Terrorism Archives

May 09, 2008

Get your Kicks / On Beirut / Sects' Dissects

An open thread for discussion of Lebanon at the crossroads . . . again. And who'd have guessed Nasrallah would provide the fireworks for Israel's 60th anniversary? Followup full posts from our expert team are welcome and encouraged, with removing the horrid tasteless lyrics allusion-pun above from its lead position as added incentive.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 12:26 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

April 23, 2008

Another Good Conspiracy Theory Down the Drain

Al Qaeda says an Israeli conspiracy didn't do 9/11. And, it adds, Iran started the Israel conspiracy rumor. Is that itself a conspiracy rumor?

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 02:43 AM | Comments (13) | TrackBack

Open Thread on Carter, Hamas, and Stuff

Belaboring, distatefully, the last general subject area, we turn to Jimmy Carter's statement that Hamas was ready to accept Israel at some point in some way. Hamas itself seems to disagree. To me, it appears to be a conflict of spin. Hamas will not, for ideological reasons, recognize Israel but they appear to be willing to accept a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, and say they would accept a popular referendum to honor a truce to go no further. With spin, that can be seen as de facto acceptance of the Palestinian Authority's current or future recognition of Israel. Sounds alot like China and Taiwan, actually. (Which situation can erupt at any time, but probably won't as long as mutual prosperity keeps rearing its ugly head.) Anyway, unlike the previous thread where I had a strong opinion and not much time or interest to engage, as I was asserting something obvious, here I am inactive because I have no strong opinion or time, so it is just an open thread for those interested.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 01:15 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

January 18, 2008

Lebanon as the new Iraq

Nir Rosen has an exhaustive article on the story of Fatah al Islam in Lebanon and the summer's battle in the Nahr al Barid camp. There's too much to summarize (frankly, I need to read it again to try and get all the moving pieces straight), but his basic conclusion as to who sponsored the group was that both the Syrian government and the Future movement tried to coopt it, but failed to do so, and that the group's real commitment was to an al Qaeda-style global jihad.

The whole article is worth reading (if slightly mind-numbing in its complexity), but I'm just going to quote the concluding paragraphs:

Continue reading "Lebanon as the new Iraq"

Posted by tomscud at 04:18 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

December 28, 2007

Sheikhs' Sure Booty: Your Empire At Work

Finally figuring out what anyone here could have told them years ago, US forces in Iraq have earned at least a B-plus in Empire-Building 101 -- not that that's a good thing, but it can salve a sore wound for an indefinite period. The principle is to use local power structures as your surrogates, basically by bribing them. This USA Today story details it well. (Thanks to a Klaus call, we have a link for the original stick-figure anti-insurgent plan offered by a later-killed US soldier here.)

Tribal sheiks . . . have seats on most of the city councils and the provincial council. . . . Many tribes run construction and trucking businesses and benefit from U.S. and Iraqi government reconstruction projects. The contracts with U.S. forces allow sheiks to hand out jobs, and thus maintain power.

Continue reading "Sheikhs' Sure Booty: Your Empire At Work"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 04:39 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

December 27, 2007

Sindhs of the father: Benazir Bhutto dead thread (open)

Benazir Bhutto, ex-Pakistani prime minister, is now an ex-person. Have at the whole set of issues in this open thread, o dear readers. Others of the Aqoul team may post more detailed entries on this most unpleasant passing of the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. (BTW, I don't know who those people are who say 'why do Muslims never go out in the streets venting their anger when al-Qaeda or other extremists* do a terrorist act?') Well, clearly, they sometimes do.

Continue reading "Sindhs of the father: Benazir Bhutto dead thread (open)"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 06:22 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack

December 24, 2007

Holiday Fuzziness, Algeria, Al Qaeda and Iraq

As fuzzily cheery such news as interfaith warm and fuzzy declarations (which have their utility although as I consider them rather normal in my experience, I find them boring), of rather more interest perhaps is an uncharacteristically interesting commentary from NYT via the FT on one of the Algerian suicide bombers from last months bloody nonsense in Algiers which is interesting reading paired with FT's Quent Peel's commentary on the "socialist timewarp" that is Algeria, and the Kremlinesque opacity of its political sphere.

Continue reading "Holiday Fuzziness, Algeria, Al Qaeda and Iraq"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 02:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

December 16, 2007

Competent Adults in Charge? The Iraq Surge's Non-Failure

Not often do I get to be more right than Jim Henley, but here I claim it though I can't document my earlier growing sense that The Surge would turn out better than we cynics first expected. (The last time he was wrong, which goes back years, so was I, as when he predicted that Ariel Sharon would not go through with the Gaza withdrawal.) But now he is surprised that violence has not rebounded in Iraq since The Surge in a way he has predicted. I am far less surprised however and, although I started as a Surge Cynic as shown here, I have come to feel after more information that there has been a good chance of some sustained suppression of the violence. More on why, below.

