Friday, October 14, 2011
The Plight of Middle East Christians
The Patriot Post
Digest · October 14, 2011
Warfront With Jihadistan: The Plight of Middle East Christians
Ten years after the United States freed the Afghan people from the Islamist Taliban regime, and months after the "Arab Spring" supposedly brought more freedom to many Arab states, the reality on the ground, especially for religious freedom, continues to deteriorate. According to the U.S. State Department's latest International Religious Freedom Report, for example, there is not a single public Christian church left in Afghanistan despite the deaths of more than 1,700 U.S. troops and $440 billion spent to win freedom for the Afghan people. The last public Christian church in Afghanistan was razed in March 2010, according to the report, which also notes that "there were no Christian schools in the country."
Meanwhile in Egypt, ground zero for the Arab Spring, the allegedly secular military government has actively joined the country's majority Muslim population in brutally persecuting Egypt's Coptic Christians. This week alone, Egypt's armed forces killed more than 25 people and wounded hundreds when they brutally dispersed Coptic Christians gathered in front of the state broadcasting building to protest a church burning in Aswan. It is now feared that anti-Christian mobs will take the military's active repression as license to further terrorize the Copts.
Finally, religious freedom fares no better in Iran, where that nation's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial for the high-profile case of Yousef Nadarkhani, the 32-year-old pastor who was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. Iranian authorities later changed their story to say that Nadarkhani had committed rape and other crimes. Sadly, for all the talk of freedom in the Muslim world, there is still little evidence it exists.
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Saudis arrest Colombian footballer for exposed tattoos
The libtards think that it is perfectly fine to allow sharia law in the U.S. to show the Moozlums how tolerant we are. Here is an example of how they will accept our tolerance. Once sharia law takes hold, it's a downhill ride for society. This Infidel says sport that Christian tats whenever you can. Show the world Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, and don't forget to remind them of John 3:16.
______________
Saudis arrest Colombian footballer for exposed tattoos
Thu Oct 13 05:10pm EDT
By Brooks Peck
According to reports, Colombian winger Juan Pablo Pino was arrested by the Saudi moral police when fellow shoppers in a Riyadh mall complained about the exposed tattoos on his arms, which include the face of Jesus and other religious symbols. Pino joined Saudi club Al Nassr on loan from Galatasaray at the end of August and apparently was not aware that showing his tattoos by wearing a sleeveless shirt in public would cause him any problems.
From Colombia Reports:
Saudi Arabia is one of the most conservative countries in the Muslim world, and according to one of the country's most respected clerics, Nayimi Sheik Mohammed, Saudi law prohibits tattoos, no matter what their form, and every player has to abide with these rules.
The cleric went on to stress the importance of respecting the status of "Sharia" (Islamic law) and that the tattoos must be covered at all times.
Pino, who plays in the Saudi league, has expressed "deep sorrow" for his actions and said he respects the laws of the country. He was released from custody when a team delegate arrived and discussed the matter with the police.
Gulf News reports that a Saudi Football Federation official "sent a circular to all clubs asking them to advise their professionals and players to respect Saudi traditions and not show their religious symbols in a way disregarding Saudi customs and traditions" after a cross tattoo on the arm of a Romanian player for Al Hilal caused controversy last year.
It's unclear whether Al Nassr informed Pino of this in his short time with the club, but he'll probably be investing in some long-sleeve shirts now.
Photo: Getty
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Boy Scouts infiltrated by Moozlum Brotherhood?
This is what we've come to. The progressives/communists/socialists have so instilled fear of lawsuits from tools like the ACLU into our society, that under the guise of political correctness, the Moozlum Brotherhood is now able to use an organization like the BSA to further their poisonous and deadly ambitions.
Boy Scouts infiltrated by Muslim Brotherhood?
By Aaron Klein
© 2011 WND
The Boy Scouts of America maintains scouting partnerships with Islamic groups closely tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, WND has learned.
The Boy Scouts of America welcomes major religions, including Islam. It has incorporated under its banner a group called the National Islamic Committee on Scouting, or NICS, which provides Muslim scouts an opportunity to earn badges or emblems by participating in religious activities.
The NICS scouting emblems include an "Allahu Akbar" emblem, which means "Allah is greatest" in Arabic.
Formed in the 1920s after the demise of the Ottoman Islamic empire, the Muslim Brotherhood is the parent of most of the major jihadist groups in the world, including al-Qaida and Hamas. The prosecution of a terror-finance scheme in Texas presented evidence of the Brotherhood's aim to destroy Western civilization and establish an Islamic society under the rule of the Quran.
The NICS's chairman is appointed annually by the president of the Boy Scouts of America, which routinely advises the Islamic scouting group in an official capacity.
The NICS is partnered with the Islamic Council on Scouting of North America, or ICSNA, which works officially with the Boy Scouts of America, as well.
The ICSNA was chaired by Muzamil Siddiqui, an Islamic scholar who served as chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee of a Muslim Brotherhood-founded organization, the Muslim Students Association.
Siddiqui faced criticism for issuing a fatwa on islamonline.net that called for the establishment of an Islamic state in the West.
He told the website, "By participating in a non-Islamic system, one cannot rule by that which Allah has commanded. But things do not change overnight. Changes come through patience, wisdom and hard work."
Continued Siddiqui: "I believe that as Muslims, we should participate in the system to safeguard our interests and try to bring gradual change for the right cause, the cause of truth and justice. We must not forget that Allah's rules have to be established in all lands, and all our efforts should lead to that direction."
Siddiqui's Muslim Student Association, or MSA, is the largest Muslim college student group in the U.S.
WND previously attended an MSA event at which violence against the U.S. was urged by speakers.
"We are not Americans," shouted one speaker, Muhammad Faheed at Queensborough Community College in 2003. "We are Muslims. [The U.S.] is going to deport and attack us! It is us versus them! Truth against falsehood! The colonizers and masters against the oppressed, and we will burn down the master's house!"
The Saudi-funded MSA in 1981 founded the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA. The two groups are still partners.
The Boy Scouts of America, meanwhile, sanctions another scouting program with ISNA.
BSA states regarding its relationship with the Islamic Society of North America: "ISNA has had a relationship with the Boy Scouts of America for over a decade, and the ISNA secretary general recently signed the relationship document in the ISNA's annual convention at Chicago."
WND reported on ISNA's annual convention in July.
That event included a panel with Tariq Ramadan, grandson of the notorious founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Siraj Wahhaj, who was named as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Wahhaj has also defended the convicted WTC bomb plotters and has urged the Islamic takeover of America.
ISNA is an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to raise money for Hamas.
ISNA was named in a May 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document – "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America" – as one of the Brotherhood's like-minded "organizations of our friends" who shared the common goal of destroying America and turning it into a Muslim nation, according to Discover the Networks.
In December 2003, U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley and Max Baucus of the Senate Committee on Finance listed ISNA as one of 25 American Muslim organizations that "finance terrorism and perpetuate violence."
The U.S. government released a list of approximately 300 unindicted co-conspirators" and "joint venturers" in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development trial, the largest terrorist financing scheme in American history, in which the groups were accused of raising money for Hamas.
Islam scholar Stephen Schwartz describes ISNA as "one of the chief conduits through which the radical Saudi form of Islam passes into the United States."
According to terrorism expert Steven Emerson, ISNA "is a radical group hiding under a false veneer of moderation" that publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Islamic Horizons, that "often champions militant Islamist doctrine."
The group also "convenes annual conferences where Islamist militants have been given a platform to incite violence and promote hatred." Emerson cites an ISNA conference in which al-Qaida supporter and PLO official Yusuf Al Qaradhawi was invited to speak.
