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It is well-known that most domestic terrorists are well educated, middle class to wealthy individuals.

Most Domestic 'Jihadists' Are Educated, Well-Off

However, many foreign terrorists are also very wealthy.

Osama Bin Laden Had $29 Million in Wealth, Requested it Mainly Be Used for âJihadâ(TM) in Personal Will

Whatâ(TM)s made the Islamic State one of the richest terrorist armies in history?

The World's Richest Terrorists

Obviously all the middle east is not going to cool down any time soon, and needs a desalination solution, or the current wave of immigration will look like a trickle. Ignoring for the moment the population boom which will destroy everything if they don't control it, the technical solution is nuclear power. A nuclear plant does not contribute to global warming, and the waste heat, applied to water, desalinates a lot of water. It's a productive use of all the energy from the plant instead of just 45%. Unfortunately, no one wants Arab countries to have nuclear plants given the current political environment. The risk of terrorism, or proliferation is huge. I think the article neglects Iran, which should be higher on the list. They are using 90+% of their surface water and are imminently in danger of running out. The minister in charge was predicting that 70% of the country could have to evacuate in just a few years. http://www.danielpipes.org/158...

If you substitute "progressive" for Liberals you might be on to something.

It's Official: Leftist-Islamist Alliance against the West
RADICAL ISLAM'S ALLIANCE WITH THE SOCIALIST LEFT
The Leftist-Islamist Alliance in Pictures

Seriously though, $10 says it's a U.S. citizen unhappy with D.C. dysfunction. The terrorists wouldn't waste their bullets. They're home watching CSPAN with a bowl of popcorn and thinking "Mission Accomplished".

No, the terrorist that was most recently shooting up DC is in prison now. They caught him.

Former Marine reservist pleads guilty in Pentagon shooting incident

Melaku, a 23-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Ethiopia, was arrested June 17 at the cemetery. He had a backpack with four plastic bags each containing 5 pounds of ammonium nitrate, material commonly used in homemade explosives. He also had numerous 9 mm spent shell casings; black paint and a notebook with Arabic statements mentioning al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and the "Path to Jihad." ...

Melaku admitted to five shootings with a legally owned handgun at military buildings in Northern Virginia between October 17 and November 2 of 2010. He said he attacked the Pentagon, Marine and Coast Guard recruiting offices and he twice fired at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

They also previously caught the Beltway snipers. There are some interesting things there too. -- The Beltway Snipers' Motives

But I didn't make any generalizations about everybody who calls themselves Muslim, but rather specifically about Islamists

And just WTF is an "islamist?" When you hang your hat on stats that imply entire countries are "islamist" then whatever your definition is, it ain't precise enough to be meaningful.

Like most or all words in the English language, it can be used with different shades of meaning, so it's important to clarify how you're using the term. I think the most formal definition would focus on Islamism as simultaneously religious and political movement(s) to promote government systems that makes non-Muslims into second class citizens and institute the old forms of sharia law. I tend to use the term specifically for those who want to see the nasty elements of sharia law enacted (mistreatment of women, gays, non-Muslims; death penalty for people who change religions or non-Abrahamic religious affiliates who refuse to convert; disallowing free speech about politics or religion, and that kind of thing).

Honestly, if I lived in a Muslim majority country that held to modern Western "hippie Islam", that just found ways to reinterpret the teachings of Mohammed into the same good ideas that came from Jesus or Buddha or Thomas Paine or MLK, that actually doesn't sound so bad to me. As you noted, some Muslim majority nations are leaning that way, which is wonderful. (Ten percent of a nation wanting to kill me for insulting their prophet is still enough to justify my pointing a finger and shrilly screeching about them, though.)

The claim is that the US waterboarded three people. Libya is not the US.

...but I imagine you've already chosen who you prefer to believe.

I imagine that works both ways. I would be curious to know your thoughts on the fact that al Qaida training materials have been found in which they teach their members to lie about the conditions of their captivity, to fabricate claims of torture and abuse. Does that ever enter into your thinking? Do you ever view their claims with skepticism, or only those of Western nations?

It is also good to not forget that the Islamist extremists that resort to terrorism have an ideological base in the Islamist movement, and that the Islamist movement has allies in the West.

The Leftist-Islamist Alliance in Pictures
Leftist-Islamist Alliance against the West

As is usually the case, what Zionist shitbags complain about others doing, they did first. Stuff like of Palestinians and terrorist bombings of government buildings.

What you depict doesn't remotely resemble genocide, which was the topic. Killing 6 of 9 million Jews in Europe, or all of the Jews in Israel. Similar to the announced intention of the invading Arab armies in 1948. See this A bomb in the King David hotel compared to the mass murder of 6 million people? You don't really seem to have a sense of proportion, which might explain a lot.

From a bunch of immigrants from Europe, as Jews were less than 10% of the population in 1900.

Jewish immigrants that bought land, even the worst land that nobody else wanted, and made it productive. You also neglect to mention the large numbers of Arabs that immigrated there as well, especially as the Jewish population began improving the economy.

More on Arab immigrants, So called "Palestinians". When they started to flood Palestine as Jews changed and cultivated the vacant land
The Arabs in Palestine

You seem to be making it your mission in life to remove whatever fig leaf of respectability "anti-Zionism" has and fully merging it with anti-Semitism.

The European Left and Its Trouble With Jews

Although sometimes the torture is indeed deliberate policy.

It turns out that this "torture" is a routine medical procedure performed daily for large numbers of people, from infants to the elderly: Feeding tube. Are they being "tortured" too?

So, question for you - if the US authorities were to stop forced feeding, and 60 detainees actually did starve themselves to death, would you complain? I expect so. Sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, isn't it? What do you think would happen if the threat of starving yourself to death becomes a "get out of jail free card?"

