You reckon David Cameron will be taking a victory lap?

Daily Mail:

Top Al Qaeda commanders with close links to Bin Laden captured in SAS dawn raid
By Christopher Leake
Last updated at 6:32 PM on 29th May 2011

A crack SAS team has captured two top Taliban commanders without a shot being fired in a secret dawn raid in Afghanistan.

The 12 elite troops seized Maulawi Rahman and Maulawi Mohammed at a high-walled compound north of the remote town of Babaji in Helmand province.

Both men, who surrendered without a fight, are said to have been close confidants of Osama Bin Laden, the terror mastermind killed by US Special Forces in Pakistan last month.

War lords: The two captured Al Qaeda commanders were confidants of Osama Bin Laden, killed at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, last month

The two are also believed to have been behind many bomb attacks on British and US troops in Afghanistan.

Rahman and Mohammed – members of the Quetta Shura, the Taliban’s Pakistani-based high command – were held along with three henchmen, and 80kg of raw opium packed in bales with a street value of £128,000 was also seized.

The SAS soldiers, armed with M16 assault rifles and Heckler & Koch 9mm pistols, used steel-wire ladders to scale the walls of the Taliban compound while the terror leaders, along with a number of women and children, were asleep.

The SAS was supported by the Afghan National Army.

A source said: ‘Even though the SAS team was in full combat gear and armed to the teeth, they did not fire a shot and none was fired at them.

Specialist: The 12 SAS elite troops caught Maulawi Rahman and Maulawi Mohammed without firing a shot (file picture)

‘These are very significant arrests of two of the Taliban’s key commanders. They are at the top of the Taliban hierarchy and among their most ¬senior figures.

‘Their detention is a damaging blow to the insurgents and will severely downgrade their ¬ability to direct operations in Afghanistan.’

The key target of the raid on May 14 was Rahman. Security sources say he had known Bin Laden since the Al Qaeda leader lived in caves in the Tora Bora mountains of eastern Afghanistan a decade ago.

Terror: Bin Laden was slain by U.S. special forces in a night-time raid

Rahman and Mohammed slipped over the border from Pakistan earlier this year after Coalition forces killed or detained scores of Taliban brigade commanders in a series of ground raids and air strikes in Afghanistan.

This had left the Taliban without any high-level leadership as it prepared for its traditional summer offensive.

Rahman and Mohammed are known to have ordered numerous attacks on British and US troops in the Kajaki area of Helmand province in recent months. They often used the cash they made from selling opium and heroin to buy arms and explosives.

Sources say Rahman was head of the Taliban’s provincial commission – its unofficial ‘shadow government’ – in Helmand province.

His role was to manage military appointments and the supply of weapons and ammunition to launch attacks.

Rahman and Mohammed are also understood to have ordered the intimidation of ordinary Afghans and were in charge of the insurgent justice system in the region.

Both are now in military custody at a secret location in Afghanistan and will be handed to the Afghan authorities for trial after intensive questioning by Coalition interrogators.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said last night: ‘We do not discuss the operations of our Special Forces.’

Meanwhile, in a move likely to stoke tensions between Kabul and the West, Afghan president Hamid Karzai has ordered his defence ministry to take control of night raids.

He said Afghan troops should carry out the operations as raids by foreigners were often ‘unco-ordinated and arbitrary’ and led to civilian casualties.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391968/Top-Al-Qaeda-commanders-close-links-Bin-Laden-captured-SAS-dawn-raid.html#ixzz1Nlda4a43
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391968/Top-Al-Qaeda-commanders-close-links-Bin-Laden-captured-SAS-dawn-raid.html#ixzz1NldVhwhX
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391968/Top-Al-Qaeda-commanders-close-links-Bin-Laden-captured-SAS-dawn-raid.html#ixzz1NldPkkEX

Muslim convert ex -Guantanamo guard, was fired from army: "what is happening in that prison is really inhuman and violates the minimum principles of human rights,” 

From Will at The Other News:

When US soldier Terry Brooks was sent to join military guards at the infamous Guantanamo prison that houses Moslem militants from Taliban and Al-Qaeda, he had not thought he would embrace the religion of those prisoners. After a few chats with a Moroccan inmate, he converted to Islam in 2003. 