Emerson further reports that in September 2002, a full year after 9/11, "speakers at ISNA's annual conference still refused to acknowledge bin Laden's role in the terrorist attacks."
Also, ISNA has held fundraisers for terrorists, notes Discover the Networks. After Hamas leader Mousa Marzook was arrested and eventually deported in 1997, ISNA raised money for his defense. The group also has condemned the U.S. government's post-9/11 seizure of Hamas' and Palestinian Islamic Jihad's financial assets.
With research by Danette Clark
The Religion of Peace by Michael Youssef
Youssef makes a great point about Europe caving to Islam as soon as they start beheading infidels. Well, I have a 1st Amendment constitutional right to speak my mind, and a 2nd Amendment constitutional right to defend myself from those who demand my "total surrender."
Evil walks this earth, liberals coddle evil in the name of tolerance, and Satan will use both evil and liberals to persecute and kill Christ's followers and God's chosen people. Stay strong, have faith, and pray for peace. When that doesn't work, reach for your gun.
The Religion of Peace by Michael Youssef
Immediately after September 11th, 2001, President George W. Bush rushed into a local D.C. Islamic Mosque and declared that Islam was a “religion of peace.”
Many Muslim propagandists in the West have deliberately twisted the meaning of the word “Islam” and say that it comes from the word “salam,” which means “peace.” These deceptions are laughed at by anybody with a mere elementary knowledge of the Arabic language.
“Islam” in its purest form means “ total surrender.” The image that word holds is of a vanquished army on its knees before the vanquisher.
Recent news from Iran of a pastor sentenced to death by hanging– Youcef Nadarkhani – have presented the “religion of peace” in its most accurate and true form. This barbaric act is what both Sunni Wahhabis as well as Shiites are calling to be the norm in all Islamic countries…and they speak hopefully of applying it to Europe. So much for the “religion of peace.”
Elam Ministries, a UK-based organization that serves the Christian church in Iran, revealed that the arrest of Christians in Iran solely for worshipping Christ has been on the increase. Under the noses of the one who is the darling of many foolish Western organizations, President Ahmadinejad of Iran has arrested 220 Christians between June 2010 and January 2011. As of January 2011, only 33 remained in prison.
When I watch videos or read speeches by Islamists in Europe, I cringe at how they speak optimistically about the implementation of these barbaric actions in the future in Europe. One of the clerics said, “It is a matter of time, when we, with our birthrate,will overwhelm the white Europeans and thus will be able to take control of all of Europe.”
As Sharia Courts spread across Europe like a noose slowly being tightened around that venerable continent, one can foresee how Catholic priests, Protestant pastors, or even Jewish rabbis will be brought before these courts with all sorts of false accusations of blaspheming Islam or their prophet. It will only take a few hangings or beheadings before most of the French and European former-Christian landscape surrenders to the power of the sword.
When Pastor Nadarkhani was asked to repent he said, “Repent means to return, what should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?”
I cannot help but wonder if pastors, priests, and rabbis in Europe would have such courage?
To bring it even closer to home – would we have many American pastors with such courage?
Would I have such courage?
May God have mercy on His children before such a time, but if it does come, every true Christian must ask themselves the question: What would I do?
The only answer for a complete change of heart from barbarism to love is the Gospel of Christ. Two thousand years ago that Gospel transformed a well-known terrorist’s heart by the name of Saul of Tarsus and he became Paul the Apostle.
That same old Gospel has been transforming hearts ever since…but the problem is that most Christians are not living by the powerful Truth of that Gospel nor are they seeking to take that Gospel to the ends of the earth with all their heart.
Evil walks this earth, liberals coddle evil in the name of tolerance, and Satan will use both evil and liberals to persecute and kill Christ's followers and God's chosen people. Stay strong, have faith, and pray for peace. When that doesn't work, reach for your gun.
The Religion of Peace by Michael Youssef
Immediately after September 11th, 2001, President George W. Bush rushed into a local D.C. Islamic Mosque and declared that Islam was a “religion of peace.”
Many Muslim propagandists in the West have deliberately twisted the meaning of the word “Islam” and say that it comes from the word “salam,” which means “peace.” These deceptions are laughed at by anybody with a mere elementary knowledge of the Arabic language.
“Islam” in its purest form means “ total surrender.” The image that word holds is of a vanquished army on its knees before the vanquisher.
Recent news from Iran of a pastor sentenced to death by hanging– Youcef Nadarkhani – have presented the “religion of peace” in its most accurate and true form. This barbaric act is what both Sunni Wahhabis as well as Shiites are calling to be the norm in all Islamic countries…and they speak hopefully of applying it to Europe. So much for the “religion of peace.”
Elam Ministries, a UK-based organization that serves the Christian church in Iran, revealed that the arrest of Christians in Iran solely for worshipping Christ has been on the increase. Under the noses of the one who is the darling of many foolish Western organizations, President Ahmadinejad of Iran has arrested 220 Christians between June 2010 and January 2011. As of January 2011, only 33 remained in prison.
When I watch videos or read speeches by Islamists in Europe, I cringe at how they speak optimistically about the implementation of these barbaric actions in the future in Europe. One of the clerics said, “It is a matter of time, when we, with our birthrate,will overwhelm the white Europeans and thus will be able to take control of all of Europe.”
As Sharia Courts spread across Europe like a noose slowly being tightened around that venerable continent, one can foresee how Catholic priests, Protestant pastors, or even Jewish rabbis will be brought before these courts with all sorts of false accusations of blaspheming Islam or their prophet. It will only take a few hangings or beheadings before most of the French and European former-Christian landscape surrenders to the power of the sword.
When Pastor Nadarkhani was asked to repent he said, “Repent means to return, what should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?”
I cannot help but wonder if pastors, priests, and rabbis in Europe would have such courage?
To bring it even closer to home – would we have many American pastors with such courage?
Would I have such courage?
May God have mercy on His children before such a time, but if it does come, every true Christian must ask themselves the question: What would I do?
The only answer for a complete change of heart from barbarism to love is the Gospel of Christ. Two thousand years ago that Gospel transformed a well-known terrorist’s heart by the name of Saul of Tarsus and he became Paul the Apostle.
That same old Gospel has been transforming hearts ever since…but the problem is that most Christians are not living by the powerful Truth of that Gospel nor are they seeking to take that Gospel to the ends of the earth with all their heart.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
“media work is half of the jihad.” -- Nasir al-Wahayshi (aka Abu Basir)
The jihadists realized the importance of the media to their ideological cause as early as 1996 when they created azzam.com, which also became a fundraising tool. They've also successfully recruited most of the american mainstream media who adore the jihadist movement as their new communist cause du jour. I fail to understand how our government cannot shut down the websites and web hosts of these jihadists. Yes, they'll pop back up, but we should instantly shut them down again and disable their progoganda machine on the internet. Scott's article is excellent and contains many hot links, which I have not reproduced. Click the link below to see the article with hot links.
Yemen: Fallout from the al-Awlaki Airstrike by Stewart Scott
U.S.-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an ideologue and spokesman for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen, was killed in a Sept. 30 airstrike directed against a motorcade near the town of Khashef in Yemen’s al-Jawf province. The strike, which occurred at 9:55 a.m. local time, reportedly was conducted by a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and may have also involved fixed-wing naval aircraft. Three other men were killed in the strike, one of whom was Samir Khan, the creator and editor of AQAP’s English-language magazine Inspire.
