Philippines: Empowering muftis...

And it's sponsored by the Brits and the Dutch????

They must be drinking the same Kool-Aid as W.

Holy freaking state-sponsored dhimmitude!

A simple launch of a not so simple project”. This was how Ms. Amina Rasul described the forum that transpired last June 8 at the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Islamic Studies. The “Empowering the Ulama and Muftis of the Philippines” project, jointly supported by the British Embassy through their Engaging the Islamic World Programme and the Royal Netherlands Embassy, will be managed by the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID)-Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc.

It must have gotten pretty deep in the meeting:

For his part, His Excellency Mr. Peter Beckingham, the British Ambassador to the Philippines related that the increasing number of Muslims in the United Kingdom makes them the largest ethnic minority in Britain. The contribution of Muslims in Britain have been great as many are members of the House of Commons, have businesses and are involved in media, sports and entertainment. As example, Mohammed Al Fayed, whose son Dodie had been linked with Princess Diana, owns the famous Harrods of London.

(Gee, he forgot to mention the London bombers.)

And there's this from the Poor little Dutch Boy:

The Ambassador of Netherlands to the Philippines, His Excellency Mr. Robert Vornis recounted the successful partnerships between his country and PCID in the past especially in terms of human rights and gathering the ulama in 2005. It was in that workshop where the idea of a united ulama summit was first put forward. Ambassador Vornis expressed his thanks and appreciation for being part of this important project and hoped that the project would be successful. He said that although the problems in Mindanao are alarming, he remains optimistic that with the empowered ulama, peace and development will once again have the chance to reign in the region.

About the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID)-Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc?It looks like they are part of the searching for root causes crowd. They blame the "intrusive West."

Philippines: Islamic Militants to blame for blast

The headline says: Islamic Militants to blame for mall blast...but you probably thought that already, no?

Did you know they were former Christians who were converts to Islam? That appears to be the current line of thinking.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has not indicated who they believe is behind the attack, but Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, AFP public information chief, has been quoted as saying that the Rajah Solaiman Movement has the capability to launch such attacks in Manila. The US state department lists the RSM as a Islamic extremist group comprising Christian converts to Islam, many of whom embraced extremist Islamic ideology while working in the Middle East. It promotes the use of violence and terrorism against Philippino Christians and Westerners, with the aim of turning the Philippines into an Islamic state.

Philippines: 9 dead in bus bombing...

Nine Dead in Philippine Bus Bombing Protection money? OR JIZYA? You make the call.

MANILA, Philippines, June 16--The death toll from a bus bombing in a southern Philippine town rose to nine Saturday, after three wounded people died in hospital overnight, police said.

The blast Friday in Bansalan, Davao del Sur province, came about five minutes after a bomb went off inside a bus owned by the same company in another southern city, causing little damage and no injuries, AP reported. At least 14 other people were wounded in the Bansalan blast.

Extortion appeared to be the likely motive since a group has been demanding 2 million pesos ($40,000) in “protection money“ from the People’s Transport Corp., which operates the buses, regional police director Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II said.

Last week, an explosion ripped through another bus and wounded 11 people in Matalam township in nearby Cotabato province.

Wait for it -

The criminal group, however, could have links to al-Qaida-related terror cells responsible for other bombings in the country, Caro said. "These are not ordinary criminal elements because they know how to make these types of bombs used only by terrorists, and who must have some formal training in constructing and handling these types of improvised explosive device," he said.

Well, well, well. Looky here. Muslims! What a surprise. (not)

Aside from al-Qaida-linked militants, Muslim separatist rebels who have been fighting for a separate homeland in the south for more than three decades, also operate in the area where many bombings have occurred in the past.

Americans to the rescue...again. Even though the Filipino official is very quick to distance himself....

American soldiers arrived here Saturday to help probe the latest in a rash of deadly bus bombings which claimed eight lives.The US bomb experts, who have been training local forces in counter-terrorism, examined the scene after the explosion in Bansalan town late Friday.Small groups of US troops have been serving in Mindanao where they train local soldiers to battle Muslim extremists such as Abu Sayyaf, which both Manila and Washington have linked to the al-Qaeda terror network.