Keep in mind that the Islamists fighting the West do not fight alone, they have allies.
The Leftist-Islamist Alliance in Pictures
It's Official: Leftist-Islamist Alliance against the West

On a related note, can you post any facts on whether the CIA had or has a policy of followup drone strikes . . .

Maybe this will help:

Pakistan Says Drone Strikes Have Been Effective

Major-General Ghayur Mehmood spoke to a group of Pakistani reporters on a rare trip to Miran Shah, the administrative center of North Waziristan.

The Pakistani general says that information the military has gathered from its sources suggest most of those killed in drone attacks are hardcore militants, and the number of innocent people being killed is relatively low.

The official paper distributed among reporters says that there have been 164 drone strikes in the militant-dominated region of North Waziristan since 2007, killing 964 "terrorists". There were 171 al-Qaida fighters among those killed, mostly belonging to central Asian and Arab countries.

------

I'm more than beginning to have the disturbing sense that the US government/military has stared too long into the abyss.

The media is having its intended effect.

If you have any brainstorms about how to do this better, I'm sure the Pentagon would love to hear about it. Send them a letter. Maybe something like, "Dear General, I know how you can get all the Al Qaida to stop fighting. All you have to do is ....."
If the next part is, "give up their fringe religious views and dreams of conquering the world for Islam," that isn't going to be very helpful.

Before you think about such a thing, you might want to read up on Al Qaida's goals.
The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants

And why would the Palestinians need Israel approval when Israel didn't need to ask permission to the Palestinians to exist?

Israel has existed as a nation in that region for at least 1,200 years, first as a kingdom, and now as a democracy. There was a bit of a gap between the prior kingdom and the current democracy while the Jewish population made its way back after captivity in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, and in Europe and Africa courtesy of the Romans. (Disappearing and reappearing nations aren't that unusual, ask Poland.) In a way it worked out better for them while they were spread out as it was harder to oppress and kill them all.

Their continued existence has even been pointed to as evidence of miracles.

Now, some find it convenient that they are back in Israel -

UAE Professor Says Jews in One Place for Easy Killing

The whole "negotiated solution" is propaganda for Israel to keep the Palestinians stateless forever, and continue the colonization. The longer they wait, the larger their state will be.

The Palestinians would have a state now if they could accept the existence of Israel, but they prefer to live with the fantasy that they will destroy Israel.

The Palestinians Want Peace -- Just Not With a Jewish State

I wouldn't get too comfy though even if you are tempted to throw the Jewish people under the bus, the Palestinians also teach their children that they must reclaim Spain after the Muslims were driven out 521 years ago.

Dreaming of Al-Andalus

If they are successful in that, they will eventually try to redress that whole nasty business at the Gates of Vienna.

They will have help.

Muslims like Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Eric Rudolph?

The phrase you are looking for is "pressure cooker bomb." It is a technique taught by and identified with Al Qaida and affiliates.

Fixed your bigoted American exceptionalism for you.

You don't know what you're talking about. And that is really quite astonishing since the information has been widely available for some time.

The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants

If you think this is ultimately about anything America has done, you're uninformed. If you think it will stop if America is destroyed, you're willfully blind. Ultimately they will come for Europe and the rest of the world as they believe they are both entitled and destined to rule every nation.

And the kicker is that they will have help:

The Leftist-Islamist Alliance in Pictures
The Left's Unlikely Alliance with Islam
Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Leftist's Ironic Unholy Alliance with Islamists
A dangerous alliance: Faux liberals and Islamists
Islamist-Left Alliance A Growing Force

I think it is quite obvious that all three of these religions have different prophets and theories about the one true God, but it is hard to deny that they all share the exact same one true God.

One one level you are true, on another your statement is not true. The Muslims will talk about the "God of Abraham". This is intended to give Christians and Jews warm fuzzies and hoping some of them will jump on the "bridge between faiths" (which only goes one way, you will notice). So, at first glance your statement seems true. However, one more learned in the Qur'an will understand that they also consider the Christian Trinitarian God to be a heresy that does not describe Allah. Hence they consider Christians as heretics worshiping a false god. The false god cannot be the same as the true god, so Muslims believe (and are in fact taught) that the Christians do not worship the same god. Although strangely, Moses and Jesus were Muslims (it's bad enough when countries claim rockstars, but claiming prophets is going a bit far :) ).

However, despite claiming the "God of Abraham" the Muslims then proceed to lay out and even more evil deity that has attributes that are against attributes defined by Abraham/Judaism. Just because a claim is made does not make the claim true, claiming Allah is YHWH does not make it true. Similarly, "calling SplashMyBandit a bigot because calls Islam evil does not make the claim of bigotry true" [or even sensible, given the formal definition of what constitutes bigotry].

Consider the which starts the prayer said five times a day by Muslims, Sura. So what seems a relatively innocuous phrase is dissing both Jews and Christians - five times a day. All this is explained for you in depth, here:
http://www.islam-watch.org/authors/139-louis-palme/1082-behind-the-muslim-prayers.html
My point is that Islam conforms to Shrek's definition of an ogre. It has layers. Unfortunately the layers do not get nicer the more and more you peel back. Underneath the grandiose facade of Islam is a basement with a terrible stink. Most people know the stink instinctively but don't know or care to open the door to find out why. Once you open the door you understand where the stink is coming from - the evil ideology that has already claimed 270 million lives and would gladly claim the life of every single living thing on this planet if it was thought to please Allah. Regrettably, there are people already working toward making exactly that happen (I'm looking at you Iran, who have within the last week launched and even more evil and inhuman wave of oppression - for those that have been taking notes).

Still think Allah is the same as God and YHWH/Elohim/HaShem/Melech HaOlam? Check these out:
http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/58626
http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/god.htm

In fact, the more you delve into it you will find that the characteristics that Islam attributes to their deity are almost exactly opposite to the characteristics of the God of Abraham. However, the God of Islam prides himself as the "greatest deceiver" numerous times in the Qur'an - so it is no surprise that he would produce the deceit that he was the same as the God of Abraham. The reality is that the attributes of both (fictional) deities are different. Therefore, logic dictates that the deities are different. ISLAM MAY CLAIM TO HAVE THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, BUT THEIR SCRIPTURE DEFINES A DIFFERENT BEING (a deceptive anti-God, if you will).

