Calls are increasing for the implementation of HR2265, the Bill before congress sponsored by Representatives Blumenauer and Shay (and its Kennedy sponsored Senate counterpart 1651). I waded through the bureaucratic goop to get to the heart of HR 2265 here, and Christine did us a great turn by coming up with a FAQ to show our readers just how bad this bill really is. Yesterday this article highlighted how few of the Iraqis who worked beside us in Iraq are being processed as refugees:

This year, Bush administration officials began publicly discussing the special dangers faced by Iraqis working with Americans here and acknowledging the need to grant them safe haven in the United States. The administration has set up a special program for a small number of Iraqis, which gives preferential treatment to full-time employees of the U.S. Embassy, currently about 125 in Baghdad, and to 500 interpreters by allowing them to skip the lengthy U.N. refugee process once they leave Iraq. But thousands more Iraqis work for the United States through contractors or the subcontractors working for them. In all, 69,000 Iraqis work on contracts with the Pentagon through Iraqi and foreign companies, according to the U.S. military. They are cleaners, construction workers, drivers and security guards, and although they face the same reprisals as anyone working more directly with the U.S. government, they do not fall into the special category.

This comes roughly the same time as the nation’s top Intelligence chief announces that terrorists (specifically from Iraq) have been entering the United States through the southern border,

Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell revealed to the El Paso Times that the United States had caught Iraqi terrorists trying to get into the country across its still-unfenced southern border. According to a report subsequently published in WorldNetDaily, Adm. McConnell’s office revealed that, “During fiscal 2006, there were 14 Iraqi nationals caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally, while so far in 2007, that number is 16.” The online publication quoted the DNI as saying, “The goal is for terrorists to gain admittance to the United States, and then produce ‘mass casualties.’”

If caught, the report goes on to say, the Jihadists are being coached to cry out for “amnesty”.

HR 2265, as we have documented provides absolutely no safe guards to prevent infiltration by terrorists, and IN FACT, removes any significant barrier to entry for KNOWN terrorists, not just in Iraq, but worldwide. The Shamnesty bill (which people rightly despised) was a towering work of staggering legislative genius by comparison.

We are sympathetic to the plight of Iraqi nationals who have sacrificed much to work alongside the United States. Sympathy is not the issue. The correct solution is not to bring them here, but to continue the fight to establish their homeland as a safe and viable country. It is not an accident that the same people calling for HR 2265 and its counterpart are the same who push for retreat and failure in Iraq. They have worked long and hard to undermine the efforts for which these Iraqi nationals have risked their lives. It is their demands for a precipitous withdrawal which puts the Iraqis in danger. And now they sponsor this bill, or one like it, which will insure that terrorists do indeed follow us home, as the war’s supporters have long claimed would happen. Right now HR 2265 is in the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees. We must not let it see the light of day.

Belgium’s High Court Refuses to Overturn Brussels’ Mayor Freddy Thielemans’ demonstration ban against Stop the Islamistation of Europe. The Baron has more:

The Belgian Council of State has surprised everyone (especially me) and ruled speedily on the matter of the SIOE demo. Its promptness is probably explained by the fact that it has decided against the demonstration, backing up the mayor of Brussels.

The authorities apparently decided that they were able to understand SIOE’s appeal after all, despite the fact that it wasn’t delivered to them in French.

Brussels Journal explains some of the politics at play:

According to the CoS Udo Ulfkotte cannot prove that his interests have been harmed by the mayor’s ban.

This verdict may sound nonsensical to non-Belgians, but in Belgium it is not considered harmful to have one’s political freedoms restricted. In Belgium it is also considered quite normal that the lawyer representing Mayor Thielemans before the CoS is Marc Uyttendaele. The latter is one of the most expensive lawyers in the country. He is also the husband of Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian minister of Justice, who is responsible for appointing, promoting and suspending judges.

Many have indicated they still intend appear in Brussels regardless, SIOE has more.

Stop the Madrassa links to the latest NY Sun editorial on the proposed “Arabic language” school in Brooklyn, as yet another organization speaks out against the proposed school and its questionable religious advisory board:

If one thought the chorus of concern over the proposed Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn couldn’t grow any broader or any louder, it has just done so. The Department of Education’s Arabic-themed school has now drawn the attention of a group founded to preserve the memory of Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese-American author and poet whose name the school bears. The Friends of Gibran Council stated in a press release yesterday that, based upon available information to date, the proposed school “would not honor the legacy of a great poet, an artist who achieved greatness in the US as an emigrant fleeing Lebanon where his community has been suffering persecution in their ancestral home in Lebanon at the hands of religious powers.” The release further points out that Gibran’s ancestry was Lebanese, Christian, and Maronite, making the act of attaching his name to a school dedicated to Arab language and culture a bit suspect.

Atlas has more on the Friends of Gibran Council:

Gibran was a believer in the universality of human rights and the dignity of the individual. Therefore, the board of trustees of the KGIA should reflect Gibran’s values and ideals. Appointing radicals and Imams who have been associated with extremist and Jihadist groups is an affront to these ideals.

As Atlas says:

Don’t this beat all? THE SCHOOL MUST NOT OPEN. Why won’t we fight for what we believe? Islam wins by default.  The use of Lebanese-American author poet Khalil Gibran is taqiya (Koranic instruction to deceive  in order to advance Islam) in its most perfect and vile form.

(Cross-posted from Refugee Resettlement Watch):

While checking on the status of the Somali refugee rape case we reported a few days ago, I found this account of another horrible crime in the same Minneapolis-St. Paul newspaper. Why is it that those promoting the wonderous things diverse cultures bring to America avoid mentioning the dark side?

