The Daily Number

I am going to attempt a slightly different comment less (if I can hold myself back) feature.
A more or less daily listing of casualties and/or actions in the ONE WAR, avoiding Iraq and Afghanistan where the casualties are obvious.

Five soldiers, 25 militants killed in Swat clash

* Military spokesman says Fazlullah's aide killed in action
* Helicopter gunships kill four key Taliban commanders
* NWFP info minister says use of force only recourse if state writ constantly challenged

PESHAWAR/MINGORA: Twenty-five Taliban militants and five soldiers were killed in a fierce clash in the restive Swat valley on Wednesday, the military said.

A military statement said up to 70 militants attempted to storm a checkpost in the Ucharai Sar area near Matta tehsil, about 20 kilometres from Mingora. "The attack was successfully repulsed, resulting in the death of 25 miscreants," the military said in a statement.

Two army officers and three soldiers were "martyred" in the fighting, it added. The officials included an officer, a junior commissioned officer and three other personnel, sources said.

Mindanao: four Christians killed, a fifth missing
by Santosh Digal
Yesterday an armed group ambushed a bus in Lanao del Sur, stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The group robbed passengers and then shot the men. The Philippine Church urges an accord between the government and MILF to avoid an escalation in violent attacks.

Cotabato City (AsiaNews) - Armed men stopped a mini-bus and murdered four Christian male passengers execution-style in Mindanao yesterday, while a fifth passenger is still missing.

Local gov't official shot dead in northwestern Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, July 30 (Xinhua) -- A local government official was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in northwestern Pakistan's main town on Wednesday, local media reported.

Taliban re-occupy PTV booster in Bajaur

LAHORE: Local Taliban on Wednesday re-occupied a PTV booster and a levies check post in the Barang tehsil of the Bajur agency, Aaj TV reported.

According to the channel, security forces had earlier taken control of the booster compound and the check post vacated by Taliban but on Wednesday Taliban regained control. The political administration of the agency had initiated talks with Taliban through a jirga, it said. daily times monitor

Grabbed on way to seek al Qaeda cash
5:00AM Thursday July 31, 2008

Jemaah Islamiyah has been severely weakened by hundreds of arrests.

Two alleged Indonesian terror leaders were headed to Iraq to seek help from al Qaeda, according to a seized laptop that indicates regional militants are cash-strapped but determined to rebuild international links, security officials say.

Abu Husna and Agus Purwantoro are reputed to be key leaders in Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant network that once accepted al Qaeda funds to carry out strikes in Southeast Asia.

The men were detained in Malaysia in March and are awaiting trial in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Two soldiers wounded in Yala bombing

YALA, July 29 (TNA) - Two soldiers were wounded in a bomb blast early Tuesday in the violence-plagued province of Yala.

Police closed the Bangnieng-Yala road in Yala municipal district after the incident.

The remote-controlled bomb was detonated as six soldiers were patrolling the area. Two were slightly wounded and rushed to hospital. The bomb was hidden at the roadside near an electric power pole.

The police gathered evidence for further investigation.

Police defuse another bomb in western India

By R.K. MISRA - 1 day ago

AHMADABAD, India (AP) -- Police defused another explosive device Wednesday in western India, bringing the total number of unexploded bombs found there in the last two days to 19.

The discovery of the bombs in the diamond-polishing center of Surat on Tuesday and Wednesday came after 22 explosions tore through the nearby city of Ahmadabad over the weekend, killing 42 people and wounding 183.

Seven small blasts also shook Bangalore in the south, killing one person. Authorities initially reported two deaths there but later said the second death was not related to the attack.

Surat Police Commissioner R.M.S. Brar said the 19th bomb was discovered Wednesday morning in one of the city's markets, and police were telling people to avoid gathering in public places.

Syrian national jailed in Britain for bomb-making

(AFP)

30 July 2008
LONDON - A Syrian national who attempted to make bombs for Al-Qaeda-style attacks was jailed for seven years by a British court Wednesday, after being found guilty of terrorism offences.

A judge in Birmingham, central England, told Hassan Tabbakh that the home-made devices could have been developed into viable bombs capable of causing death and destruction.

The 38-year-old physics graduate, who lived in the city, was convicted of "preparing for acts of terrorism" after a two-week trial.

A jury heard he had tried to make bombs using easily available materials such as fertiliser and had made handwritten notes about their design.

Judge Frank Chapman told Tabbakh he was not being punished for having Islamist beliefs or for supporting Osama bin Laden's extremist network and similar organisations. (ISN'T THAT SPECIAL)

Germany allowing deals with Iran

I'm not really surprised by this:

The Foreign Ministry will express its concerns and seek clarification from the highest levels of the German government about a decision by Germany's Export Control Office (BAFA) to approve a €100 million deal for building plants to liquefy natural gas in Iran, the ministry said Thursday in a statement. The story was first reported exclusively in Wednesday's Jerusalem Post.

"The ministry has expressed its disappointment at reports that the German government gave its approval to a German company to sign on the deal with the Iranian gas company," the statement said.

"The German government's decision is against the spirit of sanctions that the UN Security Council has placed on Iran," the statement continued.

"It is worrying that precisely Germany, which is a member of the EU 3 - that includes France, Britain and Germany - is presenting a position that harms international attempts for significantly strengthening sanction against Iran's nuclear program."

Government sources said they expected more of Germany because of that country's unique relationship with Israel.

Meanwhile, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights group, has called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to block the deal between German energy company Steiner (SPG Steiner-Prematechnik-Gastec GmbH) and the Iranian government, wherein Steiner would construct three gas liquefaction plants in Iran.

According to the Wiesenthal Center, Steiner's construction of the plants - which would have a capacity of 10,000 barrels a day - would place an obstacle in front of the sanctions Germany imposed on Iran earlier this month.

"This deal helps Iran in this sensitive sector and makes a mockery of the international community's efforts to isolate a nuclearizing Iranian regime," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an associate dean of the center.

"Unless the Chancellor overrules the Export Control Office's decision, Germany will strengthen Teheran and further embolden a regime whose president repeatedly calls for the destruction of the Jewish State."

The German government contends that the deal does not violate the sanctions, as it is a legal agreement as opposed to a political one. The deal passed a twelve-month inspection process by the Export Control Office before being approved.

Cooper added that the government's approval of the deal stood in contrast to Merkel's speech to the Knesset in March, when she said that "Germany will push for further sanctions" on Iran and that "this historic responsibility is part of my country's fundamental policy. It means that for me, as a German chancellor, Israel's security is non-negotiable."