Al-Awlaki has been targeted before; in fact, he had been declared dead on at least two occasions. The first time followed a December 2009 airstrike in Shabwa province, and the second followed a May 5 airstrike, also in Shabwa. In light of confirmation from the U.S. and Yemeni governments and from statements made by al-Awlaki’s family members, it appears that he is indeed dead this time. We anticipate that AQAP soon will issue an official statement confirming the deaths of al-Awlaki and Khan.
As STRATFOR noted Sept. 30, the deaths of both al-Awlaki and Khan can be expected to greatly hamper AQAP’s efforts to radicalize and equip English-speaking Muslims. The group may have other native English speakers, but individuals who possess the charisma and background of al-Awlaki or the graphics and editorial skills of Khan are difficult to come by in Yemen. The al Qaeda franchise’s English-language outreach is certain to face a significant setback.
The deaths of al-Awlaki and Khan and the impact they will have on AQAP’s outreach efforts provide an opportunity to consider the importance of individuals — and their personal skill sets — to militant organizations, especially organizations seeking to conduct transnational media and ideological operations.
Bridging the Gap Between Militant Ideology and Operations
When considering militant groups with transnational objectives and reach such as AQAP, we need to recognize that there are several components necessary for such groups to conduct successful operations, including finances, logistics, planning, training and intelligence. But at a higher level, there is also the distinction between those elements of the group that are dedicated to operations on the physical battlefield and those who are focused on operations on the ideological battlefield. While physical operations are important for obvious reasons, the ideological component is also critically important because it allows a group to recruit new members, maintain the ideological commitment of those already in the group and help shape public perception through propaganda. Because of this, the ideological component is especially important for the long-term viability and continuity of a group or movement.
Groups such as the al Qaeda core and AQAP appreciate the importance of the ideological struggle. Published three days before the airstrike against Khan and al-Awlaki, the seventh edition of Inspire contains an article written by Khan titled “The Media Conflict,” wherein he quotes AQAP leader Nasir al-Wahayshi (aka Abu Basir) as stating, “media work is half of the jihad.”
The role of the media in propagating militant ideology has been revolutionized by the Internet, which allows small groups in remote corners of the globe to produce and broadcast material that is almost instantly available to people all around the world. Indeed, jihadists have succeeded in radicalizing and recruiting people from disparate countries. Products such as Inspire or the video and audio recordings of militant leaders such as al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri are a giant leap forward from the way militants communicated 25 years ago, when groups like November 17 would send communiques to the newspapers and Hezbollah would release videos via major television networks of Western hostages they had kidnapped.
Interestingly, militant groups quickly recognized the significance of this media democratization and were early adopters of the Internet. By the mid-1990s, white supremacists in the United States had established Stormfront.com, and in 1996, jihadists inaugurated azzam.com, a professional-looking website that allowed them to provide inspiration, news and instruction to adherents to their ideology and to potential recruits. Azzam.com eventually became an important mechanism through which funds for jihadist groups could be raised and willing volunteers could find ways to link up with jihadist groups in places like Afghanistan, Chechnya and Bosnia.
Thus, the Internet began to serve as a bridge that connected the ideological battlefield with the physical battlefield. When we look back at AQAP’s media activities, we can see that they, too, were intended to bridge this gap. For example, the group’s Arabic language magazine Sada al-Malahim (meaning “Echo of Battle”) regularly contained not only articles intended to propagate and defend the jihadist ideology but also articles designed to give practical and tactical guidance. And when al-Wahayshi in October 2009 began advocating that jihadists in the West practice a leaderless-resistance style of operations rather than traveling to places like Yemen or Pakistan for training, they promoted that tactical shift via Sada al-Malahim.
Khan’s and Al-Awlaki’s Significance for Inspire
In July 2010, AQAP launched the first edition of Inspire magazine. Khan, a longtime publisher of jihadist material, was chosen to spearhead the Inspire project for AQAP. (Khan was born in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents but raised in the United States.) Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Khan began to publish an English-language pro-jihadist blog and eventually established jihadist websites and an Internet magazine called Jihad Recollections. It was the artistic similarities between Jihad Recollections and Inspire that helped identify Khan as the editor of Inspire. Khan left his parents’ home in Charlotte, N.C., in 2009 to move to Yemen after he learned the FBI was investigating him for his connections to jihadist groups.
Inspire was established intentionally to help further al-Wahayshi’s vision of jihadists adopting the leaderless resistance model. Its stated purpose was to radicalize and recruit young, English-speaking Muslims and then inspire and equip them to conduct attacks in the West.
Khan was only 16 years old when he began his jihadist propaganda activities in 2002, and he essentially grew up on the ideological battlefield. By the time he immigrated to Yemen in 2009, he was an experienced cyber-jihadist. In addition to his advanced computer security skills, Khan also energized the Inspire magazine project, and his youth, colloquial American English competency, graphic design flair and knowledge of American pop culture gave Inspire magazine an edgy quality that appealed to young, English-speaking Muslims.
Notably, Khan did not produce most of the written content for Inspire. In fact, he relied heavily on the speeches of al Qaeda figures such as al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden, the books of Abu Musab al-Suri and interviews with AQAP figures such as al-Wahayshi and al-Awlaki. However, it was the way in which Khan packaged these materials that made them so appealing. Certainly, there may have been others working with Khan to produce Inspire, and other people undoubtedly can continue to translate portions of al Qaeda speeches or interview AQAP leaders, but Khan was the driving creative force behind the project. His death thus likely will have a substantial impact on the content and feel of Inspire — if the magazine continues at all.
AQAP’s Arabic-language propaganda efforts suffered a blow in December 2010 when Nayf bin Mohammed al-Qahtani, the founder and editor of Sada al-Malahim and the founder of Malahim media, was killed in a battle with Yemeni security forces. Sada al-Malahim had been publishing an edition roughly every two months since its inception in January 2008. However, since the release of its 16th edition in February 2011, possibly an edition al-Qahtani had worked on, the promised 17th edition has yet to be published. It is possible Inspire will meet the same fate.
However, Khan was not the only American-born jihadist living in Yemen who possessed unique talents that were useful to AQAP’s outreach efforts to English-speaking Muslims. Al-Awlaki had been the imam of congregations in Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Va., but left the United States in 2002 after being investigated for his ties to two of the 9/11 hijackers and links to a number of other jihadist figures and plots. Al-Awlaki initially moved to the United Kingdom, where he continued to preach, but as authorities began to clamp down on radical preachers in what has been termed “Londonistan,” al-Awlaki moved to Yemen, his ancestral homeland, in 2004.
During his years in the United States and the United Kingdom, al-Awlaki had become a high-profile imam known for his intellect, charisma and ability to appeal to young, English-speaking Muslims. His sermons became very popular, and audio recordings of those sermons were widely distributed on the Internet via his personal website as well as several other Islamic websites. (Thousands of these videos have been posted to YouTube and have received tens of thousands of hits.) Despite his being under investigation by the U.S. government, in 2002 al Awlaki was asked to lead a prayer service at the U.S. Capitol and to speak at the Pentagon on the topic of radical Islam. These engagements reflected al-Awlaki’s popularity and added to the mystique that surrounded him. He was seen as a bit of a celebrity in the English-speaking Muslim world, and his presence in Yemen undoubtedly played a big factor in al-Wahayshi’s decision to expand AQAP’s outreach to al-Awlaki’s audience.
Through his work on the ideological battlefield, Al-Awlaki was able to draw men to the physical battlefield. These men could be sent on on suicide missions, such as would-be Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, or encouraged to conduct simple attacks where they live, as in the case of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.
