Category Archives: Jihad

Updated: The Barbarian West

Europe, Free Speech, Islam, Jihad, libertarianism, Terrorism, The West

What’s another bout with a 48-hour flu, my second this season, compared to the ordeal the heroic Kurt Westergaard—illustrator of the the 12 Jyllands-Posten cartoons, depicting the connection between Muhammad and the violence that disfigures the Muslim world—must live with day-in and day-out.

Satire is a highly civilized and refined way of exposing “folly, vice, or stupidity,” to follow the dictionary. For lampooning the connection between Muhammad, author of Islam, and the savagery and atavism that grip the Muslim world today, Westergaard’s life has been continually threatened.

“On Friday night, a 28-year-old Somali man, armed with an ax and a knife, tried to enter the home of Kurt Westergaard in Aarhus Denmark. Westergaard was at home with his visiting 5-year-old granddaughter when he heard the suspect trying to break in. ‘I locked myself in our safe room and alerted the police.'” (The Examiner.com.)

“Unable to smash the front door with his ax, the suspect was shot once in the knee and once in the hand by police. The wounds are not life-threatening.” [Why not?]

AND:

“Police were aware of the Somali suspect’s background from previous activities in east Africa and had a permit to live in Denmark.”

A pattern.

I’ve said it again and again: This is not a failure of Jihad; Jihad is doing just fine for itself, functioning as it ought to. Rather, attacks on the lives of the likes of the late Theo van Gogh, Geert Wilders, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Westergaard, and Wafa Sultan showcase the West at its miserable emasculated worst.

Contrary to some libertarian opinion, a free society is not one in which civilized courageous, peaceful human beings fear for their lives, but one in which such individuals thrive, as their assailants cower in dank corners, hunted and exterminated like vermin.

Updated (Jan. 4, 2010): A little timid for my taste, but well worth a read: “Heeere’s Muhammed!”

Update III: It Worked With The Unabomber’s Brother, But Not With Abdul’s Father

America, Family, Homeland Security, Islam, Jihad, Terrorism

It worked like magic with the Unabomber’s brother, but not with the generic Abdul’s father. Not even a warning from dad could sway America to look upon a Muslim suspect with suspicion.

“FATHER OF TERROR SUSPECT REPORTED SON 6 MONTHS AGO.

“US Approved Passenger List.” NEWSWEEK is reporting that “Farouk Abdulmutallab (previously identified in the media as Abdul Mudallad), was entered into a database used by the government to deny or restrict U.S. … The fact that Abdulmutallab was not on the U.S. government’s ‘no fly list’ would help to explain why American authorities cleared the aircraft he boarded, Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, for takeoff. As NEWSWEEK reported earlier today, Dutch authorities say their U.S. counterparts were given the passenger list for review before the flight left the gate and its departure was not approved until clearance was received from the U.S.”

All the Kings Horses and All The King’s Men—the agencies the government has created to protect us—possessed all the requisite information needed to stop or supervise this character closely, but didn’t. Yawn. “Your Government Jihadi Protection Program” at work. (That’s why we need the state apparatus to manage medicine.)

The WaPo confirms too that, “The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was added to a catch-all terrorism-related database … Abdulmutallab was not placed on any watch list for flights into the United States, however, because there was ‘insufficient derogatory information available’ to include him, another administration official said.”

Maj. Nidad Hasan all over again?

Update I (Dec. 27): HAVE TUMMY TROUBLES WILL TRAVEL. Mass contagion ensues. A passenger lingers in the loo too long and is apprehended, but certified “Non-Threatening,” eventually. The man “spent about an hour in the bathroom and got upset when he was questioned by the crew of the flight from Amsterdam,” reports CNN.

The security alert aboard a Northwest Airlines jet Sunday was the result of a “non-serious” incident, and the man questioned in connection with the scare does not appear to be a threat, a law enforcement source said Sunday.
The crew of Northwest Flight 253 — the same Amsterdam, Netherlands-to-Detroit, Michigan flight targeted Friday in what prosecutors called a bomb plot — reported a “verbally disruptive” passenger Sunday and requested police meet the plane, airline and airport officials told CNN. The man was questioned by police after the plane landed in Detroit early Sunday afternoon.

If you thought you were hassled at the airport before, just you wait. The Nigerians manning America’s airport screening posts will be reacting against Oma from Omaha will a vengeance.

Update II (Dec. 28): The Transportation Security Administration (T.S.A) wasted no time in retaliating against the sheeple for an attempted attack by a profile in suspicious behavior:

The NYT: “the new T.S.A. measures required an additional round of searches, including body pat-downs at airport gates overseas.

International travelers were also told that they could not leave their seats for the last hour of a flight, during which time they also could not use a pillow or blanket. They were also limited to one piece of carry-on baggage, including a purse or briefcase, and that piece had to be stowed in an overhead compartment for the last hour of a flight.