So they're defending the deal so far? Ick. I'm sorry, but this does violate sanctions against Iran, and shows that Germany is no better today than before. This of course is the same country that still criminalizes homeschooling, and are even willing to take away parents' custody of their children if they refuse to obey this foul law. They have not improved at all.

With A Wink And A Nod:

US To Let Israel "Borrow"
Mobile X-Band Anti-Missile Radar
between now and January

From Reuter's via Redneck's Revenge:


The United States will soon link Israel up to two advanced missile detection systems as a precaution against any future attack by a nuclear-armed Iran, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday.

The allies are also in advanced talks on upgrading Israel's Arrow II ballistic shield, though they disagree over whether it should incorporate an American interceptor missile, Barak said after meeting U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Washington has been leading efforts to curb Iran's atomic ambitions through sanctions, mindful of Israel's threats to resort to military strikes if it deems diplomacy a dead end.

Barak told reporters that the Israeli and U.S. governments "see eye to eye on the need to keep all options on the table ... though we may not agree on each and every detail."

"It's important the Americans understand our position, and I think that they understand it a lot better after this visit," said Barak, who was one of the more vocal Israeli critics of a U.S. intelligence report last year that concluded Iran had shelved a military nuclear program in 2003.

Barak declined to give details on whether Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, would be prepared to take on Iran alone. Iran denies seeking atomic weapons and has vowed to retaliate for any attack.

Signalling willingness to focus on defensive measures, Barak said he had secured the Pentagon's agreement to post a powerful radar, known as the forward-based X-band, in Israel "before the new (U.S.) administration arrives" in January.

Built by Raytheon Co, the system has been described by U.S. officials as capable of tracking an object the size of a baseball from about 2,900 miles (4,700 km) away. It would let the Arrow engage an Iranian Shehab-3 ballistic missile about halfway through what would be its 11-minute flight to Israel.

A senior U.S. Defence official confirmed the United States was looking to deploy the X-band system to Israel.

"We're stationing our system there so it may benefit them," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity when discussing high-level talks.

Barak said the United States will also increase Israel's access to its Defence Support Program (DSP) satellites, which spot missile launches. Israeli officials say past access to the DSP has been on a per-request, rather than constant, basis.

"In a few months, Israel will be stronger and more prepared in the realm of protection against long-distance threats," he said.

Israel announced last year that Arrow, a project funded largely by the United States, would be upgraded. The envisaged Arrow-III would be capable of shooting down missiles at greater atmospheric heights -- a safeguard against nuclear fallout.

Israeli and U.S. officials this month voiced differing assessments on when Iran might acquire advanced S-300 anti-aircraft systems from Russia. The S-300s would complicate any pre-emptive air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.

Crtierion for election ... Who is more out of touch?

Today's ad battle brings on the comparison.

On the one hand we have a Harvard educated, way out leftist. A 20 year attendee at a church which preached america was evil, the jewish state gangsters, and we got what was coming, who married a woman who was not proud of her nation until her husband appeared to be winning the democratic nomination, whose statements unguarded were that we are downright mean, and hold onto our ignorances, while almost simultaneously her hubby was saying of those who voted against him that they are bitter and hold onto guns, and religion, and complains that complaints against him are distractions from the issues.
The issues are that Washington has to change and we have to abandon a war we should never have got involved in, but have now nearly won (until this week, when he was worried about all those votes hanging onto guns and religion)

On the other hand we have a genuine war hero, in family of admirals, back to the southwest pacific in WW2, AND EARLIER, a low scoring wild guy academically, a naval pilot, a philanderer according to many, who is now married to a millionaire beer heiress, who has made a habit of alternately being in favor of both extremely conservative (pro-life) and extremely liberal (McCain Feingold) issues, thus pissing off everyone.

Nothing there sounds like a self educated by candlelight rail splitter, or failed men's clothing salesman let alone something I consider close to me.

SNL, you have your first skit, all made.

Forget 'Quien es mas macho' ....

This Week on The Gathering Storm Radio Show

Listen to the nearly famous Gathering Storm Radio Show, which Always On Watch and I co-host. The show broadcasts live every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time.

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

Callers welcome!

Friday, August 1: Our guest today for most of the hour will be Colonel Gordon Cucullu, who will discuss with us possible scenarios of the coming war with Islamism. Gordon Cucullu is a published author, commentator and conservative speaker specializes in topics dealing with current issues.

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

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

UPCOMING SHOWS
August 8: Glen Jenvey
August 15: Layla Elizabeth Gonzalez
August 22: Raymond Ibrahim
August 29: John

Hamas Christian Convert: "I've Left A Culture Which Sanctifies Death"

From Haaretz:


A moment before beginning his supper, Masab, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef, glances at the friend who has accompanied him to the restaurant where we met. They whisper a few words and then say grace, thanking God and Jesus for putting food on their plates.
It takes a few seconds to digest this sight: The son of a Hamas MP who is also the most popular figure in that extremist Islamic organization, a young man who assisted his father for years in his political activities, has become a rank-and-file Christian. "I'm now called Joseph," he says at the outset.

Masab knows that he has little hope of returning to visit the Holy Land in this lifetime.

"I know that I'm endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he'll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity. Maybe one day I'll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God."

Nor does he attempt to hide his affection for Israel, or his abhorrence of everything representing the surroundings in which he grew up: the nation, the religion, the organization.

"Send regards to Israel, I miss it. I respect Israel and admire it as a country," he says.

"You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas. Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death."

Is that the justification for the suicide attacks?

"More than that. An entire society sanctifies death and the suicide terrorists. In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheikhs tell their students about the 'heroism of the shaheeds.'"

And yet, in spite of the criticism of the place he left, California can't make the longings disappear.

"I miss Ramallah," he says. "People with an open mind. ... I mainly miss my mother, my brothers and sisters, but I know that it will be very difficult for me to return to Ramallah soon."

Phillipine Christian Church Urges Appeasement of Muslims - Four Christians Killed

When will we learn that appeasing Muslims only brings about even more death and destruction?

From Asia News:


Mindanao: four Christians killed, a fifth missingby Santosh Digal

Yesterday an armed group ambushed a bus in Lanao del Sur, stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The group robbed passengers and then shot the men. The Philippine Church urges an accord between the government and MILF to avoid an escalation in violent attacks.

