Is Another Congressman Guilty of TREASON???

DISCLAIMER: The different points of views on the Rick Roberts are not supported nor do they reflect the views and beliefs of The Bosun Locker or any entity affiliated with The Bosun.

ANOTHER CONGRESSMAN GUILTY OF TREASON… 
Courtesy of  Rick Roberts, KFMB San Diego
October 19th, 2007

Congressman Pete Stark is a liberal, democrat congressman from the Amsterdam of the United States: San Fran-sicko.

HE NEEDS TO RESIGN. WHY? JUST READ SOME OF WHAT HE SAID IN CONGRESS YESTERDAY:

“The Republicans are worried that we can’t pay for insuring an additional 10 million children. They sure don’t care about finding 200 billion dollars to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where are you going to get that money? Are you going to tell us lies like you’re telling us today? Is that how you’re going to fund the war?

You don’t have money to fund the war or children. But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.

But the President Bush’s statements about children’s health shouldn’t be taken any more seriously than his lies about the war in Iraq. The truth is that Bush just likes to blow things up in Iraq, in the United States, and in Congress”.

Disgusting, is it not?

I am SICK AND TIRED of these corrupt politicians forgetting the vital, big-as-life fact that our brave military is an all-volunteer army.

Our men in uniform are a throwback to the brave souls that fought for our freedoms during WWII; they are a intelligent, strong, courageous, and selfless force.

A single soldier has more guts in their little finger than Stark, Durbin, Reid (and countless others) COMBINED.

But the democrats don’t see it that way. They see our nation’s military as a bunch of children strong-armed by evil conservatives to fight a nonexistent enemy.

I’M SICK OF IT!! Each and every one of these democrats- like Stark, like Reid, like Turban Durbin- need to STEP DOWN. They’re not worthy of leadership. We’re at war with a VERY REAL enemy. These officials need to be pulled away from their cushy executive chairs and thrown out in the middle of Fallujah without protection so that they can see what’s REALLY going on.

So you don’t believe there’s an enemy, Rep. Stark? You believe that our brave servicemen are having their “heads blown off” by a herd of President Bush clones in bed sheets? Because looking at the context of what you’re currently saying and what you’ve said in the past- that seems to be what you think!

But I digress…

Do you want to vent? Call Rep. Stark’s office. Give them a piece of your mind:

510-494-1388

Or fax:

510-494-5852

Email via web form HERE.

Or call his D.C. office at…

202-225-5065

You can also fax his D.C. office:

202-226-3805

Tell Stark that he does NOT represent the State of California. Tell Stark that he’s a DISGRACE to the United States of America and everything that it was founded on. Individuals like him do not deserve to be in the House. They deserve to be on a stake!!

Comments at Rick Roberts site »

Technorati tags: rick roberts, congress, treason, durbin, representative stark, san francisco, iraq war, illegal war, us military, america

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Navy Seal, Medal of Honor Recipient, to be inducted into the Hall of Heros

Courtesy of Department of Defense, Public Affairs

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Press Advisories

On the Web:
Defense Link
Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public contact:
F.A.Qs
or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1

---

No. 111-07
October 16, 2007

Navy Seal, Medal of Honor Recipient, to be Inducted Into the Hall of Heroes

The White House announced Thursday that Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat June 27 to 28, 2005, while leading a special reconnaissance mission deep behind enemy lines in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan.

President Bush is expected to present the Medal of Honor to Lt. Murphy's parents at a ceremony at the White House on Oct. 22, 2007. Media interested in covering this event should contact the White House Office of Media Affairs at (202) 456-6238.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England will induct Murphy into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon in a ceremony Oct. 23 at 11 a.m. EDT. The Pentagon ceremony will add his name to the roster in the Hall of Heroes, the Defense Department's permanent display of record for all recipients of the Medal of Honor. Media representatives who want to cover the Hall of Heroes induction ceremony on Oct. 23 may contact Navy public affairs at (703) 697-5342. 

At 6 p.m. on the same day, Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, will present the Medal of Honor flag to the parents of Lt. Murphy in a ceremony at the Navy Memorial. Congress ordered the creation of the Medal of Honor flag commemorating the sacrifice and blood shed for freedom. Media interested in attending this ceremony please call the Navy Memorial at (202) 380-0718.

Murphy is the first armed forces service member to receive the Medal of Honor for combat in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is also the first Navy service member to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in the Global War on Terror and the third armed forces service member to receive the Medal of Honor since the beginning of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

More information about Murphy’s life and career can be found at Navy Mil - Murphy .

Technorati tags: navy seal, medal of honor, hero, kush afghanistan, special reconnaissance mission, enemy lines, islamists, global war on terror, operation enduring freedom, iraqi freedom

The War: According to the People Who Are Already There.

Email from Michael Yon:  Link to the online version.

Greetings:

Iraq is on the mend, al Qaeda is on the run, and the civil war has abated to a point where the term "civil war" no longer applies.

Accurate war coverage is increasingly important.  Even prominent seemingly well-informed persons can get it wrong, such as retired Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez who previously commanded the war in Iraq.  His recent public statements –selectively excerpted and then widely dispersed by the hot winds of media – made it clear that this former senior commander is far out of touch with the current situation. 
But there are commanders with a finger on the pulse. 

