PEACE FLOTILLA PASSENGERS ATTACK IDF WITH STEEL BARS AND STOLEN GUNS

CONFLICT & TERROR

Pakistan: Sectarian violence spreads in Karachi, toll rises to 28


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Sectarian-violence-spreads-in-Karachi-toll-rises-to-28/articleshow/5955688.cms



(Pakistan) British family shot dead in Pakistan

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/7747531/British-family-shot-dead-in-Pakistan.html



(Pakistan) Ex-president Musharraf vows return to Pakistan politics

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/pakistan.musharraf/index.html



(Pakistan) Taliban threaten to kill Osama Khalid over action against Hamid Mir

— Pakistan Daily Times: “Osama Khalid, the son of former Inter-Services Intelligence officer Khalid Khawaja, has claimed that the Asian Tigers have indirectly threatened to do the same to him as they did to his father if any action is taken against Hamid Mir, a private TV channel reported on Thursday”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\21\story_21-5-2010_pg7_27



(Pakistan) Five people gunned down in Balochistan

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\21\story_21-5-2010_pg7_8



(Pakistan) Forces arrest 6 suspects, recover arms in Bajaur

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\21\story_21-5-2010_pg7_7


(Pakistan) Mehsud ‘peace broker’ shot dead in Tank

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\21\story_21-5-2010_pg7_2



(Pakistan) Sweden closes embassy in Islamabad due to security

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\21\story_21-5-2010_pg7_9



(India) Mumbai Attacks: Pak major held may be Headley handler

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pak-major-held-may-be-Headley-handler/articleshow/5955537.cms



(India) Mumbai Attacks: Kasab is Qaidi No C-7096

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Kasab-is-Qaidi-No-C-7096/articleshow/5955876.cms



(Afghanistan/Maldives) Taliban in Maldives for meeting

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/05/20/Taliban-in-Maldives-for-meeting/UPI-50551274388787/

-— Taliban in Secret Talks at Mystery Location

-— Talks Being Held Somewhere in the Maldives, Officials Tell ABC News

http://abcnews.go.com/International/Afghanistan/secret-taliban-talks/story?id=10700753

-— Afghan Govt, Taliban hold 2nd meet in Maldives

http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=32194

— Kabul denies meeting Taliban in Maldives

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=139424



(U.S.) Terror Comes Home

At least 25 American citizens have faced serious terrorism offenses in the past 18 months, a pattern that has counterintelligence officials concerned.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/238296



(U.S.) Alleged Terrorists Used Social Network Sites

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20005405-10391695.html



(U.S.) Times Square Car Bomb Plot: Lag in Times Square suspect’s court date defended

— Prosecutors say “uninterrupted access” needed to Shahzad

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2024774820100520



(U.S.) Times Square Car Bomb Plot: U.S. Outlines Moves After Bomb Suspect’s Arrest

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/nyregion/21terror.html?src=mv



(U.S.) Times Square bomb plot: Massachusetts man had suspect’s phone number

http://www.csmonitor.com/From-the-news-wires/2010/0520/Times-Square-bomb-plot-Massachusetts-man-had-suspect-s-phone-number


(U.S.) $200m ‘behavior detection’ officers fail to spot a single terrorist at airports

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7746246/200m-behaviour-detection-officers-fail-to-spot-a-single-terrorist-at-airports.html

— At least 1 6 known terrorists undetected by federal behavior specialists

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37260518/ns/us_news-airliner_security/



(U.S.) Obama fires intelligence chief after security lapses — Dennis Blair

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7132602.ece

-— January 22, 2010: Top Intelligence Chief Says ‘We’ll Make a New Mistake’ When Trying to Prevent Terror Attempts — DNI Dennis Blair

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583666,00.html

-— September 15, 2009: Spy Chief Says U.S. Hunting al Qaeda More Effectively — Dennis Blair

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125305510769813787.html?mod=googlenews_wsj 