Continue reading "Competent Adults in Charge? The Iraq Surge's Non-Failure"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 12:58 AM | Comments (28) | TrackBack

November 27, 2007

Hirsi Ali: Ideological Chameleon

First, I curse SP for pointing out this latest interview with the infuriating headline: Ayaan Hirsi Ali: My life under a fatwa. Boys and girls, we've been over this before. A fatwa is not an ummah-wide execution order, it is a ruling issued by an Islamic scholar in response to a specific legal question. I wrote about this distinction almost two years ago, when Wafa Sultan told the New York Times that Dr. Ibrahim al-Khouli had issued a "fatwa" when he called her an atheist during a TV interview.

Listen, you credulous glurge-sucking Western journalists, just because some idiot Ayatollah lobbed one at Rushdie almost two decades ago doesn't make every random statement by a Muslim (scholar or fanatic) a fatwa. Nor is a fatwa binding across the universe (else a lot of Muslim women with plucked eyebrows are going to hell). Of course, the f-word does score a lot of publicity amongst the chattering classes, which is why every faux reformer wants one.

But let's get on to the actual article, shall we?

Continue reading "Hirsi Ali: Ideological Chameleon"

Posted by eerie at 09:44 AM | Comments (31) | TrackBack

November 03, 2007

Strategery, Indeed: Lewis and Huntington

I have to borrow from the discussion on the previous thread the quotation below. It's from a book review of at-best mixed value but by someone with the knowledge to make the statement. Tell me its assertion is false. Please, God, please......

Continue reading "Strategery, Indeed: Lewis and Huntington"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:14 PM | Comments (13) | TrackBack

October 25, 2007

The Magic Kingdom

Last week, I decided it would be interesting to watch The Kingdom, an action movie that followed four FBI agents sent to Saudi Arabia to investigate a massive attack on an American housing compound. I went not because I expected it to be intellectually stimulating (it wasn't) or because I figured I'd learn useful things from the film (I didn't), but because I wanted to see how Hollywood portrayed Saudi Arabia. Save for the surfeit of British villains, Hollywood is a useful barometer of American perceptions of a particular part of the world; there is a reason so many bad guys were Russians during the Cold War.

Continue reading "The Magic Kingdom"

Posted by dubaiwalla at 11:40 AM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

October 20, 2007

Souq Heil: What's Up With This Cocked-Arm Gesture?

The sunbats are out doing their Islamofascism Awareness week hate-fest, with the usual bigotries and idiocies, but I do have to agree though on the reaction engendered by this photo (I've seen others like it) of what appears to be the Hizbollah 3rd Bandana battalion. Is it what it appears to be -- a militaristic fascist salute, or has it some other significance? UPDATE: With the aid of commenter M, we learn it is indeed a political-militaristic "Roman salute" but apparently a Fascist-era Lebanese custom that transcends sectarian lines (is that a good or bad thing?). Enjoy (thanks M) this collage of Lebanon's main Christian party, and chief Lebanese allies of Israel, doing the Teutonic taxi hail. (Cache it in, before they get hip and delete.)

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:06 PM | Comments (31) | TrackBack

October 11, 2007

Ayaan Hirsi Ali proves that even stupidity is dangerous

Today I was mulling over how the average person might view Ayaan Hirsi Ali based on the image she has cultivated for herself. A commenter on Brian Whitaker's blog captured this perception quite well:

Below is a segment from an colunm written a couple of days ago by Sam Harris & Salman Rushdie. It from the LA Times.

"Hirsi Ali was immediately forced into hiding and moved from safe house to safe house, sometimes more than once a day, for months. Eventually, her security concerns drove her from the Netherlands altogether. She returned to the U.S., and the Dutch government has been paying for her protection here -- that is, until it suddenly announced last week that it would no longer protect her outside the Netherlands, thereby advertising her vulnerability to the world.

Hirsi Ali may be the first refugee from Western Europe since the Holocaust. As such, she is a unique and indispensable witness to both the strength and weakness of the West: to the splendor of open society and to the boundless energy of its antagonists. She knows the challenges we face in our struggle to contain the misogyny and religious fanaticism of the Muslim world, and she lives with the consequences of our failure each day. There is no one in a better position to remind us that tolerance of intolerance is cowardice."

Try telling Ayaan Hirsi Ali that Islam Is not fascism.

There are two problems here. One is that (ill-informed) people apply the actions of a few murderous whackjobs to an entire religion. The second is that Ayaan Hirsi Ali actively encourages this misconception by making grossly uneducated assertions about Islamic tenets/beliefs, which are then lapped up by people who don't know any better.