When earlier this year I wrote about the 1-4 CAV transforming an abandoned seminary in a Baghdad neighborhood that had been decimated by civil war, the "surge" had not even begun; but already pundits, politicians and editors had declared it a failure. Though I'd spent only a few days with LTC Crider and his 1-4 CAV soldiers at the new COP Amanche, I ended the dispatch on a note of hope based on observation. I recently received an email from LTC Crider with an update on that Baghdad neighborhood.  Please read "Achievements of the Human Heart" and see for yourself.

I was in al Basra province when I saw news reports claiming that Basra city had descended into chaos in the wake of an announcement about the draw down of British Soldiers.  I emailed the facts about Basra to several bloggers who hold the media accountable, and the resulting effort got the attention of Tom Foreman who anchors CNN's "This Week at War."  We were able to make a CNN interview, and the result is a segment that accurately reflects a complex and changing situation.  Bravo to CNN for setting the record straight, and to the tireless bloggers who are making a substantial difference in the way news about the war is delivered.

There are major developments to share with readers in upcoming dispatches. If things go at-least-mostly according to plan (which is all we can hope for in war), and if I can rely on the help of readers who share my frustration with the lack of accurate reporting, we can  significantly widen the stream of news flowing from Iraq so more people can obtain a truer picture.  This will require the will and generosity of readers.  But more on that, soon.

 
Michael Yon
Basra, Iraq

Technorati tags: michael yon, iraq, surge, us military, 10th mountain division, 1-4 CAV. Amanche, Baghdad, Media Accountability, CNN, War, War Reporting

Report: Al-Qaeda Big Threat to Homeland

Courtesy of CBN News

Al Qaeda Threat

CBNNews.com - A new White House report says that al-Qaeda poses the number one terrorist threat to the American homeland.

The report comes as Congress is considering expanding the government's powers to spy on suspected terrorist at home.

While America hasn't been hit by a terrorist attack since 9/11, it hasn't been for lack of effort by al-Qaeda.

STAKELBECK ON TERROR:
Bin Laden Not Hiding in Tribal Areas?

The White House says the group is stepping up its efforts to place agents within the United States -- and calls it the "most serious and dangerous" terrorism threat.

The report comes on the heels of a recent warning by U.S. intelligence that attacks by al-Qaeda against European cities may be imminent.

A common problem facing both the U.S. and Europe is al-Qaeda's establishment of a safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas.

It's in that lawless region, the White House says, that al-Qaeda is able to plan and train freely for attacks against the West.

Technorati tags: terror, al-qaeda, bin laden, tribal areas, pakistan, war on terror, domestic terrorism, threats, threat condition

Religion of Peace update: Again! 10 Christians slaughtered over alleged Muhammad cartoon

According to World Net Daily, courtesy of Compass Direct News, which specializes in reporting on Christian persecution worldwide:

Rampaging Muslims have killed 10 Christians, injured 61 others, destroyed nine churches and displaced more than 500 people in northern Nigeria, according to eyewitnesses – all because Muslim high school students claimed a Christian student had drawn a cartoon of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, on the wall of the school’s mosque.

Read the complete article at World Net Daily:  Again! 10 Christians slaughtered over alleged Muhammad cartoon

 

And in the Washington Post more Religion of Peace Update:

Live In Fear Or Flee As Their Numbers Dwindle, Christians In Iraq Feel Increasingly Vulnerable

...... Extreme Islamic militants increasingly are targeting Christians in Iraq, especially in the capital. As a result, Iraq's Christian community -- long the minority in a largely Muslim country -- continues to dwindle.

While meaningful numbers are difficult to come by, the last Iraqi census, conducted in 1987, counted 1 million Christians, although many fled after the United Nations imposed sanctions in the 1990s. Today, national aid groups estimate that between 300,000 and 600,000 Christians remain among an estimated 25 million people.

Man is this a weird way for the radical Mohammedans to say, "Happy Ramadan."

Technorati tags: islam, muslim, christians, nigeria, Tudun Wada Dankadai, islamic extremists, mohammedan, religion of peace, islamic militantsl, mosque

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NBC Sees Scandal in 'Abusive' Interrogations; MSNBC: 'More Lies'

 Courtesy of Media Research Center

NBC Sees Scandal in 'Abusive' Interrogations; MSNBC: 'More Lies'

Presuming Bush administration dissembling and illegality, NBC anchor Brian Williams considered it "big" news Thursday night that the administration "secretly authorized abusive interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects, including torture, despite denial from everyone from President Bush on down. And the policy remains even though the Supreme Court ruled against it." Picking up on the front page New York Times disclosure of the classified documents, which neither ABC nor CBS considered newsworthy, NBC ran a slanted story that, other than one short soundbite from White House Press Secretary Dana Perino about how "they were safe, necessary and lawful, these techniques, and have helped save American lives," aired only condemnatory comments as Andrea Mitchell assumed the methods are torture. She reminded viewers that "after a political firestorm, devastating pictures from Abu Ghraib and a Supreme Court ruling," last year the President promised the U.S. "does not torture" and yet the Justice Dept. under Alberto Gonzales issued memos "authorizing much harsher techniques, including head-slapping, waterboarding, frigid temperatures..." With "More Lies?" displayed on screen under a photo of Bush, MSNBC's Live with Dan Abrams began by re-playing Mitchell's report.