Iraq: Two policemen, civilian killed, 10 others injured in explosion western Mosul

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2085136&Language=en



Iraq: Bin Laden deputy lauds slain Al-Qaeda leaders

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.1.421273712



Iran: Pros and cons in UN’s Sanctions Proposal on Iran

http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/rosner/entry/pros_and_cons_in_un



Syria: US to Syria: Stop Hizbullah armsUS to Syria: Stop Hizbullah arms

http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=176014



(Yemen) Al-Qaeda appeals to women to fight in Yemen

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.1.420463777



(Yemen) Al-Qaida in Yemen announces terror leader killed

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/nationworld/ci_15129375



Turkish aircraft raid PKK

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2085106&Language=en



(Canada) Suspect knew camp flag similar to jihad symbols — Asad Ansari

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=3049606



Indonesia seeks seven years for ‘Prince of Jihad’

— Mohammed Jibril Abdurahman

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100520/wl_asia_afp/indonesiaattackstrial



Other News:



Muslims Respond to Cartoon Controversy

http://www.realcourage.org/2010/05/muslims-respond-to-cartoon-controversy/

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/46/897/Muslims_Respond_to_Cartoon_Controversy.html

— Cartoon Contests and Human Dignity

http://www.realcourage.org/2010/05/cartoon-contests-and-human-dignity/



Cartoonist draws a line under contest to picture Prophet

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7132388.ece



Thousands of Mohammed images uploaded on Facebook

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/7746258/Thousands-of-Mohammed-images-uploaded-on-Facebook.html

— Anger? Not so much at this Prophet cartoon caper

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/05/20/2324134.aspx



‘Publication of caricatures hurts Muslim sentiments’

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\21\story_21-5-2010_pg7_21 



Tommy DeSeno on “The Facebook Creed?”

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/05/20/tommy-seno-muhammad-cartoons-facebook-islam-christianity/



Pakistan Government Blocks Facebook and YouTube Sites -— more reports on protests

http://www.realcourage.org/2010/05/pakistan-blocks-facebook-youtube/

— April 16, 2008: Pakistan PM Gilani at National Assembly meeting calling for international death penalty for “blasphemy”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\04\16\story_16-4-2008_pg7_6



Pakistan netizens up in arms against ban on websites

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-netizens-up-in-arms-against-ban-on-websites/articleshow/5955722.cms

— Lawyers boycott courts in support of Facebook ban

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\21\story_21-5-2010_pg13_5



Pakistan blasphemy laws used to justify ‘murder’: EU parliament

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5gdiMztr7yvkNa2KoHeTYpUET3w

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/16-blasphemy+laws-eu+parliament-hs-02



Sweden: Arson suspect suffers from burns

http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2010/05/sweden-arson-suspect-suffers-from-burns.html



(Belgium) Brussels: Municipality doesn’t allow veil ban protest

http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2010/05/brussels-municipality-doesnt-allow-veil.html



France makes way for grand mosque

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\05\21\story_21-5-2010_pg7_4



Iran: Mothers meet with detained hikers in Iran, report says

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/20/iran.hikers.mothers/index.html

— Iranians React to Visit of American Mothers

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/05/20/iranians-react-to-visit-of-american-mothers/



Iraqi believers warned to leave

http://www.mnnonline.org/article/14246



Kuwait: 5 years in jail for beating maid to death - ‘Woman tortured victim, but had no plan to kill’

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/154062/reftab/73/t/5-years-in-jail-for-beating-maid-to-death/Default.aspx



Saudi woman beats up virtue cop

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=175779 



UK: Anti-Democracy Leader Anjem Choudary Threats to Woman Muslim MP Sayeeda Warsi

http://www.realcourage.org/2010/05/uk-anjem-choudary/



Egyptian Professor of Hebrew Literature Ibrahim Farid Denounces Endorsement of Antisemitic Myths by Arab Media and Institutions