Continue reading "Ayaan Hirsi Ali proves that even stupidity is dangerous"

Posted by eerie at 08:14 AM | Comments (58) | TrackBack

October 04, 2007

Technology and Counterterrorism: Machines are Still Stupid

My job demands a lot of research and analysis. Most of the time, I can't keep up with the sheer volume of incoming information and have to cherrypick items that seem significant. This is a common problem among analysts, particularly ones tasked with monitoring and evaluating trends (e.g. financial markets, politics). Data mining has been used extensively in a variety of sectors to parse information so that analysts can deal with it more effectively. Of course, figuring out what to mine is key because one can easily succumb to the GIGO problem without realizing.

Recently, I came across a press release about Arizona University's Dark Web Portal, a resource for counterterrorism analysts.

Funded by the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies, Hsinchun Chen and his Artificial Intelligence Lab at the University of Arizona have created the Dark Web project, which aims to systematically collect and analyze all terrorist-generated content on the Web.

Ha. The hyperbole begins.

Continue reading "Technology and Counterterrorism: Machines are Still Stupid"

Posted by eerie at 07:19 AM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

September 26, 2007

Abu Aardvark on The Surge & The Sunni Leadership

A personal favorite political magazine's blog presents a personal favorite political institute's video of an Aqoul favorite blogger Marc Lynch, aka Abu Aardvark, speaking at a conference at the CATO Institute on THE SURGE. The professorial Father of Aardvarks opines about the recent Iraq Sunni insurgent-US military cooperation, but bases his insights on Arabic language media and internet communications of Sunni community leaders. The conclusions he arrives at are basically that the Sunni leaders are stating to their very anti-US constituency that cooperation with the USA is merely tactical and the result of insurgent victories which forced the US to assist them in certain common aims of fighting al-Qaeda and fighting some Shiite militias. They view the government and al-Sadr as "Iranian" and they eventually want the entire US occupation out. In addition, the conditions are such that further sectarian fragmentation is underway and no matter how long the US stays, it appears the conditions will remain ripe for sectarian war. Informed readers, have at it.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 13, 2007

Iran War On the Way: More Evidence

It appears that I may have been right to call attention to those saying a war on Iran is being rolled out by the Administration. An informed and expert source in DC affirmed it to me as well a few days back. And it looks like the usual suspect sources are now marketing it. (Love the part where we can mysteriously tell that the Germans really want us to attack even as they back away from sanctions against Iran. Saying "no" when they really mean "yes", those Teutonic teases!) Michael Ledeen appears to be the one whose job is to incite the converted; he who says that al-Qaeda and Iran are interchangeable terms and at one point called Dubai, an "Iranian colony". Man, all them dang camel jockeys are the same and interchangeable, and that thinking is how one manufactures a war. Anyway, Aqoulites and Aqoulite wannabes with Iran-specific knowledge are needed to weigh in, now and in the future.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:19 PM | Comments (19) | TrackBack

September 09, 2007

Quick Roundup of News on Roundups

{Sarcasm} Here's a headline you'd never expect to see. I'm shocked, shocked. . . . {/sarcasm} (Iraq)

Now here's a headline you'd really never expect to see. (Israel)

Here's an interesting roundup about al-Qaeda leader roundups. For a variety of reasons, this Abu al-Yazid guy seems the most interesting and dangerous , specifically as he reminds me in terms of his alleged internal likeability, technical profession (accountancy/fundraising), energy, and tactical sense of a rather successful violent insurgent of the past. Insurgencies can use good accountants and fundraisers.

And, just for yucks, bad news for anyone planning to have online virtual sex with Osama bin-Laden.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 06:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 07, 2007

Bin-Laden Versus Bin-Laden, same day

Osama bin-Laden on Sept. 7 2007* -- "19 young men were able, by the grace of [God], the Most High, to change the direction of [America's] compass."

Osama bin-Laden on, um, Sept 7, 2007 -- "burning living beings is forbidden by our religion, even if they be small like the ant, so what of men?"

In addition to terrorist, criminal, fanatic, and other filth-and-foul words, we can now add "what a fatuous dick".

Continue reading "Bin-Laden Versus Bin-Laden, same day"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 02, 2007

Tehran: A Sore US Wrecks? Iran War Looming?

The informed blogosphere and newsosphere are abuzz with rumors* that a US war, or a sustained attack (i.e.war), on Iran is being put out for aggressive marketing by Administration innards this week. Events will prove this true or false. Regardless of the rightness or wrongness of such a thing, if it is being planned, I do wonder if the questions and considerations below have been addressed.

