 IT was the unlikeliest of settings and the unlikeliest of scenes: more than 10,000 music-lovers, many wearing traditional Islamic hijabs, gathered on the banks of historic Dal Lake in Indian Kashmir, defying terrorist threats to rock to a "musical jihad for peace" staged by Pakistan's biggest band, Junoon. The band performed for thousands on the banks of the lake, situated on the fringe of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, where Ravi Shankar taught George Harrison, The Beatles guitarist, to play the sitar in the 1960s. The event was hailed yesterday as a major development in attempts by the two South Asian nuclear-armed neighbours to improve relations after decades of confrontation over Kashmir, a territory targeted by Osama bin Laden as part of his global jihad. "Something great has happened to Kashmiris after ages, and we rocked," said Kashmir University student Arshi Gouse, 20. "Music's a tremendous healer and I'm sure such events will succeed in defusing hatred between India and Pakistan." The concert was held amid controversy after Pakistani extremist group Hizbul Mujahideen denounced it as an outrage. Demanding that the Pakistan Government bar Junoon from playing, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin declared: "When Kashmiris watch semi-nude Pakistani female dancers perform before the Indians, they will get disappointed with Pakistan." The jihadi chief said the show would have a "negative impact on the disputed status of Kashmir" and would send a wrong message to the international community that "Kashmir is an integral part of India". Junoon is Pakistan's biggest Sufi band and plays a fusion of western and eastern music. Source: The Australian
By Marylou Barry
What is ISNA, and why do U.S. religious groups want to partner with it?
First, a little background…
The Islamic Society of North America, the largest group of its kind in this country, devotes several pages of its extensive Web site to its “partners,” the secular and religious organizations with which it claims to “dialogue” – and whose established reputation, understandably, could help ISNA earn some badly needed credibility points.
Co-founded in 1981 by now-imprisoned felon Sami Al-Arian, ISNA serves as an umbrella for numerous Wahhabi Muslim groups in North America. It receives funding from the Saudi government and has been identified by the U.S. State Department as part of the Muslim Brotherhood, which also spawned Hamas. According to the New York Times it represents a third of the mosques in the United States, although Shia sources claim that 80 percent of U.S. mosques are currently under Saudi control. As long ago as 2003, terrorism expert Stephen Schwartz testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security that ISNA already was operating at least 324 mosques in the U.S. through the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT). Read more ...
Source: Marylou's America
By Jim Brown Critics of a private Saudi academy renting a local government building in northern Virginia warn the school promotes a virulent form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. Fairfax County, Virginia, supervisors voted last week to continue leasing property to the Islamic Saudi Academy, despite concerns over the K-12 school's past use of classroom material that promoted hatred against Jews and Christians. In October, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a report harshly criticizing the Saudi educational system, and called on the State Department to shut down the Islamic Saudi Academy. Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, says Saudi schools teach students that in order to safeguard Islam, they must "violently repress and even physically eliminate" non-Muslims. Read more ...Source: One News Now
By PAUL REVOIR Last night Mohammed Shafiq, director of the Ramadhan Foundation, said the police were differentiating between criminals on the basis of race. He claimed, driven by fear of race riots in places like Blackburn and Oldham, officers were "overtly sensitive" and not clamping down on the sordid practice. His controversial comments in this week's Panorama reignite a massively controversial issue which exploded over a Channel 4 documentary in 2004. That programme which claimed Asian men in Bradford were grooming under age white girls for prostitution was pulled from C4's schedules. This was because police claimed at the time that it could provoke racial violence during the local election campaign.A muslim leader has accused the police of failing to tackle Asian gangs suspected of prostituting young white girls. Officers are accused of being "over cautious" when investigating Muslim criminals because they fear being branded racist. Read more ...Source: Daily Mail
By Jonathan Constantine Movroydis and Reut Cohen
The University of California-Irvine is a sprawling campus in Orange County. The institution, located between the Santa Ana Mountains and the shore of the Pacific Ocean, is not only home to some of the best minds in science and engineering, but also to some of the most virulent supporters of radical Islam in America — and a school administration bent on capitulating to them.
The university’s Muslim Student Union (MSU) holds several annual events, at which members unashamedly voice support for terrorist groups and denounce Israel, America, and the Western world. Past events hosted during the group’s annual anti-Israel week have had titles such as “Hamas: the People’s Choice” and “Israel: The 4th Reich.” Speakers have included Norman Finkelstein, Ward Churchill, and Anna Balzter. Read more ...