It is important to remember that al-Awlaki was not AQAP’s primary theological authority. The group’s mufti, Suleiman al-Rubaish, a Saudi cleric with a degree in Islamic law, fought with al-Wahayshi and bin Laden at Tora Bora in 2001 before being captured and spending five years in captivity at Guantanamo Bay. After being returned to Saudi Arabia in 2006, al-Rubaish completed the Saudi rehabilitation program and then promptly fled the country to Yemen after his release. Moreover, AQAP’s Shariah Council, of which al-Awlaki was a member, is chaired by a Yemeni cleric named Adel bin Abdullah al-Abab.
Al-Rubaish maintains serious credibility among jihadists because of his friendship with bin Laden, his survival at Tora Bora and his time served in Guantanamo, and al-Abab is a respected Yemeni cleric. However, neither of the men possesses the native-English language ability of al-Awlaki. They also lack the ability to culturally relate to and motivate Muslims in the West in the same way that al-Awlaki did — and continues to do, via his messages that live on in cyberspace. Because of this, al-Awlaki will not be easily replaced.
AQAP’s Operational Ability Intact
This brings us to the ideas of leadership and succession in militant groups. Some have argued that arresting or killing key members of militant networks does not impact such groups, but experience seems to indicate that in many cases the removal of key personnel does indeed make a difference, especially in the near term and if pressure is maintained on the organization. This dynamic has been reflected by the ongoing post-9/11 campaign against the al Qaeda core and their inability to conduct their oft threatened, and purportedly more deadly, follow-on attacks to 9/11. It has also been demonstrated by the operations mounted against regional jihadist franchise groups in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. The removal of key personnel such as Saudi leader Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin and Indonesian jihadists Hambali and Noordin Top have had substantial impacts on those regional franchises.
Of course, while AQAP’s English-speaking outreach will be severely crippled following Khan’s and al-Awlaki’s deaths, the core of its physical battlefield operational leadership remains intact. Al-Wahayshi is a competent and savvy leader. His military commander, Qasim al-Raymi, is an aggressive, ruthless and fierce fighter, and his principal bomb maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri is creative and imaginative in designing his innovative explosive devices. There were rumors circulating that al-Asiri had been killed in the airstrike directed against al-Awlaki, but they proved to be unfounded. If al-Asiri had been killed, the airstrike would have impacted both the ideological and operational abilities of the group.
The recent increase of U.S. airstrikes, including the one that killed al-Awlaki and Khan, will serve to keep AQAP’s leaders focused on survival, as will the conventional warfare in which the group is currently engaging as it fights for control over areas of Yemen. However, the AQAP leadership undoubtedly still desires to attack the United States and the West — perhaps even more so now to avenge their fallen comrades. If they are given the time and space to plot and plan, the AQAP leadership will continue their efforts to attack the United States. They certainly retain the capability to do so, despite the loss of two ideological leaders.
Yemen: Fallout from the al-Awlaki Airstrike is republished with permission of STRATFOR
Yemen: Fallout from the al-Awlaki Airstrike by Stewart Scott
U.S.-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an ideologue and spokesman for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen, was killed in a Sept. 30 airstrike directed against a motorcade near the town of Khashef in Yemen’s al-Jawf province. The strike, which occurred at 9:55 a.m. local time, reportedly was conducted by a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and may have also involved fixed-wing naval aircraft. Three other men were killed in the strike, one of whom was Samir Khan, the creator and editor of AQAP’s English-language magazine Inspire.
Al-Awlaki has been targeted before; in fact, he had been declared dead on at least two occasions. The first time followed a December 2009 airstrike in Shabwa province, and the second followed a May 5 airstrike, also in Shabwa. In light of confirmation from the U.S. and Yemeni governments and from statements made by al-Awlaki’s family members, it appears that he is indeed dead this time. We anticipate that AQAP soon will issue an official statement confirming the deaths of al-Awlaki and Khan.
As STRATFOR noted Sept. 30, the deaths of both al-Awlaki and Khan can be expected to greatly hamper AQAP’s efforts to radicalize and equip English-speaking Muslims. The group may have other native English speakers, but individuals who possess the charisma and background of al-Awlaki or the graphics and editorial skills of Khan are difficult to come by in Yemen. The al Qaeda franchise’s English-language outreach is certain to face a significant setback.
The deaths of al-Awlaki and Khan and the impact they will have on AQAP’s outreach efforts provide an opportunity to consider the importance of individuals — and their personal skill sets — to militant organizations, especially organizations seeking to conduct transnational media and ideological operations.
Bridging the Gap Between Militant Ideology and Operations
When considering militant groups with transnational objectives and reach such as AQAP, we need to recognize that there are several components necessary for such groups to conduct successful operations, including finances, logistics, planning, training and intelligence. But at a higher level, there is also the distinction between those elements of the group that are dedicated to operations on the physical battlefield and those who are focused on operations on the ideological battlefield. While physical operations are important for obvious reasons, the ideological component is also critically important because it allows a group to recruit new members, maintain the ideological commitment of those already in the group and help shape public perception through propaganda. Because of this, the ideological component is especially important for the long-term viability and continuity of a group or movement.
Groups such as the al Qaeda core and AQAP appreciate the importance of the ideological struggle. Published three days before the airstrike against Khan and al-Awlaki, the seventh edition of Inspire contains an article written by Khan titled “The Media Conflict,” wherein he quotes AQAP leader Nasir al-Wahayshi (aka Abu Basir) as stating, “media work is half of the jihad.”
The role of the media in propagating militant ideology has been revolutionized by the Internet, which allows small groups in remote corners of the globe to produce and broadcast material that is almost instantly available to people all around the world. Indeed, jihadists have succeeded in radicalizing and recruiting people from disparate countries. Products such as Inspire or the video and audio recordings of militant leaders such as al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri are a giant leap forward from the way militants communicated 25 years ago, when groups like November 17 would send communiques to the newspapers and Hezbollah would release videos via major television networks of Western hostages they had kidnapped.
Interestingly, militant groups quickly recognized the significance of this media democratization and were early adopters of the Internet. By the mid-1990s, white supremacists in the United States had established Stormfront.com, and in 1996, jihadists inaugurated azzam.com, a professional-looking website that allowed them to provide inspiration, news and instruction to adherents to their ideology and to potential recruits. Azzam.com eventually became an important mechanism through which funds for jihadist groups could be raised and willing volunteers could find ways to link up with jihadist groups in places like Afghanistan, Chechnya and Bosnia.
Thus, the Internet began to serve as a bridge that connected the ideological battlefield with the physical battlefield. When we look back at AQAP’s media activities, we can see that they, too, were intended to bridge this gap. For example, the group’s Arabic language magazine Sada al-Malahim (meaning “Echo of Battle”) regularly contained not only articles intended to propagate and defend the jihadist ideology but also articles designed to give practical and tactical guidance. And when al-Wahayshi in October 2009 began advocating that jihadists in the West practice a leaderless-resistance style of operations rather than traveling to places like Yemen or Pakistan for training, they promoted that tactical shift via Sada al-Malahim.
Khan’s and Al-Awlaki’s Significance for Inspire
In July 2010, AQAP launched the first edition of Inspire magazine. Khan, a longtime publisher of jihadist material, was chosen to spearhead the Inspire project for AQAP. (Khan was born in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents but raised in the United States.) Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Khan began to publish an English-language pro-jihadist blog and eventually established jihadist websites and an Internet magazine called Jihad Recollections. It was the artistic similarities between Jihad Recollections and Inspire that helped identify Khan as the editor of Inspire. Khan left his parents’ home in Charlotte, N.C., in 2009 to move to Yemen after he learned the FBI was investigating him for his connections to jihadist groups.
