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The Taliban's Tentacles Reach the U.S.
ISLAM AND THE WEST
By Daniel Brumberg
The Taliban: Coming to a Phone Near You?
To understand the escalating threat posed by the Taliban to Afghanistan, Pakistan and even Queens, New York, take a look at the Feb. 17 edition of the New York Times.
Story Number 1 is "Taliban Commander's Death Ends An Embarrassment for Afghanistan." In this piece, we learn that Maulavi Ghulam Dastagir--a Taliban commander who organized the November 2008 ambush of an Afghan Army convoy-- was recently killed in an air attack organized by the American military.
The thing is, Dastagir had been freed after the intervention of President Hamid Karzai, apparently because "tribal elders" had "vouched" for Dastagir's "future conduct." Following the November ambush, Dastagir repaid his president's benevolence by declaring that "I am a Jihadist, I will continue my Jihad."
The story speaks for itself. While the Taliban is hardly a monolithic movement, and while many of its foot soldiers are not as ideologically committed as their superiors, the latter are very much "True Believers." Their future conduct can be predicted. Karzai is not unaware of this basic fact, and thus one wonders what he thought would be achieved in allowing Dastagir's release.
Story Number 2 is "Pakistan Makes a Taliban Truce, Creating a Haven by Imposing Islamic Law" in Swat Valley. Perhaps the regime felt it had no choice, since its 12,000 troops had been roundly defeated by some 3,000 Taliban fighters. But make no mistake about it, this concession will only further fragment the already shrinking Pakistani state.
Having failed to protect the 300 or so tribal leaders murdered by the Taliban in Swat, the Pakistani state is cutting off a leg to support the rest of a disintegrating body. If this continues, it will be like that amazing scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "Merely a flesh wound," cries the stump of a man begging to do battle with his victorious and bemused opponent, "merely a flesh wound."
Story Number 3 is "From Pakistan Valley, Taliban Threats are Heard in New York." Here we learn that Iqbal Ali Khan, general secretary of the American chapter of the secular Awami National Party, has received threatening calls, ordering him to bring $1 million to Pakistan. He's been told that if he doesn't comply, his family will be killed. This is no idle threat. Last week, Khan received a desperate call from his brother, who along with their 97-year-old father, is "hiding in a forest" outside Swat's largest city. His voice "choking up," the younger Khan cried out in words that reminded me of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: "Tragedy, Tragedy."
Yes indeed, a tragedy for Afghanistan, a tragedy for Pakistan, and a tragedy that has made its way to New York City, where our fellow Americans are being terrorized over the phone. Small, individualized 9/11's intrude into our lives, giving the lie to any notion that we are safe.
By Daniel Brumberg |
February 20, 2009; 9:55 AM ET
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Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | February 24, 2009 6:05 PM
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CCNL : "Attempts to deprogram and deflaw her will however continue as it will with all those who have fallen under the spell of "angelic" and/or resurrecting body hallucinations."
Ah, the key word is "attempts". "Attempt" away. You did call me a "terrorist" before and never apologise. So, I take it as part of "attempts" for God knows what and why......
Cheers
J
Posted by: Jihadist | February 24, 2009 1:15 PM
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And the Jihadist remains Reality Challenged and Obfuscating but Now Partially Crossanized as she still is blinded by the errors and flaws of Islam.
Attempts to deprogram and deflaw her will however continue as it will with all those who have fallen under the spell of "angelic" and/or resurrecting body hallucinations.
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | February 24, 2009 12:48 PM
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CCNL : "As can be seen by her commentaries, The Reality Challenged and Obfuscating Jihadist is still blinded by her Islamic brainwash."
Aha! Resorting again to the 5 Step Programme to "brainwash" an alleged "brainwashed" Muslim with Crossanism? That notion is blinded and blinkered beyond belief.
Anyway, this brainwashed believer in Islam is now mentally and spiritually cleansed and cannot be mentally polluted and spiritually degraded anymore with Crossanism, Sartreism, Socratesism and other such intellectualism, materialism and temporalism.
Take two aspirins and call me in the morning.:)
Cheers
J
Posted by: Jihadist | February 24, 2009 11:36 AM
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I think the Islamic Middle Easter people would like to think there kings are in charge and are apathic to terrorist groups attacking the West. But it seems that the truth is that the kings are afraid of terrorist that they will turn on them so pay them off. The truth is somewhere in between but like so many Americans I'm too angry to care.
Posted by: Who's in charge? | February 24, 2009 1:49 AM
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As can be seen by her commentaries, The Reality Challenged and Obfuscating Jihadist is still blinded by her Islamic brainwash. We again offer free of charge the Five Steps to Deprogram/Deflaw Islam:
Using "The 77 Branches of Islamic "faith" a collection compiled by Imam Bayhaqi as a starting point-- In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect true "faith" (iman) through related Qur’anic verses and Prophetic sayings." i.e. a nice summary of the Koran and Islamic beliefs.
"1. Belief in Allah"
aka as God, Yahweh, Zeus, Jehovah, Mother Nature, etc." should be added to your cleansing neurons.
"2. To believe that everything other than Allah was non-existent. Thereafter, Allah Most High created these things and subsequently they came into existence."
