3
POPSReport From a Forgotten War: Second in a Series
Taliban leaders also provided a haven for Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda to launch the 9/11 attack. In November 2001, when they were deposed by the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance, many of the Taliban fled south to Pakistan and east into Iran. This spring, they came back, intent on overthrowing the democratically elected government of President Hamid Karzi. That's when the Marines of TF 2/7 arrived "in country" to train and mentor Afghan Army and police forces. It's been a challenging assignment for the 1300 Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen of TF 2/7. The unit's Area of Operations (A/O) is more than 28,000 square kilometers — roughly the size of Vermont. There is only one paved highway. Overland transport to some of the fifteen forward bases and combat outposts where TF 2/7 operates often takes more than 24 hours of continuous day and night movement. Until this week — when four CH-53 transport helos and four Cobra gunships arrived, the task force had to rely on NATO aircraft...
6
POPSWomen Against Sharia Seems to be a good resource for educating oneself about the issues related to Shariah Law. And I am a woman who is against it too!
3
POPSThicker Skins Needed Maybe if certain Muslims tempered their over the top outrage over perceived insults and reined in their more radical leaders others would view them differently. Just a thought.
3
POPSA "single Muslim authority in Europe" "Elsewhere in the piece, the author makes the link between Islam as a “universal” religion and Muslims as “global citizens”. There is, in other words, a specific link between the proposal, which amounts to the creation of a global caliphate although Ceric does not use this term, and the general cosmopolitan ideology of globalism of which European integration is a key part. To put it bluntly, the stronger national identities, the weaker Islamic identity – and vice-versa."
4
POPSThe ‘Useful Idiots’ Of Militant Islam
Saudi-funded publications admonish Muslims in America “to dissociate from infidels, hate them for their religion, never to rely on them for support, and always oppose them in every way according to Islamic law.” The question: how was it that among the estimated five million Muslim Americans with hugely varied institutions, the president’s advisors picked a Saudi Islamofascist ghetto as a venue? A major New York Times Magazine article argued fervently on behalf of “Islamic democrats” singing the praises of a reborn Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. An essay in Foreign Affairs, a weighty establishment publication titled “The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood.” Mild Islamism is an oxymoron. Sharia law, which sanctions beating of wives and stoning for adultery, is irreconcilable with human rights. The Muslim Brotherhood founded Hamas, calls suicide bombings a good thing, and is the 21st-century version of the organized fascism of Hitler and Mussolini in the last century.
7
POPSKhaled Abou el Fadl: "God Does Not Have an Equal Partner" Khaled Abou el Fadl is both a prominent Islamic jurist and an American lawyer. In his many books he has accused radical Islamists of ignorance concerning the Koran and Sharia law. "We can debate God's will as much as we like. I encourage Muslims to do so in order to discover God's will," says Abou el Fadl. "If, however, we adopt a law and the state implements it, we cannot assume that it represents God's will. If, on the other hand, we give the state the power to represent God, that is not a democracy, but a form of ideology. This contradicts Islamic theology, because God does not have an equal partner." This is why the divine law should only cover questions of faith and should not be subject to the state. It is not the job of the state to regulate the relationship between God and the faithful. Deutsche Fassung: Khaled Abou El Fadl: "Gott hat keine Partner"
3
POPS New marriage law proposed for Muslim women in India Controversial points of new nikahnama --Triple talaq said in one go will not be acceptable --Talaq to be spaced out over a period of 3 months --Talaq not be allowed via phone or SMS --New Nikahnama insists on free will for the girl in case of nikah --Talaq cannot be given under the influence of alcohol --Talaq given to pregnant woman should be considered illegal
3
POPSWhy Winning In Iraq Is So Critical It is in Europe, not in post-Iraq Kansas, where a Turkish prime minister announces to Muslim expatriate residents that they must remain forever Turks and assimilation is a crime; it is in post-Iraq Europe, not Los Angeles, where politicians and churchmen talk of the inevitability of Sharia law; and it is in post-Iraq Europe, not the United States, where honor killings and Islamic rioting are common occurrences. Why? A number of reasons, but despite all the misrepresentation and propaganda, the message has filtered through the Middle East that the United States will go after and punish jihadists — but also, alone of the Western nations, it will risk its own blood and treasure to work with Arab nations to find some alternative to the extremes of dictatorship and theocracy. Europe, in contrast to its utopian rhetoric, will trade with and profit from, but most surely never challenge, a Middle Eastern thug. ...Read the whole thing.
0
POPSVDH on NRO This is from a Victor David Hanson piece on National Review. Vindication for for us neo-cons?
13
POPSCultural Diversity? Or Just Wrong? This is sure to stir up controversy. Knowing what we know today, should be stand quiet and ignore the lives scared by this archaic practice because of cultural diversity? I fervently believe we need to speak out and show our revulsion over such primitive and harmful ideas. We know that practices such as this are harmful to women but hesitate to bring them to the forefront for fear of offending certain segments of the population. I couldn't disagree more. These "traditions" need to be exposed to the light of modern thought and people need to express their outrage for such devastating practices.
8
POPSHello! Is Sanity in the House? By some people's reasoning it should be allowable for Jews to riot because Joe's BBQ opens and serves pulled pork platters? Christians should storm the gates because Wal-Mart is not keeping the Sabbath holy? Catholics should go berserk when someone doesn't genuflect before Mary? Why aren't more people standing up and saying these crazy people are crazy? We're all supposed to adhere to Sharia law? How utterly absurd and pointless.
3
POPSRemoving the state from Dr Rowan Williams Church, State, Law and the Enlightenment: I think that this article is rather condescending, and demeaning of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in suggesting that he did not know what can of worms he was opening in his discussion of Sharia law in Britain. I don't think he is that thick. As the article does point out, however, he has questioned one of the core assumptions of modernity -- that "religion" (itself a "modern" concept) belongs exclusively to the private sphere. In doing so, it seems, he has thought the unthinkable, spoken the unspeakable, and questioned the unquestionable. Nasty man -- a bit like Galileo and Copernicus, perhaps, except that he's questioning the secular authorities rather than the ecclesiastical ones. Though I don't agree with everything in Janet Daley's article, I think it's worth reading because she does put her finger on the main issue raised by the Archbishop.