And to think that you paid for Afif Abdiaziz Ahmed, and others like him, to come to America. You gave him airfare to get here, cash to start out, English language lessons, medical care, subsidized housing and food stamps. A case worker likely helped him find a job. And now, you will pay for lifetime nursing care for the woman he brutalized and can never live on her own.

Advocates and law enforcement authorities say domestic violence often is a taboo topic in the male-dominated Somali community.

——-

“The level of brutality in this case really set it apart from most cases we’ve dealt with,” Gaertner said. “It’s amazing she survived. The lifelong results of those injuries are absolutely tragic.”

——–

Ahmed showed no signs of remorse, said St. Paul police Sgt. Paul Schnell. Nor did he offer any explanation beyond telling police that he cut her face and genitals so “she will never mess with another man again,” the complaint said.

——–

It appears that her face had been beaten and cut numerous times,” the police report said of the victim. “Her head had so many lacerations and so much blood on it, her face was hard to identify as a human head.”

——–

Ahmed beat her with his fists and a metal pole. He raped her with a knife

If you are as angry as I am, tell your elected officials that this must stop. And, while you are at it, copy this horrific story and send it to Senators Kennedy, Levin, and Biden who wrote and sponsored the Refugee Act of 1980.

From our buddies at NIAC:

President Bush announced today that he has authorized US forces in Iraq to confront Iran militarily. “I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran’s murderous activities,” Bush said in a speech to US war veterans in Reno. Simultaneously, US forces raided a hotel in Baghdad and detained ten Iranians who according to a U.S.-funded radio station included members of an Iranian negotiation team.

This move comes amidst a campaign by the White House to escalate the rhetorical war between Washington and Tehran, in which the President has taken concerted new steps toward war. This flurry of rhetoric has largely rung hollow in the halls of Congress, as members are away for summer recess.

While Congress has been gone, the harshness and frequency of the rhetoric from both sides has steadily increased. Last week the Bush administration announced its intention to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity, an unprecedented move. This week in Reno, the President reiterated accusations that Iran was smuggling weapons into Iraq while chastising the Iraqi prime minister for his diplomatic relations with Iran. Left unchallenged, all these steps point in one, undeniable direction: War.

While apparently Iranian agents instigating the murder of our troops will usher in a new age of lollipops and unicorns for everyone. Notice how its never the Iranians who are escalating the chance of war, according to NIAC, despite the Iranian president’s increased belligerence, and how it declines to cast its eye on the human cost of the Mullah’s continued dominance. (h/t SIAD blog):

Mass public hanging, as well as secret executions in prisons, are routine in the tyrannical Islamic Republic of Iran. Recently Majid Kavousifar, 28, and his nephew, Hossein Kavousifar, 24, were hanged for the alleged murder of a hard-line judge, Hassan Moghaddas, who also was a deputy prosecutor and head of the “guidance” court in Tehran and notorious for jailing and condemning to death political dissidents. The victims were hanged from cranes and hoisted high above one of Tehran’s busiest thoroughfares. This “judge” had repeatedly bragged publicly that he often issued a death verdict without even examining the charges against the individual. The Islamic Republic of Iran has the dubious distinction of executing more children, those under the age of 18, than any other country in the world. Such is the plight of the Iranian people.

Don’t let your congressmen and senators be badgered by Regime apologists. Fortunately, NIAC has provided a very simple link to contact your representatives. Just enter in your zip code, and than of course change the pre-written drivel before sending.

Not in Saudi Arabia, Iran or Indonesia, but in Washington D.C:

On a sidewalk in Shaw, a dozen Muslim men wearing red T-shirts gather an hour before sundown. Half line up quietly behind an imam. Facing southeast toward Mecca, they bow their heads and read aloud verses from the Koran. The other half spread themselves out and look up and down the street. After a few minutes, they switch places. The men have come not just to pray but to assume control over a crime-prone block.

Let me begin by saying I’m all for neighborhoods taking ownership of their city streets and reporting crimes to the local authorities. But I fail to see how that requires any religious element in order to achieve it.

Driven by the power of faith, the patrol has a secondary aim: to “call people to worship Allah,” said Khalil Davis, the imam for the Salafi Society of D.C. mosque.

Creating the perception of being for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice has long been a method by which Islamists gain support in local communities for what eventually becomes the imposition of Sharia. The group’s leader, Leroy “Mahdi” Thorpe, is at best described as a controversial figure, even in his own neighborhood, where a bitter election campaign took place last year to oust Thorpe from his position on the Advisory Neighborhood Council, which he had held for years:

Supporters say Thorpe has single-handedly shut down many of the crack houses that plagued the neighborhood for years, by simply going in with a bullhorn and telling the vagrants they had to leave. Thorpe co-founded the “Red Hats” volunteer patrol group in 1988, which, according to a campaign flier, has closed down 56 documented crack houses and hosted more than 142 anti-drug marches and rallies. The flier also states that Thorpe “supports viable economic development such as the rebuilding and retail opportunities for the O Street Market and neighborhood sit-down restaurants.” But according to Padro, who’s been on the ANC since 2001, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“He’d like to prevent business development from happening, especially [alcohol] licensing,” Padro says. “He’d like to prevent any development that is mixed-use or mixed-income. He’s held this community back for decades.”

If reactionary opinions about how alcohol licenses are distributed were Mr. Thorpe’s only questionable activities, perhaps there would be no concern. However, on September 20th, 2001, Thorpe was quoted in the Washington Post as calling the 9/11 attacks, “chickens coming home to roost.”