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4183.htm



Sudanese authorities in pursuit of aid workers’ kidnappers in Darfur

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2085008&Language=en



(U.S.) Mojave Desert war cross ‘returned’

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7747317/Mojave-Desert-war-cross-returned.html

— Authorities Say Mojave Desert Replacement Memorial Cross Must Come Down

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/20/authorities-replica-cross-placed-mojave-desert-war-memorial/



(U.S.) Newsweek report on Rima Fakih

http://www.newsweek.com/id/238265


(U.S.) North Carolina: Popular local Muslim figure arrested on federal charges

Mohammed “Moe’ El-Gamal of Raleigh, the president of the Muslim American Public Affairs Council charged with exporting computer equipment to Libya without a license

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/05/20/492673/popular-local-muslim-figure-arrested.html



(U.S.) California: UCSD Students Seek Official Condemnation of Pro-Holocaust Statement

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/ucsd-students-seek-official-condemnation-of-pro-holocaust-statement/



(U.S.) Islamic leaders decry Tea Party reference to Muslim ‘monkey-god’

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/20/islamic-leaders-decry-tea-party-reference-to-muslim-monkey-god/

-— Original report references “monkey-god”

http://bit.ly/9CLBXC



(U.S.) Reports on Rand Paul and Civil Rights Bill Discussions

http://www.realcourage.org/2010/05/reports-on-rand-paul-and-civil-rights-bill/



Thailand Civil War News:



Clash death toll reported at 51

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/178603/clash-death-toll-reported-at-51



Police detain 63 suspects

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/178604/police-detain-63-suspects



Three more protest leaders surrender to police, deny terrorism charges

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2085081&Language=e n



Thai Red shirt stronghold recoups after angry riots

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64J34N20100520



Bangkok aftermath: ‘Not the Thailand we know anymore’

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/thailand.protests.reaction/index.html



Thailand issues three-day curfew as 13,000 protesters rally in provinces

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/7745657/Thailand-issues-three-day-curfew-as-13000-protesters-rally-in-provinces.html



Thai Forces Restore Order in Bangkok After Clearing Protest Site

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Thai-Forces-Restore-Order-in-Bangkok-After-Clearing-Protest-Site-94507204.html



Bangkok battleground deserted but city life goes on

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64J2ZM20100520



Bangkok Under Curfew as Fears Persis

http://abcnews.go.com/International/bangkok-curfew-fears-civil-war-persist-thailand/story?id=10700890



Peace restored, anger still burns in Bangkok

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/05/20/2323859.aspx



Marian statue spared by rioters thanks to priest

http://www.ucanews.com/2010/05/20/marian-statue-spared-by-rioters-thanks-to-priest



Against Totalitarianism News:



North Korea threatens ‘all-out war’ over warship sinking report

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/7745370/North-Korea-threatens-all-out-war-over-warship-sinking-report.html



North Korea: Pentagon won’t say ship sinking is an act of war

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iBqaJ2ovxmxTV23GCGT5QyilEegwD9FQRHG00

— US warns of ‘consequences’ after Pyongyang is found guilty of sinking ship

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7132500.ece



North Korea slams report that it torpedoed South Korean ship

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/south.korea.sunken.ship/index.html?hpt=T2



Mona Eltahawy: Confronting Tyrants

http://bit.ly/cWGD7X

http://www.monaeltahawy.com/blog/?p=266
http://www.facebook.com/notes/mona-eltahawy/confronting-tyrants/426705696971

Courtesy UnitedStatesAction

YOUR TAX DOLLARS USED TO HUNT PEACEFUL IRANIAN DISSIDENTS IN USA

As if we needed another reason to be angry at the ongoing misuse of our taxpayer dollars, here is a candidate for most infuriating example of the year. A program partially funded by your tax dollars is being used to hunt down anti-regime Iranian dissidents. . . . in Los Angeles. At the behest of the terrorist President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad's regime, we allow Interpol to place Red Notices on heroes in America who seek peaceful change in Iran.

