Canadian Bravery: Afghanistan

Prime Minister Harper talking to the troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan.


The Sperwer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), 161001, launches on its maiden flight in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Sperwer UAV is a target acquisition and surveillance drone deployed with Operation ATHENA in Afghanistan. ++++ The story of C Company




President George W. Bush on Friday heaped praise on Canada's military for routing the Taliban in heavy fighting in Afghanistan earlier this month. "A tactical defeat for the Taliban ...more than 1,000 rebel fighters had been killed." Five Canadian soldiers died during Operation Medusa, a massive battle launched by NATO in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. The fighting lasted 18 days and was declared a major success by Canadian commanders.

The U.S. will transfer 12,000 American troops under NATO command as it prepares to assume security operations for all of Afghanistan.

"NATO will stand up to the insurgents and terrorists whose only goal is to wreck the future of Afghanistan" -- NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Many believe Afghanistan is NATO's most important mission since it's creation in 1949.

• Canada has assisted in the collection, storage and decommissioning of 10,000 heavy weapons left in Afghanistan including artillery, tanks and rocket launchers, used in decades of conflict in the country.
• Canada has helped clear about one third of the estimated 10 to 15 million mines in Afghanistan.
• Canada has loaned money to over 140,000 people in Afghanistan.
• Canada has helped train the Afghan police and army.

Sick and Tired

I am indifferent to both Glenn Beck and Pat Robertson. But I will use them in order to get a point across. Below is Beck's "Sick And Tired of Muslims Attacking Christianity"

In the news:
+ New detainee legislation passed by Congress: "U.S. citizens can be detained as enemy combatants if they take up arms on the side of al-Qaida...but they get some extra judicial protections in that case."
+ Canadian soldier killed by blast in Afghanistan: "NATO spokesman Mark Laity told CBC Newsworld soldiers know it is dangerous to get out of the armoured vehicles, but believe it is necessary if they want to win the 'hearts and minds' of Afghans" ++++ Canada: Helping to rebuild Afghanistan ++++ Pakistan behind train bombings: Indian police ++++ The current Iraqi government is unable or unwilling to stop the current sectarian violence sweeping through their country: Ramadan violence in Iraq

Glenn Beck: "We need to stop worrying about offending Muslims"




Muslims who use fear and violence to stifle any criticism of any part of their religion. Shut up or die. "Europe you will pay. Demolition is on it's way."
"Butcher those who mock Islam." "Europe You Will Pay."


One of the 100 Nigerian victims who were killed and 542 injured yesterday following an insult to the Prophet Muhammed by a Christian newspaper (Alquds Alarabi, 11/23/02).

Laskar Jihad, Sheikh Mudeiris

"The day will come when we will rule America." - Sheikh Mudeiris


Laskar Jihad in Indonesia:


Laskar Jihad, or Holy War Warriors, was formed in 2000 in Ambon, Moluccan Islands, Indonesia, by Jafar Umar Thalib, who studied in Pakistan and fought with the mujahidin in Afghanistan in the late 1980s. Jafar admits to having met Osama bin Laden there but dismisses him saying the al Qaeda chief "knew nothing about true religion". Jafar claims to have rejected al Qaeda funding in 2001.
Between May 2000 to December 2001 an estimated 10,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands had to flee their towns as Laskar Jihad burnt indigenous Melanesian Churches and communities in Ambon and other Moluccas islands as well as Christian communities in Sulawesi. A video of the group being welcome to Ambon by Indonesian authorities was later joined by allegations of murder, torture, forced conversion to Islam, and forced circumcision. During 2001 and 2002 Laskar Jihad began to expand its activities sending militants to the provinces of Aceh and Papua, at opposite ends of the country. Although the group after the Bali bombing in October 2002 announced it was disbanding, during 2003 it requested the Indonesian government provide office space in Papua. In May 2003 reports smuggled out of Papua claimed fire and machete had been used to destroy ten townships, their food gardens and live stock sending the surviving women and children into jungle hiding from Indonesian forces. Video footage of an alleged Laskar Jihad training camp was broadcast in May 2005, and during June 2006 witness statements were gathered concerning three jihad training camps with 2500 troops allegedly training with TNI assistance near the PNG border.

Promoting "forgiveness":


Promoting "tolerance":

John Abizaid

John Philip Abizaid is an American of Arab descent.

He is also a general in the United States Army and the Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle East. CENTCOM oversees 250,000 US troops. Abizaid succeeded General Tommy Franks as Commander, USCENTCOM, on July 7, 2003, and was also elevated to the rank of 4-star general the same week. Previously, he was one of two deputy commanders of CENTCOM during the major combat phase of the Iraq war.