In addition, during the 2006 ANC campaign the organization D.C Homeowners Against Leroy Thorpe alleged that Thorpe had been arrested on rape charges in 1984, and was convicted on the lesser charge of simple assault.

Not mentioning the 20+ year old criminal verdict is perhaps understandable but ignoring the comments published in its own pages is unacceptable. The sad fact is that the Post is willing to ignore any evidence, or easily found controversy regarding Mr. Thorpe, in order to praise his anti-drug, and more to the point, his pro-Islam activities on the streets of D.C, streets.

(h/t Exile): Wall Street Journal today is running a piece by Daniel Schwammenthal on the banning of the S.I.O.E demonstration. In it, Schwammenthal interviews Mayor Freddy. (the WSJ article is behind a subscriber only wall, but more snips are available from Brussels Journal

Yet you don’t have to sympathize with the speakers to believe in free speech. Beyond that, banning the protest partly out of fear of violent reactions from Muslims would seem to bolster the protesters’ point. If Muslim radicals decide the level of debate about Islam in Europe, doesn’t it show that “Islamization,” the erosion of traditional European liberties, is a reality? Mr. Thielemans did not address that irony. He said instead that he’s not only worried about Muslims reacting violently to a SIOE march. “A number of democrats announced that they’d react too,” he said, along with “NGOs that are in favor of peace and integration.” It’s difficult to see how people who threaten to disrupt a demonstration can be called “democrats” or “in favor of peace.” Pressed on the point that the organizers should not be limited in their democratic rights due to what their opponents might do, Mr. Thielemans eventually agreed. In fact, if the counterprotesters were his only worry, he said, he’d probably let the demonstration go ahead. What really concerns him, the mayor said, is the possibility of violent racists infiltrating the protest, mingling among peaceful demonstrators and provoking and attacking foreigners. The mayor says that police have discovered extremist Web sites calling on their followers to join the protest and cause trouble.

Unfortunately, many demonstrations contain the possibility of turning violent and some in the end do so. It is the job of the police to nip such violence in the bud and arrest troublemakers. The pre-emptive strike of banning the entire protest seems justified only if the threat to public safety is significant.

“NGOs” in favor of “peace and integration”? NGOs like the Antifa which the Gates of Vienna has documented so well? Essentially, Mayor Thielemans is admitting here that it is the organizers of the demonstration he has banned who are the only ones who have steadfastly abjured violence. The violent leftist “NGOs for Peace and Integration” have threatened violence, Islamist activists are a risk for violence, and racist fascists would have to “infiltrate” (an indication that they are not welcome by the demonstration’s supporters) to cause trouble, but they could be violent. It is only the demonstration he has banned that has said racism is stupid, that those who attempt to disrupt the demonstrations peaceful message will be pointed out by wardens and turned over to police, and has worked with Belgian law enforcement to insure safety.
The WSJ piece closes with the hopes that Belgium’s high court will recognize that free speech can not be held hostage by those who would use violence to prevent it. We hope so too.

Update: From SIAD Blog:

Today, Dr. Ulfkotte Sioe’s representative met with lawyer Senator Hugo Coveliers, of the Raad van State (Council of State) the only Belgian institution that can annul Mayor Thieleman’s ban on the SIOE demonstration.

The meeting got underway at 12.00 today, Tuesday 28th August.

SIOE has appealed about Mayor Thielemans’s decision and has received help from Belgium’s most respected lawyer, Senator Hugo Coveliers, who has taken up the case in the Raad van State.

Senator Hugo Coveliers expects an 80% chance that the Raad van State will support SIOE and declare Thielemans’s prohibition illegal.

SIAD promises updates as soon as they become available so check back from time to time to find out the latest.

Update: SIOE Blog says, “No Decision”:

Belgium has three official languages, Flemish (Dutch), French and German.The SIOE appeal against Brussels Mayor Thielemans’s ban of the 11th September demonstration, Stop Islamisation Of Europe was presented to a Dutch speaking court.

Senator Hugo Coveliers outlined SIOE’s reasons for having the outrageous ban overturned and arrived at an outrageous decision.

Or more accurately, a non-decision.

After listening to the case for two hours those in judgement smiled and said something along the lines of “This is not a matter for us, take it to a French speaking court”.

They also suggested that Udo Ulfkotte could not possibly represent 20,000 demonstrators and that perhaps it would be necessary for each of the 20,000 persons to attend a hearing separately!

Some buck passing by the Dutch speaking court. Stay tuned.

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, which WC and I cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time. 

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Callers welcome!

If you are unable to listen live to the radio show, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

Friday, August 31: SPECIAL SHOW!

This week’s scheduled guest for the entire hour will be Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch. He is the author of two the bestsellers The Truth About Muhammad and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). Others of his books include Islam Unveiled: Disturbing Questions About the World’s Fastest Growing Faith and Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West.

The primary topic of our discussion on the August 31 show will be Mr. Spencer’s just-published book Religion of Peace? Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn’t. According to information at Mr. Spencer’s site, the book is a refutation of moral equivalence and call to defend Judeo-Christian civilization from the global jihad. The titles of the chapters of Mr. Spencer’s new book:

1. No, Virginia, All Religions Aren’t Equal
2. Wars of Religion
3. We Have Met the Enemy and He Is…
4. The Real Threat
5. Cherry-Picking in the Fields of the Lord
6. The Cross and the Sword
7. Christian Anti-Semitism vs. Islamic “Apes and Pigs”
8. The West Calls for Dialogue; Islam Calls for Jihad
9. Faith and Unreason
10. Democracy, Whiskey, Sexy
11. Women in the West vs. Burqas and Beatings
12. Yes, Virginia, Western Civilization Is Worth Defending

Dr. Andrew Bostom has written an extensive review of Mr. Spencer’s book [Hat-tip to Pamela Geller, at whose web site I found the review] and states the following about the book:

Robert Spencer’s sobering new book, “Religion of Peace?” reveals how the prevailing multicultural orthodoxy in the West—rooted in self-hatred, uncritical, blanket pacifism, and complacency—negates the profound differences between Judeo-Christian and Islamic civilization, obfuscating the existential threat posed by Islam’s enduring, central institution: the jihad. This corrosive mentality is disseminated by the avatars of immoral equivalence, “elite” sword swallowers for jihadism who have foisted their own self-destructive desensitization to this genocidal institution upon a general public, sadly ill-informed about Islamic doctrine and history.