Continue reading "Tehran: A Sore US Wrecks? Iran War Looming?"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:28 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack

August 08, 2007

British "leftism" fails to address terrorism

Liberal Muslims living in the UK are increasingly angry towards the British government for its "leftish" "politically correctness" in addressing Islamic extremism and terrorism, according to Adel Darwish writing in TheMiddleEast. He notes that British prime minster Gordon Brown has outlawed the term "war on terror" and claims that after the Glasgow airport attack, neither Brown nor British home secretary Jacqui Smith "used words like Islamists, or Muslim terrorists; music to the ears of British muslim "leaders" (mostly self styled) and leftist commentators":

As refugees from the violent suppression and censorship of 1970s Arab-nationalism, liberal Arab journalists in London acknowledge their affiliation with the West. And it is they who saw more clearly than their British liberal and leftist colleagues the danger that the UK's lax immigration policies, and its ideologically driven multi-culturalism and political correctness policy, poses to liberal thinking Muslims desperately trying to reform the minds of young Muslims.

As Abdul Rahman Al Rashed, former editor of Asharq Al-Awsat, whose daily column is a cornerstone of the paper's liberal message observed: "I, and people like me, kept saying to the British authorities, you are allowing radicals in this country. These people were chased out of their own countries [for terrorist activities], and the British government chose to let them in. They [the British welfare agencies] pay for their housing and even pay for their lawyers to argue to allow them to extend their stay. This system is on auto-pilot."

Posted by secretdubai at 11:19 AM | Comments (31) | TrackBack

June 30, 2007

When the Guardian goes all Biblical...

...things are getting critical:

The attacks are something that say: what we are engaged in is far bigger than politics. This is about a battle between good and evil. The timescale is long, the cause is far greater than the arrival or departure of a Prime Minister or even a single war, even those in Iraq or Afghanistan. The threat will remain high for the foreseeable future.

Continue reading "When the Guardian goes all Biblical..."

Posted by secretdubai at 07:50 PM | Comments (13) | TrackBack

June 16, 2007

Gaza Stripped: Two Demi-Quasi-States, One People

It appears the folks who rather justly complain of having no country, now appear to have two. Well, three, if you count the old Likudnik view of Jordan. Or in the negative numbers, if reality functions as a point of reference.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:59 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack

June 12, 2007

Desperately Seeking Sudan: Key War on Terror Ally

This Baltimore Sun story is not too much of a surprise for those who connect the dots and are somewhat informed. "Sudan has secretly worked with the CIA to spy on the insurgency in Iraq . . . . The relationship underscores the complex realities of the post-Sept. 11 world, in which the United States has relied heavily on intelligence and military cooperation from countries, including Sudan and Uzbekistan, that are considered pariah states for their records on human rights. "

Now does anyone know of any Hariri connection?

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:42 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

June 02, 2007

How Do You Say "Chutzpah" in Arabic?

The Department of Homeland Security, in a nod to the U.S.' long tradition of aiding those huddled masses who yearn to breathe free (or at least yearn to refrain from having their heads blown off), has announced that a whopping total of 60 Iraqis will shortly be admitted to the U.S. as refugees - but only if they pass the required security checks, of course.

Continue reading "How Do You Say "Chutzpah" in Arabic?"

Posted by evaluna at 12:00 PM | Comments (33) | TrackBack

May 23, 2007

Keep your Sunni side up: Lebanon conspiracy theory #637

Seymour Hersh propounds this conspiracy theory of sorts regarding the rise of Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon. I don't buy it offhand, but there's plausibility in a Saudi role in promoting Sunni anti-Shiite counterweights, with US winks and nods. Any takers?

What I was writing about was sort of a private agreement that was made between the White House, we're talking about Richard -- Dick -- Cheney and Elliott Abrams, one of the key aides in the White House, with Bandar. And the idea was to get support, covert support from the Saudis, to support various hard-line jihadists, Sunni groups, particularly in Lebanon, who would be seen in case of an actual confrontation with Hezbollah -- the Shia group in the southern Lebanon -- would be seen as an asset, as simple as that....There is a supreme overwhelming fear of Hezbollah and we do not want Hezbollah to play an active role in the government in Lebanon and that's been our policy, basically....

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:23 PM | Comments (42) | TrackBack

April 14, 2007

Casablanca Breakfasts & Bombs

At the request of eerie, and following on my AM observation, a quick reflexion on the fact my fine hotel breakfast this AM was disturbed by a bomb. Well, two bombs really.

9:00 am GMT, two deluded fools blew themselves to bits thankfully only killing themselves and injuring some poor lady near the American cultural center.

