Powerline has some cogent observations.
If you doubt any of this, you really, really need to read the books I listed a day or two back.
Nov 29 2008
If you want to understand the terrorist threat
In India, there are 143 200 known dead (!), and 700 wounded, with the death toll rising, as more bodies are found and people die of their wounds. There will be lots of investigation and speculation, but in the end, there isn’t much doubt that Islamic fascist terrorists are behind it.
There has been one claim of responsibility: a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, which e-mailed news organizations on Thursday claiming it had carried out the attacks. The group, previously unknown, may be connected with (or even an alias of) the Indian Mujahedin, which claimed responsibility for several terrorist strikes earlier this year. Indian terrorism experts say that both are likely to have connections to, or simply be renamed versions of, older Indian militant groups such as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba or the Students Islamic Movement of India. (See pictures of two days of terror in Mumbai.)
Yet the scale and sophistication of the Mumbai attacks – which appear to have involved dozens of militants using assault rifles, grenades and explosives to simultaneously attack multiple targets – raise suspicions of involvement by more than one group, which would involve an unprecedented level of coordination.
“This is an operation of a very new type in India,” wrote Walid Phares on his well-respected Counterterrorism Blog. “The ’emirs’ have sent these armed elements in their 20s to strike at Indian psyche. One goal is to sink the Pakistani-Indian rapprochement … The goal is to target India as a power engaged in the war on terror but also to further destabilize the region, including Pakistan and its neighbor Afghanistan.”
So, my suggestions for reading, if you really want to understand the threat:
The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
The Al Qaeda Reader by Raymond Ibrahim
World War IV, by Norman Podhoretz
The Nuclear Jihadist by Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins
These are each very different kinds of books. Between them, they provide a reasonably rounded picture of the challenge. If you have not read these books, and if you get most of your news and understanding about Islamic extremism from TV and the major media, you are probably ill informed about the situation we face. Do you have enough imagination to foresee the possibility of an event in Los Angeles or Chicago paralleling recent events in Mumbai? Or something worse?
The analysis of threats involves the same thing as a murder investigation: means, motive and opportunity. The national security types think in terms of “intentions” and “capabilities”, i.e., there is little threat to the US from Great Britain’s military, even though it has significant capability, because it does not have the intent to attack the USA.
These books, between them, will help you understand the historical background and current status of Islamic extremism, identify the major players and their connections, and understand the steps that have been taken so far to prevent them from further success, as well as chronicling failures and identifying probable future threats.
Or, instead of finding out what’s really going on in the world, you can just hope the government is taking care of it, and that the New York Times is really telling you all you need to know. Ignorance is bliss, for awhile. Maybe if we just send more aid, and withdraw all American troops from the world, then they’ll just leave us alone. Or not.
If, after reading these, you find that you have the desire to read more (and there is a LOT more), you can send email to me at harmonic@harmonicminer.com. If there is interest, I’ll post another list.
UPDATE: In response to a reader email, here is a counterpoint to what some see as the “too even-handed” approach to Islam by Bernard Lewis. I guarantee you will learn some things. Do you know what the Islamic doctrine of “abrogation” is? If not, you need to read this book, because there’s probably a lot more you don’t know, and don’t even know you should be asking.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades by Robert Spencer
Nov 28 2008
Economic advice from a guy in a cave
al-Qaeda No. 2 discusses U.S. economic crisis – USATODAY.com
al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leader appeared in a new video Friday calling on Americans to embrace Islam to overcome the financial meltdown, which he described as a consequence of the Sept. 11 attacks.
….
Appearing in his white turban and robe, Zawahri discussed the roots of the U.S. economic crisis and said it was a repercussion of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.“The American economy was afflicted by a downturn and loss of investor confidence in the market following the events of Sept. 11,” he said.
“The modern economy has been destroyed by the strikes of the mujahedeen (in Iraq and Afghanistan) and the usury,” he said, using the Arabic term for holy warriors.
Under Islamic Sharia law, usury, like drinking alcohol, is among the grand sins.
Zawahri then called on the American people to “embrace Islam to live a life free of greed, exploitation and forbidden wealth.”
Now, that’s going to be a big seller.
Convert to Islam. Be poor. Like most of the rest of the world’s muslims who don’t own oil wells and aren’t dictators or royalty.
Have you noticed how much Islam speak can sound like Lefty neo-socialist speak? Just change a word: “Embrace socialism and national health care to live a life free of greed, exploitation and forbidden wealth.”
Nov 17 2008
Negotiating with Islam: Does Obama know this?
Jihad Watch: Raymond Ibrahim: “Islam’s Doctrines of Deception”
To better understand Islam, one must appreciate the thoroughly legalistic nature of the religion. According to sharia (Islamic law) every conceivable human act is categorized as being either forbidden, discouraged, permissible, recommended, or obligatory. “Common sense” or “universal opinion” have little to do with Islam’s notions of right and wrong. All that matters is what do Allah (via the Koran) and his prophet Muhammad (through the Hadith) have to say about any given thing; and how Islam’s greatest theologians and jurists—collectively known as the ulema, literally, the “ones who know”—have articulated it.
Consider the concept of lying. According to sharia, deception in general—based on the Koran’s terminology, also known as “taqiyya”—is not only permitted in certain situations but sometimes “obligatory.” For instance, and quite contrary to Christian tradition, not only are Muslims who must choose between either recanting Islam or being put to death permitted to lie by pretending to have apostatized; but some jurists have decreed that, according to Koran 4:29, Muslims are obligated to lie.
Much, much more at the link, and all worth reading.
UPDATE: It seems the link above is broken. I’ll investigate to see if the post was taken down.
UPDATE: The link is still broken. Here is another link by the same author that makes many of the same points.
