John on September 1, 2010
I wasn’t all that impressed with some of the quotes that got passed around from Imam Rauf recently. The splashy one about the US having more innocent blood on its hands than Al Qaeda, while unpleasant, is also arguably true. I’m not talking about that Soros-funded Lancet study. That was bunk. But by any measure we have certainly been responsible for hundreds and probably thousands of “collateral damage” deaths in [...]
John on August 25, 2010
That’s not what he says, but it is a fair reading of what he wrote: as is often the case, things in life and politics often take on a special life and meaning of their own. So even though this is just an idea that Imam Rauf and the developers behind Soho Properties came up with, it became a focus for something much bigger. Once the project became the focus [...]
John on August 20, 2010
There has been a lot of gnashing of teeth about the fact that the “ground zero mosque” is not strictly a msque and is some 600 feet from ground zero. Only it turns out it’s already a mosque, sans swimming pool and theater: So, at least for the time being this is in fact a mosque, and only a mosque, very near to ground zero. [HT: Jammie Wearing Fool]
John on August 18, 2010
I thought Josh Marshall would take the crown for most hysterical reaction to opposition to Cordoba House. His call for a Shoah-like project to document the evil as it happened (i.e. resistance to Cordoba House) seemed like a shoe-in, but in the end he’s only first runner up. The tiara definitely goes to Peter Beinart for his piece at the Daily Beast which is full of statements like this: the [...]
John on August 4, 2010
The NY Times calls it a monument to tolerance. That’s spin, but in some sense it’s also true. Most of the world would never allow something like this to happen. But that’s certainly not what the mosque is intended to be by it’s founders and those who are going to pay to have it built (whoever they are). Since we’re in the business here of offering opinions on controversial topics, [...]
John on May 12, 2010
We’ll get there, but it’s not the only thing worth noting in this column. Robert Wright’s first target is Daniel Pipes who wrote something for the Corner a week ago pointing out that the MSM seemed pretty desperate to avoid the obvious conclusion about the Times Square bomber. For proof, Pipes offers quotes from seven major media outlets, several of which say Shahzad’s motives are a mystery. It’s as if, [...]
John on May 6, 2010
He was connected and definitely not a “lone wolf”: ABC News has learned that Shahzad reached out to the Pakistani Taliban. They determined he’d be most valuable here in the states. A central figure in his life, Muslim cleric Anwar Awlaki — American born and a big influence in key attacks on American soil such as the recent massacre in fort hood, which left 13 people dead. ABC News has [...]
John on April 30, 2010
Remember how, after Nidal Hasan killed 13 people on an army base, there were people (the President included) saying his act was not terrorism? There is clearly a knee-jerk reaction to protect Islamists from themselves. That same reaction appears to have been at work in Britain recently. A 21 year old Muslim spray painted the following on a local war memorial: Islam will dominate the world – Osama is on [...]
John on April 26, 2010
I love this: In declaring May 20th to be “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day,” Seattle artist Molly Norris created a poster-like cartoon showing many objects — from a cup of coffee to a box of pasta to a tomato — all claiming to be the likeness of Muhammad. [...]On Friday, Norris told a radio talk show host in Seattle that she came up with the idea because “as a cartoonist, I [...]
John on March 22, 2010
Hat tip to Hot Air headlines for this piece from the London Times: TALIBAN commanders have revealed that hundreds of insurgents have been trained in Iran to kill Nato forces in Afghanistan. The commanders said they had learnt to mount complex ambushes and lay improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been responsible for most of the deaths of British troops in Helmand province. [...] Instructors in plain clothes provided daily [...]
Morgen on March 10, 2010
Colleen LaRose, also known as “Fatima LaRose” and “Jihad Jane”, was indicted by federal authorities today on charges which include conspiring to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. And if this sounds strange, the full story is even stranger still, involving stolen passports, a ring of Yemeni and Moroccan co-conspirators based in Ireland, and an actual stake-out of the cartoonist [...]
John on March 5, 2010
Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of the founder of Hamas. I noted a story about his conversion to Christianity just over a year ago. He’s back and still pulling no punches: During his 50-minute interview, for which he arrived with armed security, Yousef took shots at Hamas leaders including political chief Khaled Meshaal. He lashed out at Hamas, saying the organization lives in the Middle Ages. And he hurled [...]
Morgen on February 17, 2010
There is a somewhat convoluted story flying under the radar about a White House official, Rashad Hussain, who back in 2004 allegedly spoke out in support of Sami Al-Arian, a man accused (and subsequently convicted) of aiding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. Hussain has worked in the White House Counsel’s Office since January 2009, and just last week was appointed by the President as his Special Envoy to the Organization of [...]
Morgen on January 31, 2010
With the Administration apparently reconsidering where to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, here is a perfect illustration of one of the key perils we face if they follow through on their intent to prosecute him in a civilian court. This is U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour speaking at an event hosted by George Soros’ Open Society Institute on January 22, 2010. The main topic of discussion was the closure of [...]
John on January 29, 2010
From the Washington Post: Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming, according to a new audiotape released Friday. In the tape, broadcast in part on Al-Jazeera television, bin Laden warned of the dangers of climate change and says that the way to stop it is to bring “the [...]
John on January 5, 2010
AJ Strata highlights some key graphs in a NY Times piece from yesterday: The attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines passenger jet on Christmas Day heightened a debate that has percolated over the last 12 months. Obama’s approach has been either a dangerous reversal of the Bush years or a consolidation of the Bush years, depending on who is talking. In fact, the new president, during his first year, has [...]
John on January 3, 2010
From the embassy website: The U.S. Embassy in Sana’a is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to attack American interests in Yemen. On December 31, the U.S. Embassy sent a warden message to Americans citizens in Yemen to remind them of the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against American citizens and interests throughout the world. The U.S. [...]
John on January 1, 2010
From Krauthammer’s Friday column: [Obama] sends 30,000 troops to fight terror overseas, yet if any terrorists come to attack us here, they are magically transformed from enemy into defendant. The logic is perverse. If we find Abdulmutallab in an al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen, where he is merely preparing for a terror attack, we snuff him out with a Predator — no judge, no jury, no qualms. But if we [...]
John on December 30, 2009
A connection has already been made between two former Gitmo detainees and the Christmas Day bomber. Now there is another similar connection to add to the growing list. In January 2005, the Bush administration released British Muslim Moazzem Begg from Guantanamo Bay over the objections of the Pentagon, the CIA, and the FBI. Bush apparently did this as a concession to Tony Blair who was taking heat from anti-war activists [...]
Morgen on December 29, 2009
I think everyone would agree that the stupidest thing Janet Napolitano has said all year is that the “system worked” in reference to the failed terror attack on on Northwest flight #253 on Christmas Day. The second stupidest thing Napolitano has said this year, in my opinion, is most likely something you have not heard. Because back in March CNN decided to scrub a portion of an interview with Napolitano [...]