Caro stressed, however, that the police did not ask for any assistance from the Americans or from any foreign forensic experts. “We have not requested for any help from the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) or any other foreign group with the incident. We were expecting only the team from the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame,” Caro said.

Thinking of traveling to the Philippines? You might want to read this.

Muslim Respect and Tolerance

Well it's been a busy week for Dinah. Not only have I recently been accused of tarring all Muslims with the radical brush, I have also been accused of 'lieing (sic)at Muslims'.

It would seem that the Virgin Mary cartoon (drawn by Muslim Chokri Ben Chikha, a young Tunisian author, actor and singer) in this post has raised some objection from one of my newest Muslim friends. My new friend claims that Muslims honor and respect all religions and prophets and that I need to be educated.

Now, Dinah doesn't claim to be a Muslim scholar but Dinah CAN read. Let's hope my new Muslim friend can too because I have a few things for him to peruse.

There's this from the Religion of Peace in the Philippines (Hat tip to Patrick, over at Clarity and Resolve)

PATIKUL, Sulu -- (UPDATE) Six people, including an infant, were killed when unidentified gunmen shot at houses of three families on the Philippines' insurgency-wracked southern island of Jolo, a military spokesman said.
Jennifer Fontanilla, who said she survived the 1 a.m. attack Friday by hiding under her bed, told government-run Radyo ng Bayan that before the shooting, the armed men roused them from sleep and demanded to know if they were Christians or Muslims.

At least one of the dead is believed to be a Muslim woman married to a Christian, she said. Others included an 8-month-old boy, she said, adding the attack left six dead, including her father.

Yeah, there's some ROP honor and respect there, all right. This also from Clarity and Resolve by way of Reuters:

KRONG PENANG, Thailand, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Suspected Muslim militants killed a Buddhist teacher and wounded four others in two separate shootings in Thailand's restive Muslim south on Friday, police said.

The 41-year-old victim was shot dead by a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle as he returned home from his school in the southern province of Songkhla, which abuts Malaysia, police said.

"The teacher did not travel in a police motorcade because he had asked to leave the school early," a local police officer told Reuters by telephone.

Shortly afterwards, gunmen attacked a car carrying one Muslim and three Buddhist teachers heading home in the neighbouring province of Yala, police said. All four were taken to hospital for treatment.

More than 1,100 people have died in almost daily gun and bomb attacks in Muslim-majority southern Thailand since a revival in January 2004 of a violent ethnic Malay separatist campaign.

There's this from Palestine:

For years, media outlets have largely refused to report one of the most troubling aspects of the Mideast conflict ― Muslim intimidation and violence against Christians in Palestinian-controlled areas. The latest shocking episode again made its way to very few news consumers: Late Saturday night (Sept. 3), hundreds of armed Palestinian Muslims crying 'Allahu Akbar' descended on the West Bank Christian city of Taibe. For the next few hours, the mob terrorized the community, setting sixteen homes and multiple businesses on fire, looting valuables from both, and destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Said one eyewitness: 'It was like a war, they arrived in groups, and many of them were holding clubs.'

The mob's 'provocation'? A Muslim woman from their neighboring village had had a relationship with a Christian man from Taibe. The woman was poisoned to death by her own family in an 'honor killing', and soon after, the pogrom against Taibe commenced.

There's this from Indonesia (Hat tip Jihad Watch):

POSO, Indonesia — Masked, black-clad and brandishing machetes, the attackers sprang from behind a screen of tall grass and pounced on the four Christian girls as they walked to school. Within seconds, three of the teenagers were beheaded — fresh victims of violence that has turned this Indonesian island into yet another front in the terrorist wars.
"All I could do was pray to Jesus for his help," said 16-year-old Noviana Malewa, who fled with a gaping head wound. "I was streaming with blood." A thick scar runs from the back of her neck to just under her right eye.

Muslim militants are blamed for the October killings, the most gruesome yet in a campaign of terror against Christians on the island of Sulawesi.