For the rest of the story, link here: NBC Sees Scandal in 'Abusive' Interrogations; MSNBC: 'More Lies'

Technorati tags: political pundits, media matters, media research center, nbc, msnbc, Bush administration, Brian Williams, abusive interrogation techniques, terrorism suspects, torture, President Bush, Supreme Court, New York Times, classified documents, slanted news, Abu Ghraib, Justice Department, waterboarding

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The Evolving Terroris Landscape

AL QAEDA TODAY

The Evolving Terrorist Landscape

Courtesy of the FBI

A 22-year-old student—code-named “Irhabi 007”—creating a global virtual support network for terrorist plotters in Canada, Denmark, Bosnia, and the U.S., all from his basement apartment computer in London.

Small but sophisticated groups tapping into the larger al Qaeda brand—perhaps even receiving funding and training from bin Laden & Co.—but operating largely as independent terrorist franchises.

Homegrown, self-radicalized extremists inspired by the violent dogma of al Qaeda germinating plans to gun down soldiers at Fort Dix and blow up a pipeline at J.FK. Airport.

It’s the new shape of terrorism—specifically al Qaeda driven or inspired—as outlined Friday by Director Mueller at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

In the speech, the Director describes the new three-tiered threat posed by al Qaeda and its diverse band of affiliates and supporters around the world, whether that is in suburban basements, in ungoverned spaces or tribal areas in places like Pakistan and Africa, or in the shadows of the Internet.

“When America’s hammer fell on al Qaeda, al Qaeda broke into a hundred pieces,” the Director said. “Some of our adversaries were stopped, but others spread. The network is now diffuse.”

Especially in cyberspace, which the Director called “terrorism’s new frontier, offering both persuasive inspiration and practical instruction.” In the case of Younis Tsouli—aka “Irhabi 007” or “Terrorist 007”—the web was a tool to teach both the ideology and technology of terrorism. Tsouli, traced through a telephone number found in a terrorist safe house in Bosnia, posted thousands of files online, ranging from “videotaped beheadings to detailed manuals for constructing car bombs and suicide vests.”

And how to respond to this ever-evolving threat? With a united front that transcends national boundaries, agency jurisdictions, and national security disciplines. The Director says the FBI’s goal is to be an “effective bridge” in exactly those areas…and he gave several examples of how we’re filling that role today:

• By working alongside the military in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, operating as a team to “search safe houses, collect biometric evidence, analyze explosive devices, and trace terrorist financing.”
• By becoming a fully integrated member of the Intelligence Community, with stronger than ever relationships with the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security.
• By sharing information “on a daily basis with our intelligence counterparts on every continent, from MI5 in Britain to the Mabahith in Saudi Arabia.”
• By working closely with our 800,000 state and local law enforcement partners in the U.S. and with our counterparts overseas through our international offices now located in 60 capitols worldwide.
• And by being a part of globally coordinated investigations, where in the Tsouli case, for example, many different countries “made joint decisions as to when to move in and disrupt the plots, so as to protect the integrity of each other’s operations.”

To learn more about the new face of terrorism and our role in intersecting the work of militaries, intelligence services, and law enforcement agencies, we encourage you to read the full speech.

Resources:

• Director’s remarks
• FBI Counterterrorism operations

Technorati tags: terror cell, terrorists, Younis Tsouli, Irhabi 007, Terrorist 007, radical Islam, afghanitan, iraq, safe house, bimetric evidence, terrorist financing, internet terrorism, Homegrown, self-radicalized extremists, al Qaeda, Fort Dix, J.FK. Airport, counterterrorism

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Items found in U-Haul prompt terrorism investigation

Courtesy of Arizona Central

U-Haul prompt terrorism investigation

by Christopher Ramirez, The Arizona Republic

Sept. 28, 2007

Unusual items discovered in the back of a rental truck in Tempe prompted the county's anti-terrorism unit to launch an investigation Friday evening.

An employee at the U-Haul rental center near Priest Drive and Elliot Road called authorities around 5 p.m. after finding items that Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy Doug Matteson called "suspicious" in a 15-foot rental truck.

No explosive material, hazardous items or weapons were inside the truck, Matteson said. Instead papers and other items were found.

Matteson would not divulge exactly what the other items were or what they were related to, only saying it was significant enough for the Maricopa County's anti-terrorism group to be called out to investigate.
Authorities are currently checking where the truck came from and who last rented it.

Matteson said that he believes the truck has been at that U-Haul location for 3 to 6 months and that as far as he knows no one has had access to it during that time. The rental center is surrounded by fences and has a security unit, Matteson said.

The Department of Homeland Security would be notified, Matteson said, although the current situation was not to a level that would require that federal agency or the FBI to get involved in the investigation.