Inspire was established intentionally to help further al-Wahayshi’s vision of jihadists adopting the leaderless resistance model. Its stated purpose was to radicalize and recruit young, English-speaking Muslims and then inspire and equip them to conduct attacks in the West.
Khan was only 16 years old when he began his jihadist propaganda activities in 2002, and he essentially grew up on the ideological battlefield. By the time he immigrated to Yemen in 2009, he was an experienced cyber-jihadist. In addition to his advanced computer security skills, Khan also energized the Inspire magazine project, and his youth, colloquial American English competency, graphic design flair and knowledge of American pop culture gave Inspire magazine an edgy quality that appealed to young, English-speaking Muslims.
Notably, Khan did not produce most of the written content for Inspire. In fact, he relied heavily on the speeches of al Qaeda figures such as al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden, the books of Abu Musab al-Suri and interviews with AQAP figures such as al-Wahayshi and al-Awlaki. However, it was the way in which Khan packaged these materials that made them so appealing. Certainly, there may have been others working with Khan to produce Inspire, and other people undoubtedly can continue to translate portions of al Qaeda speeches or interview AQAP leaders, but Khan was the driving creative force behind the project. His death thus likely will have a substantial impact on the content and feel of Inspire — if the magazine continues at all.
AQAP’s Arabic-language propaganda efforts suffered a blow in December 2010 when Nayf bin Mohammed al-Qahtani, the founder and editor of Sada al-Malahim and the founder of Malahim media, was killed in a battle with Yemeni security forces. Sada al-Malahim had been publishing an edition roughly every two months since its inception in January 2008. However, since the release of its 16th edition in February 2011, possibly an edition al-Qahtani had worked on, the promised 17th edition has yet to be published. It is possible Inspire will meet the same fate.
However, Khan was not the only American-born jihadist living in Yemen who possessed unique talents that were useful to AQAP’s outreach efforts to English-speaking Muslims. Al-Awlaki had been the imam of congregations in Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Va., but left the United States in 2002 after being investigated for his ties to two of the 9/11 hijackers and links to a number of other jihadist figures and plots. Al-Awlaki initially moved to the United Kingdom, where he continued to preach, but as authorities began to clamp down on radical preachers in what has been termed “Londonistan,” al-Awlaki moved to Yemen, his ancestral homeland, in 2004.
During his years in the United States and the United Kingdom, al-Awlaki had become a high-profile imam known for his intellect, charisma and ability to appeal to young, English-speaking Muslims. His sermons became very popular, and audio recordings of those sermons were widely distributed on the Internet via his personal website as well as several other Islamic websites. (Thousands of these videos have been posted to YouTube and have received tens of thousands of hits.) Despite his being under investigation by the U.S. government, in 2002 al Awlaki was asked to lead a prayer service at the U.S. Capitol and to speak at the Pentagon on the topic of radical Islam. These engagements reflected al-Awlaki’s popularity and added to the mystique that surrounded him. He was seen as a bit of a celebrity in the English-speaking Muslim world, and his presence in Yemen undoubtedly played a big factor in al-Wahayshi’s decision to expand AQAP’s outreach to al-Awlaki’s audience.
Through his work on the ideological battlefield, Al-Awlaki was able to draw men to the physical battlefield. These men could be sent on on suicide missions, such as would-be Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, or encouraged to conduct simple attacks where they live, as in the case of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.
It is important to remember that al-Awlaki was not AQAP’s primary theological authority. The group’s mufti, Suleiman al-Rubaish, a Saudi cleric with a degree in Islamic law, fought with al-Wahayshi and bin Laden at Tora Bora in 2001 before being captured and spending five years in captivity at Guantanamo Bay. After being returned to Saudi Arabia in 2006, al-Rubaish completed the Saudi rehabilitation program and then promptly fled the country to Yemen after his release. Moreover, AQAP’s Shariah Council, of which al-Awlaki was a member, is chaired by a Yemeni cleric named Adel bin Abdullah al-Abab.
Al-Rubaish maintains serious credibility among jihadists because of his friendship with bin Laden, his survival at Tora Bora and his time served in Guantanamo, and al-Abab is a respected Yemeni cleric. However, neither of the men possesses the native-English language ability of al-Awlaki. They also lack the ability to culturally relate to and motivate Muslims in the West in the same way that al-Awlaki did — and continues to do, via his messages that live on in cyberspace. Because of this, al-Awlaki will not be easily replaced.
AQAP’s Operational Ability Intact
This brings us to the ideas of leadership and succession in militant groups. Some have argued that arresting or killing key members of militant networks does not impact such groups, but experience seems to indicate that in many cases the removal of key personnel does indeed make a difference, especially in the near term and if pressure is maintained on the organization. This dynamic has been reflected by the ongoing post-9/11 campaign against the al Qaeda core and their inability to conduct their oft threatened, and purportedly more deadly, follow-on attacks to 9/11. It has also been demonstrated by the operations mounted against regional jihadist franchise groups in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. The removal of key personnel such as Saudi leader Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin and Indonesian jihadists Hambali and Noordin Top have had substantial impacts on those regional franchises.
Of course, while AQAP’s English-speaking outreach will be severely crippled following Khan’s and al-Awlaki’s deaths, the core of its physical battlefield operational leadership remains intact. Al-Wahayshi is a competent and savvy leader. His military commander, Qasim al-Raymi, is an aggressive, ruthless and fierce fighter, and his principal bomb maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri is creative and imaginative in designing his innovative explosive devices. There were rumors circulating that al-Asiri had been killed in the airstrike directed against al-Awlaki, but they proved to be unfounded. If al-Asiri had been killed, the airstrike would have impacted both the ideological and operational abilities of the group.
The recent increase of U.S. airstrikes, including the one that killed al-Awlaki and Khan, will serve to keep AQAP’s leaders focused on survival, as will the conventional warfare in which the group is currently engaging as it fights for control over areas of Yemen. However, the AQAP leadership undoubtedly still desires to attack the United States and the West — perhaps even more so now to avenge their fallen comrades. If they are given the time and space to plot and plan, the AQAP leadership will continue their efforts to attack the United States. They certainly retain the capability to do so, despite the loss of two ideological leaders.
Yemen: Fallout from the al-Awlaki Airstrike is republished with permission of STRATFOR
Iranian Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani Update
10/7/11 Update: email from ACJL
We are at a critical juncture in the fight to save Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s life. We expect the Iranian court to release its written verdict regarding his execution sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity as early as Monday.
It is absolutely critical that we continue to speak loudly and actively call on the Iranian regime to spare Pastor Youcef’s life and release him. We need your voice today.
Please sign our petition urging Secretary of State Clinton to call for Pastor Youcef’s immediate release. It is critical that our top diplomat take a stand for this innocent man, whose only “crime” is that he is a Christian.
When asked to recant his faith in Christ – under the threat of death – Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani replied, “I cannot.”
Together we can help save his life through our prayers, our voices, and by pressing our diplomatic leaders to call on Iran to spare his life.
10/8/11 Update: Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani and the Berlin Wall by Karen Lugo
We are at a critical juncture in the fight to save Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s life. We expect the Iranian court to release its written verdict regarding his execution sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity as early as Monday.
It is absolutely critical that we continue to speak loudly and actively call on the Iranian regime to spare Pastor Youcef’s life and release him. We need your voice today.
Please sign our petition urging Secretary of State Clinton to call for Pastor Youcef’s immediate release. It is critical that our top diplomat take a stand for this innocent man, whose only “crime” is that he is a Christian.
When asked to recant his faith in Christ – under the threat of death – Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani replied, “I cannot.”
Together we can help save his life through our prayers, our voices, and by pressing our diplomatic leaders to call on Iran to spare his life.