Source: Pajamas Media
Cairo, May 25 (DPA) An Egyptian farmer who suspected his 16-year-old daughter was having an affair hanged her and then beheaded her body in the southern province of Bani Soueif, it was reported Sunday. The local daily Al-Akhbar said Abdel-Samad, 46, turned himself to the police after the killing. It said a police investigation showed the father suspected his daughter of having an affair.
So-called honour killings are not unusual in Egypt and other countries of the Middle East, where families murder female members for having brought “shame” on their name.
Such killings often involve a female member refusing an arranged marriage or having a relationship that the family considers to be inappropriate.
Source: DPA
 A Malaysian lawmaker told parliament that there would be fewer marital problems and a lower divorce rate if Muslim women were taught to accept polygamy, news reports said yesterday. Ibrahim Ali, an independent parliamentarian, proposed moves to address the issue in response to complaints that women were always blamed for marital issues. “Such problems happen because women cannot accept polygamy. From a preventive point of view, what about doing a big campaign so that women can accept polygamy?” Ibrahim was quoted saying in the Star daily. The ethnic Malay Muslim lawmaker said women who are pregnant or who have “problems” when they hit their 50s do not understand that men still want to “have fun.” Fuziah Salleh, an opposition lawmaker, had earlier questioned the qualifications of Islamic Shariah court counselors as she had received complaints from women that they were forced to take the blame for most marital problems. “They are not counseled but given ‘advice.’ And every time, they are told that the woman is to be blamed. If it is a family problem, they must be patient. If they are beaten up, they must also be patient,” she said. Read more ...Source: AFP H/T: Shariah Finance Watch
 Safa Rigby holds her youngest of five children in their home, May 21, 2008. Rigby had
it all. Four great kids. A faithful husband. Then she found out about his other wives.As Toronto mother describes her ordeal, imam admits he has 'blessed' over 30 unionsBy Noor Javed There were no pleasantries, there was no small talk. Safa Rigby had expected to hear her husband's voice when the phone rang one morning. Instead, the caller didn't even bother to say hello. "You think you know your husband. You don't know him at all," said the man, a friend of her husband's. "His car is parked outside my house right now. He is with my ex-wife. They just got married last week," the man said. It took a minute for the news to sink in. Then she called her husband of 14 years, demanding to know if what she had just been told was true – that while she spent a year in Egypt raising their four children in a more Islamic environment, he had used it as an opportunity to marry not just one, but two other women in Toronto. Read more ...Source: The Star
 Barack Obama's "policy" on negotiating with Iran without preconditions has Britain greatly worried and possibly violates three UN security council resolutions. Officials in Washington and Europe fear that Obama's policy on Iran threatens to undermind the West's tough stance towards Tehran in recent years. So much so, in fact, that according to yesterday's Times Online story, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband met yesterday with all three presidential campaigns. But, according to the Times Online, Obama's team of foreign policy advisers had a meeting Wednesday with Miliband, at which Miliband questioned Obama's declared willingness to meet with leaders from rogue states such as Iran.
The Times Online article continues:
British intelligence chiefs are understood to have identified Iranian nuclear proliferation as the second greatest security threat, behind Islamic terrorism but ahead of renewed aggression from Russia. There is also deep concern about Iran’s support for Iraqi Shia militias or terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. “The role of Iran as a source of instability in the region is undoubtedly a concern,” Mr Miliband said this week. “No one can watch armed militias coming on to the streets in defiance of UN resolutions with equanimity.” Exact accounts of the conversation with Mr Obama differ and there is certainly acute anxiety on the part of the British not to be seen as stoking political controversy in America’s presidential elections. In the past week Mr McCain has repeatedly hammered Mr Obama for what he claims is a “naive” commitment to hold direct talks with foreign dictators.