[updated story: Guardian story

Saturday's two bombers detonated their explosives in the middle of a boulevard that runs behind the American Language Center, killing themselves and wounding a woman, the official said, adding that the three suspects were arrested in the neighborhood, which is dotted with high-rises, hotels and diplomatic missions, including the U.S. consulate.

After the arrests, another explosives belt was found beside an upscale hotel in the same neighborhood struck by the bombings, the Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing ministry policy.

[end update]

Continue reading "Casablanca Breakfasts & Bombs"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:54 AM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

April 12, 2007

Algeria / al Qaeda in the Maghreb: Bombing & Open Discussion

Per Antiquated Tory's request on the New Month entry, an open thread for discussing Algeria and the implications of recent events in North Africa.

Continue reading "Algeria / al Qaeda in the Maghreb: Bombing & Open Discussion"

Posted by eerie at 12:31 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

March 19, 2007

Encore Rock the Casbah: Casablanca Terror & Mohammed al Faiz - A Proposal on Aid

I should start by admitting that that when our Permanent Anon inquired about Mohammed Faiz, I had a somewhat (or even rather) dismissive reaction. A dismissive reaction that was utterly wrong and misplaced. Faiz for those who don't know, is the supervisor and by family, owner, of an internet cafe in a poor neighbourhood in the Moroccan city of Casablanca who stopped an attempted bombing there.

My original reaction was, effectively, yeah, he did a good deed and possibly for his own interest (e.g. frightened he might get in trouble), so what?

On reflexion and on review of international and domestic press that effectively highlight the recidivist takfiri suicide bomber Raydi, I have changed my mind. And indeed apologize for my superficial reaction.

Continue reading "Encore Rock the Casbah: Casablanca Terror & Mohammed al Faiz - A Proposal on Aid"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:56 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 14, 2007

Rock the Casbah bis: Casablanca Bombings

Unfortunately I still lack time to delve into the Casablanca bombing this past weekend, and must soon to airport make, however a quick round-up of some materials I think are decent:

1. Reuters - WP round up of the local Moroccan press indicating planning was perhaps more extensive than the initial event suggested. I'd note that I caught on the local Sat TV the Moroccan TV's images of the truck taking away the bombs. One rather big ass dump truck.
2. WaPo backgrounder on the bombers whose profile rather resembles that of the 2003 bombers.

My observation, which is a prelude to my long-overdue and incomplete post on Maghreb spillover and drivers for the problem is the Poli Sci 'wisdom' re poverty and economic frustration not being drivers for Islamist neo-Salafi terror is bollocks. Some portion of course is purely ideological and would exist without any economic-situ driven radicalisation, but it is clear to me up close that a significant and important portion is driven by economic factors, and socio-economic frustration. That some radicals, espeically leaders come from more wealthy backgrounds says nothing about causation, any more than the presence of wealthy Left radicals in the 19th and early 20th centuries disproved a general observation of radicalisation being driven by economic issues in that period, in Europe, etc.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:38 PM | Comments (32) | TrackBack

February 23, 2007

The Jack Bauer Effect

Sometimes when I'm out with the girls, I'll get fed up of talking about fashion or relationships and say something provocative just to stir things up. Most of the time, it's just martini-fuelled commentary about our celebrity-obsessed culture, the impact of widespread economic illiteracy, the exploding market for self-help books, etc. Whatever pops into my head, really.

A few weeks ago, while the ladies were chattering about Britney Spears' latest meltdown, I tapped my fingers on the table and said, "Do you think Americans might be more accepting of torture because of Jack Bauer?"

Having long ago accepted my mercurial oddball tendencies, they shrugged and returned to their original conversation. I, however, became rather fixated on the idea and spent much of the evening muttering to myself about cultural icons and their ability to shape popular opinion.

Continue reading "The Jack Bauer Effect"

Posted by eerie at 03:12 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

January 26, 2007

"From Iraqi society to societies in Iraq" - Some further thoughts

I just published this article on Niqash, but since the guidelines of that project (it is financed by various European foreign offices & U.N. agencies) mandated a very balanced tone and - rightly so - doesn't allow for us editors to engage in conjecture and speculation (however informed & sound) ... I thought I should use Aqoul to (1) point to the article and (2) expand upon some themes.

(The article in question is also my last work for Niqash as the project has ended and there is no telling if there will be any follow-up. I am thus also looking around for "something new", as they say, so do feel free to contact me if you want to hire me.)

Update: Added a few links for further reading (Twice)

Continue reading ""From Iraqi society to societies in Iraq" - Some further thoughts"

Posted by MSK at 01:24 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack

January 14, 2007

War with Traditional Islam

An interesting blog post from military specialist and commentator Col. Pat Lang (a real colonel, unlike my old Col appellation, a mere shortening of my name) on War Against the Boogey Men, critiquing the American approach to the Iraq war and the larger engagement with the Middle East.