Cotabato City (AsiaNews) – Armed men stopped a mini-bus and murdered four Christian male passengers execution-style in Mindanao yesterday, while a fifth passenger is still missing.

According to police, the murder took place in an area considered a bastion of rebels from the Moro Islamic Front, where criminal episodes of this nature have occurred in the past. Security officials failed to confirm is if the assassination was of a confessional nature or whether the Muslim militants were responsible. The bus was carrying about 15 people when it was stopped near Malabang, Lanao del Sur, an area under MILF control. The passengers were robbed but the women were allowed to leave unharmed; then four of the five men were dragged into a forest and shot in the head at close range, the fifth abducted.

The signing of a peace accord between the central government and MILF rebels, held responsible for the July 24th attack in Davao del Sur, appears increasingly fragile. Also Yesterday 30 suspected MILF rebels attacked a paramilitary outpost in Dualing, Midsayap, North Cotabato, killing a civilian and wounding four others.

MILF maintains its right to control some of the majority Muslim regions of Mindanao, the theatre of bloody episodes of violence: on the negotiating table the creation of a “federal” state – the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), enlarged by the annexation of a further 72 Muslim majority villages – along with rights to exploit territorial resources. Villages will be able to decide by popular referendum whether to join the ARMM, but the deputy governor of North Nord Cotabato has underlined the uselessness of the vote because of “threats and vote rigging aimed at forcing the villagers to vote for annexation”.

The Philippine Catholic Church, through the bishop’s conference, has urged “the government and the MILF to return to the negotiating table after talks ended again in an impasse”.

Winds of War: Thinking About the Unthinkable– Part 3: War in America

In Part 2 of this series, we discussed how a militaristic ‘battle front’ might develop in World War III and how a civil war blow over from Europe or a nuke exchange in the mid-east hampering or halting the oil flow would precipitate a world war.

But what would be the effect on the USA? Outside of a ballistic missile exchange between the Islamic Republics - though possible I see as unlikely due to the instant atomizing of their nation by the US - the Islamists would use terror as a tactic to inflict so much damage to our economic and social infrastructure that we would have to sue for peace and bow to Islamic demands - the imposition of Sharia law and submission to a global Caliphate.

That, of course, we will not do. We would respond brutally to those who we suspect of either being or supporting the terrorists in our midst and in the process bring on a Constitutional crisis in this country. Let’s first look at the economic effects of terrorism as it’s now being used in Israel - the objective of bringing a country to its financial knees.

Read the rest at The Gathering Storm.

'For the sake of Allah' - Part 3

Here's the latest installment (there's one more) in the series of interviews with 'Palestinian' suicide bombers, their relatives and their dispatchers. I don't see how anyone who is not Muslim can make 'peace' with this.

Let's go to the videotape.

For those who missed them, Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.

A Slap On The Wrist For The Islamic Saudi Academy

From this July 30, 2008 article in the Washington Post:

The director general of a controversial private Islamic school in Fairfax County has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report child abuse and was fined $500.

Abdalla I.M. Al-Shabnan, head of the Islamic Saudi Academy on Route 1 in the Mount Vernon area, was arrested last month by Fairfax police after allegedly being informed of the possible sexual abuse of a 5-year-old student at the school. School authorities are required by law to report alleged child abuse within 72 hours.

Al-Shabnan was charged with misdemeanor counts of failing to report child abuse and obstruction of justice. In a plea agreement, Al-Shabnan pleaded guilty July 24 to the failure to report charge and Fairfax prosecutors agreed to dismiss the obstruction charge, according to court records.

Al-Shabnan did not return a phone message today seeking comment. His attorney, Robert C. Whitestone, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Whitestone is one of the premier defense attorneys in Fairfax County. As a local here in Northern Virginia, I well know the reputation of that particular legal firm. They are masters of plea bargaining and the attorneys' attorneys! And their fees match their skills, too.

Continuing now with the WaPo article:

Cultural differences may have led to the episode which resulted in Al-Shabnan's arrest.

[...]

Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Ian M. Rodway said the plea agreement "was satisfactory to all the people involved in the case."

Rodway used to be a defense attorney - and a formidable one, at that. Still, I wonder how he would explain those aforementioned "cultural differences."

The case of Abdulla Al-Shabnan was supposed to come before the court on August 1. That won't happen now, of course.

(Crossposted to Northern Virginiastan)

DESTABILIZING EVIL

-Bosch Fawstin

Is Obama Going Crazy?

The Moschiach Baruch Obomination is ready for his Horonation, I mean, Coronation.

From the American Thinker:

Yes we joke around about the messiah's "Messiah" complex. No one can run for President without at least being a little full of themselves.

But then I read this piece by Jonathon Weisman at The Trail in WaPo and nearly spit up my coffee. I must confess to a momentary feeling of panic - as if I had fallen off a cliff and didn't know how far down the bottom was.We can't seriously be contemplating electing this megalomaniac president, can we?

In his closed door meeting with House Democrats Tuesday night, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama delivered a real zinger, according to a witness, suggesting that he was beginning to believe his own hype.

Obama was waxing lyrical about last week's trip to Europe, when he concluded, according to the meeting attendee, "this is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for."

The 200,000 souls who thronged to his speech in Berlin came not just for him, he told the enthralled audience of congressional representatives. "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions," he said, according to the source.

On Wednesday morning, House leadership aides pushed back against interpretations of this comment as self-aggrandizing, saying that when the presumptive Democratic nominee said, "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America," he was actually trying to deflect attention from himself.

Of course they tried to "push back" against this type of talk from the candidate. The press has successfully downplayed Obama's similar remarks in the past. But there is no mistaking the fact that Barack Obama actually believes that his candidacy is the "moment the world has been waiting for" ...

Glassman: Seeing Through The Glass Very Darkly

Our leaders are blind. The blind are leading the sleepwalking. And, all the rest of us stand staring in amazement at the spectacle.



From Hugh Fitzgerald:


“This is an effort that requires credible Muslim voices to work effectively — especially voices of those, like Fadl, born Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, and known as Dr. Fadil, whose story was told recently by Lawrence Wright in the New Yorker. Fadl helped build the Al Qaeda ideology and now repudiates it for its wanton violence.” -- James K. Glassman, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs


Had James K. Glassman read the report on Fadil with attention and understanding, despite Lawrence Wright's attempts to offer his own pollyannish gloss about What A Falling-Out There Was In The Ranks of Al Qaeda, he would have seen just from the quotes from Fadil offered, that Fadil was not abandoning Jihad. (Does anyone actually read anything with attention, or did he just accept an Executive Summary of the piece, or ignore the quotes and accept Wright's misunderstanding of the very evidence he, Wright, presented?) Fadil is all for Jihad. He is simply for Jihad conducted by means other than the terrorism favored by Al Qaeda, because that doesn't work. It simply arouses the Infidels too early.