In a televised debate last summer, Mr Obama was asked if he would be willing to meet the leaders of countries such as Iran and Cuba without preconditions during his first year in office. He replied: “I would.” But this week he appeared to pull back, saying he would still be willing to meet Iranian leaders but not before what he described as “preparations” — and not necessarily with President Ahmadinejad. Nevertheless, Mr Obama says that “tough but engaged diplomacy” — of the type carried out by President Kennedy or President Reagan with the Soviet Union — would represent “a different approach, a different philosophy” to the “failed Iran policy” of the current administration. Mr Miliband, in a press conference with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, reiterated Britain’s support for the united front on Iran adopted by the US and its European allies, which he believes is beginning to pay dividends. “Our position, jointly, has always been that as long as Iran exercises responsibilities, then it will be able to forge a more productive and positive relationship with the international community,” Mr Miliband said. An aide later told The Times that the Foreign Secretary was being very careful to avoid direct criticism of any presidential candidate’s positions. But the same source added: “We know Obama wants to engage more, but we don’t know what route he will take or what he means by ‘no pre-conditions’. It has not unravelled yet and, when it does, we will be able to see where it converges or conflicts with what we’re doing.” A Foreign Office spokesman later said: “I just want to stress that David Miliband is not confused about Obama’s policy. It would be quite wrong to say that.” Mr McCain’s foreign policy chief, Randy Scheunemann, would not comment on his own meetings with Mr Miliband. But he said: “Obama’s position is obviously different to that of Britain and France. Otherwise Prime Minister Brown and President Sarkozy would have already met the President of Iran without conditions. Although Britain — unlike the US — maintains diplomatic relations with Iran, the West has been more or less united in seeking to isolate the Iranian leadership. The US, Britain, France and to some extent Germany have pressed for tighter sanctions against Iran, including measures directed against the country’s ruling elite, for failing to comply with UN resolutions calling for a halt to its uranium enrichment programme. British intelligence chiefs are understood to have identified Iranian nuclear proliferation as the second greatest security threat, behind Islamic terrorism but ahead of renewed aggression from Russia. There is also deep concern about Iran’s support for Iraqi Shia militias or terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. “The role of Iran as a source of instability in the region is undoubtedly a concern,” Mr Miliband said this week. “No one can watch armed militias coming on to the streets in defiance of UN resolutions with equanimity.” [Submitted by kmacginn via Hummers & Cigarettes.]
A man identified as Ahmad (53) killed his 17 years old daughter, identified as Farzaneh, on May 7, in the central city Isfahan, reported several Iranian newspapers.
Farzaneh was kidnapped earlier and was held captive by her brother-in-law, for ten days, the father told reporters. In order to save the family’s honor, he then decided to take her life. Read more ...
Source: Stop Fundamentalism
 Police escort murder suspect Ahmad O., who
allegedly stabbed his sister 20 times in an honor killing.By Barbara Hans Ahmad O. stabbed his sister more than 20 times because the 16-year-old girl didn't live her life according to his values. Women's rights advocate Seyran Ates is now calling for German society to intensify its efforts to stop honor killings. "A girl isn't a whore if she goes out," she says. Morsal O. was 16, a young girl with joie de vivre. She laughed a lot and she was a go-getter. She was a good student, had ambition and a lot ahead of her in life. But she was murdered on Friday, May 9. Her 23-year-old brother Ahmad, with the help of a cousin, lured her to a parking lot near a subway station in the German port city of Hamburg under a false pretense and stabbed her 20 times with a knife. If Morsal had known she would be coming face to face with her brother, she probably wouldn't have gone that evening. The two hadn't been on talking terms for quite some time, and Ahmed had threatened his sister repeatedly. Just before her murder, Morsal had sought refuge from her family, who moved to Germany from Afghanistan 13 years ago, at a number of city social facilities, most recently living for more than a year in a youth safe house. But she never succeeded in entirely breaking off contact with her family. Read more ...Source: Spiegel
By Shwan Mohammad
Medics in Iraqi Kurdistan said on Saturday that they had seen a surge in violence against women in May, with both so-called "honour" killings and female suicides on the increase. "At least 14 women died in the first 10 days of May alone," a doctor told AFP in the region's second largest city of Sulaimaniyah. "Seven of them took their own lives, the other seven were murdered in still unexplained circumstances" -- apparently the victims of "honour" killings. "Over the same period, we recorded 11 attempted self-immolations. These women were so desperate they set fire to themselves," the doctor added, asking not to be identified. According to Kurdish regional government figures, in Sulaimaniyah province alone more than 50 women attempted suicide by burning in the first four months of the year and another eight tried to hang themselves. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq has regularly highlighted "honour" killings of Kurdish women as being among the country's most severe human rights abuses. Most such crimes are reported as deaths caused by accidental fires in the home. Aso Kamal, a 42-year-old British Kurdish Iraqi campaigner, says that between 1991 and 2007, 12,500 women were murdered for "honour" reasons or committed suicide in the country's three Kurdish provinces. The Kurdish autonomous region runs its own affairs and has enjoyed relative peace and growing prosperity since the US-led invasion of 2003, while Arab areas of Iraq have been plunged into sectarian warfare. But crimes against women continue despite campaigns by human rights activists and repeated condemnation by women members of the regional government and parliament. Most of the attacks are carried out by close relatives who believe the victims' behaviour to have been immoral. Desperate to escape the cycle of domestic violence, many women turn to suicide. The Kurdish region's first centre dedicated to tackling domestic violence against women opened in Sulaimaniyah last October, and provides psychological support and legal advice to victims in complete confidentiality. "Even if the phenomenon is deeply embedded in the historical roots of our region, it has become alarmingly commonplace in recent months," Layla Abdullah, president of the separate Kurdish women's rights group the Aram Shelter, said. "In 2004, 48 female victims of domestic violence found refuge at the association in order to escape death," Abdullah said. "The number rose to 71 in 2007, and now it stands at 25 for the first four months of this year," she added. In 2002 the Kurdish government abolished a law which reduced the penalties for those convicted of "honour" crimes, but this has still not eradicated the violence, according to those fighting to protect Kurdish women's rights. In November 2007, Kurdish human rights minister Aziz Mohammed acknowledged that domestic violence occurred in northern Iraq. "Domestic violence, sexual abuse, death threats, insults, forced marriages, kidnapping, being forced to leave school... these are the problems which confront the women of Kurdistan," a ministry report said, adding that most victims were between 13 and 18 years old. Paradoxically, Kurdish women are deeply involved in the region's political process with 28 in the 111-seat parliament and three holding ministerial positions. "Suicide attempts by traumatised women are on the increase," said Bakhshan Zangana, who heads the parliamentary women's group. "We must discuss and find a solution to this situation. Suicide is clearly one of the consequences of domestic violence and cruelty." Source: France 24
Radical Turkish Islamists organize nights in many Turkish cities under the slogan, "A free Al-Quds, A world without Israel", where Hamas and Hizbullah are glorified, Israel and Western countries demonized, and jihadist speeches are delivered. The frequency of similar events in the mainly Kurdish southeast and east of Turkey with large number of participants are attributed to the intense efforts to Islamize the local population in these areas. Following are excerpts from the speech that the radical Islamist activist Nureddin Sirin delivered in Van in which he targeted Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan along with the U.S. and Israel: "[...] Bush went to Saudi Arabia after Israel and he is going to Egypt. American lackeys Egypt, Jordan and Saudi's betrayal of the Islamic umma is just as grave as the Zionists' cruelty, massacres, tortures, murders. The responsibility for the embargo that Gaza faces today, lies primarily with Egypt that keeps the gates closed - not America or Israel. Yes we say that Israel will not be standing for another six years. That Saudi regime, the occupier of holy Mecca and Madine that calls itself the servant of holy places! No, you are the servants of America and f Israel! You are their accomplices! If it wasn't for your treachery, if Mecca wasn't under your occupation, if Kabe wasn't occupied, Al Quds wouldn't be occupied either. [...] When Hizbullah fighters for 33 days striked Zionist Israel the heaviest blow in their history, Saudis, Egypt and Jordan conspired with the conspirator Fuad Siniora of Lebanon. They and Siniora told Israel, "Finish this Hizbullah"! [crowds repeatedly Allahu Akbar ...] Read more ...Source: MEMRI
By LIBBY QUAID STOCKTON, Calif. - Republican John McCain on Thursday rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths. McCain rejected the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment "crazy and unacceptable." He later repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent. McCain issued a statement Thursday afternoon announcing his decision about Hagee. Read more ...Source: APMuslims Against Sharia applaud Senator McCains' decision to sever ties with Islamophobic bigots Hagee & Parsley
 An officer of Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force showing
narcotics seized in February. Virtually all Muslims,
except the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and other reprehensible
groups, hold a deep loathing for anyone involved in the
manufacture, distribution, or consumption of drugs.By JAMES EMERY Religion and nationalism are the refuge of scoundrels, so it was no great surprise to learn that Haji Baz Muhammad, the Afghan criminal mastermind who has made millions of dollars from narcotics trafficking, said he was selling heroin in order to wage a jihad against the United States. The Taliban, who've earned over $1 billion in the narcotics trade under the dubious guise of religious warriors, claim they are promoting drugs to attack the West. I suppose the Taliban consider the fact that millions of Muslims have become addicted to their drugs is collateral damage in their so-called "jihad." The Koran bans the use and involvement with all intoxicants and mind-altering substances in the second surah, verse 219 and the fifth surah, verse 90. Wine and mind-altering substances are referred to as "khamr" derived from the Arabic word "khamara", which means to veil or conceal. Muhammad said that every intoxicant is "khamr", and that every khamr is "haram" (the Arabic word for forbidden). Read more ...Source: Middle East Times
By David Schenker
In a lengthy interview published today in the online Arabic news service Elaph, Supreme Guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Akef was asked: “Regarding resistance and jihad…do you consider Osama Bin Laden a terrorist or an Islamic Mujahid?”