In that same review, Dr. Bostom cites the following words from Mr. Spencer’s book:

Christianity is a religion of peace, and it is a religion without a jihadist movement. Islam is a religion of the sword and there are, by even the most conservative estimates, more than one hundred million active jihadists seeking to impose sharia not only in the Islamic world, but in Europe and ultimately in the United States. And they will succeed, in time, if Westerners continue to delude themselves that Western civilization is uniquely responsible for the evil in the world, that Christianity is just as inherently violent as Islam, that all cultures are equal in their capacity to inspire magnanimity, nobility, generosity, and greatness of soul. This is a suicidal myth.Whether one believes in Christianity or not, it is necessary now for all lovers of authentic freedom to acknowledge their debt to the Judeo-Christian West, to the Judeo-Christian assumptions that built Europe and the United States, and to acknowledge that this great civilization is imperiled and worth defending.

Be sure to listen, live or via the recording, to The Gathering Storm Radio Show this week!

Note: A special thanks to Pamela Geller for putting in a good word with Mr. Spencer about The Gathering Storm Radio Show. WC and I appreciate your help!
Pamela’s interview with Mr. Spencer is HERE

Powerline has the full story. (H/T Ace of Spades):

Freedom’s Watch has placed its ads on Fox and CNN, but CNBC and MSNBC have refused to run the ads. Ari Fleischer wrote this morning on behalf of Freedom’s Watch to let us know that CNBC and MSNBC have stubbornly refused to air the pro-war ads, even though they have run issue ads on other controversial topics. Freedom’s Watch has written to CNBC and MSNBC to protest their decision;

From FW’s letter to the Networks:

FW has requested time on your networks to air advertisements discussing the War Against Terrorism. Your reporters and commentators discuss this issue on your programs at every hour of the day so you clearly agree this is an issue of great public importance. FW’s advertisements, to be sure, present a view of this debate that rounds out your coverage. These ads feature Iraq War Veterans and their families discussing their sacrifices in personal terms and their belief that we must allow the military time to complete its mission in Iraq and seek victory. This is a side of this issue that should not be silenced by national cable networks. We believe that rather than censor these American heroes, you should let the American public hear their story.

Just so its clear, this is an example of MSNBC, and CNBC stabbing themselves in the wallet in order to avoid airing a view they don’t agree with. And while that’s their free choice, its also a reprehensible choice. As Powerline says,

Freedom of speech: at some of our cable networks, you can’t even buy it!

For those of you who haven’t seen them, you can go to their website. Thankfully the networks are no longer the so arbiters of what is and is not viewed by the public. I’d also encourage you to call your congressman to express your feelings. FW has provided a free 800 number to make it easier for you, 1-877-222-8001.
Just another example of a urgent national conversation desperately needed, and which the media elite refusing to allow.

Abdullah Gul has been sworn in as Turkey’s president reports the International Herald Tribune:

Turkey’s new, Islamic-rooted president on Tuesday praised the Muslim country’s secular system and pledged impartiality in a speech after being sworn in.

“Secularism — one of the main principles of our republic — is a precondition for social peace as much as it is a liberating model for different lifestyles,” Abdullah Gul said. “As long as I am in office, I will embrace all our citizens without any bias. I will preserve my impartiality with the greatest of care,” Gul said.

Whether Gul and his party will live up to that statement remains to be seen.  Note the IHP’s use of “Islamic-rooted” as a description. How much do you want to bet that the original article said “Islamist” before the editors got a hold of it? Oh well, they still did a better job than CNN, (h/t Jihadwatch):

Former Islamist Abdullah Gul has been elected president of Turkey following a contest that has split the nation and drawn opposition from the army.  Gul, the country’s current foreign minister, won the third round vote Tuesday at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, backed by 339 out of the 448 lawmakers who attended the session.

Gul, regarded as modernizer who has been key to Turkey’s negotiations with the European Union about entry, has been conciliatory towards his critics, vowing to maintain the traditions of secularism on which modern Turkey is built.

Spencer calls CNN’s report “Fantasy-based Analysis”, which is probably an accurate assessment. The elites in the media (and the European Union) want to believe Islam is peaceful, and a society which uses Islam as its political and judicial primer will be just as respectful of human rights and freedoms as any other. It’s a fantasy, but its a nice fantasy, so they seem content to believe it just a little longer.

Some scimitar-rattling from Turkey’s Chief of Staff (h/t Hot Air):

Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the military, said in a note on the military’s Web site, that “our nation has been watching the behavior of centers of evil who systematically try to corrode the secular nature of the Turkish Republic.”  Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, whose bid earlier this year to become president in a parliamentary voting process was blocked by the secular establishment because of concerns about his Islamic past, was expected to win the post on Tuesday.  The statement from the military, which seized power from civilian governments three times in past decades, was issued to mark the 85th anniversary on Aug. 30 of a military victory that was crucial for the establishment of modern Turkey.