A huge Iranian immigrant community exists in Southern California. I have known a number of them and they are great folks. Many are ethnic minorities (e.g. Persian Jews, Christians or Zoroastrians) who rightly feared persecution by the zealous mullahs in Tehran. Others are political dissidents such as Monarchists who support the return of the Shah’s son, or supporters of building Democracy in Iran.

Not content to torture and murder such people at home, the odious Iranian regime is now using Interpol to compel dissidents to stay put and limit their freedom of movement overseas. In fact, if they travel to other nations they risk being arrested and turned over to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

A new Obama Presidential Order allows Interpol to act with few restraints on US soil. Iran is thrilled.

Executive Order Amended to Immunize INTERPOL In America
By Steve Schippert, Clyde Middleton | December 23, 2009

Thursday, December 17, 2009, The White House released an Executive Order “Amending Executive Order 12425.” It grants INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) a new level of full diplomatic immunity afforded to foreign embassies and select other “International Organizations” as set forth in the United States International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945.

By removing language from President Reagan’s 1983 Executive Order 12425, this international law enforcement body now operates - now operates - on American soil beyond the reach of our own top law enforcement arm, the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

For Immediate Release December 17, 2009
Executive Order — Amending Executive Order 12425
EXECUTIVE ORDER
- - - - - - -
AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER 12425 DESIGNATING INTERPOL
AS A PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ENTITLED TO
ENJOY CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words “except those provided by Section 2©, Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act” and the semicolon that immediately precedes them.

BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 16, 2009.
After initial review and discussions between the writers of this analysis, the context was spelled out plainly.

Through EO 12425, President Reagan extended to INTERPOL recognition as an “International Organization.” In short, the privileges and immunities afforded foreign diplomats was extended to INTERPOL. Two sets of important privileges and immunities were withheld: Section 2© and the remaining sections cited (all of which deal with differing taxes).

And then comes December 17, 2009, and President Obama. The exemptions in EO 12425 were removed.

Section 2c of the United States International Organizations Immunities Act is the crucial piece.

Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation.

The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable.
Inviolable archives means INTERPOL records are beyond US citizens’ Freedom of Information Act requests and from American legal or investigative discovery (”unless such immunity be expressly waived.”

Property and assets being immune from search and confiscation means precisely that. Wherever they may be in the United States.

This could conceivably include human assets - Americans arrested on our soil by INTERPOL officers.

Context: International Criminal Court
The importance of this last crucial point cannot be understated, because this immunity and protection - and elevation above the US Constitution - afforded INTERPOL is likely a precursor to the White House subjecting the United States under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). INTERPOL provides a significant enforcement function for the ICC, just as our FBI provides a significant function for our Department of Justice.
We direct the American public to paragraph 28 of the ICC’s Proposed Programme Budget for 2010 (PDF).
29. Additionally, the Court will continue to seek the cooperation of States not party to the Rome Statute and to develop its relationships with regional organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), the Arab League (AL), the African Union (AU), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), ASEAN and CARICOM. We will also continue to engage with subregional and thematic organizations, such as SADC and ECOWAS, and the Commonwealth Secretariat and the OIF. This will be done through high level visits, briefings and, as appropriate, relationship agreements. Work will also be carried out with sectoral organizations such as IDLO and INTERPOL, to increase efficiency.

The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute - the UN treaty that established the International Criminal Court. (See: Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court)President George W. Bush rejected subjecting the United States to the jurisdiction of the ICC and removed the United States as a signatory. President Bill Clinton had previously signed the Rome Statute during his presidency. Two critical matters are at play. One is an overall matter of sovereignty and the concept of the primacy of American law above those of the rest of the world. But more recently a more over-riding concern principally has been the potential - if not likely - specter of subjecting our Armed Forces to a hostile international body seeking war crimes prosecutions during the execution of an unpopular war.