Meanwhile back in the Philippines: (courtesy of Strategy Page)

January 19, 2006: Abu Sayyaf, and their allies from the Indonesian based Jemaah Islamiyah, continue to find Moslems in the south willing to shelter and support them. Violence against Christians is popular with many Filipino Moslems because of decades of Christians migrating into the Moslem south. The Christians are often economically more successful, and this creates jealousy that is exploited by the Islamic radicals.

The Muslim tradition of honoring and respecting other people's religion extends to the African Continent as well. This from All Africa News:

"Roughly 20,000 residents and up to 35,000 IDPs from Mershing have arrived in [the nearby town of] Menawashi," said Dawn Blalock, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan, on Wednesday.

The first attack occurred on 24 January, when Arab militia attacked Mershing - approximately 80 km north of the state capital, Nyala. They looted the central market as well as the houses and shelters of town residents and IDPs.

This from an 80 year old woman seeking refuge in Chad:

Ask Kaltouma Yaya Ato why three years into the Darfur conflict, she has only just decided to seek refuge in Chad, and the 80-year old says not a word. She simply rolls up the folds of her skirt to reveal traces of the Janjawid.

Her left leg has swollen to twice its normal size - the result of a beating the Arab militiamen inflicted on the frail old woman using wooden clubs. Her crime? To be out looking for firewood at the wrong time. Her punishment? One month later, she cannot even stand, let alone walk.

Ato is one of some 1,000 refugees from Sudan's Darfur region to have turned up at the Gaga camp in eastern Chad since the beginning of the year, citing fresh Janjawid attacks.

"They show no pity to anyone," she whispered.

And then there's this from Front Page Magazine:

In Australia, Norway, Sweden and other Western nations, there is a distinct race-based crime in motion being ignored by the diversity police: Islamic men are raping Western women for ethnic reasons. We know this because the rapists have openly declared their sectarian motivations.

When a number of teenage Australian girls were subjected to hours of sexual degradation during a spate of gang rapes in Sydney that occurred between 1998 and 2002, the perpetrators of these assaults framed their rationale in ethnic terms. The young victims were informed that they were “sluts” and “Aussie pigs” while they were being hunted down and abused.

In Australia's New South Wales Supreme Court in December 2005, a visiting Pakistani rapist testified that his victims had no right to say no, because they were not wearing a headscarf.

And earlier this year Australians were outraged when Lebanese Sheik Faiz Mohammed gave a lecture in Sydney where he informed his audience that rape victims had no one to blame but themselves. Women, he said, who wore skimpy clothing, invited men to rape them.

A few months earlier, in Copenhagen, Islamic mufti and scholar, Shahid Mehdi created uproar when – like his peer in Australia – he stated that women who did not wear a headscarf were asking to be raped.

And with haunting synchronicity in 2004, the London Telegraph reported that visiting Egyptian scholar Sheik Yusaf al-Qaradawi claimed female rape victims should be punished if they were dressed immodestly when they were raped. He added, “For her to be absolved from guilt, a raped woman must have shown good conduct.”

In Norway and Sweden, journalist Fjordman warns of a rape epidemic. Police Inspector Gunnar Larsen stated that the steady increase of rape-cases and the link to ethnicity are clear, unmistakable trends. Two out of three persecutions for rape in Oslo are immigrants with a non-Western background and 80 percent of the victims are Norwegian women.

In Sweden, according to translator for Jihad Watch, Ali Dashti, “Gang rapes, usually involving Muslim immigrant males and native Swedish girls, have become commonplace.” A few weeks ago she said, “Five Kurds brutally raped a 13-year-old Swedish girl.”

In France, Samira Bellil broke her silence – after enduring years of repeated gang rapes in one of the Muslim populated public housing projects – and wrote a book, In the hell of the tournantes, that shocked France. Describing how gang rape is rampant in the banlieues, she explained to Time that, “any neighborhood girl who smokes, uses makeup or wears attractive clothes is a whore.”