Read the whole thing.

John McCain FINALLY Takes The Gloves Off

Finally.

Maybe now I'll actually vote for this guy.

Ayatollah, No Me Tocques Mi Pirola

Ayatollah, keep your hands off my dick ...

Winds of War: Thinking About the Unthinkable– Part 2: World War III

In Part One of this series, we discussed civil war in Europe. In this post we'll look at the face of World War III. Now, there’s talk from the military and intelligence sectors that the war we’re fighting against the Islamists is something new.

I disagree.

Islamists are using an age old tactic of guerrilla warfare - its use of the Viet Cong by the North Vietnamese is a recent example. We call it terrorism today. But the objective is the same. Weaken the opposition using surrogates by hitting them where it’s difficult or impossible to respond. Then follow up with conventional forces from the host nations that supported the insurgency with uniformed combatants.

Now it seems that I’ve been proven right – by the jihadists themselves, of all people.

Read the rest at The Gathering Storm.

Tolerance 101

Click directly on the image to enlarge it:

Muslim Woman Does Blowjob Over Mohammed's Pedophilia

That's right, she totally loses it. Blows her cool. The Christian dude points out that Mohammed was a pedophile and she blows it.

Watch as the Religion of Peace does as the Religion of Peace does:

Video: How Hamas is spending its summer vacation II

On Sunday, I reported the following jaw-dropping comment from Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on the truce that "I fear that a reality is being created in the south, which, in five years we'll be asking ourselves - How could we let this happen?"

Huh? Well if he realizes that's what's happening why the %$#@ doesn't he do something about it? He is still (unfortunately) the Prime Minister!

But it's as likely to be five weeks as five years....

In the following videotape you will see why five weeks may even be too long a time-frame. Let's go to the videotape.

U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S.

This is from NewsMax which is a dubious source, but the writer is Kenneth Timmerman, whom I respect:


By: Kenneth R. Timmerman Article Font Size


Iran has carried out missile tests for what could be a plan for a nuclear strike on the United States, the head of a national security panel has warned.

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee and in remarks to a private conference on missile defense over the weekend hosted by the Claremont Institute, Dr. William Graham warned that the U.S. intelligence community “doesn’t have a story” to explain the recent Iranian tests.

One group of tests that troubled Graham, the former White House science adviser under President Ronald Reagan, were successful efforts to launch a Scud missile from a platform in the Caspian Sea.

“They’ve got [test] ranges in Iran which are more than long enough to handle Scud launches and even Shahab-3 launches,” Dr. Graham said. “Why would they be launching from the surface of the Caspian Sea? They obviously have not explained that to us.”

Another troubling group of tests involved Shahab-3 launches where the Iranians "detonated the warhead near apogee, not over the target area where the thing would eventually land, but at altitude,” Graham said. “Why would they do that?”

Graham chairs the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, a blue-ribbon panel established by Congress in 2001.

The commission examined the Iranian tests “and without too much effort connected the dots,” even though the U.S. intelligence community previously had failed to do so, Graham said.

“The only plausible explanation we can find is that the Iranians are figuring out how to launch a missile from a ship and get it up to altitude and then detonate it,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you would do if you had a nuclear weapon on a Scud or a Shahab-3 or other missile, and you wanted to explode it over the United States.”

The commission warned in a report issued in April that the United States was at risk of a sneak nuclear attack by a rogue nation or a terrorist group designed to take out our nation’s critical infrastructure.

"If even a crude nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere between 40 kilometers to 400 kilometers above the earth, in a split-second it would generate an electro-magnetic pulse [EMP] that would cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure," the report warned.

While not causing immediate civilian casualties, the near-term impact on U.S. society would dwarf the damage of a direct nuclear strike on a U.S. city.

“The first indication [of such an attack] would be that the power would go out, and some, but not all, the telecommunications would go out. We would not physically feel anything in our bodies,” Graham said.

As electric power, water and gas delivery systems failed, there would be “truly massive traffic jams,” Graham added, since modern automobiles and signaling systems all depend on sophisticated electronics that would be disabled by the EMP wave.

“So you would be walking. You wouldn’t be driving at that point,” Graham said. “And it wouldn’t do any good to call the maintenance or repair people because they wouldn’t be able to get there, even if you could get through to them.”

The food distribution system also would grind to a halt as cold-storage warehouses stockpiling perishables went offline. Even warehouses equipped with backup diesel generators would fail, because “we wouldn’t be able to pump the fuel into the trucks and get the trucks to the warehouses,” Graham said.

The United States “would quickly revert to an early 19th century type of country.” except that we would have 10 times as many people with ten times fewer resources, he said.

“Most of the things we depend upon would be gone, and we would literally be depending on our own assets and those we could reach by walking to them,” Graham said.

America would begin to resemble the 2002 TV series, “Jeremiah,” which depicts a world bereft of law, infrastructure, and memory.

In the TV series, an unspecified virus wipes out the entire adult population of the planet. In an EMP attack, the casualties would be caused by our almost total dependence on technology for everything from food and water, to hospital care.

Within a week or two of the attack, people would start dying, Graham says.

“People in hospitals would be dying faster than that, because they depend on power to stay alive. But then it would go to water, food, civil authority, emergency services. And we would end up with a country with many, many people not surviving the event.”

Asked just how many Americans would die if Iran were to launch the EMP attack it appears to be preparing, Graham gave a chilling reply.

“You have to go back into the 1800s to look at the size of population” that could survive in a nation deprived of mechanized agriculture, transportation, power, water, and communication.

“I’d have to say that 70 to 90 percent of the population would not be sustainable after this kind of attack,” he said.

America would be reduced to a core of around 30 million people — about the number that existed in the decades after America’s independence from Great Britain.

The modern electronic economy would shut down, and America would most likely revert to “an earlier economy based on barter,” the EMP commission’s report on Critical National Infrastructure concluded earlier this year.

In his recent congressional testimony, Graham revealed that Iranian military journals, translated by the CIA at his commission’s request, “explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States.”