Technorati tags: homeland security, dhs, u-haul, terror, domestic terrorism, arizona, maricopa county, arizona central, arizona republic, security response

Travels with Abe, an Israeli’s Perspective: Drafted in 1967

Welcome back with another article from an Israeli friend, Abe. Abe is a guest contributor with history to tell. Perhaps you will begin to see an Israeli’s perspective of this world that we live in and what we are up against. Respectfully, Bosun

Drafted:

In November of 1967 I was drafted. The aftermath of the Six Day War was intoxicating. Stories filtered down. General Ariel (Arik) Sharon had been wounded fighting his way into Northern Sinai through Gaza. General Goradish and his 7^th Brigade of tanks had had very tough battles, but “Goro” had done the job. The Golani brigade had taken the Golan Heights with the help of a unit of paratroopers and the immortal Shermans. The Sherman tank, a veteran of WW2, had had a face-lift, stomach change and prosthetics installed all over. What emerged was the Super Sherman. This tank featured a 105mm gun, a new 460hp Cummins diesel engine,

and modifications to the tracks and suspension. The M4A1 had become the M51. The best tank Israel had was the Centurion. This tank was also worked on and changed. The third tank was the French made AMX13. Light (only 13 tons) and fast, it’s function was supposed to have been scouting, but in Israel it was used as a Main Battle Tank (MBT).

There were rumours that there was a new MBT in the field. Among the first tanks to reach the Canal, it was rumoured, was a company of M48 Pattons… The latest word in tank warfare.

We heard about Ammunition Hill and other battles on the Jerusalem front. It hadn’t been easy. The Jordanian army, The Arab Legion, was British trained and had fought well.

The darlings of Israel were the paratroopers. They had fought well on all fronts. All my friends (including myself) wanted to be paratroopers. We were drafted. I reported to the Draft office in Haifa, was put on a bus, and we were off. At the main induction camp, just east of Tel-Aviv, we were grouped into tents, and had our first army meal…nothing to write home about, especially since I was picked to wash the cooking pots.

The paratroopers had an office in the camp, and next morning, four of us went together, as a group, to sign up. There are special units you could volunteer for, and this was one of them. We then endured a week of hell, while the DIs argued and debated over who was to stay and who was to wash out. They ran us to death, and followed that up with calisthenics. They did everything they could think of, to try and dissuade us from continuing. The paratroopers had 5 times the volunteers they needed, so only the top 20% in sheer stamina made it. I was good, but I wasn’t in the top 20%, so I was kicked out. Three of the original four volunteers were out, and we returned to the tent, depressed. As we sat, feeling sorry for ourselves, a corporal walked in and told us to pick up our kit, and follow him.

We followed the corporal to a waiting bus. We climbed on, and saw that the bus was full. We took the last three seats and watched as the driver took the roster from the corporal. The doors slammed shut, and we were gone…gone? Where? Where were we going? I asked the guy sitting beside me, and he answered with one word…”Magah.” “What,” I asked, “is Magah?” “Don’t know.” I stood up in the bus and asked out loud if anyone knew what Magah was. Nobody knew, but we were going there.

We were about to find out. The bus rolled into a camp in southern Israel. There was an old Cromwell tank on a pedestal at the entrance. We then understood that we were going to the Armoured Corps.

The bus stopped and we disembarked. There was a sergeant yelling at us to get into formation. As we stood, he gave each one of us two yellow epaulets. “What are they for?” We asked. “You’re going to Magah.” “What’s Magah?” The answer was immediate, “Patton tanks.”

But we were about to learn something else first, Basic training. For two months we were trained as infantrymen. Day and night, we drilled and marched and fired and ran. We went on forced marches and, of course, camped out in the field. A sergeant was God and a corporal was God’s assistant. We were all Gadna’ trained, but that didn’t count. This was “Man Stuff.” Gadna was considered child’s play. This was the “real thing.”

The rumour spread throughout the camp; we were about to be sworn in. Traditionally, the Armoured Corps rookies were sworn in on Massada. Massada was the last Jewish holdout of the revolt of 70AD against the Romans. It’s a stronghold built at the top of a steep and tall hill overlooking the Dead Sea. The Romans besieged it for three years. At the end of those three years, there ensued a battle that has gone down in history as one of the greatest heroic stands ever. During the fighting, the Romans built a ramp. They were great engineers, especially when working under fire. Slowly but surely, week after week, the ramp of earth climbed higher and higher. Finally, the ramp was done. It was made of the salt-desert sand of the Dead Sea Valley, and was hard as stone. It was very, very steep, but there were many Legionnaires available to push the wheeled siege engines and huge shields. When the Romans reached the fort itself, they found everyone dead. The Jews had picked 100 men to kill everyone else, 10 of those to kill the other 90 and one to kill the last nine. The last man committed the sin of suicide and fell on his own sword.

Massada has been, for centuries, an example of courage for Jews all over the world. In Israel, it had become an IDF tradition. Rookies of certain combat units were sworn in there, and given their first rifles. We were taken by truck to a point just east of the town of Arad, overlooking the Dead Sea Valley, and set out on a 25km forced march. We arrived before Massada with our tongues hanging out and set up our camp…exactly where the 5^th Legion Fretensis had camped 2000 years ago. I had a bad taste in my mouth and sure enough, I soon found out there was good reason. We stood at parade at the foot of Massada. To our left was the Roman ramp, built 2000 years ago, still there, still very, very steep. We were informed by our Company Commander that we would have to run up the ramp with full kit. We ran. Upon reaching the top, panting, we were told that it wasn’t good enough; we would have to do it again…

We ran up that ramp, again and again, for 10 hours. At the end of those 10 hours, thoroughly exhausted, we stood at parade on the top of Massada. It was night, and the site was alive with flaming torches. The ceremony was haunting and will never leave the memories of those who were there. We vowed “Massada Will Not Fall Again.” We knew what that meant. “Massada” stood for the whole State of Israel. We swore it wouldn’t fall. We had been given our first rifles, and we lifted them high as we swore the oath. A new age-group was taking over the defense of the country.