Unfortunately, Western women are not the only victims in this epidemic. In Indonesia, in 1998, human rights groups documented the testimony of over 100 Chinese women who were gang raped during the riots that preceded the fall of President Suharto. Many of them were told: “You must be raped, because you are Chinese and non-Muslim.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that in April 2005, a 9-year-old Pakistani girl was raped, beaten with a cricket bat, hanged upside down from the ceiling, had spoonfuls of chillies poured into her mouth, and repeatedly bashed while handcuffed. Her Muslim neighbours told her they were taking revenge for the American bombing of Iraqi children and informed her they were doing it because she was an “infidel and a Christian.”

The articles cited above were all found in less than fifteen minutes.

I'm still searching for similar articles about members of Christian, Buddhist and Jewish religions honoring and respecting Muslims in this fashion. I haven't had much luck.

Damn! I thought you said BORNEO!

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Doh!

Indonesian police received intelligence of stepped up terror activity three months ago but misread it and mistakenly concluded that an attack was being planned for a city on the island of Borneo, not Bali.

Someone, somewhere, somehow got the idea that JI's next terror target would be Balikpapan.

A city rich in coal and expatriates, Balikpapan serves as a base of operations for an Indonesian sub of the Australian miner, Thiess.

It is also headquarters for the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.

Borneo authorities were so certain that they were on to something they spent the weeks prior to the Bali bombing trailing four 4WD's across Java. They lost them somewhere in the town of Bangil, near the port of Surabaya, home to a JI friendly ferry service. That ferry goes to Bali.

Since the bombing, gory pictures of the bombers heads have widely been circulated on the internet in hopes of id'ing them.

They come from a new group," Pastika said of the three October 1 bombers. "A new generation means that (they) are not known by the old group."

Meanwhile back in the Philippines:

Pastika declined to comment on media reports that the dead trio might have been trained by Muslim groups in the Philippines. The Philippines has denied any such training took place in its territory, saying that its military had long forced Muslim separatists to abandon the training camps.

Here's what's really annoying about this whole deal:

Police are scouring the border between Central and East Java for three men they suspect of also being involved in the blasts. Two of those men - identified only as AR and YD - were convicted of involvement in the 2002 attack. They served short prison terms and were released.

And you wonder why that guy spying in the White House is potentially a big deal.

Don't it just make you want to holler?

Philippines: New Abu Sayyaf leader is 'Islamic Scholar'

Trained in Syria.

The Abu Sayyaf, the smallest and most deadly Muslim militant group in the Philippines, has chosen a Syria-trained Islamic scholar as its new leader, a senior general said on Wednesday.
Lieutenant-General Romeo Tolentino said the new militant leader, Yasser Igasan, was chosen three weeks ago after a straw poll by Abu Sayyaf field commanders at a rebel base on the southern island of Jolo.

"We believed that Igasan has taken over the leadership due to his religious background,"
Tolentino told reporters after meeting U.S. military officials at the army's main base in Manila.
"He's not new to the organization. He was among the original founders of Abu Sayyaf, together with the group's first leader, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani."

Igasan would replace Janjalan's younger brother, Khaddafy, killed in a clash with Marines in mountains on Jolo in September 2006. Khaddafy's death was confirmed only in January after DNA tests by U.S. authorities. He was the second leader of the group after his brother was killed in December 1998.

He may be an Islamic scholar be he has NO job security. Bwa-ha-ha.

"Wanted: 100 more Christian heads, teenaged or adult, male or female; blood shall be answered with blood, soul with soul, head with head."

Who will stop this evil? From the trial of an Indonesian islamist. More of the Religion of Peace in action.

THREE Christian high school girls were beheaded as a Ramadan "trophy" by Indonesian militants who conceived the idea after a visit to Philippines jihadists, a court heard yesterday.

The girls' severed heads were dumped in plastic bags in their village in Indonesia's strife-torn Central Sulawesi province, along with a handwritten note threatening more such attacks.

The note read: "Wanted: 100 more Christian heads, teenaged or adult, male or female; blood shall be answered with blood, soul with soul, head with head."

Javanese trader Hasanuddin appeared in Jakarta Central Court yesterday charged with planning and directing the murders in October last year. He faces a death sentence if found guilty under anti-terrorism legislation.