Earlier this month, there was a purge of Islamists from some Turkish military commands which took place just a week after the AKP election victory, an obviously necessary move if the military does intervene.  A military intervention could sink Turkey’s bid towards acceptance in the EU (From RFE/RL March, 2006):

That the Turkish government and military do not appear to fully appreciate the seriousness of the EU’s views on the matter is the main conclusion of a report drawn up by the Dutch-based Center for European Security Studies.  Presenting the report in Brussels, its author, David Greenwood, said that in December 2004, when an EU summit approved entry talks with Turkey, it had also found the military’s powers unacceptable.  “The EU said that while Turkey was clearly en route to alignment with European policy and practice, the Turkish high command continues to enjoy greater authority and greater autonomy in security matters than is normal in EU member states; and the extent of legislative oversight and wider democratic oversight of the military in Turkey remains inadequate,” he said.

Ignoring the opportunity to make a snarky remark about the EU’s belief in appropriate amounts of “military power” (answer: none), its worth pointing out that the UK’s Gordon Brown praised the AKP’s election win back in July (as did Hamas btw) largely based on their desire for EU acceptance.  That it is a force deeply committed to a secular society that may keep Turkey no longer qualifies irony.
Finally, Turkey was the last holder of the Caliphate and a victory for Islamism there would be highly symbolic to the enemy, a point made well by this Hizb-Ut-Tahrir video we’ve linked to before (part on Turkey begins about 3:00 minutes in). And while I’m not anxious to recommend a military intervention to reverse the direction of what (by all accounts) was a freely elected government, we do know from history that not all elected parties have a commitment to future representative government.

You know how to do it. It’s one step forward, and two steps back. (H/T on both articles to USS Neverdock) From the first article comes this postive story of Afghan women opening businesses:

The provincial governor is now planning a shopping centre with about 200 shops, exclusively owned by women. The initiative is also helping customers as many families do not allow their women to enter shops run by men. Since the Taleban were ousted from Afghanistan, many women have found that gaining or regaining their rights is a long and difficult process. Yet in some places, they are managing to chip away at patriarchal institutions.

Of course the BBC can’t for the life of them figure out what the name of that patriarchal institution, but you take what you can get from the MSM.

One step forward, and:

The Osnabrueck Symphony Orchestra from northwestern Germany will play works by Beethoven, Brahms and Elgar in Tehran this week following a successful visit by the Tehran Symphony Orchestra to their town last year. The German orchestra, whose female players will have to wear Islamic headscarves to obey Iran’s dress code, will be boosted by six Iranian musicians for the concerts. The orchestra’s directors were at pains to emphasise their visit would not stray into politics and was purely aimed at increasing cultural understanding between Iran and the West.

Two steps back.

Efforts to democratize and secularize the Ummah are debated amongst counter-jihad pundits, with some taking the view that they are doomed to failure, and others seeing such efforts as the last best hope. I fall into the later school because of stories like these.  After all, at least in Afghanistan there is a small elite working to (in the BBC’s terms), “chip away at patriarchal institutions” while in most of the west, the elites are for wholesale submission. Take for instance the woman referenced in the October, 2006 Brussels Journal piece, “The Rape of Europe” (which I reference because it was recently forwarded to me by a family member):

Broder is convinced that the Europeans are not willing to oppose islamization. “The dominant ethos,” he told De Volkskrant, “is perfectly voiced by the stupid blonde woman author with whom I recently debated. She said that it is sometimes better to let yourself be raped than to risk serious injuries while resisting. She said it is sometimes better to avoid fighting than run the risk of death.”

So when picking your dance partner in the counter-jihad, who would you choose, the Afghan shopkeep, or the European feminist?

From this August 24, 2007 article in the Washington Post:

More than 50 candidates in this fall’s elections are expected to appear in Reston tomorrow [August 25] at a political picnic organized by a group of Northern Virginia mosques, and organizers say the heavy turnout underscores the growing influence of Muslim voters in local politics.

The event, the group’s seventh annual “family and civic picnic,” has a dual purpose, organizers say. Through a voter registration drive, they hope to persuade more Muslims to become involved in local elections. In addition, they hope to show the candidates that “we’re here, we care, and we do vote,” said Shirin Elkoshairi, a spokesman for the Sterling-based All Dulles Area Muslim Society, which has more than 5,000 members.

“[The turnout] definitely shows that candidates feel that Muslims are voting and are a force at the polls,” Elkoshairi said.

So far, nothing remarkable in the article.

Then comes the mention of Mukit Hossain, about whom I have blogged on more than one occasion. An index to those postings is HERE.

According to the following information in my first posting on Hossain back in August of 2005,

For Hossain, helping immigrants, most from Central and South America, is a Muslim issue. Charity is one of the five pillars of Islam. So he raised money from Muslim businessmen in Herndon to buy 400 winter coats for the laborers, brought them food through another charity he started, called Food Source, and even rounded up day laborers to attend a Thanksgiving dinner at an Iraqi restaurant where falafel, not turkey, was served.“I consider them my neighbors,” said Hossain…[…]Hossain has not only parlayed giving food and coats to illegal migrants into a federally funded exercise in Da’wa (Islamic propagation), he has assisted those who broke the law with legal aid to help them fight to stay in the US. Hossain exploits his ‘charitable’ work for furthering his Islamist agenda,and openly proclaims this to be his political mission as well…. Hossain is also active in MAS, the Muslim American Society, the group which is in the forefront of campaiging for the release of jailed presidental assassin wannabe Omar Abu Ali. MAS also lauded Hossain as a ’supporter’ of their organisation which is directly linked to ICNA and by extension Al Qaeda. The trustee of MAS’s Islamic American University is Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi who proclaimed that Muslim women have an Islamic duty to become suicide bombers. 

