Archive for the ‘Terrorism’ Category
by Sher Zieve
As of 2005, Michigan held the largest and still growing Muslim population in the United States and the second largest Arab population outside of the Middle East. Outside of Muslim-run countries, Paris—which still experiences nightly vehicle torchings and mayhem in its Islamic neighborhoods—has the largest. It is estimated that eight million Muslims now live in the US and their numbers are continuing to grow. Islam is now the second-largest religious body in the United States and is said to be its fastest growing religious movement.
Although hundreds of long-time residents of Hamtramck, MI protested the city allowing the five-times-per-day Muslim call to prayer to be broadcast over Hamtramck’s loudspeakers, the city council voted unanimously in April 2004 to allow it. Prior to the city council making its decision, public input from any citizens (except Muslims) had not been allowed. This continues today. Hamtramck resident Bob Golen was outraged by the city council’s actions and said: "So they had made up their mind before any public meeting and it’s been five-nothing ever since. This is only the beginning. They're going to use Hamtramck as a precedent. This is coming to your town, to the town down the road, and to the [next] town down the road." Golen added that, after the city council voted to allow the calls to prayer, one of the city councilmen said that he was "proud to set a precedent in this country."
by Jim Kouri, CPP
As the United States reviews its plans to secure, stabilize, and rebuild Iraq, the Government Accountability Office submitted several reports forCongressional consideration in developing its oversight agenda for the 110th Congress and analyzing the President's revised strategy for Iraq. On Wednesday night, President George W. Bush is expected to reveal his new strategy in a televised speech to the American people.
These reports and papers are based on the continuing work of the GAO and the 67 Iraq-related reports and testimonies they've provided to the US Congress since May 2003.
Iraq has had three successful elections, adopted a constitution, and installed its first elected government. At the same time, since the initial ground offensive ended in 2003, the costs to secure and stabilize Iraq have grown substantially, as has the level of violence that afflicts Iraqi society.
by Jeff Lukens
Imagine a Super Bowl football team quitting the game in the third quarter simply because they were behind. The premise is so absurd it is inconceivable. So too would be our quitting a war to protect our way of life simply because battlefield conditions are not going perfectly.
Football teams continually adjust their tactics and strategy during a game based on playing conditions on the field. And so does a nation at war. Seldom does any country enter a war with a perfect strategy in which to win it. Almost always, shortcomings are found that require a new approach. A victorious nation modifies what needs to be modified, and they go on.
That's what we've done in almost every war since the American Revolution. It did not happen in the first Iraq war in 1991 because it was over so quickly, but it's what we must do now in the second Iraq war. No one ever said things would go perfectly this time. Unlike football, no one knows for sure when a war will end. But we do know that if we don't play to win, we are sure we lose.
by Jim Kouri, CPP
Now that the Democrats are in control of both houses of congress, Americans can look forward to their leadership putting their own interests ahead of the safety and security of citizens during the war on terrorism. In her recent column, Ann Coulter, in her usual hyperbolic style, called the Democrat Party a "sleeper cell." A good example of that is the recent actions of Senator Levin.
In August, 2006, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) arrogantly refused to stop blocking the Senate's confirmation of the head of the Justice Department's new antiterrorism division, a position that's important in a time of war with terrorist groups who wish to attack the United States.
However, it wasn't because of any complaint about the nominee, rather it's an effort to try to force the Justice Department to turn over information Levin can use to bash his own country and the US military.
Levin has been demanding that the Bush administration supply more information from FBI agents who reported witnessing aggressive interrogations of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba military detention center.
by Jim Kouri, CPP
Terrorism is the most significant threat to our national security. In the international terrorism arena, over the next five years, it's believed that the number of state-sponsored terrorist organizations will continue to decline, but privately sponsored terrorist groups will increase in number.
However, the terrorist groups will increasingly cooperate with one another to achieve desired ends against common enemies. These alliances will be of limited duration, but such "loose associations" will challenge our ability to identify specific threats. Al-Qaeda, and Hezbollah, and their affiliates will remain the most significant threat over the next five years.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation forecasts that sub-national and non-governmental entities will play an increasing role in world affairs for years to come, presenting new "asymmetric" threats to the United States, according to a report submitted to the National Association of Chiefs of Police and other law enforcement and security organizations.
by Christopher Adamo
The facade is beginning to peel back from the so-called ministry of Southern California Pastor Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life." Unfortunately, many among his ample flock have far too much invested in him, both emotionally and otherwise, to admit their mistakes and cut their losses.