Hasanuddin allegedly returned from a visit to members of Philippines Islamist group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front with tales of how that organisation regularly staged bombings to coincide with Lebaran, the festival that ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He later spoke with a preacher in Poso, Central Sulawesi, about whether such a plan could work in Indonesia, but expressed doubt about whether it was appropriate.

However, after further discussion with friends, he decided that beheading Christians could qualify as an act of Muslim charity.

That's right: AN ACT OF MUSLIM CHARITY Read it all here.

Have you seen this man?

Here's a ver-r-r-ry interesting post by a gentleman from Mindanao (by way of Michelle Malkin - which I'm sure you've read by now.) His name is Bob and he's an expat.

Weren't we just talking about the connection between the Philippines and the Bali Splodeydopes?

Dude, 'Philippines and the Bali Splodeydopes' that sounds like a really rad band
/valley girl speak off.

Somalia: Another day, another ship hijacked by Pirates v.2

I'm glad to see that the Financial Times agrees with me. Well, except for that international court business. That's just crazy talk. I say we catch 'em and give them a choice. Walk the plank or hoisted from the yardarm? And those "experts that argue that we lack the legal basis on which to arrest and prosecute?" They can take a long walk off a short pier.

Even so, the problem is far from resolved. The Somali gangs operate across a huge expanse of water, covering thousands of kilometres, and are hard to contain. Somalia, meanwhile, is a failed state, unable or unwilling to take action. Until it does so, nothing will stop these gangs engaging in lucrative crime.

Still, the main powers should be far more robust in acting against piracy. Right now, naval forces operating in the region can disrupt an attempted hijack but some experts argue that they lack the legal basis on which to arrest and prosecute gangs. The United Nations Security Council should therefore look to pass a resolution that is far more explicit about the military action that can be taken by governments against the pirates. An international court could also be established at the Hague to bring pirates to justice."

Chemical Tanker falls to Somali Pirates - the 83rd vessel to be hijacked in 2008

Pirates hijacked a Philippines chemical tanker with 23 crew near Somalia, bringing the total number of attacks in waters off the African nation this year to 83, a maritime official said today.

The tanker was heading to Asia when it was seized in the Gulf of Aden by pirates armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

In Manila, Foreign Ministry spokesman Claro Cristobal said the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi and the ship's operator identified the chemical tanker as the MT Stolt Strengt.

It's been a busy few days for the Somali Pirates.

The Indian Navy rescued an Indian freighter under attack 60 nautical miles off the coast of Aden. It was the INS Tabar's first successful interdiction and the government has sent troops to bolster the "confidence among sailors". An important task, given that more than 100,000 sailors went on strike last week to protest government inaction. 90% of India’s foreign trade by volume and 77% by value is shipped through the region, mainly through the Suez Canal.

Hold up. It looks like Team India was also involved in helping a Saudi merchant ship escape capture. Way to go, INS Tabar aka THE INDOMITABLE BATTLEAXE. Her motto? Guts and Glory. (I like it!)

I'm happy to report that it appears that Team India is getting serious about this piracy business.

Earlier India's position on the use of military force against criminals in international waters was ambiguous. In fact, only recently it had imposed on the Navy a blanket ban to act on its own against pirates. However, a spate in the number of piracy bids, especially in Somali waters, has now forced a change in Indian Government's hand-off policy.

Navy Chief Admiral Suresh Mehta issued standing instructions to his force to act against pirates.In a statement, he said: "Indian Naval ships operating in piracy-infested areas have the mandate to ensure the safety of our sovereign assets. Piracy is a crime which all men of war are required to combat at all times".

Relatives of hijacked Indian sailors aboard the MV Stolt Valor wish their government would have acted this way sooner.

In other pirate news:

Denmark has asked Russia for a frigate escort for it's ship, the CAN Commander. The Neustrashimy has complied.

Talks continue regarding the MV Faina. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister says "the health of the crew aboard a Ukrainian cargo ship seized by pirates off the Somali coast more than a month ago is "satisfactory." The dead captain remains aboard ship.