10/8/11 Update: Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani and the Berlin Wall by Karen Lugo
A Decade at War by Oliver North
Finally, some positive statistics on the war against Jihadistan in Afghanistan - none of which came from M3.
A Decade at War by Oliver North
WASHINGTON -- Ten years ago this week, America went to war in Afghanistan. At 1 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 7, 2001, President George W. Bush told the world, "On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al-Qaida terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan." At the conclusion of his seven-minute broadcast from the White House Treaty Room, he pledged: "The battle is now joined on many fronts. We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail." Now, a decade later, his successor will determine whether that pledge is kept.
The fight that began just 26 days after the 9/11 terror attacks started with nearly simultaneous raids on Taliban air defenses, command, control and communications nodes, and al-Qaida bases by sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, B-1 and B-52 bombers from Diego Garcia, and U.S. Navy and Marine aircraft operating from carriers in the Arabian Sea. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers conducted scores of 14,000-mile-round-trip missions from their bases in Missouri, dropping precision-guided munitions on Taliban and al-Qaida positions. From bases in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the CIA's Special Activities Division and U.S. special operations personnel entered Afghanistan to support Northern Alliance troops intent on unseating the Taliban. On Nov. 12, they liberated Kabul.
Thirteen days later, SAD officer Johnny "Mike" Spann -- a former U.S. Marine captain -- became the first American to die at the hands of the enemy in Afghanistan. He was shot and killed during an uprising at a Taliban detention center near Mazar-e-Sharif after interrogating an American jihadist, named John Walker Lindh. Since then, more than 1,700 Americans have been killed in action or died of wounds inflicted in Afghanistan. Other Americans, such as Anwar al-Awlaki and Adam Gadahn, became radical Islamists and joined the jihad. And now, commander in chief Barack Obama -- who once called Afghanistan "the necessary war" -- simply wants to abandon the fight and get out. Apparently, most of our countrymen agree.
According to a recent CBS News poll, 58 percent of Americans believe we should not be fighting in the shadows of the Hindu Kush. This week, the Pew Research Center released a survey showing that only 50 percent of veterans who have served in the military since the attacks of 9/11 believe the war in Afghanistan has been worth the cost in lives and treasure. The Obama administration, ever sensitive to public opinion, is wedded to the notion that "unmanned drones" (correctly named, remotely piloted aircraft) are sufficient to prevent a 9/11-like attack. The president insists that all 33,000 American "surge" troops must be withdrawn by next summer and that U.S.-NATO combat operations will cease in 2014.
Office seekers, incumbents and pundits across the political spectrum claim that the demise of Osama bin Laden means we can "bring the boys home." That's a great slogan for politicians who weren't in office when the fight started and those who opposed U.S. involvement from the beginning, but it's never been a formula for victory in a war.
Despite anti-military bias in the mainstream media, poll-driven political rhetoric and pseudo-intellectual drivel about America's "failure" at "nation building," the war in Afghanistan is being won. The metrics for such an assessment are widely ignored by opponents of American exceptionalism. But here are some key indicators:
When U.S. (and British) forces arrived in Afghanistan 10 years ago, the national illiteracy rate was 75 percent, and fewer than 1 million boys -- and no girls -- were enrolled in schools that taught anything more than Islamic religious studies. Today there are more than 6 million children in school -- a third of them girls.
Afghan national security forces were nonexistent a decade ago. Tribal and regional warlords had private armies, and the Afghan National Police was hopelessly corrupt. Fewer than 10 percent of the soldiers and cops could read or write. Thanks to the U.S.-led NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, there are now 172,000 well-trained and -equipped troops in the Afghan army and 135,000 police officers, and all new recruits are being taught to read and write.
Afghan troops and police are now responsible for security in nearly 30 percent of the country. Though Taliban-affiliated terrorists still occasionally launch spectacular suicide strikes from sanctuaries in Pakistan, overall enemy-initiated attacks against U.S. and NATO troops are down 20 percent from a year ago.
As U.S. and NATO troops pull out of the fight, Pakistan's support for the Taliban insurgency remains the primary threat to a peaceful outcome in Afghanistan. That's why Afghan President Hamid Karzai now insists that any future "peace talks" must include representatives from Islamabad. This week, Karzai went to New Delhi and closed a deal for India to increase security assistance to the Afghan national security forces when the Americans withdraw.
The Karzai overture to New Delhi is seen as "provocative" at the White House. It's actually a vote of "no confidence" in our commander in chief and his vacillating, ambivalent commitment to a stable, secure and economically viable Afghanistan. As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie put it this week, Obama has "failed the leadership test."
A Decade at War by Oliver North
WASHINGTON -- Ten years ago this week, America went to war in Afghanistan. At 1 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 7, 2001, President George W. Bush told the world, "On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al-Qaida terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan." At the conclusion of his seven-minute broadcast from the White House Treaty Room, he pledged: "The battle is now joined on many fronts. We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail." Now, a decade later, his successor will determine whether that pledge is kept.
The fight that began just 26 days after the 9/11 terror attacks started with nearly simultaneous raids on Taliban air defenses, command, control and communications nodes, and al-Qaida bases by sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, B-1 and B-52 bombers from Diego Garcia, and U.S. Navy and Marine aircraft operating from carriers in the Arabian Sea. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers conducted scores of 14,000-mile-round-trip missions from their bases in Missouri, dropping precision-guided munitions on Taliban and al-Qaida positions. From bases in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the CIA's Special Activities Division and U.S. special operations personnel entered Afghanistan to support Northern Alliance troops intent on unseating the Taliban. On Nov. 12, they liberated Kabul.
Thirteen days later, SAD officer Johnny "Mike" Spann -- a former U.S. Marine captain -- became the first American to die at the hands of the enemy in Afghanistan. He was shot and killed during an uprising at a Taliban detention center near Mazar-e-Sharif after interrogating an American jihadist, named John Walker Lindh. Since then, more than 1,700 Americans have been killed in action or died of wounds inflicted in Afghanistan. Other Americans, such as Anwar al-Awlaki and Adam Gadahn, became radical Islamists and joined the jihad. And now, commander in chief Barack Obama -- who once called Afghanistan "the necessary war" -- simply wants to abandon the fight and get out. Apparently, most of our countrymen agree.
According to a recent CBS News poll, 58 percent of Americans believe we should not be fighting in the shadows of the Hindu Kush. This week, the Pew Research Center released a survey showing that only 50 percent of veterans who have served in the military since the attacks of 9/11 believe the war in Afghanistan has been worth the cost in lives and treasure. The Obama administration, ever sensitive to public opinion, is wedded to the notion that "unmanned drones" (correctly named, remotely piloted aircraft) are sufficient to prevent a 9/11-like attack. The president insists that all 33,000 American "surge" troops must be withdrawn by next summer and that U.S.-NATO combat operations will cease in 2014.
Office seekers, incumbents and pundits across the political spectrum claim that the demise of Osama bin Laden means we can "bring the boys home." That's a great slogan for politicians who weren't in office when the fight started and those who opposed U.S. involvement from the beginning, but it's never been a formula for victory in a war.
Despite anti-military bias in the mainstream media, poll-driven political rhetoric and pseudo-intellectual drivel about America's "failure" at "nation building," the war in Afghanistan is being won. The metrics for such an assessment are widely ignored by opponents of American exceptionalism. But here are some key indicators:
When U.S. (and British) forces arrived in Afghanistan 10 years ago, the national illiteracy rate was 75 percent, and fewer than 1 million boys -- and no girls -- were enrolled in schools that taught anything more than Islamic religious studies. Today there are more than 6 million children in school -- a third of them girls.