Furthermore, if Iran launched its attack from a cargo ship plying the commercial sea lanes off the East coast — a scenario that appears to have been tested during the Caspian Sea tests — U.S. investigators might never determine who was behind the attack. Because of the limits of nuclear forensic technology, it could take months. And to disguise their traces, the Iranians could simply decide to sink the ship that had been used to launch it, Graham said.

Several participants in last weekend’s conference in Dearborn, Mich., hosted by the conservative Claremont Institute argued that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was thinking about an EMP attack when he opined that “a world without America is conceivable.”

In May 2007, then Undersecretary of State John Rood told Congress that the U.S. intelligence community estimates that Iran could develop an ICBM capable of hitting the continental United States by 2015.

But Iran could put a Scud missile on board a cargo ship and launch from the commercial sea lanes off America’s coasts well before then.

Few experts believe that Iran can be deterred from launching such an attack by the threat of massive retaliation against Iran. They point to a December 2001 statement by former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who mulled the possibility of Israeli retaliation after an Iranian nuclear strike.

“The use of an atomic bomb against Israel would destroy Israel completely, while [the same] against the Islamic only would cause damages. Such a scenario is not inconceivable,” Rafsanjani said at the time.

The Conspiracy: To Drive Moslems Out Of Europe

Video from MEMRI:



YouTube Link

Plenty to parse, if anyone here has the inclination to do so. As far as I'm concerned, it's SSDD and oh-so-wearisome. Maybe I'm in my summer malaise.

Arrested in Iran for the crime of breathing while Christian

Megadeth - Symphony Of Destruction

CLICK ME

Iran: Sixteen Christian converts arrested

Tehran, 29 July (AKI) -

Sixteen Iranians who converted from Islam to Christianity were arrested on Tuesday in Malakshahr, on the outskirts of the central Iranian city of Isfahan. The six women, eight men and two adolescents who were arrested were assisting in a conversion ceremony and baptism of three new members of the church at a private house that had been transformed into an evangelical church.


The owners of the home, an elderly couple, were allegedly beaten up before they were locked up in an unmarked lorry. In April, 10 Christian converts were arrested in Shiraz. The official evangelical churches in Isfahan received orders not to allow any Muslims to attend their ceremonies and not to facilitate in any way the conversions. Iranian law does not stipulate any punishment for those who convert from Islam to other faiths, even if the converts are subject to repression.


A few months ago, the government presented a bill which is currently being discussed in parliament, to include in the penal code the crime of "Ertedad" which is the act of abandoning the Muslim faith. If the parliament does approve the law, the punishment for abandoning Islam will be the death penalty.

CLICK ME

Jerusalem to become Sderot?

General Security Service head Yuval Diskin briefed the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday on the security situation in Jerusalem.

"Neighborhoods are being abandoned…and it leaves a vacuum where Hamas operates," he added. Smuggling of weapons has increased, and police find it more difficult to deploy forces in neighborhoods where the terrorist infrastructure has strengthened.

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter - a candidate for the Kadima party leadership - added to the gloom in that assessment.

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter (Kadima) pointed out that 20 percent of terrorist attacks in the past five years involved Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem. He explained that a dramatic change has occurred this year, raising a red flag through the direct involvement in terrorist attacks by Arabs who live within the separation barrier.

That's not too surprising, especially given that Arabs from Judea and Samaria have been moving into Jerusalem rather than live in the 'Palestinian Authority' - yet another reason why the 'security fence' is not an answer to all of our problems. Dichter continued:

Three attacks this year that resulted in the deaths of 11 Jews were carried out by eastern Jerusalem Arabs who acted on their own, without any apparent ties to an organized terrorist movement. "It is extremely difficult to expect and to prevent these types of attacks," Dichter noted.

He reiterated a view, becoming more acceptable among political leaders, that demolition of the homes of families housing terrorists and expelling them from the city are the most effective means of preventing attacks. The Public Security Minister emphasized that such moves must be thoroughly justified because they face the danger of being challenged by international law as a violation of human rights.

Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert responded:

"Whoever thinks the basic pattern of life in Jerusalem will continue as it is, with 270,000 Arabs living in Jerusalem, must take into account that there will be more bulldozers, trucks and private vehicles. There is no way to prevent such acts of terror. We must consider dealing with this issue in the future."

That's the same 'strategy' that has led to the current situation in Sderot and other communities in the 'Gaza envelope.' First, the Sharon-Olmert government abandoned the Gaza Strip to the tender mercies of the 'Palestinians.' Now, he and his good friend, sex offender Haim Ramon, propose to do the same to Jerusalem by abandoning the eastern part of the city. Then, when rocket fire increased, instead of sending the IDF into Gaza to kick the you-know-what out of the terrorists, Olmert looked for protection from the Egyptians, protection from the EU, and protection from an anti-missile system that would at best allow residents of the Gaza envelope to survive, but would not allow them to lead normal lives. Now, he proposes to do the same to Jerusalem, more than half of whose residents live within gunshot range of 'east' Jerusalem Arab villages.
Send in the clowns to Jerusalem? Why not - at least it's not Tel Aviv!

Cross-posted to Israel Matzav.

Thinking About the Unthinkable – Part 1: Civil War In Europe

I still stand on the statement that ‘real war’ will start when the free world finally awakes from its Islamist induced slumber. When the war arrives, it will be succinct, clear to everyone and with a focused objective - as it did for Europe on September 1st, 1939 and America on December 7th, 1941.

In my opinion and many others, this is the shape of the war to come in three parts.

Militaristic: Like all other wars, there will be a theater of battle across the globe.
Demographic: Civil war in Europe between the Islamists and native Europeans.
Economic: To defeat America they will attempt to seriously damage our economic and social infrastructure and have us sue for peace.

In this three part series we’ll look at each of these ‘battle fronts’ and see how they may play out.

Today’s installment is civil war in Europe.

Read the rest at The Gathering Storm.

UK: Practising Muslims 'will outnumber Christians by 2035'

(Thanks to Michael)

From the Telegraph:

Practising Muslims will outnumber worshipping Christians in Britain within 30 years, according to research published today.

By 2035, there will be about 1.96 million active Muslims in Britain, compared with 1.63 million church-going Christians, according to calculations by Christian Research, a think- tank.

The figures are published in the latest in a series of reports entitled Religious Trends.

The think-tank has warned that 4,000 churches could close by 2020 if congregations continue to shrink at current rates.