Because nothing says Ramadan like

Stampedes.

At least 21 people were killed in a stampede in Indonesia on Monday as they crowded an alley to receive a cash handout for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, police said. Another 11 people were injured in the crush as thousands packed the narrow sidestreet in Pasuruan, East Java province, to receive a cash gift of 30,000 rupee ($3.30) each from a rich family, police and news reports said.

Rogue Guerilla attacks.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff General Alexander Yano on Monday accused what government calls “rogue” the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces of not respecting the observance of Ramadan by continuing “guerrilla attacks” on government troops.Yano cited six separate incidents of harassment by the rebels on government troops over the weekend -- three in Maguindanao province, two in Cotabato and one in Lanao del Norte.

Abject dhimmitude.

"We believe in celebrating the diversity of our students, staff, parents and community, and we are excited to embrace this holiday," said district information officer Eric Jones. "I think it's a testament to what the Plainfield Public Schools is all about — we believe in celebrating who we are."

Killing peacekeepers.

A blast has killed a Ugandan peacekeeper and wounded two others in the Somali capital Mogadishu, the second deadly attack against the African Union peacekeepers in 24 hours. Earlier on Sunday, Islamist fighters killed a Ugandan peacekeeper and wounded two others in Mogadishu. It was the latest in a series of attacks by the insurgents during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The military wing of the Council of Islamic Courts, Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in a statement posted on an Islamic web site, Kataaib.

Ahh! The Religion of Peace.

Philippines: Govt scraps peace deal with Islamists

after two weeks of deadly clashes. (deadly clashes - the Religion of Peace's idea of peace the world over.)

The pact signed last month between leaders of the mostly Christian nation and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had called for a Muslim homeland to be established on the revolt-hit southern Mindanao island.

God bless the Christians who have been massacred by the Muslims.

Fajardo said President Gloria Arroyo was "sensitive" to the objections of local Christian leaders, who are opposed to the agreement and have taken to the streets branding it a "sell-out."

"The president is committed to peace," Fajardo told journalists. "The administration is sensitive to public sentiments and the president is also committed to upholding the constitution.

"In doing so she will seek a new agreement within the boundaries of the law set within the constitution.

"The president will not allow adventurism by MILF forces to pressure government to sign any agreement, even if it is for peace," she said.

On August 4 the Philippine Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against the agreement following protests by serveral politicians who saw it as "unconstitutional."

"Adventurism" she calls it. I would call it something else entirely.

Two rebel MILF commanders have since taken up arms, in defiance of the group's leadership, and killed Christian civilians and looted and burned homes and farms. Over 100,000 people have been made homeless due to the fighting.

The rebel MILF commanders have linked their attacks to the Supreme Court's suspension, saying that the government had designed the agreement to fail.

It would have created a Sharia state within a state:

The pact had called for the establishment of what amounted to a state within a state with its own "basic law," police and internal security force. The region would have been allowed to run its own banking and finance system, civil service, education and legislative and electoral institutions.It would also have been given full authority to develop and dispose of minerals and other natural resources within its territory.

The proposed homeland would have been governed by the Bangsamoro (Muslim) Juridical Entity (BJE), with full authority to send trade missions to and strike economic cooperation agreements with other countries and send representatives to UN agencies and the Association of Southeast Nations.

Filipino Sharia.

On the kidnapping front...

The Muslims are so busy kidnapping people and taking them hostage you practically need a scorecard to keep up. I almost missed this one. Another Gaza Christian kidnapped by Muslims.
Guess who? Jimmy Carter's headband buddies, Hamas.

Not a kidnapping but a 1986 killing that has now been linked to Your Black Muslim Bakery gang, an American group of Islamic thugs responsible for killing a reporter who was investigating them.

In the Philippines, 6 workers were abducted by an al-Qaeda linked group. Abu-Sayyaf are rumored to be the culprits. The US State Department has issued a travel warning there, btw.

Here's one for you from Pakistan. Whatever you do, Don't call the Religion of Peaceful Lawyers. First, they kidnap a pro-Musharraf government official hostage, then they beat him up and then 7 people die in street riots - all in short order. The government official has since been released and he is shaken but unharmed. The lawyers are still fighting in the streets.