Brooks was caught by local reporters this week praying in the western Saudi town of Madina before heading for nearby Makkah to perform his first pilgrimage (Umra), which he said had been his dream over the past years.The Saudi Arabic language daily Okaz said it waited for Brooks to finish his prayers and talked to him about his conversion to Islam.  

He credited “prisoner number 590” named Ahmed Al Rashdi of Morocco for his “landmark” decision. After converting, he was expelled from the army.

Brooks told the paper he was sent to Guantanamo long before 2003 and later started to mingle with some prisoners there.“I still remember that great moment….the time was around 12:49 am in December 2003 when I embraced Islam…at that night, I took this landmark decision after numerous chat sessions with Al Rashdi,” he said.

“It was a memorable moment in my life…….many prisoners sat around me when I converted and decided to call me Mustafa as their new friend…later I added the name Abdullah so I am now called Mustafa Abdullah.”

Brooks said he had been delighted when the US army decided to send him to Guantanamo as it was an adventure for him since had not seen a prison before.

“When I arrived there, it was a big shock for me… even before I entered the prison buildings, I could see that it was horrible and could suit only cactus and poisonous reptiles….I then asked myself ‘are those people behind the bars really so dangerous that they are worth these costly security measures.”

Brooks said he started to be interested in Islam after his talks to Al Rashdi and other prisoners about Islam, Palestine, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

“I used to sit just outside their cells at night listening to them…by time, a sort of mutual respect developed between us …I had never believed in God before I went to Guantanamo.…now that I embraced Islam, I can feel the sweetness of religion…Islam is a pure religion and the ultimate right.” 

Brooks said he had first concealed his decision to convert to Islam from other US guards at Guantanamo, adding that when the officer learned about it, he and the other soldiers began to treat him cruelly and accused him of betraying America. Around two years before the end of his contract, he was fired from the army.

“I am now working on a book about my experience to embrace Islam.…I have just quit my job in the US to devote my time to helping the prisoners in Guantanamo..…what is happening in that prison is really inhuman and violates the minimum principles of human rights,” he said. 

What would be the odds that Obama might reinstate him?

Read the full story here.

Note to The Black Panthers and SEIU. . .

Newsmax:

GOP Moves to Tighten Vote Rules in 13 States
Sunday, 29 May 2011 12:39 PM

By Hiram Reisner

Seeking to preserve the integrity of the election process, GOP-controlled statehouses nationwide are stiffening voting laws with changes that include requiring valid photo identification, restricting early voting, and imposing stricter rules on those who can register to vote.

Republicans in 13 states — where changes have either been passed or introduced in the past two months — say they are trying to ensure voters are qualified; Democrats counter the moves are politically based and aimed at weeding out young and minority voters — many of whom comprise the party’s base, The New York Times reports.

Last week, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas joined Kansas and South Carolina, and signed laws that would require valid photo identification before a voter could cast a ballot. Twelve states now require photo identification to vote, the Times says.

Gov. Rick Scott in Florida signed a bill this month to tighten restrictions on third-party voter registration organizations and to shorten the number of early voting days. The battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania are among those considering voter-identification bills.

“If you have to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you have to show a picture ID to get on an airplane, you should show a picture ID when you vote,” Gov. Nikki Haley said this month when she signed the South Carolina law, the Times says.

Democrats say there is little proof of voter-impersonation fraud, that the GOP-led laws ring of racism, and target those who tend to vote Democrat, according to the Times.

Democrats also point to state figures showing there are few proven cases of voter impersonation and question why Republicans would want to spend taxpayer dollars on an insignificant problem, considering states’ fiscal problems, the Times says.

“There is not one documented case that has been presented to us, and we had numerous hearings,” said Democratic South Carolina state Sen. Brad Hutto. “Republicans have to have some reason to do this because it doesn’t sound good to say, ‘We don’t want Latinos or African-Americans voting.’ ”

State Republicans have long attempted to legislate photo identification requirements and other changes, said Daniel Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University and an expert in election law. Previous bills were largely derailed after the Bush administration fired several United States attorneys whom Republicans had criticized for failing to aggressively investigate voter fraud, according to the Times.