General Abizaid is the most senior military officer of direct Arab descent. The name Abizaid (in Arabic: جون أبي زيد,) means father of Zaid in Arabic. His nickname at West Point was “The Mad Arab.” He started a program to put Arabic speakers on a fast track for promotions. (Wiki)

In a Sept. 19 briefing, Gen. Abizaid said U.S. troops have found in Iraq the Russian-origin RPG-29 rocket-propelled grenade, used by Hizbullah against Israel's military in the war in August. He said the RPG-29, designed to penetrate Western main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers, was modified by and produced in Iran. Abizaid also reported the delivery of Chinese-origin rockets to Iraqi insurgency groups aligned with Iran.

+ General Abizaid Wiki biography ++++ PBS Newsmaker: General Abizaid
+ Statement of General John Abizaid Before The Senate Armed Services Committee on the 2006 Posture of the United States Central Command - 14 MARCH 2006 ++++ U.S. Central Command: What Extremists Are Saying

In other news:
I don't know how sound this approach is: Police to brief Muslims before terror raids
Will British police also consult with Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, etc before doing their jobs of arresting the bad guys?
+ Fugitive al-Qaida leader gunned down by British ++++ Pentagon extends combat time for 4,000 soldiers ++++ Army considers more combat units for Iraq ++++ U.S. House approves $70B more for Iraq and Afghanistan
+ Kandahar, Afghanistan: Canadian soldiers escaped injury on Wednesday when a suicide bomber tried to ram a vehicle in a Canadian military convoy in Afghanistan. The attack injured one Afghan civilian.


Canadian, American, British & Dutch soldiers. Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan (September 20, 2006)


Canadian soldiers from 3PPCLI move into the hills to search for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters after an air assault onto an objective north of Qualat, Afghanistan. The soldiers are participating in Operation Cherokee Sky in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Photo by Staff Sgt. Robert Hyatt, USA, July 2002

Obsession: Radical Islam

Obsession trailer
(The links below can be found on the Obsession site. Looks like we all have a lot of reading to do...)
Muslim Coalition video, exposing the Islamic Extremists lies about Islam (17 mb QuickTime video. You'll have a bit of a wait)

~ A Primer on Radical Islam ~
+ Reform vs. Islamism in the Arab World Today - Menahem Milson
~ Confronting the Threat ~
+ Stop Navel Gazing - Caroline Glick ++++ The War that Dare Not Speak Its Name - Andrew C McCarthy ++++ D-Day for Defeatism - Melanie Phillips ++++ The Churchill Doctrine - Daniel Mandel ++++ Dialogue: In the Name of Islam - Moderator: Ray Suarez
~ Eurabia ~
+ Beyond Munich - The Spirit of Eurabia - Bat Ye'or ++++ A Culture of Hate - Bat Ye'or
+ Europe Will Be Islamic by the End of the Century - Robert Spencer ++++ Muslims rule major Swedish city - Ali Dashti ++++ Clash of Civilizations in Europe - Arnaud de Borchgrave +++ Islamic Europe? - Christopher Caldwell
~ Jihad Comes to America ~
+ Jihad comes to Small Town, USA - Laura Mansfield ++++ Saudi Venom in U.S. Mosques - Daniel Pipes
~ Media and Academia ~
+ Islamism's Campus Club - Jonathan Dowd-Gailey ++++ Liberal America, Europe Slowly Rebelling Against The Values Required For Civilized Existence - Aisha Siddiqa Qureshi ++++ Campus Support for Terrorism - Horowitz and Johnson
~ Anti-Semitism and the Miner's Canary ~
+ The Canary in Europe's Mine - Jeff Jacoby ++++ The anti-Semitic lies that threaten all of us - Harold Evans ++++ On Hating the Jews - Natan Sharansky ++++ The Old-New Anti-Semitism - Robert S. Wistrich
~ Miscellaneous ~
+ Interview - Fresh Air with Terry Gross - Bernard Lewis ++++ Innocent Religion Is Now A Message Of Hate - Abdel Rahman al-Rashed ++++ A Letter by an Alleged Wife of a Martyr to the Wife of Paul Johnson - Anon. ++++ The Link Between The Nazis, Muslim Brotherhood And Al-Qaeda - John Loftus ++++ Johnathan Galt Films - Jihadist audio & video provided by Glen Jenvey ++++ Honestly Concerned, Arab Anti-Semitism, Arab Cartoons - Anti-Semitic Propaganda Links Between Nazis and Islamists
~ Documents ~
+ Saudi Publications On Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques - Center for Religious Freedom, 2005 ++++ Islamistwatch.org - Multiple Authors ++++ The 9/11Commission Report - National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 2004.