Airlines were ordered to turn off in-flight entertainment systems with maps showing a plane’s location, and pilots and flight crews were told not to make comments about cities or landmarks below the flight path.
There also were unspecified measures at airports in the United States, where lines at screening machines grew long. At the Detroit airport, officers in bright blue vests marked “Police” walked through the check-in lobby. … Henry Chen, 48, a businessman who lives in San Francisco, said he was shocked to have a female flight attendant barge in on him in the restroom while he was washing his face during a flight from Seoul. “It was kind of weird, to have a lady try to get in,” he said. “She said that they had to watch people being in the restroom too long.”

Update III: SO MUCH FOR LISTS. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano “acknowledged that U.S. authorities had placed Abdulmutallab on a general counterterrorism watch list that contains about 550,000 names, which is shared with airlines and foreign security agencies. Administration officials acknowledged Abdulmutallab was placed on that list a month ago after his father, a respected Nigerian banker, went to U.S. authorities in Nigeria with concerns about his son’s ties to militants.
Napolitano said without specific and ‘credible’ evidence of suspicious activity, Abdulmutallab could not be classified as the kind of greater security risk that would bar him from traveling to the U.S.”

[SNIP]

What does a Muslim, bomb-carrying boy need to do in order to get American attention? Go on Oprah? This is a cry for help!

Update III: It Worked With The Unabomber's Brother, But Not With Abdul's Father

America, Family, Homeland Security, Islam, Jihad, Terrorism

It worked like magic with the Unabomber’s brother, but not with the generic Abdul’s father. Not even a warning from dad could sway America to look upon a Muslim suspect with suspicion.

“FATHER OF TERROR SUSPECT REPORTED SON 6 MONTHS AGO.

“US Approved Passenger List.” NEWSWEEK is reporting that “Farouk Abdulmutallab (previously identified in the media as Abdul Mudallad), was entered into a database used by the government to deny or restrict U.S. … The fact that Abdulmutallab was not on the U.S. government’s ‘no fly list’ would help to explain why American authorities cleared the aircraft he boarded, Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, for takeoff. As NEWSWEEK reported earlier today, Dutch authorities say their U.S. counterparts were given the passenger list for review before the flight left the gate and its departure was not approved until clearance was received from the U.S.”

All the Kings Horses and All The King’s Men—the agencies the government has created to protect us—possessed all the requisite information needed to stop or supervise this character closely, but didn’t. Yawn. “Your Government Jihadi Protection Program” at work. (That’s why we need the state apparatus to manage medicine.)

The WaPo confirms too that, “The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was added to a catch-all terrorism-related database … Abdulmutallab was not placed on any watch list for flights into the United States, however, because there was ‘insufficient derogatory information available’ to include him, another administration official said.”

Maj. Nidad Hasan all over again?

Update I (Dec. 27): HAVE TUMMY TROUBLES WILL TRAVEL. Mass contagion ensues. A passenger lingers in the loo too long and is apprehended, but certified “Non-Threatening,” eventually. The man “spent about an hour in the bathroom and got upset when he was questioned by the crew of the flight from Amsterdam,” reports CNN.

The security alert aboard a Northwest Airlines jet Sunday was the result of a “non-serious” incident, and the man questioned in connection with the scare does not appear to be a threat, a law enforcement source said Sunday.
The crew of Northwest Flight 253 — the same Amsterdam, Netherlands-to-Detroit, Michigan flight targeted Friday in what prosecutors called a bomb plot — reported a “verbally disruptive” passenger Sunday and requested police meet the plane, airline and airport officials told CNN. The man was questioned by police after the plane landed in Detroit early Sunday afternoon.

If you thought you were hassled at the airport before, just you wait. The Nigerians manning America’s airport screening posts will be reacting against Oma from Omaha will a vengeance.

Update II (Dec. 28): The Transportation Security Administration (T.S.A) wasted no time in retaliating against the sheeple for an attempted attack by a profile in suspicious behavior:

The NYT: “the new T.S.A. measures required an additional round of searches, including body pat-downs at airport gates overseas.

International travelers were also told that they could not leave their seats for the last hour of a flight, during which time they also could not use a pillow or blanket. They were also limited to one piece of carry-on baggage, including a purse or briefcase, and that piece had to be stowed in an overhead compartment for the last hour of a flight.

Airlines were ordered to turn off in-flight entertainment systems with maps showing a plane’s location, and pilots and flight crews were told not to make comments about cities or landmarks below the flight path.
There also were unspecified measures at airports in the United States, where lines at screening machines grew long. At the Detroit airport, officers in bright blue vests marked “Police” walked through the check-in lobby. … Henry Chen, 48, a businessman who lives in San Francisco, said he was shocked to have a female flight attendant barge in on him in the restroom while he was washing his face during a flight from Seoul. “It was kind of weird, to have a lady try to get in,” he said. “She said that they had to watch people being in the restroom too long.”