“That’s what really killed the momentum of more states’ enacting voter ID laws,” Tokaji said. “Now with the last elections, with the strong Republican majorities in a lot of states, we’re seeing a rejuvenation of the effort.”

Republicans say increased immigration nationwide has spearheaded the push to makes sure elections are legitimate, according to the Times.

“Over the last 20 years, we have seen Florida grow quite rapidly, and we have such a mix of populations,” said state Rep. Dennis K. Baxley, the Florida Republican who wrote the law to tighten third-party registration in his state. “When we fail to protect every ballot, we disenfranchise people who participate legitimately.”

The changes are likely to have an impact on close elections, Tokaji said.

“Remarkably, most of these significant changes are going under the radar,” he added. “A lot of voters are going to be surprised and dismayed when they go to their polling place and find that the rules have changed.”

Most of the measures would require people to show a form of official, valid identification to vote. While driver’s licenses are the most common form, voters can also request free photo IDs from the Department of Motor Vehicles or use a passport or military identification, among other things.

But Democrats say the extra step will discourage voters who will have to pay to retrieve documents, like birth certificates, for proof to obtain a free card, the Times reports.

A few state bills and laws also reduce the number of early voting days, which Democrats also oppose. In the 2008 presidential election, a majority of those who cast early votes did so for President Barack Obama. In Florida, the number of days is reduced but the number of hours remains the same.

In Georgia, where photo IDs became a requirement in 2007, minorities voted in record numbers in 2008 and 2010.

Turnout among Hispanic voters jumped 140 percent in the state in 2008 and 42 percent among blacks compared with 2004, a change attributed in part to Obama’s candidacy. In the midterm election two years later, turnout also rose among Hispanics and African-Americans, according to data from the Georgia secretary of state.

But the presidential elections in 18 months, Democrats are taking their own offensive. The Democratic Governors Association started a Voter Protection Project this month to educate voters and encourage them to speak out against the measures. It also began running online advertisements.

The following is a list of some state voting changes either enacted or under consideration:

• Wisconsin – A valid photo identification is needed before a voter could cast a ballot.
• Florida – Restrictions tightened on third-party voter registration organizations and the number of early voting days has been shortened. Florida already requires photo identification.
• South Carolina – A valid photo identification is needed before a voter could cast a ballot.
• Texas – A valid photo identification is needed before a voter could cast a ballot.
• Kansas – A valid photo identification is needed before a voter could cast a ballot.
• Ohio – Legislature considering voter-identification bill.
• Pennsylvania – Legislature considering voter-identification bill.

Assault by PA "police" at Joseph's Tomb was deliberate

The Jerusalem Post reports that the IDF has determined the obvious:

Palestinian policemen deliberately opened fire at a group of Jews who infiltrated into Nablus last month to pray at Joseph’s Tomb, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz concluded on Sunday following the military probe of the incident.

Ben-Yosef Livnat, 25, was fatally wounded when the Palestinian policemen opened fire on the group of Breslav hassidim. Four other worshipers were wounded.

It's all part of the Religion of Peace, of course, which calls for Jews and non-Muslims to be executed. The "policemen" who committed the crime, you can be sure, will not be punished for it by the PA. It's up to Israel to deal with the problem.

“May snow depths are deeper than anything we have seen in the last 45 years”

From Alec Rawls at What's Up With That? 

That’s from the avalanche center in the Tetons, and here is a current web-cam view up Yosemite Valley towards still-closed Tioga Pass (in the left background):

AP has a nice roundup of late snow and snowpack news (including the Teton quote). Just weather. No mention of climate. Nothing this time about snow and cold being caused by global warming. Now if we could just get the press to do the same when there is a regional hot spell. Still, it’s progress. Remember the spinning on last winter’s snowzilla?
Most amusing was Al Gore’s quote from “the scientific community“:

A rise in global temperature can create all sorts of havoc, ranging from hotter dry spells to colder winters, along with increasingly violent storms, flooding, forest fires and loss of endangered species.