According to the most recent figures from the Church of England, regular Sunday, weekly and monthly attendance each fell by one per cent in 2006.

Fewer than a million people attend church every Sunday.

NANCY PELOSI - GEOLOGIST, ECONOMIST, SAVIOR .... just not of the working man

Politico:

With fewer than 20 legislative days before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, the entire appropriations process has largely ground to a halt because of the ham-handed fighting that followed Republican attempts to lift the moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration. And after promising fairness and open debate, Pelosi has resorted to hard-nosed parliamentary devices that effectively bar any chance for Republicans to offer policy alternatives.

"I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet," she says impatiently when questioned. "I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy."

"I respect the office that I hold," she says. "And when you win the election, you win the majority, and what is the power of the speaker? To set the agenda, the power of recognition, and I am not giving the gavel away to anyone."

When you can't print checks of magic money fast enough to get them to people who can't afford heating oil, what's the plan NAN?
John McCain's people should have already responded.
Where are they?

Taliban SPLIT in Waziristan - Pak Daily Times

Taliban split into two factions in Bajaur Agency

By Hasbanullah Khan

KHAR: Taliban in the Bajaur tribal district split into two factions after infighting between two militant organisations in Mohmand Agency led to the killing of eight members of one group on July 18.

Pro-Baitullah Mehsud Taliban leader Umer Khalid killed eight members from the Shah Sahib militant group, including its chief and deputy chief, on July 18.

"We, four commanders, are resigning from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) over the killing of mujahideen in Mohmand Agency," Salar Masood, a spokesman for the four commanders, told Daily Times on Monday. "We will form our own group - Tehreek-e-Taliban Al Jihad - to continue jihad against the United States," Masood said on the phone from an undisclosed location in the Bajaur region. Maulvi Munir, Dr Abdul Wahab and Maulvi Abdul Hameed are the three other commanders who left the TTP.

"Innocent mujahideen (what on earth is an innocent murderer of innocents for religous reasons?) were killed in Mohmand. This is against shariah. Mujahideen do not kill innocent people," Masood said. He charged the Baitullah Mehsud-led TTP with "deviating" from the real cause of fighting the Americans inside Afghanistan. "We took up the matter with Baitullah Mehsud but he did not take our concern seriously," he said.

The rift between the Taliban, according to observers, would weaken Baitullah Mehsud. They believe the infighting among militant organisations would help the government exploit the situation.

"Taliban leader in Bajaur Maulvi Faqir must be upset at this development because the four commanders are quite influential," the observers said on condition of anonymity.

Have fun boyz!

People are going to vote on ONE ISSUE, and unknowingly it's national security

Why don't I hear your campaign shrieking this to the high heavens Senator McCain?

Reid, Pelosi ready to compromise
Democrat leadership running scared on growing demand for oil
WASHINGTON - Are the Democratic leaders in Congress nervous about the growing grass-roots demand for lifting restrictions on domestic oil drilling?

Consider this: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has himself proposed a plan to open new areas for oil exploration - outraging senior members of his own caucus.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, ever aware of the way average Americans are being squeezed at the gas pump and through rising inflation due to higher energy prices, is supporting the plan.

While the proposal is drawing shrieks from those Democrats occupying safe seats in the House and Senate, it shows how vulnerable congressional Democrats might be to an uprising from voters in November.

The legislation, drafted by Reid and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., would open nearly a billion new acres off the coast of Alaska to study for drilling. It would also dramatically accelerate oil leases in the western and central Gulf of Mexico.

"I am unalterably opposed to drilling," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, (D-N.J., a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, who cited a massive oil spill that closed nearly 100 miles of the Mississippi River last week.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., urged Reid to be "very careful about drilling off the coast of Alaska."

Last poll showed 75% of the people want drilling now EVERYWHERE. The people of Alaska, and the 84% apporval rated gov are in favor if it.

So McCain's campaign remains silent but for one commercial blaming high gas prices on Obama (cmon guys, be real), or is that the media just won't hold their megaphone in front of those people?

Senator McCain, the national democratic leadership and most of their backers, including in the house and senate remain unalterably opposed to anything but more overseas oil...that WILL be the result of their actions, and lack of actions.

They can be publicly disemboweled on this issue of utmost national security, and economic SURVIVAL on which they refuse to either accept the public will, OR common sense.

Run against that.
Do it and be seen to do it before Obama does.
If you cannot do that, and beat Obama to the common sense point, you don't deserve the victory in November.

Gnossienne

Alfred Éric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 – Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Starting with his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie.

He referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures - and writes down - sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911.

Nevertheless, he wrote some of the most beautiful music for piano this side of Chopin.

Gnosienne #1





Gnossienne #2





Gnossienne #3

Muslims Storm Christian School In Jakarta, 265 Injured

A Beslan which, thankfully, has no deaths.

There are no limits to the pit of hell, and there are no limits to how far down Muslims will explore that pit.

From Asia News:


Over the week-end Muslim fanatics target a Christian school in the capital’s east side. Police evacuate the institute to protect students. Hundreds of police agents are now guarding it to prevent further violence.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Police evacuated the Christian Theological Arastamar Institute (STT SETIA) which is located in an eastern district of the Indonesian capital after it suffered damages during clashes between Christians and Muslims over the week-end.

At least 1,500 students were moved to nearby police headquarters and a local Christian-based political party. The situation remains critical and further violence between opposite factions cannot be ruled out.

“The school foundation urged us to intervene to protect people,” said East Jakarta District Police Chief Senior Superintendent. “For this reason we moved everyone out.”

Last night hundreds of residents from the village of Kampung Pulo had taken up arms threatening to storm the school after being instigated by an imam at a local mosque who claimed that a bunch of Christian gangsters were coming to “protect” the school after it was attacked on Saturday by a Muslim mob, causing damage to the building and hurting hundreds.

“Many students suffered various injuries to the head. Others were burnt by Molotov cocktails,” Manafe said.

''You had these opportunities, America. You didn't do anything,''

I posted today about the choice America has in this next election. Then ran across this that says the same thing in a different way.