President Bush in fact went so far as to gain agreement from nations that they would expressly not detain or hand over to the ICC members of the United States armed forces. The fear of a symbolic ICC circus trial as a form of international political protest to American military actions in Iraq and elsewhere was real and palpable.
President Obama’s words have been carefully chosen when directly regarding the ICC. While President Bush outright rejected subjugating American armed forces to any international court as a matter of policy, President Obama said in his 2008 presidential campaign that it is merely “premature to commit” to signing America on.
However, in a Foreign Policy in Focus round-table in 2008, the host group cited his former foreign policy advisor, Samantha Power. She essentially laid down what can be viewed as now-President Obama’s roadmap to America rejoining the ICC. His principal objections are not explained as those of sovereignty, but rather of image and perception.

Obama’s former foreign policy advisor, Samantha Power, said in an early March (2008) interview with The Irish Times that many things need to happen before Obama could think about signing the Rome Treaty.

“Until we’ve closed Guantánamo, gotten out of Iraq responsibly, renounced torture and rendition, shown a different face for America, American membership of the ICC is going to make countries around the world think the ICC is a tool of American hegemony.

The detention center at Guantánamo Bay is nearing its closure and an alternate continental American site for terrorist detention has been selected in Illinois. The time line for Iraq withdrawal has been set. And President Obama has given an abundance of international speeches intended to “show a different face for America.” He has in fact been roundly criticized domestically for the routinely apologetic and critical nature of these speeches.
President Obama has not rejected the concept of ICC jurisdiction over US citizens and service members. He has avoided any direct reference to this while offering praise for the ICC for conducting its trials so far “in America’s interests.” The door thus remains wide open to the skeptical observer.

CONCLUSIONS
In light of what we know and can observe, it is our logical conclusion that President Obama’s Executive Order amending President Ronald Reagans’ 1983 EO 12425 and placing INTERPOL above the United States Constitution and beyond the legal reach of our own top law enforcement is a precursor to more damaging moves.

The pre-requisite conditions regarding the Iraq withdrawal and the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention facility closure will continue their course. meanwhile, the next move from President Obama is likely an attempt to dissolve the agreements made between President Bush and other states preventing them from turning over American military forces to the ICC (via INTERPOL) for war crimes or any other prosecutions.

When the paths on the road map converge - Iraq withdrawal, Guantánamo closure, perceived American image improved internationally, and an empowered INTERPOL in the United States - it is probable that President Barack Obama will once again make America a signatory to the International Criminal Court. It will be a move that surrenders American sovereignty to an international body who’s INTERPOL enforcement arm has already been elevated above the Constitution and American domestic law enforcement.
For an added and disturbing wrinkle, INTERPOL’s central operations office in the United States is within our own Justice Department offices. They are American law enforcement officers working under the aegis of INTERPOL within our own Justice Department. That they now operate with full diplomatic immunity and with “inviolable archives” from within our own buildings should send red flags soaring into the clouds.
This is the disturbing context for President Obama’s quiet release of an amended Executive Order 12425. American sovereignty hangs in the balance if these actions are not prevented through public outcry and political pressure. Some Americans are paying attention, as can be seen from some of the earliest recognitions of this troubling development here, here and here. But the discussion must extend well beyond the Internet and social media.
Ultimately, a detailed verbal explanation is due the American public from the President of the United States detailing why an international law enforcement arm assisting a court we are not a signatory to has been elevated above our Constitution upon our soil.


Again, YOU are paying for this misuse of law enforcement. See this article for details: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2010/May/Iran-Targeting-Dissidents-with-Global-Police-/ .

JUST ONE EXAMPLE - PEACEFUL ISLAM KILLS 80 MILLION INDIANS

Over 260 million people have been killed by and in the name of Islam, many of those in Africa. The 80 million murdered Indians are just a sample.