By the end of those two months, we were an infantry unit.

After that, we were told that we were about to be trained as crewmen of Patton M48A2C tanks. For two months, we went to school. We had been asked what job we would like to do in the tank. I chose driving because I had seen a Russian movie about a tank driver who leads a breakout from a German POW camp in WW2, and takes his buddies to safety in a stolen T34 tank. I liked the whole idea and figured that being a tank driver would be cool. Most of us got the job we wanted. Towards the end of the roster, some didn’t. I have always been lucky in that my last name begins with an A.

We sat in a classroom for half the day, and then drove tanks the other half. We learned how to maneuvre a tank under any and all conditions. We learned about the inner workings of the tank, and how to get out of jams in the field. We cross-trained. Drivers, loaders and gunners learned each other’s jobs and were drilled in them. We still performed our main jobs, but we were well trained in all aspects of tank operation.

At the end of the two months, we were pronounced ready for unit training. Another two months of Platoon, and Company training. Formations and live-fire exercises were practiced and drilled. We lived in the field and went without sleep for days at a time.

We were informed that we would be sent to the Suez Canal. Buses came to the camp to pick us up. The buses went to Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, and entered a camp. “Why are we here?” “Change of plans,” we were told, “You have another month’s training before going to the Canal.”

We were introduced to the M48A3 (Israel). There was a reason for the (Israel) designation. These tanks were older M48A1s and A2Cs. Israeli workshops had changed them. The 90mm main gun had been swapped for a British 105mm, giving the tank more range, accuracy and punch. The gasoline motor had been replaced by a more powerful and fuel-efficient diesel. Other systems (radio, gunnery sighting, range-finding and others) had been added, some of them very advanced Israeli designs. We had a tank that was a new generation, compared to the A2C we had trained on. This tank was ready to go to war.

Seven months after being drafted, we were an operational battalion of tanks and were stationed in the Suez Canal Zone.

Ahmadinejad Questions 9/11, Holocaust

Courtesy of KFMB San Diego, Channel 8 News

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioned the official version of the Sept. 11 attacks and defended the right to cast doubt on the Holocaust in a tense appearance Monday at Columbia University, whose president accused the hard-line leader of behaving like "a petty and cruel dictator."

Ahmadinejad smiled at first but appeared increasingly agitated, decrying the "insults" and "unfriendly treatment." Columbia President Lee Bollinger and audience members took him to task over Iran's human-rights record and foreign policy, as well as Ahmadinejad's statements denying the Holocaust and calling for the disappearance of Israel.

"Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger said, to loud applause.
He said Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust might fool the illiterate and ignorant.

"When you come to a place like this it makes you simply ridiculous," Bollinger said. "The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history."

For the rest of the story More >>

Technorati tags: Ahmadinejad, Iran, State sponsored terrorism, Columbia President Lee Bollinger, Iranian President, Holocaust, dictator, Columbia University

Know the Enemy

Last year (08/2006) I received permission from the author to post this and decided to run it again because it is a pertinent topic for the world leader conference. 

Courtesy of Dallas News.  Reposted with permission of the author, Rod Dreher.

Forty years ago, the godfather of Islamic terrorism was executed, says Rod DREHER, and America today is no closer to understanding his apocalyptic vision.....

Two days from now, the country will observe the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and its catastrophic aftermath. What will pass unnoticed on that day is the 40th anniversary of a hanging of a revolutionary in Cairo, an event that is incalculably more important to the present and future of the United States than any meteorological event.The pious life and martyr's death of Sayyid Qutb, and the legacy the Islamic theologian left behind, extend a powerful challenge to the West. Until we provide an answer to him and his followers, we can't hope to prevail in the war of ideas with Islamic extremists. And most of us have no idea who this man even was.

Sayyid Qutb (pronounced KUH-tuhb) has been called "the philosopher of Islamic terror." He rose from humble origins in rural Egypt to become an influential theologian and leading light of Egypt's fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood movement. He advocated global Islamic rule imposed by the sword.

Also Online

English translation of 'Milestones.'

The Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered him hanged for treason Aug. 29, 1966.

Yet, his ideas have spread like a prairie fire over the parched landscape of Islam's last generation. As writer Paul Berman observed, Qutb was "the intellectual hero of every one of the groups that eventually went into al-Qaeda."

We Americans have a bad habit of assuming that there's nothing to radical Islam but fury, grievance and bloodlust. We think of jihadist leaders as wild-eyed mullahs far removed from our experience. It's a fatal form of condescension. Qutb may have been a madman by our lights, but he was no fool – and, in important ways, he had our number.

Americans also cherish the idea that lack of understanding is at the root of conflict – and that there are few disputes that can't be worked out by people getting to know each other. Not so with Qutb, whose sojourn in America as a foreign exchange student between 1948 and '50 radicalized him and confirmed his hatred for Western materialism and freedom.

Qutb spent most of his time in the Colorado State College of Education in Greeley, Colo. The pathologically prudish Egyptian scholar was shocked by the morality of Greeley's women, appalled by its racism and scandalized by the wealth of American society.