Apparently, Hossain is quite the advocate for immigration, and it doesn’t matter to him whether those immigrants are illegal or not because he ties his advocacy with his Muslim duty.

Returning now to the first-cited link in this posting,

There are about 64,000 Muslims registered to vote in Virginia, with the vast majority of them in the outskirts of Washington, said Mukit Hossain, president of the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee, which tracks trends and endorses candidates in many local elections.[…]Organizers also expect candidates from Loudoun and Prince William counties, which last month approved resolutions aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants. Although the actions were seen as primarily affecting Hispanics, they have sparked concern among Muslims because of fears that the actions could increase racial profiling and curb civil liberties, Hossain said.“I think since 9/11, the Muslim community has learned that any community can be attacked,” he said. “When someone is attacked unfairly, we have to stand in solidarity with them.”As we approach the sixth anniversary of 9/11, here is Hossain whining about Muslims being targeted.

Excuse me, Mr. Hossain, but nearly 3000 innocent people died during those horrific attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon as well as those stop-the-hijackers patriots about Flight 93, which went down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Have you forgotten about those who perished on 9/11? Do you consider the very few verified cases of post-9/11 persecution of Muslims to be more significant than Islamic terrorist attacks? Also, Mr. Hossain, I remind you that Muslim is not a race.

And here is a bit more from Hossain:

Hossain, who has been organizing opposition to the Loudoun and Prince William votes [against illegal immigration], said his group conducted a survey of Virginia Muslims and found that immigration was their top local concern. Education was second, he said, and respect for diversity was third.

Muslims respect diversity? Really? Oh, that’s right, Saudi Arabia is one respect-for-diversity country. **snerk**

The article also states the following:

Although Muslims represent a tiny part of the electorate, candidates are beginning to see the value of courting Islamic voters, because small but motivated groups can have a big impact at the polls, he said. That’s especially true for off-year elections, which tend to have lower voter turnout. Last fall, more than 86 percent of registered Muslim voters turned out to vote, he said, compared with about 53 percent of the general population.That has not gone unnoticed among political activists, said Brian Roherty, campaign manager for Michael Firetti, who is running for chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.“Every single vote counts, and smart politicians know that,” Roherty said.Ah, the dhimmitude of politicians, as they cater to the whim of a “tiny part of the electorate”! Somehow, that phrase is reminiscent of another few words: “a tiny portion of extremists,” often used to refer to Islamic terrorists. 

 

Even a champion of the battle against illegal immigration in Northern Virginia, Loudoun Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio is attending the picnic:

Loudoun Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), the main sponsor of Loudoun’s resolution, said he plans to attend tomorrow’s event, partly because the Muslim community reflects his values of being “extremely moral and religious.” His district’s demographics are among the most rapidly changing in Northern Virginia. For example, Sterling’s Park View High School was two-thirds white in 2000; last year, whites made up less than half the school.“We have a lot of ethnic groups represented here,” he said. “Sterling is like the United Nations. It’s a very diverse neighborhood.” 

Oh, yes, Mr. Delgaudio, Muslims are extremely moral. Why don’t you do a little reading on the topic? You can start by reading Western Resistance and Dr. Homa Darabi Foundation. Those sites might open your eyes as to certain barbaric customs in Islamic culture.

According to the August 24, 2007 Washington Post article, a good turnout is expected for the pandering to Muslim voters:

Picnic organizers are expecting a broad spectrum of candidates running for the state legislature and boards of supervisors in Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax counties. The candidates will have a chance to speak to and field questions from the more than 1,000 attendees expected.Fairfax County Supervisor Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason), whose diverse district in central Fairfax includes two mosques, said her research has turned up more likely voters among Arab Americans than any other minority group.“Over the past few years we have seen a lot more interest among Arab Americans in the civic culture of our community,” said Gross, adding that she tries to go to the picnic each year and plans to attend tomorrow [August 25]. 

I wonder if CAIR attended.

Islamification continues apace on the political front here in Northern Virginia and elsewhere in the United States. As the percentage of Muslims increases, now allied with immigrants legally present or not, expect more of the same types of events and political pandering. Start checking the local section of your newspaper to see what’s happening in your area.

Twenty-five Self-Censoring U.S. Newspapers don’t carry it…so we’re bringing it to you here - the banned “Opus” cartoon.
Because it’s Saturday morning and the Center for Vigilant Freedom believes in Saturday cartoons and other fine American traditions…

Here’s a bigger image as long as they keep it up…

We’ve told you before about NIAC, the National Iranian American Council, and updated you this week as NIAC board member Mohammad Navab announced in a comment on this blog that he was no longer with The Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII), and all webpages indicating he ever had been a board member at CASMII also disappeared. (available as .pdf here). This evening Gateway Pundit hammers the Associated Press using the Regime apologists as “experts”:

The result of this buildup of US allegations of Iranian involvement in Iraq could also prove to be a prelude to war: “If you can make the case that Iranians are actually killing Americans, that makes it extremely difficult for those opponents of military action to depict the administration as warmongering,” adds Parsi, also the head of the National Iranian American Council.

NIAC is quite open in its desire to prevent conflict with Iran, regardless of what the regime does to provoke it. They are far from unbiased observers in question of Iran-American relations, and despite trite assurances that they do indeed condemn the country’s human rights record they do everything in their power to insure that it’s business as usual for Tehran. As for the Associated Press, Gateway Pundit says:

Is it too much to ask the Associated Press to use Iranian experts who are not working with the regime in Iran for their articles? This AP article is not only factually misleading- It is openly promoting the propaganda of the Iranian Regime!