So you see, one can read the Qur'an but there are layers there. It is something else to understand what the words are trying to convey. Like I said, Osama bin Laden agrees on the meaning of Islam with Al Azhar (as you know, the foremost authority for Sunnis) and the Muslim Brotherhood etc etc. They

People react to the culture in which they're brought up. And even in the Middle East, it's a small proportion of Muslims acting in the way rightists here want to depict all Muslims as.

Yes, this is clearly a problem of "rightest" depiction of the actions of Islamists.

Bounty on Salman Rushdie increased to $3.3 million - Iran will pursue makers of anti-Islam film: vice-presidenthor

Pakistani minister puts bounty on anti-Islam filmmaker's head

Egypt's president elect Mohammed Morsi says he will try to free Blind Sheikh

Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's president elect, on Friday appealed for the release of one of Osama bin Laden's closest associates, a call sure to alarm critics worried about the direction he will take the country

Interview with Father Zakaria Botros, 'Radical Islam's Bane' - An interview with the Coptic Orthodox Priest with a 60 million dollar bounty on his head from al Qaeda.
More: Michael Coren Interviews Father Zakaria Botros 'Radical Islam's Bane'

Allied Menace

"Here are two brother countries, united like a single fist," said socialist Hugo Chávez during a visit to Tehran last November, celebrating his alliance with Islamist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Che Guevara's son Camilo, who also visited Tehran last year, declared that his father would have "supported the country in its current struggle against the United States." They followed in the footsteps of Fidel Castro, who in a 2001 visit told his hosts that "Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with each other, can bring America to its knees." For his part, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez ("Carlos the Jackal") wrote in his book L'islam révolutionnaire ("Revolutionary Islam") that "only a coalition of Marxists and Islamists can destroy the United States."

As an atheist, I have no dog in this fight, except one: I want to live in a peaceful world.

You want to live in a peaceful world, and al-Qaida and assorted Islamists want you to live in a Muslim world. I expect that neither of you will get your wish unless enough people prefer any peace, even the peace of the graveyard, or the "peace" of slavery, to the long term struggle to defense genuine peace a freedom.

Religion supports terrorism, it needs to be banned.

The militant atheist Communists of Russia and China actively suppressed religion through arrest, imprisonment, seizure of church property, and other measures*, and along the way managed kill around 100,000,000 people (far more than actual terrorists), set off arms races and wars around the world, and threaten to return again in many parts of the world. Maybe we can start off by banning them.

Another troubling development: [The Islamist-Leftist] Allied Menace

*Such as the League of Militant Atheists

Just because I feel like posting it again you can look here:
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2006/11/the-751-no-go-zones-of-france and again, the other links to the french version are listed in the article. Don't drown in the PCness when reading the french stuff(if you can read french anyway).

Sure can. Links are listed inside here:
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2006/11/the-751-no-go-zones-of-france

The US is the only one allowed to use this tech to abuse human rights, and it really doesn't want to risk losing its lead in technology used for spying on citizens.

You are completely wrong. First off, it's legal, and not an abuse of human rights. (And no, this isn't the first time a court has made a similar finding.)

Second, it's necessary because some American citizens, immigrants, and visitors don't want to live in peace, but have taken up the cause of extremists. (Just a sample - there are many, many more.)
Daniel Boyd pleads guilty to US terrorism charges -9 February 2011
Domestic Terrorist 'Jihad Jane' Pleads Guilty to Four Charges - Feb 2, 2011
Stockham requests new attorney - February 05, 2011
          Note: This individual is apparently an American Sunni Muslim who tried to attack a Shia Muslim Mosque.
Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert - January 27, 2011
Baltimore man accused of plotting to blow up military recruiting station in Md. - Thursday, December 9, 2010
Oregon Bomb Suspect Mohamed Osman Mohamud Wanted "Spectacular Show," - November 29, 2010
Faisal Shahzad: 'War With Muslims Has Just Begun' - Oct. 5, 2010
2 MN women charged with aiding Somali terrorists - Aug 5, 2010
U.S. links 8 to Somali terrorist group - November 24, 2009
And here's one for the Canadians: Converts Who Kill

And how did this get started? September 11 attacks

If you bother to read bin Laden's 'letter to America', you will see that in order for him to call off his minions, Americans will have to convert to his flavor of Islam, give up the constitution, implement Sharia law (which will mean cutting off hands of thieves, stoning adulterers, no more alcohol (prohibition again), drugs, porn, executing homosexuals, etc., etc., etc.), and many other odious demands.

Ultimately this is about various factions of Islam trying to extend their power by force. It won't go away soon. I suggest you get used to it.

Dreaming of Al-Andalus

By the way - the Muslim Brotherhood is not helping.

The point is that in his capacity as the foreign minister Lieberman has been making statements that make sense, even though his manners can use a lot of work. http://www.danielpipes.org/6258/avigdor-liebermans-brilliant-debut

Here are some actual quotes from Lieberman's inaugural speech: http://www.danielpipes.org/6258/avigdor-liebermans-brilliant-debut Does not sound like a psycho to me. Sounds like someone who is actually seeing the reality of the situation.

That is one of the worst citation mangling cases I have seen in a while. Moderated troll for only lifting the parts that support your argument from the linked doc and then attempting to speak with authority. Feeble when the sources are one click away

You are a sad little troll. You aren't part of the Electronic Jihad by any chance? Or maybe simply practicing Taqiyya?

Please read the links. They support my statements, although I wish they didn't. I would prefer that we could live in peace.

Another useful story: What al-Qaida Really Wants.

