By Tariq Alhomayed Many among us ignored Al Qaeda's infiltration of Yemen despite the continuous warnings of the threat that this poses. As soon as the US President spoke about the Al Qaeda threat in Yemen, some people began to warn against US intervention. In fact they used this to blackmail the Yemeni government and expose it, internally and externally, and to criticize the Jordanians and the Saudis because of their cooperation with the West in the war on terror in a clear case of blackmail.
The question here is: who has been harmed the most by what Al Qaeda is doing, the West or the Arabs and Muslims? Who is being subjected to harassment and suspected at the airports, Westerners or Arabs and Muslims? Who is facing difficulties in their studies and in their work, and whilst undergoing treatment or whilst on holiday, the West or the Arabs and Muslims?
It is the Arabs and Muslims, of course, who have been suffering since the outbreak of violent terrorist acts as they have become suspects and they are being harassed more and more. As a result, we must realize that the war on terror has to be our war before anyone else's war. When we wage war on Al Qaeda we are protecting ourselves and our reputation and we are protecting our children who extremists are trying to turn into time bombs. Above all, we will be protecting our religion that Al Qaeda has hijacked.
For instance, when Jordan cooperates with the West, or the Americans let us say, then they should be credited for this action. Are the Jordanians expected to wait until other violent explosions take place in their country like those that targeted their hotels, or should they wait for another Abu Musab al Zarqawi or Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi to rise from among them? The same applies to the Saudis; is Riyadh expected to remain silent in the face of intimidation and media incitement and let whoever wants to trade in the lives of our children do so, or should it wait for whoever to come out and carry out new destructive terrorist attacks in the country, or wait for a new Bin Laden or a new Abdulaziz al Muqrin to emerge?
The game of treachery and branding [others] as traitors has been revealed and it must be confronted instead of going along with it or [merely] observing it. When the state cooperates with the international community this means that the state is doing its job. States do not negotiate with or seek to please terrorists. Above all, as mentioned previously, our duty is to protect our reputation and the reputation of our innocent religion against Al Qaeda and its actions.
What we must realize is that every time we give in to intimidation and media incitement we give Al Qaeda and others more space to move about freely and, consequently, to recruit more of our children and target our stability and security, our reputation and the reputation of our religion. For that reason we say and we repeat that a serious ideological war, not a superficial war, is necessary to combat terror, its Sheikhs, its instigators, and its media. Equally, international cooperation is very important whether this is through training, [sharing] information or combating funding [of terrorism] and even cooperation in military operations.
What we want to say is that we must not give into blackmail and campaigns of incitement and suspicion. In fact we must confront these campaigns and refute them for one very simple but important reason; when we fight Al Qaeda, physically and mentally, we are defending the reputation of our religion. It is our battle first and foremost. We must realize that and not be ashamed, and we must expose the instigators and the blackmailers whether they are states, groups or even individuals.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Edging closer & closer to being either with us or against us.
#6
He has a point in making unlikely allies in the WoT on AQ. In Saudi Arabia Exposed by John R. Bradley, makes the point that 15 of the highjackers were not Wahhabists, supporting the Al Saud royal family, but resentful tribalists from Asir. Other tribalists, such as the "Flower Men", are cross border tribes living in the mountains of Yemen, showing no loyalty to Riyadh or Sanaa, and some are even Shiite. Binny's fourth or fifth wife was reportedly sent with her children back to her father in the region before going to Tora Bora. Like Afghanistan and Pakistan, these regions have no central government, know no boundaries, and must be dealt with differently. The Abdullah kings of Jordan and Saudi must have self-preservation at the top of their to-do list so cooperation is essential--I can't believe Napolitano wasn't aware of a Yemeni threat!!!!Methinks the Yemenis shouldn't be aware of the Xe threat and without press, no one would be the wiser.
Habala is a small mountain village in the 'Asir province of Saudi Arabia. It was originally inhabited by a tribal community known as the "flower men" because of their custom of wearing garlands of dried herbs and flowers in their hair. In the past, the village was only accessible by rope ladder, and in fact, the name Habala comes from the Arabic word for rope.
In the 1990s, during a push to promote tourism in the region, a cable car was built to provide access to the traditional village with its stark mountain views. In consequence, however, the local "flower men" were dispossessed of their homes and forced to move into a modern village created for them in the valley below. When they refused to move, they were evacuated forcibly by the Saudi Arabian National Guard. Today, some of the original inhabitants are allowed back up to the village, but only to perform their traditional dances for tourists during the summer months.
Speaking as a rural desert person myself: yeah, that would p!$$ me off too.