From the Gathering Storm on the imposition of Sharia in Malaysia:

Minority religions are particularly worried about a series of apostasy rulings. Chinese or Indians who want to marry a Malay must convert to Islam, causing great problems if they divorce or are widowed and want to return to the religion of their birth.

as WC comments:

While the world spends its time confronting the so-called war on terror, the more insidious threat of political Islam goes on almost undetected by the world’s leaders. Islamism with its varied forms of political jihad must be recognized and confronted wherever it’s found – especially in the non-Muslim world where it is making inroads daily.

Agreed. The western public needs to learn to walk and chew gum at the same time. It will do no good, as WC says, to fight the jihadists on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and elsewhere, only to lose to Dawa and Taqiyya at home. Which is what will happen as long as folks like CNN are allowed to retain control of the narrative. Says Phyllis Chesler on CNN’s series “God’s Warriors” (H/T NoisyRoom.net):

Amanpour has never met an Iranian or for that matter a Muslim whom she does not like; yes, even the terrorists and one fundamentalist imam in “the holy city of Quom” receives only a flirtatious wag of her finger when the rather cheerfully admits that women are not allowed to do certain things and are condemned to other things–but that’s for their own good, to protect them. She is warm with him, much less warm with his so-called Israeli counterparts.

She opens her segment on Muslim Warriors with a charming, well-spoken, highly westernized young man, Ed Husain, who was deceived, or who rebelled and became associated with a terrorist group in his native London. Once he realized that they are killing innocent people, even children, he backed away. He has written a book about leaving Islamism.

Ed Husain does not represent most Muslims who at best, remain silent and who do not condemn Islamist imperialism, religious fundamentalism, or America- and Jew-hatred. There are a handful of Muslims who criticize Islam openly. Many are tortured, killed, forced into exile, impoverished, live in hiding, publish under pseudonyms. Her interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali was very, very brief –no more than a minute altogether. On the contrary, she kept returning to former nun Karen Armstrong whose views on Jews, Israel, and Zionism are anti-Semitic with a vengeance. Armstrong also defended veiling and compared it her own habit as a nun. (Stay tuned for more to come about this).

As to women? Amanpour does not tell us any stories of honor killings or women who avoided being honor-murdered but instead focuses on a happy, modestly veiled Muslim-American woman who describes how her choice to “cover” is denigrated and held suspect in America.

Each and every portrait of a Muslim or of a Muslim terrorist’s family presents soulful, thoughtful people, perhaps a bit “different” than you and I but still human, likeable, charming–maybe even made of better stuff than you and I in the west who crave material possessions, display female bodies, allow men and women to intermingle in sexually charged ways, drink alcohol, and refuse to live in a God-centered world.

So while WC reminds us that not all faiths are equal in the eyes of the Muslims of Malaysia, CNN reminds us that not all faiths are equal in the eyes of the Media of America.

Back in July we wrote about The National Iranian American Council Mr. Mohammad Navab, a member of NIAC, (see here,here, and here) and indicating that he was also a board member of the Campaign Against Sanctions And Military Action In Iran (CASMII). Today, we received a comment from Mr. Navab: (see here):

Dear all
Thank you for your efforts towards the well being of this great nation. I, like you wish to see the best continuing for this phenomenal country (the most interesting in human history) and the people of other countries. One clarification that needs to be made though is that I am not a member of CASMII and I would highly appreciate this correction to be made in your analyses.
With thanks and best wishes,
Mohamad Navab

The IP and Email address both trace back to UCLA, where Mr. Navab teaches, so I’m relatively comfortable saying its him. Thinking that perhaps we had made a mistake when we identified Mr. Navab as a CASMII board member, and wishing to correct, I returned to the link we had provided to the CASMII site where Mr. Navab’s name was found, and found this: Access Denied.

Well, I thought, that’s odd. With a little help I found A google cache here:(captured as .PDF here, with additional pages here and here). Mr. Navab had served as a board member of CASMII when our article was written.  Mr. Navab has now been removed from CASMII’s website and is no longer listed as a Board member. It seems that Mr. Navab has chosen to distance himself from CASMII, and he picked a good time to do it. From CASMII this week, “Friendly American Encounter with Revolutionary Guard“.

An American peace delegation which visited Iran recently has described a striking friendly encounter with some three hundred members of the Revolutionary Guards. In a statement, the head of the delegation has strongly debunked the US administration’s decision to label these soldiers as terrorist and has called on Americans to oppose a new war of aggression.

Of course the evidence that IRGC has assisted in the killing of American soldiers is overwhelming. So we were pleased to hear that Mr. Navab has chosen to no longer be with the CASMII Board of Directors, and we congratulate him on that decision.

Ours is the first great political movement of the twenty first century. Words will be written about our deeds and about the courage that we will show by defying dictatorship and assembling as planned on 11 September. Whatever fortune bestows upon us in future years, those of us who go will be able to proudly say that we answered the desperate call of freedom, we had the courage of our convictions and we stood firm and resolute, together in unity and common purpose.

Great causes are not fuelled by ease and certainty but by taking risks, making sacrifices and exhibiting single-minded determination to succeed. Standing up against tyranny and oppression has never been easy or safe, why should it be any different now? It is those with courage who make history it is those that don’t who are shaped by events. It is our holy duty as Europeans to stand up for freedom and defend it when it is in peril. If we are intimidated and make excuses, inventing reasons why we should not go to Brussels in September then we deserve to be slaves. We would be abandoning our rights as Europeans and accepting inevitable servitude and debasement.