Akef’s answer:
“In all certainty, a mujahid, and I have no doubt in his sincerity in resisting the occupation, close to Allah on high.”
This statement provides some insight into the current thinking of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. It should prompt a reassessment in the West of the now dominant view that the MB in Egypt is committed to non-violence and democracy. Read more ...
Source: Counterterrorism Blog Mohammed Akef
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
Ahmad Jibril: "Why did they bring the [Jews] here? Can you believe they talk about historical myths, from 3,000 years ago or more, in which God promised to give Abraham the land from the Nile to the Euphrates? Just imagine, the Master of the Universe, who is absolute justice, brings these people and says to them: 'You own this land and everything on it.' Then they say that in the days of Jacob, they were given Palestine, the Promised Land.
"One should know, however, that history and archeology have yet to prove that a Jewish state was ever established on the land of Palestine, or that such a state survived and gave rise to civilizations, and so on... It is said that gangs controlled Jerusalem, Hebron, and Nablus, and that later, they were uprooted, just like any other gang. They did not give rise to a civilization. The Arabs and Muslims lived for 700 years in Andalusia. Why shouldn't we claim that Andalusia is our homeland?"[...] More ...
Source: MEMRI
By M. Nissimov, Y. Mansharof and A. Savyon
In late January 2008, the Media Supervision Committee of Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ordered the closure of the women's movement monthly Zanan, which had appeared in Iran for 16 years. The order came after the magazine published an investigative article on istishhad (i.e. martyrdom) operations. The conservative news agency Fars reported, citing a knowledgeable source, that the magazine had been shut down for "breaking the law and defaming military and revolutionary institutions, including the Basij," and for "publishing reports and [raising] issues that undermine [society's] spiritual security, morale, and ideological strength, and that create a sense of insecurity in society and discredit the status of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran." Read more ...
Source: MEMRI
By Janet I. Tu Some local Muslim community members are upset about a training course for local law enforcement, saying it could promote stereotypes and ethnic and religious profiling. The program, called "The Threat of Islamic Jihadists to the World" and conducted by a Miami-based company, began Thursday and continues today at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission campus in Burien. It is billed as providing insight into the formative phases of Islam, the religion's different branches, radical Islam and how to respond to terrorist acts. But Arsalan Bukhari, president of the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said the program appears to be linking an entire religion to terrorism. Read more ...Source: Seattle Times
A Christian doctor is being held in a Pakistan jail while religious extremists demand that he be publicly hanged for blasphemy. Dr. Robin Sardar, 55, is facing a possible death sentence after an envious friend claimed he made offensive remarks about the Quran and Muhammad’s beard, according to a report by the International Christian Concern, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights group. Sardar’s former friend, Muhammad Yousaf, became jealous of the Christian’s professional success and financial status, so he filed a First Information Report May 5 with police, claiming the doctor had made derogatory statements about the prophet. According to Sardar’s nephew, a mob of more than 200 Muslims wielding guns, sticks and kerosene oil attacked the doctor’s home and medical offices following the report to police. The men, wearing green turbans to represent their Islamic faith, broke into Sadar’s home, shattered windows and ruined the family’s furniture in their residence and clinic. Read more ...