In Winnie-the-Pooh, there is a significant moment when the bear is asked whether he wants honey or condensed milk with his bread. He replies "both". You can get away with this sort of thing if you are a much loved character in children's literature. But it is more problematic when great nations start behaving in a childish fashion. When Americans are asked what they want -- lower taxes, more lavish social spending or the world's best-funded military machine -- their collective answer tends to be "all of the above".
The result is that the US is piling up debt. A budget deficit of about 12 per cent of gross domestic product is understandable as a short-term reaction to a huge financial crisis. What should worry Americans is that, with entitlement spending set to surge, there is no credible plan to bring the budget deficit under control over the medium term.
The US has formidable strengths that will allow its government to be profligate for far longer than other nations could get away with. But if the US keeps running huge deficits, sooner or later the country will start flirting with bankruptcy. Oddly, it might be best if the crisis came sooner rather than later. For a surprising number of countries, running out of money has been the prelude to national renewal.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The problem with the list of items "bankrupting" the United States is the only one of them, defense spending, is constitutionally permitted.
Some financial blogs I have read suggest that the US can't afford all this spending and, amazingly enough, they thus advocate disarmament of the US as a solution to US financial problems.
Disarmament is not an option in a free republic.
Social Security is an option.
PBS is an option.
National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities is an option.
The US Department of Education is an option.
And on it goes.
So bankruptcy may be good for the nation, but let us first try eliminating ( not cutting ) whole programs, before we declare bankruptcy, and thus open the gates to the barbarians.
National defense is never a choice, so nor should be survival of the US.
#4
non-defense discretionary spending is about half the non-entitlement budget.
problem is that entitlements make up about 2/3 of the total budget.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
01/12/2010 3:57 Comments ||
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#5
Where do you put the interest on the debt?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/12/2010 6:01 Comments ||
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#6
If you check your 1040s that just arrived in the back is the break out of Federal Income and Outlays for 2008.
Social Security, Medicare and other retirement 37% - 1
National Defense, veterans, and foreign affairs 24% - 2
Social Programs 20% - 3
Physical, human and community development 8% - 4
Net interest on the debt 8%
Law enforcement and general government 2%
1-These programs provide income support for the retired and disabled and medical care for the elderly.*
2-About 20% of outlays were to equip, modernize, and pay our armed forces and to fund the Global War on Terrorism and other national defense acitivities; about 3% were for veterans benefits and services; and about 1% were for international activities including military and economic assistance to foreign countries and maintenance of US embassies abroad.
3-About 14% of total outlays were for Medicaid, food stamps, temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income, and related programs; and the remaining outlays were for health research and public health programs, unemployment compensation, assistance housing and social services.
4-These outlays were for agriculture; natural resources; environment; transportation; for elementary and secondary education and direct assistance to college students; job training; deposit insurance, commerce and housing credit, and community development; and space, energy and general science programs.
* military retirement is carried in the national defense budget.
"Listen.. (doo wah doo) Do you want to know a secret?..."--The Beatles
Apparently, Congressional Democrats, and an increasingly tone-deaf president, aren't Beatles fans. In yet another display of arrogance mixed with utter contempt for the public, these folks have decided that the only sensible way to craft a health care bill is to do it beyond the "prying eyes" of ordinary Americans.
Thus, one of the most unsavory troikas in the history of American politics--Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama--are cobbling together a take-it-or-leave-it takeover of one-sixth of the American economy. Moe, Larry and Curly couldn't have done a better job of mocking transparent government.
The American public? Once again it is worth reminding people that the American left sees their fellow Americans as hopelessly stupid, and completely unable to think or do for ourselves. As such, ignoring the majority's opposition to this monstrosity is as easy as Sunday morning. After all, what could a bunch of red-neck, tea-bagging, Neanderthal, astro-turf, religion-clinging, gun-toting rubes know about health care?
We know at least one thing, you arrogant, elitist hacks: we'll be paying the multi-trillion dollar tab for this steaming pile of socialist sludge.
Some of us "rubes" know other things as well: we know two thousand pages of "gov-speak" is one of the largest compendiums of bribes, favors and pork ever devised. We know that in all two thousand pages, there's not a single word about tort reform because the Democratic party is owned by the trial lawyers. We know the overwhelming majority of Congress won't even bother to read the bill before voting on it.
And above all, we know the very same people who are foisting this boondoggle on the rest of us will never be subjected to its mandates, because they have their own Rolls Royce health care coverage.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Pretty well sums it up for this rube. Short, too, for those of us with short attention spans.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/12/2010 5:54 Comments ||
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President Obama blamed "the system" for failing to stop al Qaeda's Christmas Day bombing plot. The weakness with that excuse is that Mr. Obama fails to connect the dots between the systemic failure and his administration's year-long record of destroying the morale of the intelligence community.
The intelligence process works in large part because of trust. A reliable sense of confidence must exist between superiors and subordinates, agents and sources, and the intelligence community and policy makers. Without trust, people will not take the risks needed to do their jobs successfully.