WHITEWASHING KORAN-INSPIRED MURDERS IN CHICAGO

by Robert Spencer
Prosecutors in Cook County said Friday that James Larry, a Chicago Muslim, has confessed to brutally murdering his wife, his seven-month old son Jihad, and two of his nieces. According to the Chicago Tribune, Larry was a prison convert to Islam who had been arguing with his wife over her refusal to become a Muslim and wear Islamic clothing. His sister revealed that he had been clutching a copy of the Koran and telling relatives that “something in the book told him to kill someone.”

Were James Larry a Christian, his murders would be front-page headlines, and talking heads on all the networks would be discussing in hushed tones the dangers of Christian fundamentalism, complete with clips of Robert DeNiro as the Scripture-addled maniacal killer in Cape Fear, or any number of hundreds of other Hollywood fantasies about violent Christian fanatics.


But James Larry is a Muslim, and so true to form, outside of the Tribune and a handful of other sources, mainstream media coverage ignored the story altogether or, at very least, did not deem fit to print or mention all the inconvenient evidence that he was motivated to kill at least in part by such Koranic exhortations as “kill the polytheists wherever you find them” (9:5). The Associated Press story on the murders has none of that. According to AP, Larry was just “hearing voices.”


The whole process of news gathering and news reporting needs to be demystified, even in this Internet age, and news reports recognized not as objective, dispassionate accounts, but as the work of human beings with agendas. While it is possible that Kristen Schorsch, Annie Sweeney and Cynthia Dizikes, the authors of the Chicago Tribune story, are simply better, more thorough reporters than Don Babwin of AP, it is more likely that Babwin had access to exactly the same information that showed up in the Tribune report, but chose not to go with it.


He probably thought it would be “Islamophobic” to do so, or that to do so would fuel one of those fabled but nonexistent “backlashes” against innocent Muslims. So he appears to have decided that it was better to cover up key facts about this incident.


I do not mean to single out Don Babwin for criticism. He is no worse a journalist than thousands of others working today. He was just doing what they all do, in large and small ways, every day. And they do this because they’ve been told to: Pamela Geller of AtlasShrugs.com recently noted in an article at Andrew Breitbart’s Big Journalism.com that the Society of Professional Journalists issued guidelines shortly after 9/11 that direct reporters to avoid mentioning Islam and jihad in their stories, even when those stories have to do primarily with Islam and jihad. The guidelines tell reporters to “avoid using word combinations such as ‘Islamic terrorist’ or ‘Muslim extremist’ that are misleading because they link whole religions to criminal activity.”


This is hogwash, of course. The phrase “Islamic terrorist” no more links the whole religion of Islam to criminal activity than the phrase “Italian fascist” links all Italians to fascism. It is merely a description of a group whose existence is palpable and undeniable: Muslims who commit gratuitous violence, often against non-Muslim civilians, and justify their actions by reference to Islamic texts and teachings.

For such people, the term “Islamic terrorist” is altogether fitting and proper. The avoidance of such terms–which is by now almost universal, from Barack Obama’s State Department to Associated Press to virtually all other government and major media entities–has the effect only of hampering our ability to understand what exactly it is that we’re up against, and take appropriate actions to meet the Islamic jihad challenge and protect ourselves and our society.


Don Babwin of AP should not have mentioned the Islamic aspects of James Larry’s murders just to pick on Islam or Muslims, or to portray an entire religion and people in a bad light. He should have mentioned them in the interests of simple accuracy, and in the interests of aiding government and law-enforcement officials who have a duty to call upon the Muslim community in the U.S. to take genuine steps to teach Muslims that the Koran’s violent exhortations have no force or validity today. But that call has not and will not go out. No one even recognizes that it needs to.
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Mr. Spencer is director of Jihad Watch and author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)", "The Truth About Muhammad," "Stealth Jihad," and most recently "The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran" (all from Regnery -- a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).



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