The bad guys.


The good guys fighting Jihad in Afghanistan.

A Day in the Life of Radical Islam

Some Lebanese can see through Hizbullah's bullshit:
Lebanese Christian leader slams Hezbollah at rally for war against Israel
U.N. expert: Iraq torture may be worse
60 more Taliban extremists killed in Afghanistan push
Dying Nun Forgave Her Killers
Experts see lower threat from al-Qaida (those frightening videos may have been just that — designed to frighten the West and inspire followers — with little real punch behind them)

Somalia's Islamists seize seaport
In the past three months, Israeli incursions to stop rocket fire and find smuggling tunnels have killed more than 200 Palestinians, most of them militants
Nazi Roots of Modern Radical Islam


Christians face jail for giving treats to children of Muslims (About 10,000 Christians were killed in Indonesia between 1998 and 2003 and about 1,000 churches were burnt down by Muslim mobs, according to campaigners. Although religious conflict has eased in recent years campaigners say that about 100 churches have been closed down in the past five years in West Java.)

You've got to be kidding me (from the article above "Christians face jail..."):
"Christians helping in Aceh after the Boxing Day tsunami were asked to leave for making Muslims uncomfortable"

300 Spartans (release date March 9, 2007)

Ok, the real title is "300" but you knew I was going to put the "Spartans" part in the title of my post.

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, "300" concerns the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta Leonidas led his army against the advancing Persians.

The battle is said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians, and helped usher in the world's first democracy.

Warner Bros. have managed to find all the sites with the trailer and have ordered those sites to stop posting it.
They haven't stopped YouTube yet.

Read about the Battle of Thermopylae.

In other news:
Four in custody for plot to kill Israeli ambassador in Norway
"If I get hold of the pope, I will hang him"
Kill all Iraqi Christians in three days if the Pope does not Apologize
India: Militants killed a woman and chopped a villager's ear in Doda district
Honour killing in Canada
Bangladeshi Editor Faces Death Penalty for Moderate Muslim Views
Sunnis Gun Down 85-Year-Old Shia Cleric in Pakistan
Marines cut through veil of uncertainty
Leader of Ansar al-Sunnah that's linked to al-Qaida and responsible for kidnappings and beheadings, has been captured by Iraqi and U.S. forces

US Forces in Iran?

~

(From thinkprogress.org)
On CNN, Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner (Ret.) said: ‘We Are Conducting Military Operations Inside Iran Right Now. The Evidence Is Overwhelming.’

Gardiner, who taught at the U.S. Army’s National War College, has previously suggested that U.S. forces were already on the ground in Iran. Today he added several additional new points:

1) The House Committee on Emerging Threats recently called on State and Defense Department officials to testify on whether U.S. forces were in Iran. The officials didn’t come to the hearing.
2) “We have learned from Time magazine today that some U.S. naval forces had been alerted for deployment. That is a major step.”
3) “The plan has gone to the White House. That’s not normal planning. When the plan goes to the White House, that means we’ve gone to a different state.”


Click on image above to view the video. Read the full transcript HERE.

9/11 Conspiracy Theories

Regardless of whether you believe the 9/11 Commission's Report or believe one or all of the conspiracy theories, this topic always leads to some very interesting debate all over the planet.

Wiki's very good article summarizing the main 9/11 conspiracy theories

"There are two main categories of 9/11 conspiracy theories:
1. Key individuals within the government and defense establishment "let it happen on purpose" (LIHOP). That is, they knew the attacks were coming (though there is a range of opinion about how specific their knowledge was) and undertook to weaken America's defenses sufficiently to ensure a successful major terrorist attack on home soil.
2. Key individuals within the government and defense establishment "made it happen on purpose" (MIHOP). That is, they planned the attacks (and here there is a range of opinion about what the plan was) and ultimately carried it into action. " (Wiki article)

Please note that there are polls mentioned in the Wiki article. Note that the polls surveyed between 1,000-3,000 people (I think). The US population is over 300 million, yet the surveys use phrases like "41% of New York citizens overall believe" and "42% of Americans believe." Please take these surveys with a grain of salt. Any neo-Conservative, pro-Bush, pro-Republican could easily poll 1,000 to 3,000 neo-Cons and be able to use phrases like "100% of Americans surveyed support President Bush and the War on Terror and believe the 9/11 Commission Report." I know polls are a "sampling" and cannot possibly poll more than a few thousand people...just be careful when reading polls and try not to jump up and down with joy thinking they prove your beliefs and/or your socio-economic philosophies. They don't.