As Lawrence Wright writes in The Looming Tower, his acclaimed new book about the roots of 9/11:

"Qutb saw a spiritual wasteland, and yet belief in God was nearly unanimous in the United States at the time. It was easy to be misled by the proliferation of churches, religious books and religious festivals, Qutb maintained; the fact remained that materialism was the real American god. 'The soul has no value to Americans,' he wrote to one friend. 'There has been a Ph.D. dissertation about the best way to clean dishes, which seems more important to them than the Bible or religion.' Many Americans were beginning to come to similar conclusions. The theme of alienation in American life was just beginning to cast a pall over the postwar party. In many respects, Qutb's analysis, though harsh, was only premature."

It is tempting to laugh at the Islamic pietist overwhelmed by the sensuality of the Rocky Mountain Gomorrah. But when Qutb returned to Egypt, his ardor to fight Western cultural hegemony led him to write: "We are endowing our children with amazement and respect for the master who tramples our honor and enslaves us. Let us instead plant the seeds of hatred, disgust and revenge in the souls of these children."

Qutb believed that if Muslims accepted democracy, capitalism, civil liberties and the Western way of life, they would commit spiritual suicide. He dedicated the rest of his life to convincing Muslims that their only hope rested in surrendering totally to a stringent form of Islam.

But why, according to Qutb, are modernity and Islam irreconcilable?

Because modernity was only made possible by a fundamental theological error that guaranteed man's alienation from God and from his nature. This alienation had reached a point of crisis worldwide, with the world's richest and most powerful nations producing masses of well-fed, well-off people who are rootless, miserable, hedonistic and self-destructive.

This was not a novel insight. As Paul Berman points out in his 2003 book Terror and Liberalism, many Western thinkers of the same era were writing about alienation amid the freedom and plenty of modern society. Qutb located the source of the modern world's ills in Christianity's separation of the world into sacred and secular realms, creating what he called a "hideous schizophrenia" that caused Western man to split the material realm from the spiritual.

Islam holds the two to be one under God's sovereignty. But this unnatural divorce had material benefits for the West, enabling it to leapfrog far ahead of the Islamic world in science and technology. The West's success made it powerful, true, but its culture grew increasingly debauched, and its people were turning into moral and spiritual wrecks. Yet – and here, Mr. Berman writes, is where Qutb is most original – the all-powerful West was in the present day imposing its false and destructive ideals on the weakened Muslim world.

What is to be done? Lenin famously asked about Czarist Russia. Qutb's answer to the same question about the West was, in part, "Milestones," a Leninist-style tract advocating worldwide Islamic revolution.

In this thin volume, Qutb argues that the Islamic nation must overthrow modernity if it wishes to continue to exist. Only Islam, with its divinely given law regulating all aspects of daily life, is capable of rightly ordering the soul and body, and of being most true to God-given human nature. He believed the West, whether or not it realized it, was engaged in a fight to the death against Islam. Though the conflict had military, economic and cultural aspects, for Qutb, this was essentially a religious war.

"Milestones" calls for the subjugation of all non-Islamic peoples, the total crushing of all non-Islamic institutions and entities, and the universal imposition of harsh sharia law. Reading "Milestones" as a guide to the mentality of jihadists is a bone-chilling exercise (even more so when you consider that Muslim teens participating in a 2004 quiz competition at the Dallas Central Mosque were assigned "Milestones" as part of their contest reading).

His is the voice of the genocidal utopian, an apocalyptic idealist who – like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and Mao – will stop at nothing to create an earthly paradise on the bones of the Crusaders, Zionists, moderate Muslims and sundry infidels.

It's difficult to imagine why anybody fell for Nazism or communism, but neither ideology could have gone anywhere if it didn't speak deeply to the hopes, needs, fears and passions of millions. As fanatical as Qutb's Islam sounds – as fanatical as it is – it provides an explanation for the misery and backwardness so much of the Muslim world lives in today. It gives its followers dignity and solidarity, a focus for their anger, a sense of purpose and of being on the right side of history. It holds out the false promise, that old siren song, that perfect happiness and oneness can be achieved in this life, once the Enemy has been destroyed. And it is a vision that Qutb gave witness to by courageously sacrificing his life.

What are we to do? There are no easy answers, but we should begin by jettisoning as folly the naive idea that all Muslims want the same things the liberal West wants. Followers of Qutb's brand of Islam hold that our wealth, secularity and freedom, especially for women, are evidence of our corruption.

While Qutb's prescriptions are quite mad, his diagnosis of the Western spiritual and psychological condition was serious, and it requires a serious response. If we Westerners cannot look at the world we've created for ourselves and understand that Sayyid Qutb was not all wrong, we will never figure out how to convince the Islamic masses he lived and died for that their holy martyr was a false prophet.

Rod Dreher is an assistant editorial page editor. The views expressed here are his own. His e-mail address is rdreher@dallasnews.com .

Find a link to an English translation of Sayyid Qutb's "Milestones" at DallasNews.com/Extra.

Please link Mr. Dreher's article at Dallas News and send him an email, if you desire.