Source: John's Blog
WASHINGTON is still reeling from two strategic defeats this week in its regional showdown with arch-foe Iran, and several key policy-makers have claimed the hardest blow came from staunch ally Israel. The Jewish state's decision on Wednesday to restart peace talks with Syria came at a particularly difficult time for the Bush administration. It followed a decision by Lebanese leaders hours earlier to cede veto power to the Iranian-backed Opposition, consolidating the rising influence of the radical regime and its key partner, Damascus. Both hardline nations emerged emboldened by the two moves, while the US saw them as a slap in the face, a senior US official was quoted as saying in The New York Times. The Israeli decision to re-engage Syria exposes a significant strategic division between Jerusalem and Washington, both of which rarely diverge on Middle Eastern policy. The announcement of indirect talks between Syria and Iran, to be brokered by Turkey, did not come as a surprise to Washington, which had been briefed on contacts between the two sides over the past two years. However, the forewarning did not mitigate the shock of the decision being made at such a pivotal point in the showdown between the hawkish Bush White House and the equally hardnosed leadership of Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr Bush had invested much of the remainder of his foreign policy political capital in a peace track with the Palestinians - one he personally tried to rejuvenate last November. Discussions between the three sides have, at best, inched along throughout the year and have been marred by a mutual reluctance to usher in trust-building measures. As talks with the Palestinians continued to falter, Israel increasingly felt there was a better chance of reaching an agreement with Syria. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office also believes there is a much better chance of any deal signed with the Syrians being implemented because the issues to be discussed relate mainly to territory. The Palestinian peace track is a tangle of more complex issues, which involves moving hundreds of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians and dispersing billions of dollars in compensation as part of a final-status settlement. Syria has long been a key player in Palestinian politics. Current President Bashar al-Assad and his late father Hafez al-Assad, who ruled the totalitarian state for more than 30 years until his death in 2001, have backed several outlawed groups, including Hamas, as well as sheltering their leaders. But Mr Assad Jr's strong alliance with Iran since the turn of the century, and particularly since the election of Mr Ahmadinejad in late 2005, has put Washington on almost a cold war footing with both Syria and Iran. Mr Bush has disavowed any high-level contact with either country for the past three years, claiming both have eagerly fuelled the insurgency in Iraq, which has US forces pinned down five years after the 2003 invasion. The White House also accuses the two allies of attempting to gain control of Lebanon, a goal that was advanced on Wednesday when the US-backed Government of Fouad Siniora capitulated to Opposition demands. While in Jerusalem for Israel's 60th anniversary just over a week ago, Mr Bush used a speech in the Israeli parliament to warn against appeasing regional strongmen and those prepared to use force for political gain. "He isn't home a week and the dictators and forces of violence have triumphed," said former US national security official Bruce Reidel, quoted in a US newspaper. Israel says the key reason for kick-starting talks with Syria is to try to peel it away from its links to Iran. This is also a main aim of Mr Bush. However, the US has doggedly stuck to a policy of punishing Damascus by isolating it economically and attempting to force it to the negotiating table by attrition. Israel had previously marched arm-in-arm with the US on its approach to Syria, and continues to enforce a hardline stance against two of Syria's key patrons, Hezbollah and Hamas. However, Mr Olmert's office said it had received a missive from Damascus within the past fortnight, which convinced it that such a dramatic divergence from the US was a worthy gamble. Source: The Australian
 By Clare M. Lopez When the Director of National Intelligence declares publicly that "We try not to refer to 'jihad' as something that's bad," even though he knows that the United States (U.S.) and all of civilized society is engaged in an existential struggle with the forces of Islamic Jihad, it is hard to fathom what he could possibly be thinking. Only a few short weeks ago, we were told that referring to jihad might somehow legitimize our enemies. Of all of our leaders charged with the defense and protection of our Constitution, DNI Michael McConnell bears a special responsibility to understand clearly the identity of the enemy and the nature of the threat he poses. He also has a professional responsibility to communicate that honestly to the American people. The refusal of DNI McConnell and, apparently, the rest of the Bush administration, to acknowledge the obvious linkage between terror in the name of Islam, and the Islamic faith, goes beyond absurd: it is dangerous to national security because it prevents the U.S.'s top officials from crafting an appropriate strategic policy to defend us. Willful ignorance of the fundamental doctrine of Islamic Jihad, as defined by Islamic scriptures, scholarly consensus, and historians cannot change what is written, what is believed, and what is lived by those who would destroy our Constitutional system and replace it with Sharia. It doesn't matter in the end whether we agree or disagree with the doctrine of our enemies, or judge it good or evil: if that is what guides the enemy's behavior towards us, then that is what we must deal with. It is also irrelevant that more peaceful methods for propagating Islam, such as Da'wa, do exist, or that there indeed is a "Greater Jihad" (the inner struggle to better oneself). Neither Da'wa nor the "Greater Jihad" employs warfare or terror to replace liberal democracy with Sharia. But the "Lesser Jihad" does. Read more ...Source: Family Security Matters
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