Evolution and the Big Bang or the "Gib Gnab" (when the universe starts to recycle) are more plausible and the "akas" for Allah should be included if you continue to be a "creationist".
"3. To believe in the existence of angels."
A major item for neuron cleansing. Angels/devils are the mythical creations of ancient civilizations, e.g. Hittites, to explain/define natural events, contacts with their gods, big birds, sudden winds, protectors during the dark nights, etc. No "pretty/ugly wingy thingies" ever visited or talked to Mohammed, Jesus, Mary or Joseph or Joe Smith. Today we would classify angels as fairies and "tinker bells". Modern devils are classified as the demons of the demented.
"4. To believe that all the heavenly books that were sent to the different prophets are true. However, apart from the Quran, all other books are not valid anymore."
Another major item to delete. There are no books written in the spirit state of Heaven (if there is one) just as there are no angels/"pwtfft"s to write/publish/distribute them. The Koran, OT, NT etc. are simply books written by humans for humans.
Prophets were invented by ancient scribes typically to keep the uneducated masses in line. Today we call them fortune tellers.
Prophecies are also invalidated by the natural/God/Allah gifts of Free Will and Future.
"5. To believe that all the prophets are true.
However, we are commanded to follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) alone."
Mohammed spent thirty days fasting in a hot cave before his first contact with Allah aka God etc. via a "pretty wingy thingy" named Gabriel. Common sense demands a neuron deletion of #5. #5 is also the major source of Islamic violence i.e. turning Mohammed's "fast, hunger-driven" hallucinations into horrible reality for unbelievers.
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | February 24, 2009 12:12 AM
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CCNL : "Almost 500 million Muslim women save a few lucky ones like the Jihadist live under the boots of Ismalic males based on the "word" of one "pretty, wingie, talking, fictional thingie named Gabriel. Again, one must scream, "THE SIGNIFICANT STUPIDITY OF IT ALL!!!!"
And I had thought that only women scream, as in, "Sometimes I feel like screaming. Sometimes I am sick of screaming". Do scream if it helps as a form of therapy or to get attention. And nothing on non-Muslim women in Asia oppressed by the cultural sexism in their societies? Including hundreds of thousands of women abused in the homes and workplace, exploited, trafficked and as sex workers?
To continue the "truth" and "reality" on Muslim women -
There are some Muslim men who want Muslim women to be hijabed and sheltered to "liberate" them from sexual exploitation.
There are some non-Muslim men who want Muslim women to be liberated from hijabs which they see as a form of oppression.
Between some Muslim men and some non-Muslim men, no one is asking - "What do Muslim women want?"
Of course, whatever a Muslim woman freely choses, to wear the hijab or otherwise, is not a "free choice" for some Muslim men, for some non-Muslim men.
Oh yes, oppressed Muslim women became presidents or prime ministers of Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia. Muslim men in those countries are apparently not putting their boots on their Muslim women enough.
Posted by: Jihadist | February 23, 2009 4:40 PM
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How very typical of The Jihadist as she continues in her attempts to distract us from the horror of the koran noting all the ills of the world as counter weights like these other ills allow the passages of the koran to be somehow allowed in the grand scheme of life. Well it is not!!!!
Almost 500 million Muslim women save a few lucky ones like the Jihadist live under the boots of Ismalic males based on the "word" of one "pretty, wingie, talking, fictional thingie named Gabriel. Again, one must scream, "THE SIGNIFICANT STUPIDITY OF IT ALL!!!!"
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | February 23, 2009 3:02 PM
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Body counts in CCNL's list?
More Vietnamese killed in the Vietnam War than in the, er, Iraq War.
More Americans killed by other Americans in the US since 9/11 at at least 85,000 than your list of "horrifics" from 9/11 to Mumbai bombings at less than 4,000.
In the last and this century the body counts of violence and civil wars and inter-state wars in the non-Muslim world easily outnumbers those in the Muslim world.
Body counts of who killed whom and where are still acts of violence. It would seem that while Muslims are less "efficient" killers but who make for great headlines and subuming all transgressions and unjustness before, and all appropriate and/or disprotionate response in reaction.
Thank God for Islam and Muslims. Muslim states and Muslims are great distractors of other non-Muslim states' and human abuses and violence elsewhere. For example:
North Korea should be grateful for Iran.
China should be grateful for Saudi Arabia.
Sri Lanka should be grateful for Israel.
Tamil Tigers should be grateful for Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Myanmese Junta should be grateful for the Taliban.
Violence is violence. Abuses are abuses. Jesus taught about love. But it never stop some Christians from harbouring and having hatred, perpetrating violence and waging wars. Same for Hindus in India some who said their faith or philosophy is pacifist. Same for Buddhists in mainland Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka who said their faith or philosophy is pacifist. Same for atheists in China and North Korea whose, er, ideology, is best for man.
Posted by: Jihadist | February 23, 2009 12:26 PM
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Hmmm, The Reality Challenged, Obfuscating and Now Partially "Crosssanized" Jihadist noted: "he (the Concerned Christian Now Liberated) again demonstrates he has no clue about the horrific, dictatorial passages his posts."