Technorati tags: sayyid qutb, false prophet, eastern society, western society, islamic jihad, islamic terror, Gamal Abdel Nasser, al-Qaeda, sharia law, Islam, Iran, Ahmadinejad, us-haters, anti-christian, anti united states, muslim extremists

Bin Laden Urges Pakistani Jihad

Courtesy of AP News, MyWay

  CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden called on Pakistanis to rebel against President Pervez Musharraf in a new recording released on Thursday, saying his military's siege of a militant mosque stronghold makes him an infidel.

The storming of the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July "demonstrated Musharraf's insistence on continuing his loyalty, submissiveness and aid to America against the Muslims ... and makes armed rebellion against him and removing him obligatory," bin Laden said in the message.

"So when the capability is there, it is obligatory to rebel against the apostate ruler, as is the case now," he said, according to a transcript released by Laura Mansfield, a U.S. terrorism expert who monitors militant message traffic.

Bin Laden's voice was heard over a video showing previously released footage of the terror leader. It was posted Thursday on Islamic militant Web sites.  For the rest of thg story: Bin Laden calls for Jihad in Pakistan

Ayman al-Zawahri releases new video tape days after Osama

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said the United States was being defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts in a new video released Thursday, the latest in a series put out by the terror network.

The video came days after Osama bin Laden released two messages to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary—including his first new appearance in a video in nearly three years.

The 80-minute video posted on Islamic militant Web sites Thursday was in a documentary style, touting al-Qaeda's activities in various areas, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and North Africa.   For the rest of the article: New al-Qaeda Video Released

Trial Nears in Sears Tower Terror Case

Courtesy of Breitbart:

To hear prosecutors tell it, Narseal Batiste and six followers formed a budding homegrown terrorist cell determined to rival the Sept. 11 attacks by toppling the Sears Tower....

In the same court building where Jose Padilla was convicted last month, trial begins this week for seven men who federal prosecutors say envisioned a "full ground war" that would eventually replace the U.S. government with an Islamic regime.

"I want to fight some jihad," Batiste said in a 2006 conversation taped by the FBI. "That's all I live for."

For the rest of the story: Trial Nears in Sears Tower Terror Case

Bin Laden set to release another video

Courtesy of Drudge Report

As al Qaeda chatter picks up just before the 6th anniversary of 9/11, AP is reporting this morning that Bin Laden is set to release another video. Apparently, Bin Laden will be presenting the last testament of one of the Sept. 11 homicide hijackers on the new video set for release today.

If you recall that last week, Bin Laden tried to justify the 9/11 attacks, which, he claimed, "further harmed America's reputation and its prestige worldwide..." Bin Laden mocked the Democrats for failing to stop the war in Iraq and called for the Michael Moore crowd to step up their anti war rhetoric, "Now that your representatives in the Democratic party failed to fulfill your desire to stop the war, you can keep marching in the streets of big [U.S.] cities holding up anti-war signs......"

Bin Laden appeared to be issuing a warning (da'wa) to the infidels of America and the west to convert to Islam or perish, "The biggest and most irreversible error one can commit in this world is to die without surrendering oneself to Allah, namely, to die without embracing Islam......"

The Sahih Muslim Hadith, [Book 019, Number 4294] indicates that a Muslim da'wa is required before an all out onslaught with the infidel western enemies.

Is an attack imminent? Only the radical Islamists know for sure. We should be prepared to unite against them and drive them from the face of the earth. My message for the liberal crowd is that you don't know what you are up against.

Be ever vigilant.

UPDATE: Latest on Fox News regarding the new video, 9/10/2007

Sept. 11 Hijacker's 'Last Testament': Al Qaeda announces it will release new video of Usama bin Laden presenting last testament of one Sept. 11 hijacker

Bin Laden's Video Message to the American People

Special Dispatch – Jihad & Terrorism

September 10, 2007 

No.1709

Osama Bin Laden's Video Message to the American People

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
Osama Bin Laden's Video Message to the American

On September 8, 2007 the Islamist forum http://al-ekhlaas.org, hosted by Layered Technologies, Inc. in Texas, USA, posted a video message from Osama bin Laden to the American people titled "The Solution."
The following are excerpts.

Bin Laden opens his message by discussing the effect of the 9/11 attacks, which, he claims, "further harmed America's reputation and its prestige worldwide..." He goes on to characterize U.S. policies throughout history, and more recently in Iraq, as morally reprehensible. For example, he presents Bush's claim that the U.S. is "cooperating with Al-Maliki's government in order to spread freedom in Iraq" as an attempt to cover up Bush's "true intentions," which are "to work with leaders of one sect in Iraq against another sect" in hope that this will turn the war in his favor, while in fact this policy has precipitated a civil war "which [Bush] can no longer control." Thus, bin Laden claims that while the U.S. "proclaim[ed] the slogans of justice, freedom, equality, and humaneness," in reality its policies yielded "fear, destruction, killing, famine, illness, and vagrancy." As a result of this war, he continues, "there are more than one million orphans in Baghdad alone, and hundreds of thousands of widows... The American's [own] statistics... [reveal] that more than 650,000 people have been killed in Iraq as a result of the war and its consequences."

Bin Laden then points out that the Democrats have so far failed to stop the war in Iraq, despite winning the congressional elections. He interprets this as an indication that wealthy individuals still dominate policy decisions, and says to the Americans, "Now that your representatives in the Democratic party failed to fulfill your desire to stop the war, you can keep marching in the streets of big [U.S.] cities holding up anti-war signs," but this will be to no avail.