A click on Gore’s link showed “the scientific community” to be Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page. Gore should also have quoted Page’s credentials, which Page listed in his next line:

That’s simple science even for me, a guy whose scientific education pretty much ended with the old “Watch Mr. Wizard” TV show and a subscription to Popular Mechanics.

Unfortunately, Gore could have quoted some actual scientists to the same effect, as Andrew Bolt quoted the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research:

The overall warming of the earth’s northern half could result in cold winters… Recent severe winters like last year’s or the one of 2005-06 do not conflict with the global warming picture, but rather supplement it.

But as Bolt also quoted, the Potsdammer’s IPCC bible had predicted the opposite:

Fewer cold outbreaks; fewer, shorter, intense cold spells / cold extremes in winter” as being consistent across all model projections for Europe

What, are there no takers this time around? Are they tiring of the ridicule?

The Arab Spring from a Counter-Terrorism Perspective

From Will at The Other News:

By Dr. Boaz Ganor World War III is occurring right now. It is not only a war of ideas, it is a religious war – not between Islam and the rest of the world, but first and foremost a war within the religion of Islam. It is a war of the culture of Islamic radicalism against the rest of the world, which includes the majority of Muslims worldwide.

■A few months ago, White House Counter-Terrorism Advisor John Brennan said, “Islamists and Jihadists are not our enemy.” In response, I wrote an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post which explains that moderate Arab leaders know that Jihadists and Islamists are the enemy. By saying that Islamists and Jihadists are not the enemy, the United States – the spearhead of Western society and the protector of liberal values in the world – is sending a confusing message to its allies worldwide.

■In the competition between the Iranian axis and the pragmatic axis, the Iranian axis is winning. Hizbullah is growing stronger in Lebanon and Hamas is gaining power and scoring points in Gaza for the Iranian axis. Also, the decision of Turkey to choose the Iranian axis is becoming quite clear.

■Dr. Condoleezza Rice has said that her next book is going to refer to a pillar of American foreign policy: the introduction of democracy in the Muslim world. My upcoming book will address exactly the opposite. It will be about how terrorists and fundamentalists are misusing the democratic apparatus of the state in order to promote their goals. When fundamentalists win in democratic elections, it is one man, one vote, one time.

■Is there anything we can do in order to change this negative outcome? I would call to immediately establish a second Marshall Plan, similarly to what happened after World War II, for those new regimes being established in the Muslim world and to support other pragmatic regimes that have not yet faced internal revolutions. Since imposing democracy on these societies might be counterproductive and dangerous, it should be an incremental process. At the end of the day, only Muslims can and should educate Muslims.Now read the rest of this must read posting!Read the full story here.

Obama's Foreign-Policy Reversals

Obama's foreign-policy reversals involve at lot more than his statement about returning Israel to pre-1967 borders:

The 13 Worst Countries for Christian Persecution

We often read that CAIR, a known supporter of terrorism, likes to promote the fiction that Muslims in the West are victims of hate crimes. This, of course, is a complete lie. Most of the so-called hate crimes against Muslims are frauds and deceptions by Muslims themselves. (1)

Any careful reader of world news knows that the great majority of religious persecution in the world is directed at Christians and Jews.

Consider the following: "Despite communist North Korea topping the list for the ninth consecutive year, the most dangerous countries in which to practice Christianity are overwhelmingly Islamic ones, according to the annual Open Doors World Watch List [PDF]."
Here are the 13 Worst Countries for Christian Persecution. Those with an asterisk * next to them also appeared in my previous Thursday 13 article, the 13 Most Dangerous Countries in the World for travelers.
Click on a country link for examples of Christian persecution in that country.

Country	Percent Muslim
North Korea	0
Iran*	99
Afghanistan*	99
Saudi Arabia	100
Somalia*	100
Maldives	100
Yemen*	99
Iraq*	97
Uzbekistan	88
Laos	2
Pakistan*	97
Eritrea*	80
Mauritania*	100
Bhutan	0
Turkmenistan	89

It should be noted that of the top 50 worst offending countries on the World Watch List, almost 80% are Muslim-majority nations. Muslims are guilty of two related lies: that Muslims are persecuted in non-Muslim countries and that Christians are not persecuted in Muslim countries.