From SteveSteve Schippert - http://ThreatsWatch.org/ - http://tank.nationalreview.com/

The United States could have killed bin Laden in Khartoum, Sudan, before he moved to Afghanistan in 1996, Hamdan told his interrogators. They could have killed him after al Qaida's 1998 twin bombings at the U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Or after the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole, at the port of Aden in Yemen, which left 17 U.S. sailors dead.
Instead, ''Bin Laden was emboldened.'' So he struck with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, leaving nearly 3,000 dead.
It is bitter irony that lawyers are conveying such through a trial. Remote controlled Tomahawks, the illusion of safety beyond the sanctuary of oceans, and the hot pursuit via attorneys and law both remote and unrecognized by murderous men who seek our death. This was how we convinced ourselves of our certain and active defense.
We were offered bin Laden in transit from Sudan to Afghanistan. But we did not want him. Our lawyers had no battle, our leaders no mettle.

Most of us, though not all, have learned nothing. After thousands smote and seven years of war, we are back to our superior ways, demanding Habeas Corpus and noting in the very first trial that bin Laden's deputy was read no Miranda rights upon his capture - or was it arrest?
They say History repeats itself. Never before has it applied so swiftly, within the same generation and within the same conflict.

A selfish society incapable of sacrifice is equally incapable of self-defense. Our greatest concern is not the pursuit of madmen or the states which feed them. It is not even the cost of oil and its affect on our economy and future. It is the cost of the gasoline that cycles through our tanks and its affect on our personal checking account balances.

Cowardice, cloaked in arrogance and concealed behind self-assured brilliance, charts a troubled path; one which appears circular, where constant motion deceptively passes for progress. Progress towards what, we disagree, though our enemies do not, as they laugh.
Many say it will take another catastrophic attack to bring us to our collective senses. But it will likely not come. For, if al-Qaeda (et al) is smart - and they are - they will leave us alone on our own soil while we rip ourselves apart. No explosives, no bombs, no weapons of war required. We are, after all, suddenly and finally waging their centuries-long war upon ourselves. Brilliantly.
We allow ourselves to be told that we are what is wrong with the world; torturous, greedy, destructive, with disregard for the poorest and bitter intolerance for anyone not like us. We Balkanize our society and point fingers at each other, laying these same charges against one domestic group or another with the venom and aggression once reserved for distant, oppressive enemies.

Can we awaken from our own self-destructive slumber? The decisive war is not in Iraq, nor Afghanistan, nor Pakistan or any other distant place where we perceive our enemies to be. The decisive battle is right here, from Maine to San Diego, from St. Louis to Atlanta.

If we are incapable of rediscovering that which Constitutes us and what distinguishes America form every other nation on this planet, and acknowledging that America, her people, our liberty and our unequaled charity are indeed good and our values just, then what does Iraq or Afghanistan matter?

Can we truly identify that which we are defending? For if we cannot, we are not. We are simply preserving soil and borders, protecting cities and people - that which can be found anywhere else on this planet.

What will America be, what will she look like when our children are thrust at the helm? Will they write that we defended her, or will they write that we devoured and discarded her? This, not al-Qaeda or the War on Terror, keeps me up at night.

For we can defeat al-Qaeda and yet have defended nothing at all in the long, painful process. And our children will be compelled to write of us, ''You had these opportunities, America. You didn't do anything."

As It Should Be

Yeshiva Student Returns Obama's Note To Wall
Says He's Sorry

I Had a Dream

I had a dream a few days ago that I was living in the Soviet Union and reading the current edition of Pravda. You know, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party whose headlines and stories were laughed at on a daily basis by anyone with half a brain recognizing the stories as pure propaganda.

There were some, communists, socialist and the ‘better red than dead’ crowd who swallowed the lies and disinformation of the party line hook line and sinker – traitors at best, utter cowards at worst, during the Cold War.

Anyway, I realized that I wasn’t dreaming. That there was such a mouthpiece, or mouthpieces, in this country that advanced the party line. The mouthpieces here are the main stream media and the party is the Democratic Party. Just look at the entourage of network anchors that followed his holiness Obama on his crusade trough Europe and the middle-east. Or the NYT’s refusal to print John McCain’s editorial.

Day in and day out the main stream media on this country, in arrogance and utter shamelessness, preaches the party line of the Democrats. The money and media captured by the far left socialist, anti-Americans crowd have no fear that they can influence the minds of the voter in this country.

And in reality, that’s what this election in November is all about.

This election will not be a test between Democrats vs Republicans. This election will not be a test between conservatives vs liberals or capitalism vs socialism.

No. This election will be a test of the voter’s self-worth and intelligence. For you see the money and media machine of the far Left holds the voters in contempt. They believe that the voter is stupid and won’t recognize the attempts of the media and money Left at forcing the party line down the voter’s throats. The money and media Left has no respect for the mind nor the self-respect of the voters. They believe the American voter will not see through the charade of media and money that the Left has successfully combined as their last great hope to bring America into the ‘progressive’ century.

Two cases in point.

Newsweek did a review of the History Channel’s new line up of risky jobs like Ax Men, Ice Road Truckers, and Dangerous Catch. The review by the woman cited the high risks these jobs entitled AND the large amount of many the people make who work in these dangerous and risky professions.

Of course, once the issue of money is raised to a Leftard, they can hardly contain themselves. The History Channel’s review took on a liberal biased rant from there. The reviewer said in so many words “Wanna do a risky job? How about a single mother working at minimum wage with no health insurance.

Nuts, huh? This tripe in a review of a TV show.

Or how about this one. The Federal minimum wage has been raised – the second of three parts as voted for by Congress. Good news right?

Wrong. Bad news according to the party line. You see, the raise has been eaten up by the rise in fuel and food prices – also a result of rising fuel prices due to lack of drilling and the liberal plan to turn food into fuel.

In keeping with their normal operating procedure, Associated Press went out looking for a likely victim of this plot to destroy the middle class and finds a young man working in a car wash at minimum wage. He says that the raise in wages doesn’t help him support – now get this – his 7 children and his fiancé!

This is reported by the AP with a straight face with no consideration of how the young man got himself into the position of supporting 7 kids while being unmarried. Could the the man have made poor life decisions just like the unmarried working mother who couldn’t afford health insurance?

Liberals have this annoying habit of starting with the effect of a problem and thinking it’s a cause without considering the ‘victims’ contribution to his or her plight. They hope they can play on the supposed ignorance of the American voter to support the Leftist plan to make everyone a victim so they can step and in and help by taking our money and give it to those who don’t deserve it.

But that’s the party line supported by the main stream media party mouthpieces.

Will Americans see through the charade? Will they see the money and media Leftist strategy for what it is – an insult to their intelligence and self-respect? Will they vote the direct opposite of what the money and media wants them to in direct protest of the Leftist elite who hold them in such contempt?