Michael Moore's fascinating film Fahrenheit 911

"Fifteen of the nineteen people who hijacked planes on September 11, 2001 were from Saudi Arabia. Not one of them was from Iraq...Iraq has more proven oil reserves than any other country in the world except Saudi Arabia...Saudi Arabia is the largest supplier of oil to the United States. It has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. Saudi Arabia supplies the United States with one and a half million barrels of oil a day...George W. Bush speaks frequently of the need to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq. However, he has never publicly demanded that Saudi Arabia allow free elections. Saudi Arabia is a kingdom where the rulers tolerate little if any dissent...The Saudi government spent more than $170 billion on armaments in the 1990s. A large portion of this business went through U.S. corporations, including the Carlyle Group...
"The Carlyle Group has included some of the most powerful people in the world as partners, directors, and advisors: Former President George H.W. Bush and his former Secretary of State James Baker; Frank Carlucci, Secretary of Defense under Pres. Ronald Reagan; and John Major, the ex- British Prime Minister. Other Carlyle associates have included heads of state from the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand, as well as cabinet officials and ambassadors from the U.S. and other countries. Current President George W. Bush was on the board of directors of a Carlyle company...
"The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) is a “think tank” of the office of the book with a book with a that believes the United States must protect its political and economic interests around the world by using aggressive military and economic power. They believe America should stand in the world unchallenged by any other country. PNAC members in the Bush administration included Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz. Immediately following the September 11 attacks, they began to push for attacking Iraq...
"Vice President Dick Cheney became CEO of the Halliburton corporation after he served as Secretary of Defense during the first Gulf War. Halliburton chose him as CEO in part because of his close ties with leaders in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia. In his last year at Halliburton, Cheney was paid $34 million. Halliburton has received huge contracts worth billions of dollars during the current Iraq war
-- www.michaelmoore.com

"There were too many ironies and coincidences. A shrewd person would one day start a religion based on coincidence, if he hasn't already, and make a million."
-- Libra by Don DeLillo (about Lee Harvey Oswald and the JFK assasination)

I'm killing myself Googling to find out who was the US politician I heard recently on BBC radio say the following: "Conspiracy theories are the product of a lazy mind." (I guess it doesn't matter...I've heard more than one person use this phrase)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In other news:
Halliburton to Wounded Employee: You'll Get a Medal -- If You Don't Sue
Philippine's most violent Muslim group - On the verge of being wiped out
Raul Castro: The irrational dangers represented by Bush administration policies
Italian nun shot, possibly by Islamic extremists
U.S. war prisons legal vacuum for 14,000

American Bravery: United 93 Fought Back

On September 11, 2001, United Airlines Boeing 757-222, (Flight 93) was one of four planes hijacked as part of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It was the only one of the four planes that did not reach its intended target, instead crashing in an empty field just outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, about 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. The 9/11 Commission (through testimony, tapes of passengers' phone calls, and the flight data recorders recovered from the crash) determined that crew and passengers, alerted through phone calls to loved ones, had attempted to subdue the hijackers.

It is accepted that the destination was Washington, D.C., with the White House and more likely the United State Capitol as targets. The Commission concluded that the hijackers crashed the plane to keep the crew and passengers from gaining control. (Wiki)

The Shanksville Flight 93 Memorial

The Universal film "United 93" (view trailer here as well)
The filmmakers donated a percentage of the opening weekend proceeds to the Flight 93 memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The actual amount donated turned out to be $1.15 million.

The Flight that Fought Back is a docudrama produced by the Discovery Channel about United Airlines Flight 93. The program debuted in the United States on September 11, 2005. It proved to be highly popular when it debuted on the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It eventually made its way across the Atlantic to the U.K. where it was aired on Channel Five on Thursday 5 January 2006.

The hijackers of United 93 were reported to be: Ziad Jarrah (Lebanese), pilot Ahmed al-Haznawi (Saudi Arabian) Ahmed al-Nami (Saudi Arabian) Saeed al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabian). They used knives and the threat of a bomb to take over the cockpit.

(Comments have been disabled for this post.)