The item that caught my eye was this:

"Freedom" and "Islamic Fascism" clearly have "special" meanings here. I say that "freedom" as the bushies use the term is code and really means westernization and "globalization" in the sense that we want to see the world "ironed out" flat so the it meets the egregious Friedman's dream of a homogeneous world. "Islamic Fascism" means, I think, simply "Islam." That is, Islam as it has been understood by millennia of Muslims. That is, as an all encompassing view of the world and man's relationship to God. "Ah, but these are not real Muslims," I can hear the outcry now. Rubbish. We non-Muslims can not dictate to any particular group of Muslims what Islam means to them. We want an Islam similar in its role in life to the emasculated role that Christianity plays for most Americans in their lives? Sorry! We do not get to choose for them. There wil be a reaction to what I have written here. It will be similar to the outrage vented on me by a former congressman from the Midwest who went on and and on about the nice ladies who come to his office to tell him that Muslims are a peaceful lot. Peaceful? Yes? Within limits.

My analysis leads me to the belief that we are fighting against traditional Islam.

Emphasis added.

Continue reading "War with Traditional Islam"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 03:06 PM | Comments (77) | TrackBack

December 03, 2006

We interrupt this pogrom: radio test of anti-Muslim hatred

Playing provocateur, radio talk show host Jerry Klein in the Washington DC area decided the time was right to call for Muslims in America to be required to wear crescent tattoos or armbands, which drew a few outraged phone calls. But then the more interesting ones came in: "What good is identifying them?...You have to set up encampments like during World War Two with the Japanese and Germans." And: "Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their forehead but you ship them out of this country...they are here to kill us." After an hour of tossing out this littlegreen, I mean red, meat, the host annouced that he wasn't serious and then added some comments of his own.

Continue reading "We interrupt this pogrom: radio test of anti-Muslim hatred"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 07:50 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

November 29, 2006

US & Iraq: Imbecilic Navel-Gazing as Strategy

I read and was told that the major US media (or to adopt the childishly imbecilic Neo-Bolshevik speak of the American blogs, "Mainstream Media") has finally gotten around to calling the Iraqi civil war, a civil war. I rather foolishly thought that this might be welcomed among the more cogent and cogniscent corners of online commentary as a breath of fresh air and a good point of departure for actually bloody well tackling the disaster looming in front of the US of A, rather than childishly whinging on about terminology and pretending if only they don't bloody admit how bad it is, some magical intervention will somehow rescue them from the now inevitable disaster. I do say invevitable, for the Americans have already lost - as the Soviets already had two or three years before they could bring themselves to admit it.

But no. Rather, even into the center regions of the American Whankatariat, idiotic, droolingly cretinous idiotic denial, and simple minded self regarding idiocy is the result. The essential objection as far as I can tell (once I peel away the piss-poor half-informed and 1/4 understood history of Shia and Sunni, of Arab and Kurd - typical "they've always been" rubbish) - is that calling a spade a spade may lead the US to flee the field.

Continue reading "US & Iraq: Imbecilic Navel-Gazing as Strategy"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:24 AM | Comments (14) | TrackBack

October 11, 2006

Tash ma Tash: Serious Saudi Satire or Child's Play?

The Tash ma Tash controversy rages on and has been adequately reported in both Arabic and non-Arabic media as well as on the blog of our own Lounsbury. However, apart from the obvious religious knee-jerk reaction that has sadly come to be expected when the world is dealing with something apart from sombre doom and gloom of the Wahhabi institution, there have been some interesting and disturbing reactions that reflect some entrenched attitudes towards free speech and criticism.

The attitude towards comedic parody laced with political observation differs widely. In Egypt for example, despite the long-standing heritage of presidential domination and totalitarianism, political satires, most prominently Mohammed Subhi's "Mama America", get away with a lot and resonate with the concerns of the Egyptian public. The Egyptian actor Adil Imam's "Al-Irhabi" (The Terrorist) in the 90's was one of the first indigenous Arabic works to tackle and put a human face on the phenomenon of homegrown terrorism and Syria's Duraid Lahham has a long history of political satire, the play "Ka'sak, ya Watan" ("Cheers, o homeland") being one of the most moving works deriding the weakness of the Arab states in confronting Israel, where hope in a bright Arab future is metaphorically killed off in the death of Dureid's new-born baby Ahlam (= dreams).

Continue reading "Tash ma Tash: Serious Saudi Satire or Child's Play?"