The latest on the Le Ponant: Contact has been made and talks are ongoing. The only other news is about the 'high tech' Somali Marines and their satellite telephones and rocket launchers.

And about the Austrian Hostages. Let's hope no news is good news, because there's really no new news. And there's also no further news on the kidnapped CBS journalist in Iraq or the Pakistani ambassador kidnapped at the Afghan border.

Bonus Religion of Peace and Tolerance news...a Palestinian newspaper reported last week that Muslims in the Samarian town of Nablus had vandalized a local Christian cemetery, smashing many of the tombstones.

-end-

It looks like Saddam WAS playing footsie with Al Qaeda

But we knew that already, didn't we?

The jungle drums are busy this morning with the recently released report detailing Saddam Hussein's ties to 5 - count 'em, 5, Al Qaeda groups.

From the Weekly Standard

The Iraqi Intelligence documents discussed in the report link Saddam’s regime to: the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (the “EIJ” is al Qaeda number-two Ayman al Zawahiri's group), the Islamic Group or “IG” (once headed by a key al Qaeda ideologue, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman), the Army of Mohammed (al Qaeda's affiliate in Bahrain), the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan (a forerunner to Ansar al-Islam, al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq), and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (a long-time ally of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan), among other terrorist groups. Documents cited by the report, but not discussed at length in the publicly available version (they may be in a redacted portion of the report), also detail Saddam’s ties to a sixth al Qaeda affiliate: the Abu Sayyaf group, an al Qaeda affiliate in the Philippines.

From the New York Sun sets the rest of the MSM straight.

A Pentagon review of about 600,000 documents captured in the Iraq war attests to Saddam Hussein's willingness to use terrorism to target Americans and work closely with jihadist organizations throughout the Middle East.

The report, released this week by the Institute for Defense Analyses, says it found no "smoking gun" linking Iraq operationally to Al Qaeda. But it does say Saddam collaborated with known Al Qaeda affiliates and a wider constellation of Islamist terror groups.

Hot Air dissects how the MSM has seized upon the "no smoking gun" phrase and ignored all the rest of it here...

Good thing Gateway Pundit has put together The Saddam-Al Qaeda links: In Photos and Video to keep the record straight.
-end-

Al Qaeda: Next up - Sexy Bombers...

I'm telling you AQ is getting hard up - they're resorting to using female bombers.

This just in:

In the Philippines, they have been labelled "sexy bombers" and they are believed to be the latest weapon from the Islamic terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Police from the volatile southern province of Mindanao are taking seriously the possibility that women have been trained and are ready to blow themselves up in the name of Islam. According to information given to intelligence services, there are at least 10 potential female suicide bombers ready to carry out attacks.

Several cities in Mindanao, the southernmost island of the archipelago which is home to 4.5 million Muslims, would be among their potential targets.

The island is the scene of an ongoing secessionist battle being fought by Islamic separatists for the past 30 years. Jemaah Islamiyah is a South-east Asian militant Islamic organisation based on the radical ideology of the Indonesian movement, Darul Islam, and committed to establishing a caliphate in the region.

In the past, Jemaah Islamiyah have not used women to carry out suicide attacks.

Miscellaneous Religion of Peace Items

They're all the talk of the jihadi chat rooms and they are coming to peace loving people near you soon - the Zahra Brigade - an all girl Muslim hit squad. From Global Terrorism Analysis.

"...called al-Zahra groups after Fatima al-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet and the wife of the Muslim caliph Ali, are trained to kill Sunnis with bayonets and handguns equipped with silencers (http://www.tajdeed.org.uk, November 4).

On one Islamic website, a user by the name of Asad Misir (Egyptian Lion), posted a warning that the al-Mahdi Army's and Mahmudiya's Hussainiats (club-like meeting institutions for Shiite social and religious activities) have formed al-Zahra female groups to kill Sunni men and women and that these Iraqi female assassins are headed to Baghdad to carry out their missions..."