Read the whole thing at Planck's Constant.

Miranda Lambert
Gunpowder and Lead

Pakistani Muslim rapist admits women have no rights or opinions in Islam 

A practicing Muslim man raped and threatened a young Norwegian girl for several hours. Numerous rapes in Sweden over the past several years have been committed by "non-Western men," e.g., Muslims. In fact, in the past year, all rapes in Oslo have been committed by non-Western men.

"He said that he had the right to do exactly as he wanted to a woman. Why? Because that is how it was in his religion. Women did not have rights or opinions. He was in charge."

Islam teaches utter disrespect for women, who are mere possessions of savage men, to be raped whenever the beasts feel like it. At least this rapist admitted that fact of Islamic misogyny and sexism, which should be obvious to anyone with eyes to see.

"Women are your fields: go, then, into your fields whence you please." Quran 2:223

"Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and forsake them in beds apart, and beat them." Quran 4:34

"A male shall inherit twice as much as a female." Quran 4:11

"Call in two male witnesses from among you, but if two men cannot be found, then one man and two women whom you judge fit to act as witnesses..." Quran 2:282

 

Egypt: Military court prosecutes only Christians in Muslim attacks on churches

Arab Spring Marching Towards Democracy.

Click on the title to read the whole thing at Jihad Watch.

Taliban: No, we're not going to attack the nukes, we're just going to take over Pakistan

And the nukes would be theirs. They certainly don't have the wherewithal themselves to reinvent the "Islamic bomb." On the other hand, they may change their minds if they decide it suits them -- "replace it with something better," as it were.
"Taliban aims to take over Pakistan, its nukes," from the Press Trust of India, May 28:

Washington: The Taliban has said they have no plans to attack Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, asserting that it is the only Muslim state possessing such weapons and the terror group aims to take over the country as well as its nukes.

Taliban has stepped-up violent campaign to avenge Osama bin Laden's death has renewed fears that the country's warheads could be vulnerable.

And it has made a point of targeting military and police installations since then.

Click on the title to read the whole thing at Jihad Watch.

Dramatic footage shows moment Iraq war vet was shot 70 times in home... Report reveals he did NOT open fire on SWAT team

Thanks to Will at The Other News:

A U.S. Marine who was killed when he was gunned down in his home near Tucson, Arizona, never fired on the SWAT team that stormed his house firing 70 times in a hail of bullets, a report has revealed.

The revelation came as dramatic footage of the shooting was released, showing the armed team pounding down the door of Jose Guerena's home and opening fire.

The father-of-two, who had served twice in Iraq, died on May 5 after the SWAT team descended on his home believing it was one of four houses associated with a drug smuggling operation.

Shot dead: Jose Guerena, 26, had served two tours of duty in Iraq as a marine, but he died in his Tucson home after being hit by 60 bullets from a SWAT team

Read the whole thing.

A Malaysian journey from darkness

By the AntiJihadist

For most Americans and those reading this, the nation of Malaysia--the country I call home--is likely nothing more but a mysterious, distant, small and relatively unimportant land. Some of you might be familiar with Malaysia's carefully cultivated public image of being some sort of harmonious multicultural tropical paradise, which is recycled endlessly in 30-second-long television spots both here and overseas. 

But for anyone who may be trying to come to grips with the grim reality that is Islam, Malaysia may be one of the most important places on the planet. That's because anyone who still, despite all the evidence, feels that there really is a moderate, progressive, tolerant and peaceful Islam, need look no further than Malaysia. Once you do, you'll be thoroughly disabused of this notion.

Read the rest at Jihad Watch

Your Tax Dollars At Work

$500 million spent by the National Science Foundation (with a hat tip to Mustang of Social Sense):



The National Science Foundation's response:

The National Science Foundation responded to the report with a statement saying its projects "have advanced the frontiers of science and engineering, improved Americans' lives and provided the foundations for countless new industries and jobs."