Mr. Obama has destroyed this sense of trust. On his watch, the intelligence community has suffered a year of body blows. He made great theater of signing an executive order closing the terrorist detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In April, the president authorized the release of the so-called "torture memos" on enhanced interrogation techniques used against detainees, and suggested that Congress establish a bipartisan review panel to look into the authorization of extraordinary interrogation methods.
Mr. Obama said, "for those who carried out ... these operations within the four corners of legal opinions or guidance ... provided from the White House, I do not think it's appropriate for them to be prosecuted." He then authorized Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to begin an investigation, even though career prosecutors at the Justice Department already had examined the circumstances and found no CIA violations of law.
Disputes arose with Congress over the extent to which members had been briefed on the enhanced interrogation program, in particular what Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew and when she knew it. The speaker at one point accused the CIA of lying, though she eventually - predictably - had to backpedal. In July, Congress castigated the CIA for allegedly concealing "significant actions" from Congress related to a plan to assassinate terrorist leaders that was not even implemented. Considering the Obama administration has made targeted killings by drones the centerpiece of its counterterrorism strategy, this charge seemed gratuitous and hypocritical.
These and other events helped drive morale in the intelligence community to new lows. Mr. Obama's actions have created a climate that punishes risk-taking and ensures that dots go unconnected. CIA Director Leon Panetta warned last May, "If they start to use these issues as political clubs to beat each other up with, that's when we not only pay a price but this country pays a price." We now have intelligence agencies whose unofficial mottos are "stay in your lane," and "cover your rear."
Mr. Obama should be seeking ways to repair the breach, restore trust and make good on the promises he made to intelligence operatives to support them in their dangerous professions. Instead, he brandished a new stick. On Thursday, the president announced he has directed the heads of intelligence agencies to institutionalize "internal accountability reviews" to be monitored by the White House. These ominous-sounding punitive processes may become death panels for intelligence careers.
There is an old saying in intelligence circles: Big operation, big risk; small operation, small risk; no operation, no risk. The president's proposed "solution" to the failures of the intelligence system will reinforce a climate of mistrust in which it will be difficult to take the risks necessary to make the system work. And next time we may not be so lucky.
#3
He is a rookie, and not a very intelligent man. Bad combination for an arrogant prick who now finds himself in charge.
Obama may very will be the most stupid man to have ever held the office: a well spoken moron, Chance the Gardner, backed by the machine pols and big corporate interests, and cheered on by the traitorous press, and the band of idiots on the left.
Dear Obama, the country needs you! Please trip and break your neck, real soon now.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
01/12/2010 3:59 Comments ||
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#5
Like all of us, he is a product of his environment. His socialist upbringing and family history have biased his entire world view. His paternal lineage had a difficult time with the rule of law and the enforcers of the Crown. British Army intelligence, policing, and governance were very much the enemy. Tribal privilege, mud huts, alcohol, and polygomous living was much favored over Christiandom, education of the West. Not a great deal has changed. Barry is not to blame. WE are to blame for electing him. Sermon notes ended.
#7
Actually, Bush is partially culpable. He failed to bring the CIA to heel, and failed to reform it when he had the chance post 9/11, and then failed to go after it for leaking and politically siding in US electoral issues in 06. He should have cleaned house twice - 9/11 and again in 04-06.
The CIA is a mess because Bush failed to act, and Obama is acting to fail.
[Asharq al-Aswat] By Dr. Aaidh al-Qarni
If you look at the world's map, you will find that acts of killing and bombing are primarily rife in the Islamic countries. In Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan you can see bloodshed, death, attacks on the infrastructure, and destruction of buildings. You will see factions accusing each other of apostasy. You will see fatwas flying around rendering someone's blood forfeit, declaring him exiled from the Muslim community, and banning him from Paradise.
What has happened to the nation of Islam? What has happened to the Shariaa rules that command amity, fraternity, unity, and peace? Is anyone heeding the injunction of the Creator, the Exalted and Majestic "and hold fast, all together, by the rope which God stretches out for you," and the injunction "the Believers are but a single brotherhood." (Koranic verses, the Family of Imran 3:103, the Dwellings 49:10)
Does anyone heed the prophet's declaration, may God's prayers and peace be upon him: "He who raises arms in our face is not of us." Remember also the prophet's command: "You are forbidden to shed each other's blood or encroach on each other's property or honor. It is forbidden to you to do this just as it is forbidden to you to violate this holy day in this holy month in this holy land."
Why is the rest of the world engaged in manufacture, construction, production, creativity, invention, and discovery while the nation of Islam is immersed in hostility, divisions, infighting, and mutual accusations of apostasy?