Update III: SO MUCH FOR LISTS. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano “acknowledged that U.S. authorities had placed Abdulmutallab on a general counterterrorism watch list that contains about 550,000 names, which is shared with airlines and foreign security agencies. Administration officials acknowledged Abdulmutallab was placed on that list a month ago after his father, a respected Nigerian banker, went to U.S. authorities in Nigeria with concerns about his son’s ties to militants.
Napolitano said without specific and ‘credible’ evidence of suspicious activity, Abdulmutallab could not be classified as the kind of greater security risk that would bar him from traveling to the U.S.”

[SNIP]

What does a Muslim, bomb-carrying boy need to do in order to get American attention? Go on Oprah? This is a cry for help!

Update I: Terrorism And The ‘Three Ps’

Government, Homeland Security, Islam, Jihad, Terrorism

As liberals’ lackluster logic would have it, I wrote in “Coddling Killers,” “the ‘Three Ps’ — patriarchy, poverty, and powerlessness are responsible for terrorism. Never mind that Osama bin Laden is a millionaire. Or that the September 11 killers were scions of privilege. Or that Al Qaeda is hardly manned by illiterate peasants. No matter that from Russia’s Bolsheviks to South America’s Tupamaros and Montoneros, from Germany’s Baader-Meinhof Gang to Italy’s Red Brigades — terrorists have always been middle-class.”

Yes, “‘The typical terrorist is prosperous and self-righteous, writes Michael Radu of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. ‘The elite flocks to Islamist ideology,’ seconds Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes. ‘Militant Islam is not a response to poverty or impoverishment but results more from success than from failure.” (“Coddling Killers”)

Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who attempted to detonate the Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day, is true to type; he’s a 23-year-old engineering student at University College in London.

Here’s a debriefing from DEBKAfile:

Alhaji Umarum Mutallab, former Nigeria First Bank chairman, ex-minister, told police Saturday, Dec. 26, that the 23-year old Nigerian who tried and failed to blow up the Amsterdam-Detroit Northwest Flight 253 Friday, Dec. 25, is his son. According to family members, he had been worried by his son’s extremist religious views and six months ago reported his activities to the US embassy in Lagos. Devastated by the news of the attempted bombing, he said he was surprised his son had been given a US visa.
The family confirmed that he had attended University College London to study engineering and later relocated to Egypt and then Dubai.
The Federal Government of Nigeria expressed its dismay at the attempted terrorist attack on a US airline and stated its abhorrence of all forms of terrorism. The Vice President has ordered a full investigation of the incident in full cooperation with the American authorities.
The London West End mansion apartment searched by UK police now turns out to be the family residence in London. London College University confirmed that a student named Umar Abdulmutallab was enrolled from 2005 to 2008.
Security experts said Abdulmutallab was armed with a sophisticated device consisting of liquid chemicals in a plastic syringe and a bag of explosive power, but only managed to cause a small fire before he was subdued by a passenger and the cabin crew.
The Dutch secret service is investigating how the Nigerian bomber’s syringe of chemicals managed to elude Schiphol airport checks when he boarded the Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Security experts say the plastic coating of the syringe may have prevented detection unless the bomber had been thoroughly frisked or exposed to sniffer dogs.
Security has been tightened stringently for US, British and Dutch airports and air traffic in case of a follow-up on the Nigerian student’s failed attack.
Passengers flying to the US from anywhere in the world have been restricted to one piece of hand luggage each under revised security measures at US airports. They have been warned of delays on arrival.
Counter-terror measures were stepped up at British airports and flights already bogged down by bad weather further delayed by subjecting all passengers to separate searches.

There you have it; Abdulmutallab is purported to be the son of a prominent, former Nigerian minister and bank chairman.

Update (Dec. 28): A GILDED LIFE. The Guardian has the goods on the “extreme privilege” that begets bomb making:

Abdulmutallab was:

• Son to one of the country’s most respected businessmen, who retired earlier this month as chairman of Nigeria’s FirstBank, the oldest bank in the country, with offices in London, Paris and Beijing. has wonderful parents, comes from a lovely family [affirmed by the fact that father’s moral compass drove him to report son’s militancy], he’s got lots of friends, he had everything going for him. [to which he reacted by isolating himself from kin and colleagues.]
• lived in a luxury block just off the London’s Oxford Street
• enjoyed during boyhood “the manicured lawns and tennis courts of the British International school in Togo”
• completed an international baccalauréat
• availed himself of school trips to the UK

On and on; all unheard of for a typical boy growing up in Africa.