics of the president's domestic and foreign policies would likely agree with a famous Persian saying: "When you talk with God, you are a pure person, but when God talks to you, you must be insane."

[Crusader.NoRegrets.]

Francis

Ask those very same Muslims about the Khwarezmian Massacres at the hand fo the Mongols. I suspect they are very quiet about that because they know the Mongols are just itchin' to rebuild the kingdom, and there's a lot of Muslim land out there with not too many Muslims in it.

The Mongol Holocaust: at least 4 000 000 Muslims slaughtered, by hand, a family at a time...

[Crusader.NoRegrets.]

Yes, I love my enemies. That means after they've surrendered to me, I bear them no malice, and treat them as I would my own family. Keyword: surrender. ie, turning from their ways of warfare and plunder. It does not mean - tactical ruse masquerading as surrender.

And of course if they don't surrender, and keep fighting, I love them dearly, and weep for them,

...................as I bomb them into eternity.

[Rick]

Say, what?

I thought Islam was "peace and love."

Could it be? Is it possible this view is mistaken?

Heaven forfend!!

Blessings and peace be upon you and all those who are going to be nuked.

[Francis W. Porretto]

Excellent as usual, Alexandra.

I received a piece of hate mail just this morning, the major thrust of which is that the Israelis aren't being targeted because they're Jews, but because they're "Zionists;" that is, because they encourage the migration of Jews to Israel. The writer was adamant that this makes Palestinian opposition to "the occupation" a political matter, rather than a racial or religious one. Now, Israel has been in existence as a functioning, successful sovereignty for 58 years, so one must ask: Is there any point at which Arab Muslims, a group which includes the Palestinians, will accept the legitimacy of Israel?

Bear in mind that Muslims foam at the mouth about the Crusades because they constituted "an invasion of Muslim lands." Yet the Muslims had taken those lands from Jewish and Christian majority polities by conquest, some as recently as 150 years prior to the First Crusade. That would seem to suggest...something.

The Palestinians are a benighted people, clearly bent on group suicide. The remaining question is how many of us they'll contrive to take with them...a question we might soon be asking ourselves about Muslims in general.