Nov 13 2008
Sorry for the inconvenience, but….
Yoni is a former special forces officer for the IDF. He reports on yet another humiliating search at a humiliating checkpoint, a favorite trope of apologists for Palestinian terrorism, but this one found a pipe bomb.
If people were coming into my community from an area where known thugs were constantly recruiting suicide/homicide bombers to kill people in my community, I’d institute checkpoints and searches, too. So would you.
More at the link above.
Nov 07 2008
Obama brings international acclaim, from people who hate the USA
Arabs happy Obama won… and that Bush’s man lost | Middle East | Jerusalem Post
Arab and Muslim reaction to incoming US President Barack Obama’s electoral victory around the globe has been largely optimistic, but some remain skeptical that Obama will bring significant change to the Middle East.
The excitement appears to be as much a celebration of Obama’s victory as of the perceived defeat of President George W. Bush – in the shape of his would-be Republican successor John McCain – whose foreign policies in the region have drawn widespread criticism from the Arab and Muslim world.
“Farewell racism, farewell tyranny, farewell wars and terrorism,” wrote Muhammad el-Said of Egypt Wednesday on the Facebook social networking site page entitled “The Arab campaign to support Obama…a necessity and a moral obligation.”
In rare praise, Syria’s state-run newspaper Al-Thawra said Thursday that it “extends its hand to Obama,” that his win “inspired” people around the world and that the American people should be congratulated for electing him.
One can only wonder how tangible was the “necessary and moral” support for Obama. “The Arab campaign to support Obama” sounds like a possible source for all the “untraceable” donations that came into the Obama campaign via its validation-free online credit-card donation system. Somehow, I suspect some of those donations came from Ali Baba… or one of his friends.
Then there’s this, after the 9/11 attacks:
Let’s try to put this another way, for perspective. What would have been the reaction of the American media and the Democrats if a Republican president-elect was hailed as a new beginning by an obviously racist, apartheid regime, maybe something like South Africa some years back? Would Democrats and the media be talking about how this means the new president will be able to reach out and negotiate effectively with the racist regime?
SURE they would….
Oct 01 2008
Duck, and cover
Ex-U.S. weapons hunter: Iran 2-5 years from bomb – Haaretz – Israel News
Iran is two years to five years away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon, the former head of the U.S. weapons-hunting team in Iraq said Wednesday.
But David Kay said the U.S. should not consider bombing Iranian nuclear facilities unless the weapon was about to be transferred to a terrorist group.
And we would know that how? This is like saying it’s fine for felons convicted of violent offenses to possess handguns, and we should only try to stop them with the force of law if they actually attempt another crime.
Anybody know where a person can buy used radiation counters, cheap?
Oct 01 2008
Despite economic woes, life (and death) goes on. The WAR isn’t over, yet.
Commencement ceremonies for terrorists.
The video included lengthy, detailed footage of a terrorist training camp situated somewhere in North Waziristan. As masked fighters pass in front of the camera, a nasheed song plays for viewers, imploring, “Look at the people of Allah, They came out to sacrifice their lives… They came out to shed their blood… No worry for home, no worry for land, no worry for lives they have. They are wise people who live in fear of Allah… Those who fight against the infidels are the mujahideen. Their dreams have come true.” Later, an unidentified narrator explains in Urdu: “In front of your eyes, these selected Muslim youths are preparing for jihad. Allah said, ‘Prepare to the greatest extent possible against the infidels.’ The Prophet said, ‘The power is in the shooting’—the power is in the shooting, the power is in the shooting… Today, [our enemies] are insulting the Quran. Today, they are insulting our Prophet Mohammed, and they kill Muslims wherever they want… So, according to the orders of Allah, it is our duty to prepare ourselves against the infidels and our responsibility… May Allah increase the passion for our religion among the Muslim youth, and may he grant us the strength to prepare ourselves to defend his religion.” To underline the purpose of the training offered at the camp, one of the masked recruits is shown sitting amongst his comrades and singing by himself in Urdu: “O’ infidels of the East and West, we have plans for you. We all must die, life is too short. You (Muslims) must act now, we are being oppressed. O’ soldiers of Islam, come here for jihad. O’ soldiers of Islam, come here for jihad.”
America’s Nervous Breakdown by Victor Davis Hanson on National Review Online
The natural order of the world is chaos, not calm. Like it or not, for over a half-century the United States alone restrained nuclear bullies, kept the sea lanes free from outlaws, and corralled rogue nations. America alone could provide that deterrence because we produced a fourth of the world’s goods and services, and became the richest country in the history of civilization.
But the bill for years of massive borrowing for oil, for imported consumer goods, and for speculation has now has finally come due on Wall Street, and for the rest of us as well.
Should that heart of American financial power in New York falter, or even appear to falter, then eventually the sinews of the American military will likewise slacken. And then things could get ugly, real fast.
Sep 29 2008
CAIR, a terrorist sympathizing organization, tries to muzzle freedom of speech
CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is well known by students of the group as being sympathetic to terrorism and radical Islam, founded by people with ties to HAMAS, and an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the Holy Land Foundation case resulting from attempts to illegaly fund HAMAS.
Now, CAIR is trying to shut down the distribution of a DVD about radical Islam, saying it violates election law.
A U.S. Muslim advocacy group Tuesday asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether a nonprofit group that distributed a controversial DVD about Islam in newspapers nationwide is a “front” for an Israel-based group with a stealth goal of helping Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
The promoters of “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” denied trying to promote any presidential campaign. They said it’s also incorrect to tie the DVD campaign to Jerusalem-based educational group Aish HaTorah International, although current and former employees are involved with the project.
The Council for American-Islamic Relations asked the FEC to investigate the DVD distribution, which targeted about 28 million households mostly in battleground election states.
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