Lunch box bombs: the latest in peaceful gestures from the Religion of Peace. This time in the Philippines.

"One of the thermos jugs was stuffed with dynamite sticks, nitric acid and rigged with 4-inch nails while some lunch boxes were found with similar explosives and ball bearings, he added. "The bombs were electronically triggered and powered by two 9-volt batteries," he said, suggesting the rebels were either holding some practical training in bomb-making or making actual explosive devices..."

Sharia Justice - great if you're a Muslim male, not so great if you're not.

"AL-AWWAMIYA, Saudi Arabia - When the teenager went to the police a few months ago to report she was gang-raped by seven men, she never imagined the judge would punish her — and that she would be sentenced to more lashes than one of her alleged rapists received."

Large Muslim areas 'not breeding grounds for terror' Well, like duh. This is downright silly. When will people get it? Muslim terrorists come from wherever there are Muslims, period.

"MUSLIM terrorists are no more likely to come from places with large Islamic populations than anywhere else, according to Manchester academics."

Class Trip to Mosque cancelled and when you read which mosque it was you'll say good.

"Croydon Mosque believes the reaction was due to the mosque featuring on BBC Newsnight after a senior Home Office official was exposed as an activist for the radical Hizb-ut-Tahrir group."

Can you say, "Pimp My Bride?'

In the Asia Times, Spengler writes an interesting piece on prostitution, history, civilization and Iran. He delves quite skillfully into the nexus between the Islamic jihad and the explosion of Iranian prostitutes in both Iran and Europe. Heck, even the Mad Mullahs get into the act with their pro Mut'a (temporary marriage) stance. Interesting.

Everything's coming up Pipsqueak in the wacky world of Mahmoud.

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his recent trips abroad have accelarated what he describes as the world's "Ahmadinejadisation". The Iranian leader made the remarks in a meeting with state radio and television journalists in Teheran, the daily Entekhab reported. "Many of the world's countries are waiting for our signal to follow our example of good governance," Ahmadinejad said in a recent speech, apparently also a reference to "Ahmadinejadisation".

The president's conviction of the importance of his international stature seems to have grown through forays such as letters he wrote to US President George W. Bush and Gernam Chancellor ANgeal (sic)Merkel. (ed. note: letters which all went unanswered if I recall correctly)

The Iranian president has repeatedly described himself as the "saviour of the world" and the "spokesman of the disenfranchised". At a dinner gathering to mark the breaking of the day-time fast during the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan, he told those with him that he has a direct line of communication with God, or Allah.

Somali ROP'ers arrest movie goers for watching movie.

UN wakes up to Iranian torture tactics. They are 'seriously concerned'. Seriously. I guess they might have been talking about the director of the Iranian Bus Drivers Union who had his tongue sliced while in custody and who has just been rearrested.

Don't know how I missed this one: Iran probably has germ weapons, courtesy of Kim Jong Il.

Bali Bombmaker dies in shoot out - PANTIES BE UPON HIM

According to the Australian Sunday Times:

ONE of the two terrorists who made the Bali bombs has been shot dead during a gun battle with soldiers near a militant stronghold in the southern Philippines.

Read it all for a fascinating break down of how they have been tracking these guys down.

Man, this is my second flute of champagne in rapid succession. If we keep getting this kind of good news, I am going to be drunk before supper.

All you apologists/appeasers out there: Looking at this guy's police sketch makes me want to add another cause to our list of root causes:

Being Butt Ugly and Not Able to Get Chicks.

Speaking of chicks, I wonder if our Bali bombmaker, Umar Patek, will still be eligible for his 72 virgins if he buys the farm during a shoot out as opposed to a bombing. I guess that's really splitting koranic hairs.

Speaking of koranic hairs here's my wish for Umar: When he meets his virgins may he have panties on his head.

Well, all this capture news reminds me: I need to cordially invite you all to join me in dancing in the streets when OBL is captured/killed. Seriously, I invite you to drop whatever you are doing and just cut loose and cut a rug out on the streets. I will be bringing out the boom box and I will be doing it. C'mon you know you want to...