Category Archives: Islam

‘Root Causes Of Anti-US Islamic Terrorism’

BAB's A List, Islam, Terrorism

Barely a Blog’s guest today is Retired Ambassador, Yoram Ettinger. He puts paid to the totemic–and fanciful–notion that pacifying the Palestinians will bring peace to the world. To complement what is Mr. Ettinger’s first installment in a series, do read Greg Richards’ “Primer on Islamic Imperialism.” —ILANA

ROOT CAUSES OF ANTI-US ISLAMIC TERRORISM by Yoram Ettinger

Tony Blair’s, Baker’s and Scowcroft’s contention that the Palestinian issue is the core of anti-Western Islamic terrorism and Mideast violence reflects miscomprehension of Mideast reality.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, Jim Baker and Brent Scowcroft have developed an intriguing theory: The core of the 13-century-old Islamic terrorism and Middle East violence is the less-than-a-century-old Palestinian issue. They have introduced a cost-effective tactic in combating terrorism: Rather than flex a muscle against Iran and other rogue regimes, instead of challenging the Palestinian Terror Authority and Hamas, one should suspend disbelief, shrink the Jewish State back to the 1949 Lines and establish a Palestinian State. Such a contriving approach would, supposedly, mollify the unprecedented wave of anti-US Islamic terrorism. Really?!

1. 9/11 was planned while Clinton’s USA and Barak’s Israel were appeasing the Palestinians and the Arabs, proposing a total Israeli withdrawal, including the re-partitioning of Jerusalem and the giveaway of the Golan Heights.

2. The October 12, 2000 Islamic terrorist attack on the USS Cole (17 sailors murdered) occurred when Israel was willing to give away the store, while the US pressured Israel to absorb and compensate Palestinian refugees.

3. The August 27, 1998 Islamic terrorist assault of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania took place (257 murdered and over 4,000 injured) while President Clinton was brutally pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu for sweeping concessions to the Palestinians and to Syria.

4. The 1995/6 Riyadh and Khobar Towers, Dhahran Islamic terror attacks (19 murdered) were carried out while Israel implemented unprecedented concessions, in spite of Palestinian hate-education, systematic violation of all commitments made by the PA and unprecedented Palestinian terrorism.

5. The February 1993 Twin Towers bombing (6 murdered and over 1,000 injured) transpired while Israel conducted the pre-Oslo talks with the PLO, snatching the PLO from the jaws of oblivion in terrorist camps in Yemen, Iraq, Sudan and Tunisia and making unprecedented concessions.

6. The December 21, 1988 PanAm-103 (270 murdered) terrorism took place a few months following the groundbreaking initiation of direct talks between the US and the PLO, while the US attempted to initiate a direct Israel-PLO dialogue.

7. The June 1985 TWA 847 hijacking to Beirut (1 US Navy Seabee diver murdered) took place when the US was backing Iraq in Baghdad’s war against Iran, irrespective of the Palestinian issue.

8. The April/October 1983 bombings of the US Embassy and Marines and French military headquarters—by Syria and PLO-supported Islamic terrorists (300 Americans and 58 French murdered)—occurred while the US military confronted Israeli tanks in Lebanon and the US Administration blasted Israel horrifically for its was against the PLO.

Tony Blair’s, Baker’s and Scowcroft’s contention that the Palestinian issue is the core of anti-Western Islamic terrorism and Mideast violence reflects miscomprehension of Mideast reality. It diverts attention and resources away from The Core Cause: a 13 century old hate-education and terrorism, which has characterized inter-Muslim politics, domestically and externally (to be continued).

Updated: Revving Up for Ramadan

Iraq, Islam, Judaism & Jews

You’d think that violence—Muslim on Muslim and Muslim on non-Muslim—would abate somewhat during the holy month of Ramadan. You’d be wrong. The religion of peace marches to a different drum beat (or is it a machine gun).

“The U.S. military spokesman says there has been a 22 percent jump in attacks during Ramadan,” reported the AP. Imagine a scenario whereby murder rates in Israel skyrocket during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Doesn’t happen; will never happen.

CNN confirmed the trend:

“This week’s suicide attacks were at their highest level of any given week. About half of those attacks targeted security forces… around 50 percent of car bombings were suicide strikes… murders and executions were the largest cause of civilian deaths in Baghdad… attributed … to sectarian fighting between Sunnis and Shiites.”

Res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself).

Andrew Salivates

Islam, Media, Middle East, Republicans, The Zeitgeist

On a meta-level—process, not content—Hugh Hewitt’s interview with Andrew Sullivan about his new confused book exposes Sullivan as arrogant and hysterical. His manners are abominable. How Hewitt put up with Sullivan’s strutting, I don’t know. Why would he tolerate such rudeness from a guest? Is Sullivan that important? (Not to me. I have no interest in someone so “discerning” as to claim, as Sullivan did during the interview, that Jesus, Mohamed, and Socrates are part of the same search for truth.)

I’m happy Sullivan has finally come out against Bush’s dastardly doctrines, although it seems to me that he considers the war more of a logistic than a moral nightmare—the war is bad because it’s going badly, not because it’s bad. The fact that he seconded the decision to invade Iraq may have something to do with this qualified condemnation.

Would it be unfair to put Sullivan’s temper tantrum at the Republicans down to their excessive religious meddling and lack of enthusiasm for gay marriage? (There’s nothing wrong with split infinitives, by the way.) You tell me. (Sullivan is a gay-marriage activist–I’m not, as you can glean from “Marriage and the Manufacturing of Rights“–and is himself “engaged to be married.”)

Overall, his views are hardly conservative–but then that applies to the views of very many contemporary conservatives.

Fox & Friend: Prince Al-Waleed

Islam

Over the weekend, Fox News ventured into the “Is Islam Peaceful? Sure it is” carefully crafted conversation (or shall I say consensus). They invited Dennis Ross and Steven Emerson to comment. The last was better than the first, but neither, as far as I know, is a scholar of Islam.

That’s when Robert Spencer ought to have been brought in, but wasn’t—seldom is. Spencer is the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), which is still a bestseller a year since its publication. His latest literary hole-in-one is The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion. It’s 63rd on Amazon. Both are courageous, path-breaking works.

As to why Fox has not consulted a genuine expert on Islam about its teachings, well, maybe their part-owner, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, has “counseled” against it.