Posted by Meph at 04:32 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

October 03, 2006

My Fieldtrip to the Right Blogosphere

Apart from daily scans of the Aggregator, I don't have a lot of time to spend reading blogs of any political/religious stripe. I'm not sure how often our contributors venture out into the wider blogosphere either, let alone cultivate relationships/flamewars with other blogs. My mental image of 'Aqoul somewhat resembles a secluded house on the outskirts of a chaotic city, a bit like Professor X's mansion (I'm sure this will lead to a bizarre side discussion on which X-Men are most like our authors/regulars, but let's try to stay focused).

In any case, I don't follow the daily mumblings of ignorant morons wanking on about dhimmitude and the infinite evils of Islam, nor do I routinely comment on blogs other than this one. Perhaps I'm a victim of the echo chamber effect, but I think it has more to do with wanting to spare myself the frustration of seeing the same Islamophobic glurge repeated over and over until it magically becomes fact.

Continue reading "My Fieldtrip to the Right Blogosphere"

Posted by eerie at 08:16 PM | Comments (35) | TrackBack

October 02, 2006

The reality of Islam and the Republic

I almost missed this fairly important note in the Financial Times on European Islam and the wild-eyed whinging that seems to be becoming the rage in certain circles in North America regarding the Muslim minority in Europe: The reality of Islam and the Republic.

First, the author of the opinion piece, FT’s European Editor, has an excellent summary of the mythology, playing off of a recent publication, Integrating Islam: Political And Religious Challenges in Contemporary France.

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Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 19, 2006

Arar Commission Report Released

A quick note to draw attention to the release of the Maher Arar Commission report (helpful timeline available here). I had a chance to skim the report and the fact-finding document; neither one casts Canada's security services in a favorable light. The report is the result of immense public pressure to investigate Canada's role in Arar's "extraordinary rendition" by US authorities and subsequent torture at the hands of Syrian military intelligence. Now that Arar has been cleared of any wrongdoing, the media is having a field day over the commission report's scathing indictment of the Mounties.

It is of course important to note that the commission's ability to gather information was limited by the US State Department's refusal to cooperate. In light of this decision, I found it rather telling that portions of the report were censored to protect "international relations" as well as national security. In any case, it was found that Canadian authorities did not participate in Arar's actual deportation to Syria, though the intel supplied to US authorities likely played a part in their decisionmaking.

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Posted by eerie at 10:47 PM | Comments (26) | TrackBack

September 07, 2006

Funny, they don't look Jewish: the bin Laden 9/11 video

One can hope that the diseased conspiracy theory in many Arab and Muslim places that Israel and/or "the Jews" (and/or the US Administration) pulled off 9/11 will suffer its own 9/11 with the release of an al-Qaeda video showing bin Laden and the perpetrators together. It has apparently run on al-Jazeera. I haven't seen it yet, but our illustrious regional and vernacular-speaking readers can provide more details on it, and how far it might go in putting Middle East 9/11 Conspiracy Theory numbers 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 6.0, 8.0, 112.0-117.0, and 234.0-256.0 to rest. Hmmm, wait a minute, only a small number of Muslims were killed at the World Trade Center, perhaps they were all warned in advance?

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August 23, 2006

Do-It-Yourself Profiling and Islamophobia

Following up on Matthew's barbuphobia entry, I would like to draw attention to some relatively minor yet rather disturbing events. Mere blips, but indicative of a growing acceptance of Islamophobia as an appropriate response to the current situation in MENA and the West.

Via Progressive Islam, the media has reported two separate incidents where passenger hysteria led to the ejection of Muslims from a plane. On a Malaga-Manchester flight, passengers overheard two Asian men speaking "Arabic" and refused to fly until they were removed. Similarly, a Canadian doctor returning home from a conference in Denver was escorted off a plane because one of the passengers found his behaviour suspicious and reported it to the flight crew. He was reciting evening prayers.

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Posted by eerie at 04:46 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

August 10, 2006

More Death in the Levant: A Personal Note

David Lelchook was cut down by a Hizbullah rocket landing in or around Kibbutz Sa'ar, Israel on August 2. He was bicycling, unsuccessfully, to a bomb shelter. The rest of his family had relocated to the south for safety. He was hit by the explosive force of the random projectile. I didn't know him or his views, but I have known his sister for quite some time. Reading the latest news the other day, David's rare surname jumped out. A phone call confirmed the relation.

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Posted by Matthew Hogan at 05:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 05, 2006

Another death fatwa for the war?

I don't know if MEMRI has translated this one yet.