...

if you want some actual information check out jihadica and the other blogs it links to - guess that's as close as you can get to the sources without actually speaking Arabian.

That is one of the worst citation mangling cases I have seen in a while. Moderated troll for only lifting the parts that support your argument from the linked doc and then attempting to speak with authority. Feeble when the sources are one click away

You are a sad little troll. You aren't part of the Electronic Jihad by any chance? Or maybe simply practicing Taqiyya?

Please read the links. They support my statements, although I wish they didn't. I would prefer that we could live in peace.

Another useful story: What al-Qaida Really Wants.

How about we just stop killing and otherwise pissing off brown-skinned people?

You don't understand what is actually happening. Read Bin Laden's Letter to America. You will see that the actual demand isn't to be "left alone". Bin Laden's first demand is:

(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?

(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.

Bin Laden demands that we convert to Islam. He follows that up with demands that we ditch the Constitution, implement Islamic Sharia law, and do away with the separation of church and state. Among other things we would have to start killing homosexuals and adulterers, end the charging of interest on bank loans, put an end to drug use, pornography, and alcohol use, amputating the hands of thieves, and many other things. Dressing "immodestly" could get you whipped, which probably means burkas for women. Men would have to grow their beards out, or face a whipping. Crucifixion may be a required punishment for some crimes. Afghanistan under the Taliban was almost ideal to them. If we do not agree to this we can expect that his minions will continue to try to kill us.

It is not especially significant that Bin Laden issued that demand to the United States, in time every country will have to deal with it. Subduing the United States is just one step along their path, and they understand that it could take 500 years. Many countries have been attacked. Stockholm had a suicide bomber this weekend. (Thankfully it appears that one of the Stockholm terrorist's bombs blew prematurely and he couldn't get about five more planted - otherwise it might have been another Madrid, London 7/7, Bali, or similar bombing.)

What Do the Terrorists Want? [A Caliphate]

In nearly all cases, the jihadi terrorists have a patently self-evident ambition: to establish a world dominated by Muslims, Islam, and Islamic law, the Shari'a. Or, again to cite the Daily Telegraph, their "real project is the extension of the Islamic territory across the globe, and the establishment of a worldwide 'caliphate' founded on Shari'a law."

Terrorists openly declare this goal. The Islamists who assassinated Anwar el-Sadat in 1981 decorated their holding cages with banners proclaiming the "caliphate or death." A biography of one of the most influential Islamist thinkers of recent times and an influence on Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam declares that his life "revolved around a single goal, namely the establishment of Allah's Rule on earth" and restoring the caliphate.

Bin Laden himself spoke of ensuring that "the pious caliphate will start from Afghanistan." His chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also dreamed of re-establishing the caliphate, for then, he wrote, "history would make a new turn, God willing, in the opposite direction against the empire of the United States and the world's Jewish government." Another Al-Qaeda leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, publishes a magazine that has declared "Due to the blessings of jihad, America's countdown has begun. It will declare defeat soon," to be followed by the creation of a caliphate.

Good background here.

Ignoring them won't make them go away. They have their own goals - nothing we do other than covert to Islam or fight them will dissuade them. Trying to buy them off or deal with them only delays the inevitable. We are in for a long struggle that will be far bloodier for us if we aren't clear about it. Al Qaeda has a f

"And there's the basic problem. Most Muslims will tell you that the Koran, if read properly, does not encourage such action."

Of course they will...tell you that. The first duty of a religionist is to promote their ideology.

http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/25320

"how Arab culture subsumed Islam and turned it into a political empire" ... you do realize that it's the (paedophile) prophet who did that. This statement of you is akin to saying that what Jesus Christ did has nothing to do with Christianity. That Krishna's actions do not have anything to do with Hinduism. That Marx and communism are totally unrelated, and anyone implying connection between Hitler and Nazism is just babbling racist nonsense meant to "hurt nazi feelings".

Which part, exactly, of islam does not support the political empire ? I am very interested in your opinion. And please, refrain from naming tiny sects that are persecuted and massacred in the muslim world. It may very well be true that Bahai islam, Sufi islam and Ahmadiyya islam have different ideas about this, but let's get real here.

Your points, when you're attacking the political culture of Islam as defined by a state, are mostly valid. But you are making an error in combining Islam as political culture and Islam as religion. Unfortunately, I will concede to you that most people, many Muslims (and Christians, and Jews) make the same mistake. We are only human after all, and definitely not perfect

Yes where would I get the idea that islam is only a totalitarian political system, literally encompassing every last action one ever takes, from being born to wiping one's ass, sitting down only in the allowed manner ? From killing any dissenters, to cleaning sandals, ... everything. Joseph Stalin would find these rules suffocating.

Feel free, in any rebuttal, to include the reason that you think you know better than all "schools" of islam. Not just one, but all of them. Furthermore, I seriously doubt you've ever even talked to a muslim. I seriously doubt you've ever even touched that most boring of books (seriously it takes all one's willpower to read even a single chapter, it's that convoluted and boring. Okay there are 2 or 3 pages that are weak versions of biblical stories at the end, and they color it just a little bit, but if you actually read it up to that point either you're studying it, or there is something wrong with you. Seriously. Reading the bible is hard, for it's a very long book indeed. But I guarantee there are a whole lot more Christians that have read the bible cover to cover than there are muslims that have read even one of the longer chapters of the quran)

Also feel free to explain how having a 9 year old girl dragged into your bedroom, an action that according to muslim texts required several slaves to accomplish, and then "having sex" with her as a 53 year old man (note that the text conspicuously doesn't say that those slaves left before the act. One that reads between the lines might think that physical restraint was required for the act, and that the actual man was incapable to provide it) is comparable to marriages between 14 year old boys and 12 year old girls. You'd even be right in pointing out that the paedophile prophet's actions weren't that strange for a man that probably had visited brothels of the Roman empire, and that he was probably not the only guy in the Roman empire doing it. However, it is, was, and always will be a vile, reprehensible action and any religion that condones it is equally vile and repr

Actually, less worse, because Guantanamo detainees have habeas corpus to draw upon in their defense, whereas individuals can be legally held incommunicado without trial indefinitely in Canada.