Arab & Iranian Reaction to 9/11

“When the twin towers collapsed… My lungs filled with air and I breathed in relief, as I had never breathed before."
-- Ali Uqleh Ursan, Syrian Arab Writers Association chairman Al-Usbu' Al-Adabi (Damascus)

"Oh Osama...you are a hero in the full sense of the word."
-- Muslim Brotherhood

Watch this short movie from MEMRI Films

September 11, 2001

This video is spreading through the internet:




United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui Criminal No. 01-455-A Prosecution Trial Exhibits Exhibit Number P200336 Description - Collection of photographs of those killed (except of 92 victims) during the terrorists attacks on September 11, 2001. ~~ www.vaed.uscourts.gov


The Pentagon.


















Lebanese boy proudly celebrates after the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the US.


A Palestinian fires his rifle in celebration as children dance around him at Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near the port city Sidon in south Lebanon September 11, 2001.


Palestinians celebrate on September 11, 2001 in East Jerusalem.


I'm working in the Middle-East right now. Most kids in the ME play the same games me and my Greek and Canadian friends used to play - soccer (football), video games, racing bicycles, throwing water ballons...
A few kids, though, like to play other games like the one in the picture. This one is called "Let's hold an American hostage."


"Death to America, the enemy of the people"

Suicide bomber kills 16 in Afghanistan

Reading Paul Garwood's AP story right now: A car bomber rammed into an American Humvee outside the U.S. Embassy on Friday, killing 16 people, including two U.S. soldiers. It was the Afghan capital's deadliest suicide attack since the 2001 toppling of the Taliban. A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the privately run Pajhwok Afghan News Agency.

Afghan president Karzi said "today's heinous act of terrorism is against the values of Islam and humanity."

Among the victims was Bibi Omayra, in her 70s, who had been sitting with her granddaughter in a small yard outside the apartment building when the car bomb exploded, spraying shrapnel over a 150-foot radius. "My mother just went to the park for some fresh air with my daughter when the explosion happened," said the woman's son, Farid Wahidi, 40. "Shrapnel hit her in the chest and killed her."

Karzai, in an interview with Time magazine, acknowledged his government has enemies.
"The same enemies that blew up themselves in London, the same enemies that blew up the train in Madrid or the train in Bombay or the twin towers in America are still around," he said. "Before September 11 they were the government in Afghanistan. Today they are on the run and hiding and they come out from their hiding and try to hurt us when they can manage it."

American and NATO troops are fighting the Taliban primarily across vast desert plains in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, also center of the country's massive opium trade which provide drug lords and Taliban fighters with an enormous income.

"The fighting is extraordinarily intense. The intensity and ferocity of the fighting is far greater than in Iraq on a daily basis," Brig. Ed Butler, the commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, told British ITV news. He echoed NATO commander Gen. James L. Jones' call Thursday for at least 2,000 more troops. Jones, who said the next few weeks would be decisive in the fight against militants, is in Poland pressing officials from the 26 NATO member states for more soldiers and air support.

I'm listening to Metallica's "Sad But True" as I'm typing this. How fitting.

Istanbul Pogram Against Greek Minority

The Istanbul Pogrom, also known as the Istanbul Riots, or the Σεπτεμβριανά in Greek, was a pogrom directed primarily at Istanbul's 100,000-strong Greek minority on September 6 and 7, 1955. Jews and Armenians living in the city and their businesses were also targeted in the pogrom, which was orchestrated by the Demokrat Parti-government of Turkis Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. The events were triggered by the false news that the house in Thessaloniki, Greece, where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born, had been bombed the day before.

A Turkish mob, most of which was trucked into the city in advance, assaulted Istanbul’s Greek community for nine hours. Although the orchestrators of the pogrom did not explicitly call on Greeks to be killed, between 13 and 16 Greeks and at least one Armenian (including two Orthodox clerics) died during or after the pogrom as a result of beatings and arsons. According to the account of one eyewitness, a Greek dentist, the mob chanted "Massacre the Greek traitors", "Down with Europe" and "Onward to Athens and Thessaloniki" as they executed the pogrom.
Istanbul Pogrom against Greek minority of Turkey (Wiki)


Patriarch Athenagoras in the ruins of the church of Saint Constantine


Turkish mob attacking Greek property

In addition to commercial targets, the mob clearly targeted property owned or administered by the Greek Orthodox Church. 73 churches and 23 schools were vandalized, burned or destroyed, as were 8 asperses and 3 monasteries. This represented about 90 percent of the church property portfolio in the city.

Masters of War

Masters of War

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

-- Bob Dylan




+ View News Around The World. ++++ View News From Greece.