Afghan national security forces were nonexistent a decade ago. Tribal and regional warlords had private armies, and the Afghan National Police was hopelessly corrupt. Fewer than 10 percent of the soldiers and cops could read or write. Thanks to the U.S.-led NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, there are now 172,000 well-trained and -equipped troops in the Afghan army and 135,000 police officers, and all new recruits are being taught to read and write.
Afghan troops and police are now responsible for security in nearly 30 percent of the country. Though Taliban-affiliated terrorists still occasionally launch spectacular suicide strikes from sanctuaries in Pakistan, overall enemy-initiated attacks against U.S. and NATO troops are down 20 percent from a year ago.
As U.S. and NATO troops pull out of the fight, Pakistan's support for the Taliban insurgency remains the primary threat to a peaceful outcome in Afghanistan. That's why Afghan President Hamid Karzai now insists that any future "peace talks" must include representatives from Islamabad. This week, Karzai went to New Delhi and closed a deal for India to increase security assistance to the Afghan national security forces when the Americans withdraw.
The Karzai overture to New Delhi is seen as "provocative" at the White House. It's actually a vote of "no confidence" in our commander in chief and his vacillating, ambivalent commitment to a stable, secure and economically viable Afghanistan. As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie put it this week, Obama has "failed the leadership test."
Debt Ceiling Analagy
Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling – it’s called common sense – something those in DC lack:
Let's say you come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood....and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.
What do you think you should do ……
Raise the ceilings, or pump out the shit?
Your choice is coming Nov. 2012
Hopefully the black community, the majority of whom voted for BHO because of his skin color, not because of his qualifications ( or lack thereof) or voting record, will have a choice between a white liberal (BHO) and a black conservative (Cain). I’m confident that the majority of the black community, when presented with the positions/agendas of the two, will see that their core values align with Cain, who was correct when he said people have been brainwashed. The black community has been brainwashed for 60 years by the Demoncractic party. If they give Cain, a black conservative, a chance, we’ll all see our lives improve dramatically. Maybe they’ll also listen to the chairman of BET, Robert Johnson, who said this:
BET founder Robert Johnson on the "FOX News Sunday" program: "Well, I think the president has to recalibrate his message. You don't get people to like you by attacking them or demeaning their success. You know, I grew up in a family of 10 kids, first one to go to college, and I've earned my success. I've earned my right to fly private if I choose to do so.
"And by attacking me it is not going to convince me that I should take a bigger hit because I happen to be wealthy. You know, it is the old -- I think Ted and Fred and I we both sort of take the old Ethel Merman approach to life. I've tried poor and I tried rich and I like rich better. It doesn't mean that I am a bad guy.
"I didn't go in to business to create a public policy success for either party, Republican or Democrat. I went in business to create jobs and opportunity, create opportunity, create value for myself and my investors. And that's what the president should be praising, not demagoguing us simply because Warren Buffet says he pays more than his secretary. He should pay the secretary more and she will pay more."
Story here
Let's say you come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood....and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.
What do you think you should do ……
Raise the ceilings, or pump out the shit?
Your choice is coming Nov. 2012
Hopefully the black community, the majority of whom voted for BHO because of his skin color, not because of his qualifications ( or lack thereof) or voting record, will have a choice between a white liberal (BHO) and a black conservative (Cain). I’m confident that the majority of the black community, when presented with the positions/agendas of the two, will see that their core values align with Cain, who was correct when he said people have been brainwashed. The black community has been brainwashed for 60 years by the Demoncractic party. If they give Cain, a black conservative, a chance, we’ll all see our lives improve dramatically. Maybe they’ll also listen to the chairman of BET, Robert Johnson, who said this:
BET founder Robert Johnson on the "FOX News Sunday" program: "Well, I think the president has to recalibrate his message. You don't get people to like you by attacking them or demeaning their success. You know, I grew up in a family of 10 kids, first one to go to college, and I've earned my success. I've earned my right to fly private if I choose to do so.
"And by attacking me it is not going to convince me that I should take a bigger hit because I happen to be wealthy. You know, it is the old -- I think Ted and Fred and I we both sort of take the old Ethel Merman approach to life. I've tried poor and I tried rich and I like rich better. It doesn't mean that I am a bad guy.
"I didn't go in to business to create a public policy success for either party, Republican or Democrat. I went in business to create jobs and opportunity, create opportunity, create value for myself and my investors. And that's what the president should be praising, not demagoguing us simply because Warren Buffet says he pays more than his secretary. He should pay the secretary more and she will pay more."
Story here
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Cheeseburger...I Mean Terrorists in Paradise
Anwar al-Awlaki & Samir Khan were killed last week. We can breath a little easier knowing that these jihadists are no longer prowling God's creation planning their next mass murder.
Here is an email I received on 9/30/2011 from ACT for America. While I like their reporting, I must disagree with their statement that "there are clear signs that we have turned the tide against radical Islam here in the U.S." We have a very lax (due to political correctness) Dept. of Homeland Security and just last week the FBI arrested another home-grown jihadi. It is unfathomably to me that al-Awlaki preached at mosques in Virginia for 18 months prior to the 9/11 attacks, that 3 of the 9/11 murders attended his mosque and preaching, and the U.S. didn't freeze his assets until 2010! We're soft and stupid, and the terrorists smell our weakness and are encouraged:
"September 30, 2011
"Another one bites the dust
"The latest blow to radical Islam
"The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki is the latest blow to the ideology of radical Islam. Additionally, according to the news story below, Samir Khan, a Saudi-born U.S. citizen from North Carolina who was the brains behind al Qaeda’s English language “Inspire” magazine, was also killed.
"This is a significant blow to more than terrorism. It is a blow to the jihadist ideology that drives terrorism. The message to jihadists around the world echoes again—you can run but you can’t hide.
"As we have noted in our emails recently, the advance of stealth jihad and sharia in the U.S. is also being successfully confronted. For instance, our successful efforts to pass “American Laws for American Courts” have our opponents reacting with fear and fury.
"We join in rejoicing with freedom-loving patriots across the world at the justice that has been served with the killing of al-Awlaki. But let us not be fooled. While there are clear signs that we have turned the tide against radical Islam here in the U.S., our enemies, whether they be violent jihadists or stealth jihadists, are committed and tenacious.
"Now is not the time to let up. Now is the time to redouble our efforts."
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Radical American cleric al-Awlaki killed in Yemen, officials say
GOP's Peter King praises Obama over death of a man he describes as 'more dangerous even than Osama bin Laden'
NBC News and news services
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44727191/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/?GT1=43001
SANAA, Yemen — Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born radical cleric linked to al-Qaida who led an organization labeled as one of the most serious threats to U.S. security, was killed by an airstrike in Yemen Friday, according to the country's defense ministry and U.S. officials.
"The terrorist ... has been killed along with some of his companions," the Yemen defense ministry said in a statement sent by text message to journalists, Reuters reported.
The Yemen Defense Ministry announced later Friday that another American in al-Qaida, Samir Khan, was killed with al-Awlaki.
A Yemeni security official told Reuters that al-Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, was hit in a Friday morning air raid in the northern al-Jawf province that borders oil giant Saudi Arabia.
He said four others killed with him were suspected al-Qaida members.
NBC News reported that U.S. officials had confirmed that an unmanned American drone had launched the airstrike. A U.S. drone aircraft targeted but missed him in May.
Story: Plenty of al-Qaida targets remain after Osama bin Laden's death
U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, hailed al-Awlaki's death as "a great success in our fight" against al-Qaida and its affiliates in a statement sent to NBC News.