We’ll know in about 100 days.

Get a FREE TRIAL COPY of the The Gathering Storm eBook which includes the Forward by Walid Shoebat, Introduction, and first 50 pages of The Gathering Storm eBook. And sign up for my free WEEKLY STORM REPORT and receive a synopsis of the most important weekly news revealing the intimidation, infiltration and disinformation tactics used to soften-up the non-Muslim world for domination.

IDF gets a big one

A man who is being called the 'mastermind' of February's suicide bombing in Dimona was liquidated on Sunday morning by IDF troops in Hebron. The man's house was surrounded by troops and he was ordered out. But instead of coming out, he started shooting. Curiously, although Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades originally claimed responsibility for the attack, and the 'Palestinian Authority's official newspapers eulogized the two terrorists who blew themselves up, the terrorist who was killed on Sunday was from Hamas. Then again, it was Hamas that created a poster to honor the attack.

The army said that in a joint IDF, Border Police and Shin Bet operation, the forces surrounded a house where the terrorist was hiding.

Shots were fired from the building and the forces returned fire, the army said. The army eventually bulldozed the house hours later when the man refused to surrender and the terrorist's body was seen being removed from the rubble.

The IDF added that during the heavy exchanges of fire, troops heard explosions from inside the house, presumably from bombs stored inside.

The man was identified as 25-year-old Shihab Na'atsha, a Hamas explosives engineer. The IDF said Na'atsha assembled the bomb belt used in the Dimona attack on February 4 that killed 73-year-old Lubov Razdolskaya and wounded 40 other people.

Also in Sunday morning's operation, the forces arrested Na'atsha's accomplice, Wa'al Bit'ar, as well as another Hamas terrorist, Abed Abu Aysha.

A Hamas statement confirmed the 25-year-old man was an operative from the group and said he fought troops for 12 hours before he was killed.

I have two videotapes for you on this one. The first is an Israeli internet television news report. Let's go to the videotape.

THE ENEMY'S TERRORIST

-Bosch Fawstin

Celebrating 500 Years Of The Female Form In Western Art

Music: Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo-Yo Ma


Every bit of this would be hated by the Islamofascist nutbags. There is nothing to compare in their civilization.

Islam Dog Bites Man - Muslim Group Threatens to Attack Olympics

I know you're all going to be surprised by this (and really, it's like me reporting that a dog has bitten a man), but members of the Religion of Peace are threatening to attack the Olympics with suicide bombers and biological weapons.

We all thought we could expect so much more from our friends, the Muslims.

From Eye on the World:

A MILITANT Islamic group has threatened to attack the Beijing Olympics with suicide bombers and biological weapons and has claimed responsibility for a string of fatal bombings and explosions in China over recent weeks.

In a video released by IntelCenter, a terrorism monitoring group, a bearded man identified as “Commander Seyfullah” is seen reading a declaration of jihad against the Olympics and warns athletes and spectators, “especially Muslims”, to stay away.

It was issued by a group calling itself the Turkestan Islamic party. The group may be allied with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement – designated a terrorist organisation by the US, China and several other countries – which seeks independence for the Muslim Uighur people of China’s far west province of Xinjiang, which Uighur separatists call East Turkestan.

“Commander Seyfullah” said the group was responsible for three bombs last week on buses in the city of Kunming, which killed two people, and for two bus bombings on May 21 in Shanghai, which killed three.

You know, it's almost as if the world just isn't big enough both Islam and the rest of civilization.

Hmm. I just don't know what to make of it.

Arrested in Iran for the crime of breathing while Azeri

CLICK ME, MY NAME IS VEDUD ASADI

Traditional Azeri Wedding Leads To Groom's Arrest In Iran

BAKU -- Vedud Asadi is well-known for his work promoting the cultural and language rights of Iran's Azeri minority, so it's little surprise that he celebrated his wedding with a nod to his ethnic heritage.


Guests sang folk songs and danced traditional dances -- but the flag may have been the icing on the cake for Iranian authorities who came to arrest him two weeks after the event, according to his sister, Sumayya Asadi. "I think it was because we put the image of the Azerbaijan's flag on the wedding cake," she says. "We sang only Azerbaijani songs, there were no Persian songs. We all were speaking Turkic [Azeri], [and there was] Turkic dancing. There is no need for Persian in a Turkic wedding. We used our flag -- we don't need others' flags. I think Vedud was arrested for this, because the first thing they asked for when they initiated the search was the wedding film.


" Vedud Asadi's bride, Zahra Purasad, says the secret police who arrived at the newlyweds' flat in Rasht on the evening of July 22 did not give any reasons for her husband's arrest. "I asked, but they did not say anything," Purasad tells RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service.

National Azeri Music:
Mugham by Khan Shushinski

The Iranian authorities were already familiar with Asadi's activism. In 2006, the former chairman of the Islamic Students Union at northwestern Iran's Ardebil University was arrested for participating in a protest against cartoons that depicted Azeris as cockroaches. His family says he spent about 3 1/2 months in prison without being charged following that arrest, and they now fear he will be imprisoned again. His wife knows only that he was taken to a local court on July 24, but has no information about the outcome in court or his current whereabouts.


The ethnic-Azeri minority makes up 25-33 percent of Iran's population. While the Iranian Constitution provides language and cultural rights for the country's minorities, the regime has banned the teaching of the Azeri language in schools, and harassed and jailed activists like Asadi. Sumayya Asadi says the officers who arrested her brother seized his Azeri-language books, material on the history of Azeris, CDs, and his computer. Iranian authorities often cite the promotion of "pan-Turkism" as the reason for detaining ethnic Azeris.


But Sumayya Asadi says her brother is no separatist, he simply believes that his people's cultural and linguistic rights are worth fighting for. She says that if she is Azeri, she has the right to speak Azeri. "I should not have to speak Persian.... If there are 35 million Turks [Azeris] in the country, shouldn't these 35 million have the right to speak, write, and communicate in their own language?" As for Asadi's wife, when asked what she feels about the arrest of her husband just two weeks after the wedding, she says she has no regrets for their actions at their wedding. "He was arrested for his nation, he did not do anything bad," she says. "Not for stealing, not for drinking alcohol or immoral behavior -- for his nation only. I am proud of him."

CLICK ME, I AM AZERI


SEE ALSO: Imprisoned in Iran for the Crime of Breathing While Ba'Hai