Moreover, he certainly faces no possibility of in-depth scrutiny from the "mainstream media," as his brand of "Christianity" poses little or no threat to their liberal social agenda. Yet to the degree that anyone at all questions Warren as anything less than authentic, his response is thoroughly telling as to his true character, as well as the nature of his "ministry."
Joseph Farah, editor in chief of the premiere Internet news site, "World Net Daily," opened a can of worms by calling Warren to account over his fawning praise of the terrorist stronghold of Syria. While there, Warren lauded the brutish dictatorship as "peaceful," claiming that the Islamist government does not officially sanction "extremism of any kind."
When confronted by Farah, an American of middle-eastern decent who knows too well the history of horror and tragedy faced by persecuted Christians in that region of the world, Warren immediately denied ever making such statements.
by Jim Kouri, CPP
Several police organizations are up in arms over a taxpayer funded college honoring a cop-killer and domestic terrorist.
"The cowardly school administration at the City College of New York have allowed a student community room to be named in honor of a domestic terrorist and cop-killer," said officials from the National Association of Chiefs of Police in a statement.
"You can bet your life they'd never allow the center to be called The Jesus Christ Community Center."
The New York City college students who share the community room named for the escaped cop killer Assata Shakur proclaimed their love for the fugitive murderer.
Members of seven campus groups also commended the school administration for allowing them to work in the name of a domestic "terrorist" now believed to be hiding in Cuba.
"And we consider her a hero and role model for standing up for our people and putting her life on the line."
By Alan Caruba
The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, expressing the intention of the ayatollahs, has said he wants to wipe Israel off the map by killing every man, woman and child. Iran will use a nuclear weapon and is close to being able to make one any day now.
If the nuclear option is not used, the proxy armies of the Iranian puppet-masters will be Hezbollah attacking from Lebanon and Hamas from Gaza. Israel is in a pincers between armed camps sworn to destroy it. In the past it has been able to defeat its enemies. It may not be able to do so in the future.
Jerusalem has changed hands many times since the nation of Israel was established in 1321 B.C. Since King David founded it, it has been the Jewish capital for 3,300 years. There are some six million Jews living in the latest resurrection of Israel. They are, combined with all other Jews, a mere 0.02 percent of the world’s population, but they represent 40 percent of all the Jews in the world.
When the Jews declared Israel an independent state on May 14, 1948, five Arab nations immediately attacked it. Offered a state of their own by the United Nations, local Arabs said no. For nearly six decades, Israel has never had a day of real peace.
by Jim Kouri, CPP
It didn't take long before the new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. John Conyers started making noises on how they can further undermine efforts to protect Americans from terrorist attacks.
Speaker-elect Pelosi (D-CA) is co-sponsoring the "End Racial Profiling Act", according to syndicated columnist Sher Zieve. The proposed bill is said to have been prompted by the recent removal of six Muslim imams, who are reported to have acted in a decidedly provocative manner, from a US Airways’ flight. The problem with using this act to curb so-called profiling is that the persons who demanded the removal of the suspicious Muslims do not work for the US government.
Pelosi and Conyers are calling for the end of all racial profiling, additional severe limits placed on the Patriot Act and the implementation of broad-based US citizenship for illegal aliens.
Pelosi said, "Since September 11th, many Muslim Americans have been subjected to searches at airports and other locations based upon their religion and national origin, without any credible information linking individuals to criminal conduct. Racial and religious profiling is fundamentally un-American and we must make it illegal."
by Jeff Lukens
Elections have consequences. And for our recent election, the consequences have been a major setback in the war on terror and a greater threat to terrorist attack at home. This is so because a public with an attention deficit disorder has elected a liberal congress that wants pull the plug on Iraq at the first face-saving chance they get.
Many people draw comparisons between the war in Iraq and the war in Vietnam. Since the election I've had the nagging feeling we are in about the 1973 phase of the Vietnam War. That year the power shift in Washington away from a conservative president toward a liberal congress doomed the war effort and in effect condemned millions of our Vietnamese allies to death and reeducation camps. A similar scenario may now be unfolding regarding Iraq.
The effort to preserve our interests in the region just got a lot more difficult as antiwar Democrats take over Congress backed by a sympathetic press. Together they have convinced the public that Iraq is a costly misstep, and Republicans have failed to convince them otherwise.
Much of President Bush's strategy has been based on Natan Sharansky's book, The Case for Democracy. In it, Sharansky stresses that freedom abroad and security at home are linked, and that there can be no peace without democracy. His book has become the basis of the post-9/11 strategic thinking.