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Posted by Matthew Hogan at 01:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 02, 2006

Jihadist Prudence: Gitmo Tribunal Decision

For those interested, a text of the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision can be found here. That's the very recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the military tribunals President Bush established by Executive Order for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The decision is a bit convoluted given that the Court had to first torture the interpretation of a very specific law which prohibited courts from hearing these habeas corpus petitions made by Gitmo prisoners. (The Court reasons that the prohibition doesn't apply to those petitions, such as Hamdan's, which had already been filed when that anti-habeas law was passed in 2005.) While I favor the overall result of the case, I do share dissenting Justice Thomas' pique at the majority's sleight of hand jurisprudence and their evasion of the application of plain language and common sense on that particular issue.

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Posted by Matthew Hogan at 09:38 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

June 25, 2006

The Goofy Florida US "Muslim" Cult

I have caught some limited coverage of this.

I have to say that while American authorities were doubtless justified in arresting these retarded gits, the circus announcement and characterisation as some kind of Muslim terror cell linked to al-Qaeda, that Sr. authorities such as Gonzalez indulged in, is either mendacious or retarded itself. First, the Moorish Science loons are hardly Muslim at all, and second, the plot itself bordered on the comical. A bunch of unemployed whanker loons is not something to make a huge deal out of (although for political reasons, I suppose, although it does tend to piss away street cred). Doing so smells of fairly short-termist scare-mongering politics and pandering to Islamophobia.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:17 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

June 18, 2006

Somalia: Islamic Courts & Women's Progress

A quick note on a interesting arty in The Washington Post on the role of women in backing The Islamic Courts movement that seems to be well on its way to taking power in Somalia and displacing the "secular" warlords.

If there is one item that most at once irritates and amuses me about Western and American commentary specifically is the weird gullibility in the usage of "secular" versus "Islamist" - although in a sense it is relavatory of why secularism has or is failing in the MENA region and many parts of the Islamic world - where "secular" seems to mean "any corrupt bunch of idiots presently in power who are not overtly and ostentatiously 'Islamist' in political orientation."

If this is the "secularism" being offered, and indeed backed by the West and America specifically, does anyone think it should be suprising that, whatever bitter individuals like Hirsi Ali Magaan say for the consumption of the fearful Westerner, secularism is losing ground?

Posted by The Lounsbury at 04:36 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

May 24, 2006

You Say You Want A Revolution? Chechen Sufism vs. Islamist Terrorism

In a hilariously ironic turn of events, it seems that the Russian Federation central government is now encouraging Chechens to return to observance of their indigenous flavor of Sufism , after 200 years of official anti-Islam policy ranging from denial that observant Muslims even existed to active persecution of believers. Well, I suppose that if you think your alternative is acceptance of a line of thought held by the charming folks who held a theater full of innocent civilians hostage, anything must seem like an improvement.

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May 02, 2006

America's great "success"

Government spin is always a wondrous thing, but rarely can one enjoy something so blatant as this:

Washington -- Thanks to the successes of the U.S.-led multinational counterterrorism effort, terror organizations are now smaller and more sophisticated, and more challenging than ever to bring to justice, says Ambassador Henry Crumpton, coordinator of the State Department’s counterterrorism office.

"Successes" that make an enemy more dangerous and even harder to fight? Yep, we're all immensely thankful for those.

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April 26, 2006

Sinai: the Bombing Fad, Egypt and the decline of good solid craftmanship

Well, it appears as if a whole fad for the youngsters has broken out in the Egyptian Sinai, bombing the neighbors.

While I am sure it is all good clean fun the Egyptian state wil take a dim view of what it claims is the Sinai Bedouine's new hobby.

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Posted by The Lounsbury at 03:47 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

April 24, 2006

Dahab: Why Egypt's anti-terrorism strategy just doesn't work

The first time I went to Dahab was in the early 90s. Back then it was the "Goa of the Middle East" - a conglomeration of hut camps on a 2 mile stretch of coastline, a gorgeous coral reef less than 50m off the beach, relaxed attitudes and plenty of hash to go around. It was the perfect spot to relax after the throngs of the Nile valley, the chaos of Cairo, or the religious zealotry of Jerusalem. Initially a place through which one passed on the way from Africa to Asia, or Europe to Africa (or the other way around), it soon became a destination unto itself, attracting Israeli and European teenagers and students who wanted to "get away from it all" but didn't have the cash to travel far.

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Posted by raf* at 06:20 PM | Comments (40) | TrackBack

Takfiri Encore: Dahab, Egypt Resort Bombed

Sadly it appears that the murderous Takfiri / al-Qaeda scum have struck again, in Dahab, the quasi hippy-ish Egyptian resort on the Red Sea coast of the Sinai.

Initial Reuters reporting suggests bombing of the Dahab market area. Dahab is heavily frequented by Egyptians, although foreigners also have a presence there.

Al Jazeera has an initial report of 12 dead and 90 injured.

[Updated: FT has via William Wallace and Heba Saleh