I never said the American government does not break it's own laws, but when it does, one can cry "Foul!"

Not so in Canada.

And, lets not forget Canadians Ahmed Said al-Khadr, and his family.

Heck, even then Prime Minister Chretien supported their terrorist groups.

I was born a Canadian and am happy to have escaped. I live on American soil, have an American son, pay American taxes, and fly an American flag.

This is the outcome of a 5 min google search:
UN http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60143-2004Jul18.html
OSCE http://www.americanpolicy.org/un/election.htm
General (for links, not opinion) http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2004/08/foreigners-monitor-us-elections.html

Probably every human rights organization (even some within the US) felt the urge to monitor, please go on searching, but take off these glasses you wear.

I'm sure your government told you its only those evil communists who distrust the great americans people...

Because he is born of a Muslim father, the Islamic world community will claim him as a Muslim. If he denies his Islam roots, they will denounce him as a traitor of the worst kind - a deserter of Islam - an apostate; Sharia Law proscribes severe penalties for this. http://www.peacefaq.com/apostacy.html#hatist Find out more about his Muslim roots http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5544

All this should not make a difference as to whether or not he is qualified to be the President of the US, but it does feed the phobia Americans have toward a different culture and religion, especially in the light of those who abuse and twist it to their own ends. Would it make a difference if he were Hindi or Buddist or Catholic or Jewish?

Vote your conscience and make an informed decision based on your candidates voting history. What kind of decisions does he make? Can he make a decision? Can you live with this? Would you trust the 'football' with him.

Confirmed: Barack Obama Practiced Islam

I am not saying anyone, or any ideology is without fault. I am merely stating facts about a specific religion. Please don't imply things I didn't say. Here's what I am saying, with references, even if they are low-quality references at best.

Everyone knows that the prophet is to islam what Jesus Christ is for christianity. For Christians, the question is "what would Jesus do ?" for muslims the question is "what would the prophet do ?" and the answers are somewhat ... different than those you're used to from christians :

the prophet raped a minor girl, fact (involuntary sex, whether within marriage or not is rape, especially if the girl did not know about the marriage)
he raided caravans, stealing, raping and kidnapping people into slavery, fact (none of these sources are very good themselves, please look up the primary sources yourself)
he comitted SEVERAL religious massacres, fact

Jihad means "holy war". Or at least that's what it meant from the 7th to the late 20th century, in every muslim source. The massacres in arabia, the muslim massacres that eradicated the blacks from north africa, and the utterly massive massacre muslim comitted in India are referred to, in any muslim historical source as "jihads". Whatever else jihad means, clearly to muslims it includes these massacres, so please have your translation include that fact. I realise calling jihad "holy war", with massacre implied, that that is very politically incorrect, but that IS what it means.

Just like "islam" means "submission" yes, but it very VERY strongly implies militarily enforced submission, and certainly does not mean voluntary submission. You are a muslim if you're militarily dominated by islam, if your family does that for example, not if you "believe". Most muslims don't believe, not in the sense that they have faith in God (if you read the quran you'll understand why faith in god is nonexistent in islam, you see allah is a vindictive asshole and the prophet even more, they kill for no reason at all, criminally insane and dangerous individuals, even by muslim standards, and certainly nothing like Jesus Christ in the new testament)

Read the primary sources. Draw your own conclusions. E.g.

When asked whether his soldiers should or should not rape female captives in war, the prophet answered, wait, let me just point you to the source and have you answer this yourself

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/008.smt.html#008.3432

He said that, not only was raping them okay, but if they were impregnated, that would not matter.

Now my challenge to you, point me to the section of the new testament were Jesus orders his soldiers to rape captive women. Oh you can't ? Well well, isn't that interesting ?

Do you mean 'like it was in 1914 and 1939'? As in when the world wars started as opposed to when the US decided to join in?

Well, you have to remember that there was a lot of anti-war sentiment in the US despite the looming danger at the time, and it almost kept us out (until it was too late) .... kind of like today.

But don't worry, anti-war sentiment in the US is growing stronger, and it seems unlikely that we will involve ourselves as the coming European crisis plays itself out, regardless of the consequences. It will be interesting to see where it begins. Maybe it already has as there are already refugees.

Holland?
Amsterdam and Rotterdam are expected to be in about 2015 the first large majority-Muslim cities. Europe or Eurabia?

UK?
Muslim Britain is becoming one big no-go area

Trouble in Londonistan

France?
Muslims are waging civil war against us, claims police union

Why 112 cars are burning every day

Elsewhere?
Where did they all go? Who are they training and leading?

Do you mean 'like it was in 1914 and 1939'? As in when the world wars started as opposed to when the US decided to join in?

Well, you have to remember that there was a lot of anti-war sentiment in the US despite the looming danger at the time, and it almost kept us out (until it was too late) .... kind of like today.

But don't worry, anti-war sentiment in the US is growing stronger, and it seems unlikely that we will involve ourselves as the coming European crisis plays itself out, regardless of the consequences. It will be interesting to see where it begins. Maybe it already has as there are already refugees.

Holland?
Amsterdam and Rotterdam are expected to be in about 2015 the first large majority-Muslim cities. Europe or Eurabia?

UK?
Muslim Britain is becoming one big no-go area

Trouble in Londonistan

France?
Muslims are waging civil war against us, claims police union

Why 112 cars are burning every day

Elsewhere?
Where did they all go? Who are they training and leading?

I would agree with parent. I read his blog now and then a few years back. Overwhelmingly negative stories on muslims mixed with the occasional writing on what he means by "moderate islam". He's also the founder of an organization called Campus Watch that seems more than a little sinister.