Why is the rest of the world engaged in manufacture, construction, production, creativity, invention, and discovery while the nation of Islam is immersed in hostility, divisions, infighting, and mutual accusations of apostasy? The nation of Islam's news is at the forefront of the world's news bulletins in the newspapers and satellite television stations. You hear nothing except the news of bodies torn limb from limb, skulls crushed, children orphaned, wives widowed, buildings demolished, bridges blown up, cities set on fire, economic development hindered, innocent people terrorized, and the progress of knowledge and development obstructed.
Where are the nation's Ulema, statesmen, wise men, and intellectuals? Until when will these massacres continue? When will the bloodshed end? When will the chapters of this satanic, hate-filled saga be closed? When will this filthy game be terminated? When will our conscience awake? When will we go back to our senses and obey our holy scriptures in the Koran and the prophet's Sunnah, which call for mercy, security, concord, and the renunciation of divisions, hatred, and infighting? Do not those killers in the cities of Islam who raise arms against innocent, unarmed civilians and their children feel any shame? Do not we have enough poverty, unemployment, and injustice in the Islamic countries so that new sects should arise to add calamities to our calamities?
The world's nations are occupied with their economic, intellectual, and creative activities while our nation is in a state of mourning over its dead, wounded, and missing. Whenever we turn on our television sets, we hear news of such disasters in the Muslim countries as are sufficient to dazzle the mind, blind the senses, and kill the soul. Our nerves are wracked and our minds are dismayed by the events we see in the Muslim lands: crushed skulls on the roads, blood flowing in the streets, and mosques abandoned by worshipers, homes burned before the world's eyes, universities, schools, and factories razed to the ground or demolished over their occupants` heads. Is there no religion to forbid this, no minds to deter, no gallant feelings to forbear, no zeal to defend, no eyes to shed tears?
Until when will this sad saga continue? When will the siren proclaim the end of this bloody tragedy that is unfolding in Muslim lands, in the name of Islam, buttressed by quotations from scriptures, and carried out by Muslim hands? Each side makes preparations, builds an army, and waits for an opportunity to pounce on its brothers in faith. Factions raise the banners of Islam, exhort their followers to become martyrs in God's cause, promise them paradise, assure them of victory and empowerment, and declare the lives of the members of other parties forfeit after branding them as apostates and announcing their eternal damnation in hell.
All this is accompanied by hate-filled indoctrination that causes young men to grow up full of anger and aggression and ready to brand their opponents as apostates. They bear arms against their own societies and demonstrate an intention to kill their people.
We pray to God to lift this lash of suffering from the Islamic nation's back, end its calamitous condition, remove this dark cloud from its mind, restore it to its senses, unite its ranks, and guide it again to the right path.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Buddhism is pretty non-violent and not a "religion of the book" so they could try it for a fresh start.
If they grok the violence more they could become Kali worshipers...
#3
Frankly we have been witnesses to a Muslim Civil War for the last 60 years, the various religious factions in Islamic States have lashed-out at each other for control in an attempt to liberate Palestine.
Their jocking for power and direction has corrupted their systems, their thought process, their ability to raise a civilized Islamic world.
The West has been dragged into the battle as the Muslims blame the West for their problems, they are unable to live with themselves and unable to live with others in peace.
Posted by: Ho Chi Ebbaiger4387 ||
01/12/2010 7:01 Comments ||
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#4
Ho, this mess has nothing to do with Palestine or the Juice (as you implied by the 60 years ago comment).
Muslims have been slaughtering each other almost since the very beginning only occasionally taking time out to slaughter others.
The ultimate goal of Islam is the total subjugation of the world.
Instead of waiting till that's accomplished and THEN fighting each other to determine who the head turban is, they are trying to determine that BEFORE conquering the world. That's a good thing for the rest of us.
at least 3 (probably all 4) of the 'rightly guided' caliphs were assassinated (one was probably assassinated by a Christian who was an agent of a muslim) and in these years blood was cheap
since then there have been periods of relative calm and periods of violence; periods of light persecution and periods of heavy persecution
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/12/2010 8:21 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Do not those killers in the cities of Islam who raise arms against innocent, unarmed civilians and their children feel any shame? Do not we have enough poverty, unemployment, and injustice in the Islamic countries so that new sects should arise to add calamities to our calamities?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Many among us ignored Al Qaeda's infiltration of Yemen despite the continuous warnings of the threat that this poses. As soon as the US President spoke about the Al Qaeda threat in Yemen, some people began to warn against US intervention. In fact they used this to blackmail the Yemeni government and expose it, internally and externally, and to criticize the Jordanians and the Saudis because of their cooperation with the West in the war on terror in a clear case of blackmail.
"Listen.. (doo wah doo) Do you want to know a secret?..."--The Beatles