The Mayor has illustrated very clearly the direction in which we are heading here in Europe - the European elite’s hand has been tipped. Freedom itself is in peril, we must stand up to defend it or lose it forever. Those in power are terrified by our sort of grass roots, popular movement and will do everything they can to undermine it so that they can cling to their unearned power. They are not yet ready and we have unnerved them. The EU is still only pregnant with tyranny and there is still time to put the EU monster back in its box and stop this undemocratic juggernaut before it gathers the momentum to fully demolish our liberties.

Those of you who are intimidated by the rantings of the man in the Brussels mayor’s office and are thinking of staying in the relative safety of hearth and home consider the following. The powers of the European police state increase with staggering speed. This might indeed be our last chance to openly show our disgust to our rulers. If we do not make this demonstration an overwhelming success there will be consequences. There might be new laws that prevent free speech and free assembly. Our freedom of movement to assemble collectively as Europeans from different national traditions may be put in jeopardy. In fact protesting in public might be made illegal. Furthermore, there will be more time for those in power to brainwash the young and subvert the society that they are there to protect.

The eyes of the world are on us; what we do (or don’t do) in September will resonate across the new century. Defenders of liberty hear me – we must stand together and stand firm, the hopes and aspirations of future generations of Europeans are in our hands. I for one want to be able to say in years to come that I answered the call and was there when the voice of freedom was finally heard. Western civilisation needs you all.

Wake Up America has an interesting post up today about Americans’ love of espionage. WUA also points out Americas’ love of criticizing from afar:

We’re also armchair quarterbacks for football, armchair managers for baseball teams, armchair coaches for basketball teams, and armchair referees/umpires for all three of the afore mentioned.

I have a point here, and it is this. The average American is woefully inadequate for the field of espionage. We take what we are spoon fed by the dinosaur media every night and think that we are better qualified to interpret policy issues based on biased coverage of what is going on overseas rather than relying on those who make careers out of interpreting data and information.

It goes on to link the transcript of an interview with National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, which is a very good read, regarding the FISA court and its problems. The problem many Americans face is not only do we love spies, as WUA points out, but we are utterly and completely ignorant as to what their purpose is. In college I took a course on Intelligence and Democracy, and the professor, a former CIA analyst, pointed out that ultimately Intelligence is about providing a product to a consumer. The product is knowledge about the current goings on in the world, its consumer, the government. In many ways it fulfills a similar role that the media plays for us average Joes, which would explain why the two industries rarely get along, since they are, essentially providing similar services. And like all industries, there are two potential problems. One, if they are a monopoly (or essentially in collusion like much of the MSM) than you must buy what they are selling, or alternatively, if they have a very small demand (as the Government is the only consumer of National Intelligence) than they have to sell what the government is buying. I am not making an argument here that the intelligence community “politicizes” intelligence, as some of the leftist “lied into war” types like to assert, but rather they focus their limited resources on issues of interest to their buyers. Which means if their consumers (the US government) isn’t interested in radical Islam and the radicalization of home grown Muslims, than there won’t be much effort put into finding it: (from a previous post, “In Praise of the NYPD“):

The report is seen by several individuals familiar with it as filling a large gap in the most recent National Intelligence Estimate, which was released July 17 and contained little to no explicit discussion of homegrown terrorism.

Our answer than should be much the same as our answer to the Media oligopoly, which has been to create and support alternative structures. MEMRI and MappingSharia are stepping into this role, but there is room for John Does too. Don’t expect anyone to issue you a shoe phone or a tube of exploding toothpaste, but being in the right place, at the right time with a camera phone can make all the difference.

Flanders Fields asks the question, after the Brussels Journal reports a pro-Hezbollah demonstration is being considered for 9/11:

The Arab-European League (AEL), a pro-Hezbollah organization of Arab immigrants in Belgium and the Netherlands, is rallying its members to march in Brussels on 11 September “against Islamophobia and racism in Europe.” The AEL demonstration is a response to the request by the Danish-British-German organization Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) for permission to demonstrate on 9/11 in front of the European Union’s buildings in Brussels against the introduction of Sharia laws in Europe.

Brussels Socialist Mayor Freddy Thielemans has already given permission for a 9/11 Truther demonstration in September, so why not add injury to insult? Thielemans is allegedly awaiting the Brussels Police official opinion. And given AEL’s past history one wonders what they will say since the AEL has an already well deserved reputation for stirring up trouble:

The Belgian government blamed Arab provocateurs yesterday [11/27/02]. It turned the spotlight on Abou Jahjah, a Lebanese-born extremist and former Hizbollah fighter now known as the Malcolm X of Belgium’s ethnic politics, claiming that he and his followers seized on the incident to inflame racial hatred. Guy Verhofstadt, the prime minister, told parliament he was considering a ban on Abou Jahjah’s Antwerp-based ultra-radical group, the Arab-European League, for inciting violence, issuing threats and disturbing public order. But Abou Jahjah said he was being demonised by manipulators in the Belgian government and the “Zionist lobby”.

Will the Mayor of Brussels allow the demonstration even if the Police warn against it? After all, Thielemans banned the SIOE demonstration and called it “Criminal” despite its receiving the okay from law enforcement, so he has certainly not felt compelled to abide by the Brussels police’s assessments. We shall have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, Tundra Tabloids links to a photo of the kind of demonstrations the Iranian Government approves of (mild graphic content warning).

Whose ideology will rule in Europe? Modern liberty or ancient oppression? The ideology of its ruling elite, one of tepid socialism and cultural nihilism is not going to survive. So with whom will they side?