Yeah, I'm not suggesting we should shut our eyes when unmarried Irish women decide to take a sudden vacation in Israel, which should be a WTF in any security screening known to man. We'd have more time to look for inconsistencies of that nature (although you don't really have to look so much as just keep your eyes open) if we weren't closely scrutizing every four ounce bottle of perfume being carried by 16 year old black girls on the trip from Chicago to Baltimore.

Suspicious objects are pretty common, since practically anything either a) can be used to kill you or b) resembles something which can be used to kill you. (The metal in my glasses might be sodium. 1 ounce of that, plus that glass of water the flight attendant will give me, is enough for me to depressurize a cabin.) People who are trying to kill you or closely resemble people trying to kill you are pretty rare. If we want security and efficiency, we should look for exceptions and rare things, not look for exceptions among common things. (The human brain is really, really poorly optimized for the second task, incidentally.)

Speaking of which, you can read an account of the security screening of that woman here:

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/1064

The strip is not blasphemous in any serious way.

Says you. Keep in mind, after the Danish cartoons, people are likely to tread a little bit lightly rather than get some expert opinion on what might qualify as blasphemous. Throw in CAIR getting lawsuit happy (whether the lawsuits have merit or not) and you've got a recipe for less backbone enhanced editors to exclude the comics. The flip side to the comic is that some papers won't run it because of a tastless sex joke. No clear breakdown on why different papers are excluding it.

Not world-wide, but surveys of British Muslims:

40% Want Sharia Law
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/ne ws/2006/02/19/nsharia19.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/02 /19/ixportaltop.html

30% Prefer Sharia Law
28% Hope U.K. Becomes Islamic State
68% Support Arrest of British Who "Insult Islam"
62% Deny Free Speech to Anti-religious Speech
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/14/opinion/ main1893879.shtml

38% foreign Muslims who incite hatred should be ... allowed to live in the UK
4% acceptable "for religious or political groups to use violence for political ends"
5% 7/7 bombings and future attacks justified
13% future attacks on U.S. justified
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/483

Quoting Louis Farrakhan or Malcolm X to define Keith Ellison's views is like quoting Richard M. Stallman to define my views -- I've taken actions which support his organization where we have goals in common, but by no means do I support his more radical policies (or believe that they have a prayer of a chance of taking place in the Real World, even with my support of his organization as a whole). As such, you're throwing a bunch of irrelevant BS into this conversation. I don't care what Malcolm X believes; if I'm deciding whether to vote for Keith Ellison, I care what Keith Ellison believes. As for the source you've quoted, its description of the Million Man March as a "hate fest" is sufficient for me to consider it irreparably biased.

FYI the folks "we" (by this i mean the non muslim world) are fighting is islam. islam is not a religion it is a manifestation of fascism. There is no moderate islam since there has been no reformation movement. Religions do not dictate interest rates on loans or have detiled political systems (the caliphate). The iraq war is incredibly succesful in one regard and that is sunnis and shites hate each other even more..

Demonstrably false. The Catholic church traditionally forbid usury (lending with interest, or, later, excessive interest) as a sin; would you claim that Catholicism is not a religion? In any event, what is it that makes interest rates exempt from the scope of a legitimate religion's moral code (while such mundanities as diet are fair game)? It strikes me as an awfully arbitrary distinction. Moderate islamists demonstrably exist. See Azar Nafisi, Bassam Tibi, Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour, and others.

I think this thread is over: I can argue with reasonable people, but the kind of twisted worldview necessary to believe your own claims is alien to me.

For Islamists, the imperative to veil women justifies almost any means. Sometimes they try to buy off resistance. Some French Muslim families, for instance, are paid 500 euros (around $600) per quarter by extremist Muslim organizations just to have their daughters wear the hijab. This has also happened in the United States. Indeed, the famous and brave Syrian-American psychiatrist Wafa Sultan recently told the Jerusalem Post that after she moved to the United States in 1991, Saudis offered her $1,500 a month to cover her head and attend a mosque.

But what Islamists use most is intimidation. A survey conducted in France in May 2003 found that 77 percent of girls wearing the hijab said they did so because of physical threats from Islamist groups. A series in the newspaper Libération in 2003 documented how Muslim women and girls in France who refuse to wear the hijab are insulted, rejected, and often physically threatened by Muslim males. One of the teenage girls interviewed said, "Every day, bearded men come to me and advise me strongly on wearing the veil. It is a war. For now, there are no dead, but there are looks and words that do kill."

France's Toll of Destruction

Last night probably another hundred cars were set ablaze - as will be the case tonight, tomorrow night, and the following ones. Before large-scale rioting started on 27 October the police had already registered 30,000 car-becues this year - an average of, indeed, 100 a day. What a boost this must be to the French automobile industry. In the same period there were 3,800 attacks on police officers - a "normal" non-riot average of almost 13 a day.

The 751 No-Go Zones of France

They go by the euphemistic term Zones Urbaines Sensibles, or Sensitive Urban Zones, with the even more antiseptic acronym ZUS, and there are 751 of them as of last count. They are convienently listed on one long webpage, complete with street demarcations and map delineations.

What are they? Those places in France that the French state does not control. They range from two zones in the medieval town of Carcassone to twelve in the heavily Muslim town of Marseilles, with hardly a town in France lacking in its ZUS. The ZUS came into existence in late 1996 and according to a 2004 estimate, nearly 5 million people live in them.

Comment: A more precise name for these zones would be Dar al-Islam, the place where Muslims rule. (November 14, 2006)

Nov. 28, 2006 update: For an insight into how bad things are, the police in Lyons demonstrated on Nov. 9, denouncing "violence against the forces of order." Things have reached a pretty sad state when the police have to demonstrate in the streets against the criminals.

The New French Revolution

They rule gangland style, combined with the male-dominated traditions of the Arab countries they came from. It's gotten so bad that, today, most of the young women only feel safe if they are covered up, or if they stay at home. Girls who want to look just like other French girls are considered provocative, asking for trouble......