"For the past several years, al-Awlaki has been more dangerous even than Osama bin Laden had been. The killing of al-Awlaki is a tremendous tribute to President Obama and the men and women of our intelligence community," he added.
'We must remain vigilant'
King, however, warned that "we must remain as vigilant as ever, knowing that there are more Islamic terrorists who will gladly step forward to backfill this dangerous killer."
Al-Awlaki was considered such a threat to the U.S. that the Obama administration took the unprecendented step of putting him, an American, on the U.S. military's and CIA's "kill or capture" target list.
U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News that the fact he was an American made him an even more insidious threat.
"As an American he knows how we think, how we react, and how to push all our buttons," one told NBC News.
However, some U.S. military officials were hesitant to confirm al-Awlaki's death, because they have no forces on the ground to positively identify the body, NBC reported. It was wrongly reported that al-Awlaki was killed in an airstrike in December 2009.
Al-Awlaki was implicated in the so-called underwear bombing attempt on a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day in 2009.
He was one of the top officials at Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which was also thought to have been behind the plot to send printer cartridges packed with explosives to the U.S.
AQAP usually confirms the deaths of its members or affiliates on Internet posts a few days after the attack.
Propagandist
Al-Awlaki was not the leader of AQAP — that role belonged to Nasser al-Wuhayshi — but he ranked as its most gifted English-language propagandist.
He preached at mosques in northern Virginia and San Diego attended by three of the Sept. 11 hijackers in the 18 months before the attacks.
In 2010, U.S. officials designated him an individual who had committed or was likely to commit a terrorist act and froze his assets.
[CONTINUE READING FULL ARTICLE HERE]
Here is an email I received on 9/30/2011 from ACT for America. While I like their reporting, I must disagree with their statement that "there are clear signs that we have turned the tide against radical Islam here in the U.S." We have a very lax (due to political correctness) Dept. of Homeland Security and just last week the FBI arrested another home-grown jihadi. It is unfathomably to me that al-Awlaki preached at mosques in Virginia for 18 months prior to the 9/11 attacks, that 3 of the 9/11 murders attended his mosque and preaching, and the U.S. didn't freeze his assets until 2010! We're soft and stupid, and the terrorists smell our weakness and are encouraged:
"September 30, 2011
"Another one bites the dust
"The latest blow to radical Islam
"The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki is the latest blow to the ideology of radical Islam. Additionally, according to the news story below, Samir Khan, a Saudi-born U.S. citizen from North Carolina who was the brains behind al Qaeda’s English language “Inspire” magazine, was also killed.
"This is a significant blow to more than terrorism. It is a blow to the jihadist ideology that drives terrorism. The message to jihadists around the world echoes again—you can run but you can’t hide.
"As we have noted in our emails recently, the advance of stealth jihad and sharia in the U.S. is also being successfully confronted. For instance, our successful efforts to pass “American Laws for American Courts” have our opponents reacting with fear and fury.
"We join in rejoicing with freedom-loving patriots across the world at the justice that has been served with the killing of al-Awlaki. But let us not be fooled. While there are clear signs that we have turned the tide against radical Islam here in the U.S., our enemies, whether they be violent jihadists or stealth jihadists, are committed and tenacious.
"Now is not the time to let up. Now is the time to redouble our efforts."
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Radical American cleric al-Awlaki killed in Yemen, officials say
GOP's Peter King praises Obama over death of a man he describes as 'more dangerous even than Osama bin Laden'
NBC News and news services
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44727191/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/?GT1=43001
SANAA, Yemen — Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born radical cleric linked to al-Qaida who led an organization labeled as one of the most serious threats to U.S. security, was killed by an airstrike in Yemen Friday, according to the country's defense ministry and U.S. officials.
"The terrorist ... has been killed along with some of his companions," the Yemen defense ministry said in a statement sent by text message to journalists, Reuters reported.
The Yemen Defense Ministry announced later Friday that another American in al-Qaida, Samir Khan, was killed with al-Awlaki.
A Yemeni security official told Reuters that al-Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, was hit in a Friday morning air raid in the northern al-Jawf province that borders oil giant Saudi Arabia.
He said four others killed with him were suspected al-Qaida members.
NBC News reported that U.S. officials had confirmed that an unmanned American drone had launched the airstrike. A U.S. drone aircraft targeted but missed him in May.
Story: Plenty of al-Qaida targets remain after Osama bin Laden's death
U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, hailed al-Awlaki's death as "a great success in our fight" against al-Qaida and its affiliates in a statement sent to NBC News.
"For the past several years, al-Awlaki has been more dangerous even than Osama bin Laden had been. The killing of al-Awlaki is a tremendous tribute to President Obama and the men and women of our intelligence community," he added.
'We must remain vigilant'
King, however, warned that "we must remain as vigilant as ever, knowing that there are more Islamic terrorists who will gladly step forward to backfill this dangerous killer."
Al-Awlaki was considered such a threat to the U.S. that the Obama administration took the unprecendented step of putting him, an American, on the U.S. military's and CIA's "kill or capture" target list.
U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News that the fact he was an American made him an even more insidious threat.
"As an American he knows how we think, how we react, and how to push all our buttons," one told NBC News.
However, some U.S. military officials were hesitant to confirm al-Awlaki's death, because they have no forces on the ground to positively identify the body, NBC reported. It was wrongly reported that al-Awlaki was killed in an airstrike in December 2009.
Al-Awlaki was implicated in the so-called underwear bombing attempt on a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day in 2009.
He was one of the top officials at Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which was also thought to have been behind the plot to send printer cartridges packed with explosives to the U.S.
AQAP usually confirms the deaths of its members or affiliates on Internet posts a few days after the attack.
Propagandist
Al-Awlaki was not the leader of AQAP — that role belonged to Nasser al-Wuhayshi — but he ranked as its most gifted English-language propagandist.
He preached at mosques in northern Virginia and San Diego attended by three of the Sept. 11 hijackers in the 18 months before the attacks.
In 2010, U.S. officials designated him an individual who had committed or was likely to commit a terrorist act and froze his assets.
[CONTINUE READING FULL ARTICLE HERE]
#275 of 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy
Enthuse about 9/11 conspiracy theories, the wackier the better.
You'll be preaching to the choir here: in a May 2007 Rasmussen poll, 35 percent of Democrats said they believe George W. Bush had advance knowledge of the attack, while another 26 percent said they're not sure. Say if it wasn't personally ordered by George Bush or Mossad, then it was almost certainly the Illuminati or the lizard-headed master-race known as the Babylonian Brotherhood, whose membership includes George W. Bush, the Queen of England, Kris Kristofferson, and Boxcar Willie.
Explain sincerely how it was you realized the "official version" of 9/11 couldn't possibly be correct: "Well Islam, right, it's a peaceful religion. No way would these devout guys get on a plane and blow innocent people up. Where's the motive? It's not like Muslims have a track record of major international terrorism..."
-- 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy by James Delingpole
You'll be preaching to the choir here: in a May 2007 Rasmussen poll, 35 percent of Democrats said they believe George W. Bush had advance knowledge of the attack, while another 26 percent said they're not sure. Say if it wasn't personally ordered by George Bush or Mossad, then it was almost certainly the Illuminati or the lizard-headed master-race known as the Babylonian Brotherhood, whose membership includes George W. Bush, the Queen of England, Kris Kristofferson, and Boxcar Willie.
Explain sincerely how it was you realized the "official version" of 9/11 couldn't possibly be correct: "Well Islam, right, it's a peaceful religion. No way would these devout guys get on a plane and blow innocent people up. Where's the motive? It's not like Muslims have a track record of major international terrorism..."
-- 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy by James Delingpole
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