Simply noting the Truth about Islam is horrific!!!
The current horror of Islam in synopsis form:
This Islamic agenda continues as shown by the massacre in Mumbai, the assassinations of Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/ mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.
And who funds this muck and stench of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.
Current crises:
The Sunni-Shiite blood feud and the warmongering, womanizing (11 wives), hallucinating founder.
And some body counts:
1a) 179 killed in Mumbai/Bombay, 290 injured
1b) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh
2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured
3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops, 3,402 combat and 822 non-combat) and 90,253 – 98,521I raqi civilians killed, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf
4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]
5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.
6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.
7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.
8) UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | February 22, 2009 1:45 PM
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Let me see how it goes in rephrasing your post below:
It never ends with the Concerned Christian Now Liberated who is fully and relly "Crossanized" Jihadist as he again demonstrates he has no clue about the horrific, dictatorial passages his posts.
CCNL, civil up your posts and get back to us after you do. Until then, the 24/7 posts from the seperate world of Crossanists continues to demonstrate that the Crossanists are promoting the most ignored books ever written by Jesus Seminarians for and by mainstream Christians.
Hmmmm...that sounds demanding and dictatorial and certaintly absurb.
Posted by: Jihadist | February 22, 2009 10:49 AM
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It never ends with the Reality Challenged, Obfuscating, and Partially "Crossanized" Jihadist as she again demonstrates she has no clue about the horrific, dictatorial passages of the worst book ever written, the koran.
Jihadist, clean up your operating manual and get back to us after you do. Until then, the 24/7 news from the world of Islam continues to demonstrate that the koran is the worst book ever written.
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | February 20, 2009 2:45 PM
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And why in the world is the world still with nice but effete Hamid Karzai as President when he obviously is failing in his quest to unite Afghans and stabilise Afganistan much less put in place an effective governance?
Does Afghanistan really need a Jimmy Carter during its civil war? An Abe Lincoln sort would be better with dollops of Churchillianism and dashes of Trumanisms thrown in in that persona of and for a right leader at the right time for Afghans and Afghanistan.
And preferably, one not "parachuted" or plopped and propped up by any external party or parties for real credibility and acceptance by all Afghans.
Posted by: Jihadist | February 20, 2009 1:00 PM
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From story No. 1 -
Brumberg : "While the Taliban is hardly a monolithic movement, and while many of its foot soldiers are not as ideologically committed as their superiors, the latter are very much "True Believers."
From story No 3 -
Brumberg: "Here we learn that Iqbal Ali Khan, general secretary of the American chapter of the secular Awami National Party, has received threatening calls, ordering him to bring $1 million to Pakistan. He's been told that if he doesn't comply, his family will be killed."
Obviously the Taliban "True Believer" leaders needs funds to pay their foot soldiers, for weapons etc. With no funds coming in from their former sponsoring states, they resorted to extortion and kidnappings for money. More extortions for funds from Afghans in Afghanistan and overseas to finance the "True Believer" Talibans' Lesser Jihad?
As for story No. 2, in a very generalised gist, Pakistan is getting its own "blowback" for its two "wars" - to the west in and with certain factions in Afghanistan, to the east with and in India (Kashmir etc). Pakistan seems to be blown to pieces politically and socially in adventuring in neighbouring countries with no safe distance to shield it from the spillover effects.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are not failing or failed states. They are imploding states with factions having explosive notions and taking combustible actions within and without those states seeing to that.
Brumberg: "Small, individualized 9/11's intrude into our lives, giving the lie to any notion that we are safe."
Come now, Mr. Brumberg. More Americans died by the murders of other Americans since 9/11. Afghans are never safe for decades from their own citizens and from foreign forces. Pakistanis increasingly too from their own citizens and as collateral damage in the hunt by forces for the Taliban "True Believers" and foot soldiers. No one is safe nor secure when wars are waged in this day and age of ICT and other technological strides. There will always be collateral damage in one way or another. No one can wage war and escape its consquences for himself and others when the war is still ongoing.
Best regards
J
Posted by: Jihadist | February 20, 2009 12:45 PM
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The Reality of Islam 101 (for those eyes that have not seen)
Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven, warmongering, hallucinating Arab, who also had embellishing/hallucinating/plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.
This agenda continues as shown by the massacre in Mumbai, the assassinations of Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.
And who funds this muck and stench of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.
Current crises:
The Sunni-Shiite blood feud and the warmongering, womanizing (11 wives), hallucinating founder.
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | February 20, 2009 11:28 AM
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Hmmm, Jihadist the Terrorist???
Maybe, since any follower of the worst book ever written aka the koran must be considered a potential threat to world peace as is dictated in said book of horror:
Some contemporary body counts caused by the followers of said book of horror to include the recent beheading of a Muslim wife in Buffalo, NY by her Islamic husband who was following koranic rules for treatment of a wife who was seeking a divorce:
1a) 179 killed in Mumbai/Bombay, 290 injured
1b) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh
2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured
3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops, 3,412 combat, 837 non-combat and 90,735 – 99,077 Iraqi civilians killed, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf
4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]
5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.
6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.
7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.
8) UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.