"I was gang raped by three people I knew, and I couldn't say anything, because in my culture, your family is dishonored if you lose your virginity," says Bellil. "So I kept quiet, and the rapes continued. The next time, I was pulled off a commuter train and no one lifted a finger to help me. ...Everybody turned their head awa

These days, however, we have good old Johnny Howard getting up close and personal with Shrub and Blair, pi**ing everybody off and making us almost as big a target as all the other Iraq invaders. Nice one Johnny.

Do you have any ideas about what sort of thing might have caused this? Has it been going on since the 2003 Iraq Invasion? Is it an on-going problem in Australian society? Any idea what the grievance is?

Maybe New Zealand is a refuge from the trouble you see in Australia.

>provide proof

The Council Of American islamic relations (a front for the terrorist lobby):

http://www.cfr.org/publication/10356/tracking_down _terrorist_financing.html#2
http://www.anti-cair-net.org/
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3437
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/394

Enough proof there...

They even tried to shut anti-cair up, but no dice

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3511
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.a sp?ID=18919

Some Muslim organizations in the United States have also condemned CAIR. Sheik Muhammad Hisham Kabbani of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) denounced CAIR, saying: "There are many Muslim organizations that claim to speak on behalf of the Muslim community but that in reality are not moderate, but extremist."

Seif Ashmawy, an Egyptian Muslim and peace activist, who published the "Voice of Peace" newsletter about Muslim affairs, said: "It is a known fact that CAIR has defended, apologized for, and rationalized the actions of extremists groups ... The real challenge for moderates like myself is to prevent my Muslim brethren from being deceived by extremist groups that pretend to represent their interests."

Steven Pomerantz, former FBI assistant director and chief of the FBI's counter-terrorism section, once charged that CAIR's activities "effectively give aid to international terrorist groups." Other American Muslim leaders have raised questions about their possible alliances with radical groups, and many academics are disturbed by the groups' prominence.

On February 2, 1995, CAIR advisory board member Imam Siraj Wahaj was accused by the United States Department of Justice as one of several "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators in the attempt to blow up New York City monuments," including the World Trade Center in 1993. He was a character witness during convicted Islamic terrorist Omar Abdel-Rahman's World Trade Center bombing trial.

Convicted Members of CAIR

A number of other CAIR officials have been charged with, and some convicted of, offenses related to the support of Islamist terrorism.

In December, 2001, Rabih Haddad, a CAIR fundraiser, was charged and deported from the United States because he was the executive director and co-founder of Global Relief Foundation, a terrorist front organization that for financing Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

On December 18, 2002, Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of CAIR-Texas and a co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation, was arrested by the FBI on charges of having ties with front groups that fund Islamic terrorism. In 2005, Elashi and two of his brothers were convicted on 21 counts of federal terrorism charges related to funding Hamas and the illegal export of electronics equipment to U.S. State Department-designated state sponsors of terrorism.

In January 2003, CAIR's director of community relations and founder of the Islamic Assembly of North America, Bassem Khafagi, was arrested by the FBI on charges of having ties to front groups that fund Islamist terrorism. Khafagi pleaded guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud, and agreed to be deported to Egypt.

In August 2003, CAIR's former civil-rights coordinator, Randall "Ismail" Royer, along with ten other men known as the "Virginia jihad group" were indicted on 41 counts, including training and participating in jihad activities overseas. The group had connections with Lashkar-e-Taiba and five of them possessed AK-47-style rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Four of th

>provide proof

The Council Of American islamic relations (a front for the terrorist lobby):

http://www.cfr.org/publication/10356/tracking_down _terrorist_financing.html#2
http://www.anti-cair-net.org/
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3437
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/394

Enough proof there...

They even tried to shut anti-cair up, but no dice

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3511
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.a sp?ID=18919

Some Muslim organizations in the United States have also condemned CAIR. Sheik Muhammad Hisham Kabbani of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) denounced CAIR, saying: "There are many Muslim organizations that claim to speak on behalf of the Muslim community but that in reality are not moderate, but extremist."

Seif Ashmawy, an Egyptian Muslim and peace activist, who published the "Voice of Peace" newsletter about Muslim affairs, said: "It is a known fact that CAIR has defended, apologized for, and rationalized the actions of extremists groups ... The real challenge for moderates like myself is to prevent my Muslim brethren from being deceived by extremist groups that pretend to represent their interests."

Steven Pomerantz, former FBI assistant director and chief of the FBI's counter-terrorism section, once charged that CAIR's activities "effectively give aid to international terrorist groups." Other American Muslim leaders have raised questions about their possible alliances with radical groups, and many academics are disturbed by the groups' prominence.

On February 2, 1995, CAIR advisory board member Imam Siraj Wahaj was accused by the United States Department of Justice as one of several "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators in the attempt to blow up New York City monuments," including the World Trade Center in 1993. He was a character witness during convicted Islamic terrorist Omar Abdel-Rahman's World Trade Center bombing trial.

Convicted Members of CAIR

A number of other CAIR officials have been charged with, and some convicted of, offenses related to the support of Islamist terrorism.

In December, 2001, Rabih Haddad, a CAIR fundraiser, was charged and deported from the United States because he was the executive director and co-founder of Global Relief Foundation, a terrorist front organization that for financing Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

On December 18, 2002, Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of CAIR-Texas and a co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation, was arrested by the FBI on charges of having ties with front groups that fund Islamic terrorism. In 2005, Elashi and two of his brothers were convicted on 21 counts of federal terrorism charges related to funding Hamas and the illegal export of electronics equipment to U.S. State Department-designated state sponsors of terrorism.

In January 2003, CAIR's director of community relations and founder of the Islamic Assembly of North America, Bassem Khafagi, was arrested by the FBI on charges of having ties to front groups that fund Islamist terrorism. Khafagi pleaded guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud, and agreed to be deported to Egypt.