Bin Laden then adds that "there are [nevertheless] two [ways] to bring [the war] to an end. The first... is for us to continue killing and fighting you with ever increasing intensity [until we defeat you]... The second is... [for you] to liberate yourselves from the deception and restrictions... inflicted upon you by the capitalistic system... in the same way you liberated yourselves from the monks and kings that once enslaved you, and from feudalism." The goal of the capitalist system, he warns, is to turn the entire world into a fief controlled by large corporations..."

As an alternative to the capitalist system, bin Laden offers Islam. He calls upon the Americans to embrace Islam, saying: "The biggest and most irreversible error one can commit in this world is to die without surrendering oneself to Allah, namely, to die without embracing Islam." He warns that, once the owners of the major corporations realize that the Americans people have lost confidence in the democratic system and have started searching for an alternative, i.e., Islam, "they will run after you to please you and fulfill your every desire, in order to turn you away from Islam." He therefore advices the Americans not to waver in their pursuit of Islam, since the benefits they will receive by embracing it are numerous, including a significant reduction in taxes, since Islam does not impose taxes beyond the mandatory 2.5% Zakat (i.e., alms) tax.

*********************

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Coalition generals announce progress in Iraq

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik, Commanding general, Multi-National Securty Transition Command-Iraq and U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman talked about recent events in Iraq and the road ahead. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Carl Hudson, Combined Press Information Ceter.

Courtesy of Multi-National Force - IRAQ

August 30, 2007

BAGHDAD — Two Coalition representatives held a press conference at the Combined Press Information Center Wednesday.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik, commanding general, Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq and U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman talked about recent events in Iraq and the road ahead.

Bergner opened the conference with an update on several Iranian citizens detained near the Abu Nuwas market in Baghdad Tuesday.  They were observed possessing weapons and none had authorization to be armed.

“Those individuals were released early this morning after the Coalition had an opportunity to determine the circumstances that were taking place,” Bergner said.

Bergner also mentioned progress around Iraq. Operations in Tarmiyah resulted in the death of Abu Ibrahim, an al-Qaeda in Iraq leader who oversaw terrorists’ operations in the northern belts of Baghdad.  He died after he grabbed a Coalition Soldier and attempted to detonate a suicide vest. Bergner said Ibrahim was an al-Qaeda emir for Tarmiyah who coordinated VBIED attacks in Baghdad and also led al-Qaeda in Iraq operations in the Taji area.

“He kidnapped and murdered Iraqis including a nine-year-old girl to intimidate local citizens,” Bergner said, noting that Ibrahim’s group is likely responsible for the April 12th bombing of the Sarafiya bridge in Baghdad.

“This operation is just another example of the importance of operating simultaneously against the networks in Baghdad and the belts outside the city where terrorists like this are positioning themselves,” Bergner said.

Bergner introduced Dubik, noting his achievements as commander for I-Corps and the 25th Infantry Division.  Dubik took command of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq in June, where he oversees the Coalition's assistance to the Iraqi government in developing, organizing, training, equipping, and substantiating Iraqi Security Forces.

“There is no one better prepared to assist the Iraqi security forces to transform, to grow in capacity, and to continuously adapt to the new realities here on the ground,” Bergner said.

Dubik said his role in the war effort focuses less on fighting forces and more on “ministerial capacity.”

“That is the ability to raise, to equip, to train and sustain, to provide bases and to provide adequate funding for the security forces over the long term,” Dubik said.

Dubik said there has been progress and challenges on this front.  From 2005 to 2006, the ministries of defense and interior spent more than $2.5 billion more on defense of Iraq than the year before.  There was another $2 billion increase in 2006.  The ministries continue to deal with many challenges, but Dubik said they, along with Coalition forces, will keep pushing on.

“These are all very hard problems.  No doubt about it,” he said.  “But as my boss had said sometime ago, ‘hard doesn't make it hopeless it just makes it hard.’”

(Story by U.S. Army Sgt. Matthew McLaughlin, Combined Press Information Center)

In other developments throughout Iraq:

•           Iraqi Police received tips from a local citizen which thwarted insurgent efforts to detonate two car bombs targeting security forces and innocent citizens in Kirkuk city, Sunday.

•           Soldiers from the Multi-National Division-Baghdad and Iraqi Security Forces captured four suspected insurgents and recovered a small weapons cache during a security operation in the Karadah District of eastern Baghdad Tuesday.

Damascus airport called Al Qaeda hub

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Courtesy of World Tribune

Damascus airport called Al Qaeda hub

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, has been recruiting support for legislation that would sanction Damascus International Airport.

Lieberman said the airport has become the major conduit for Al Qaeda fighters to Iraq as well as Iranian weapons shipments to Lebanon. He based his assertion on briefings from the U.S. military.

On Thursday, the Bush administration released an unclassified version of a national intelligence estimate that supported Lieberman's allegations against Syria. But the report said Damascus, despite its increase in support for militias in Iraq, has cracked down on Al Qaeda in wake of a determination that the Islamic movement threatens Syrian national security.

Lieberman said U.S. intelligence has determined that the lion's share of Sunni volunteers fly into Damascus International Airport and then proceed overland to Iraq. He said this makes Damascus the hub of Al Qaeda travel in the Middle East.