In August 2003, CAIR's former civil-rights coordinator, Randall "Ismail" Royer, along with ten other men known as the "Virginia jihad group" were indicted on 41 counts, including training and participating in jihad activities overseas. The group had connections with Lashkar-e-Taiba and five of them possessed AK-47-style rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Four of th

>provide proof

The Council Of American islamic relations (a front for the terrorist lobby):

http://www.cfr.org/publication/10356/tracking_down _terrorist_financing.html#2
http://www.anti-cair-net.org/
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3437
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/394

Enough proof there...

They even tried to shut anti-cair up, but no dice

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3511
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.a sp?ID=18919

Some Muslim organizations in the United States have also condemned CAIR. Sheik Muhammad Hisham Kabbani of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) denounced CAIR, saying: "There are many Muslim organizations that claim to speak on behalf of the Muslim community but that in reality are not moderate, but extremist."

Seif Ashmawy, an Egyptian Muslim and peace activist, who published the "Voice of Peace" newsletter about Muslim affairs, said: "It is a known fact that CAIR has defended, apologized for, and rationalized the actions of extremists groups ... The real challenge for moderates like myself is to prevent my Muslim brethren from being deceived by extremist groups that pretend to represent their interests."

Steven Pomerantz, former FBI assistant director and chief of the FBI's counter-terrorism section, once charged that CAIR's activities "effectively give aid to international terrorist groups." Other American Muslim leaders have raised questions about their possible alliances with radical groups, and many academics are disturbed by the groups' prominence.

On February 2, 1995, CAIR advisory board member Imam Siraj Wahaj was accused by the United States Department of Justice as one of several "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators in the attempt to blow up New York City monuments," including the World Trade Center in 1993. He was a character witness during convicted Islamic terrorist Omar Abdel-Rahman's World Trade Center bombing trial.

Convicted Members of CAIR

A number of other CAIR officials have been charged with, and some convicted of, offenses related to the support of Islamist terrorism.

In December, 2001, Rabih Haddad, a CAIR fundraiser, was charged and deported from the United States because he was the executive director and co-founder of Global Relief Foundation, a terrorist front organization that for financing Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

On December 18, 2002, Ghassan Elashi, a founding board member of CAIR-Texas and a co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation, was arrested by the FBI on charges of having ties with front groups that fund Islamic terrorism. In 2005, Elashi and two of his brothers were convicted on 21 counts of federal terrorism charges related to funding Hamas and the illegal export of electronics equipment to U.S. State Department-designated state sponsors of terrorism.

In January 2003, CAIR's director of community relations and founder of the Islamic Assembly of North America, Bassem Khafagi, was arrested by the FBI on charges of having ties to front groups that fund Islamist terrorism. Khafagi pleaded guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud, and agreed to be deported to Egypt.

In August 2003, CAIR's former civil-rights coordinator, Randall "Ismail" Royer, along with ten other men known as the "Virginia jihad group" were indicted on 41 counts, including training and participating in jihad activities overseas. The group had connections with Lashkar-e-Taiba and five of them possessed AK-47-style rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Four of th

Oh, and plenty of people sympathise with the Ramjanmabhoomi. Hundreds of millions of Hindus, and many educated and informed westerners as well:

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/368
http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/ayodhy a/notemple.html
http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/irin/g enocide.html

  You're right about one thing. Mine is a poor country (though not as poor as your Islamic Sharia law infested sewer). We have mud huts, you have yours. The difference is that our mud huts will not remain mud huts because we are building factories and cities in their place. Your mud huts will no longer remain mud huts because Americans are bombing them into little holes in the ground in Waziristan while you people scurry like ants and hide behind Osama bin-Laden. Hah! Pakistan's great hero, bin-Laden, isn't even a Pakistani.

"As time went on, some countries, especially the US, wanted to learn more about other parts of Iraq's capacity." The US even tried to find information about the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein. [Rolf Ekeus, Director of UNSCOM 1991-1997, Financial Times, 7/29/03]

Yes. That is exactly the case. It isn't a matter of money. It's a matter of not enough people with the required skillset. The US government has had numerous open jobs looking for people with these skills for many years and they cannot fill them. This led to a lot of the Intel problems we had prior to Afghanistan and Iraq.

People with the required skillset who apply for a job in the intelligence services are in fact suspect, and cannot easily get security clearance since 911. I isn't easy for an intelligence service to hire a large number of reliable people with specific skills.

Saudis Import Slaves to America by Daniel Pipes (New York Sun June 16, 2005)
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2687
"Although slavery was abolished in the kingdom in 1962, the practice still flourishes there. Ranking Saudi religious authorities endorse slavery; for example, Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan insisted recently that "Slavery is a part of Islam" and whoever wants it abolished is 'an infidel.'"

There are only TWO ways to stop terrorism: 1) Find them and kill them BEFORE they act (only works for small, geographically concentrated groups.) 2) Remove the social and political reasons for their acts.

I think this has something to do with responsible nations. Under the former leadership, Iraq couldn't be trusted with WMD weapons. There's a theory which was called the Golden Arches Theory and is now referred to the Supply Chain Theory which states that no two countries that both had McDonald's had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald's. You can read more about this theory from here or here.

*> US is after all the oldest democracy in the world Some good points but I'm afraid that statement is incorrect. We were a democracy long before you kicked us out, and Iceland has us beaten by about 300 years (http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/5944) and the idea was borrowed from the ancient Greeks. Nick

God I love these misleading, scare-tactic titles. "AMERICANS SUPPORT BLOG CENSORSHIP", which of course brings to mind nasty, ignorant...

Ummm... Harvard faculty feminists (including the supposedly male kind)? Pro-terrorist Berkeley student "activists"? The Democrats who all voted for McCain-Feingold?

The idea that it's the right pushing for censorhip in America (or anywere else in the Western world, for that matter) is about 20 years out of date now.