COMMENT | Ambiga Sreenevasan, in her latest piece, writes that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) has given us time for valuable introspection.  Pakatan Harapan supporters have been emailing and texting me, talking about the apathy that has been setting in. Does Harapan really care about people who vote for them, one asked?

"AdaWang's" Logic to make corruption Kosher

Here is the thing. Harapan showed no interest in the feelings of the base when it was in power. Harapan was exactly the kind of government BN was, the only difference was that the Harapan base – at least some of them – could indulge their fantasies of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in an orange or purple jumpsuit.

I mean most of us who endorsed Harapan also endorsed someone, who was not only defined as a tyrant but also someone who was at one time an existential threat to this country. At that time and maybe even now, Kua Kia Soong is probably the last few honest men in Malaysia.

Beyond that, the old maverick had everyone wrapped around his fingers and Harapan was not only busy strengthening institutions of repressions but also cavalierly dismissing anyone who was reminding the government of the day to carry out reforms. 

I mean everyone was saying that BN had decades to screw up the system, so Harapan needed more time. Everyone except people like Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy and Sungai Pelek assemblyperson Ronnie Liu, who suddenly found themselves targets from their own coalition because they were unafraid to shout out that the emperor had no clothes.

Read it all here............

PM Orbán met Pope Francis and presented a letter that King Béla IV wrote for Pope Innocent IV in 1250. The King warned of the looming threat of the Tatar invasion and called for the unity of Europe. He was ignored. 35 yrs later HU fended off the Tatars with great bloodshed. pic.twitter.com/PS8JPTJ4my

— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) September 12, 2021

“At the meeting on Sunday, according to state media, Orban even handed the Pope a provocative gift: A copy of a letter from a 13th-century Hungarian king to then-Pope Innocent IV, asking for Rome’s help to defeat an onslaught of foreign invaders — an apparent reference to migrants in the 21st century,” reports CBS News.

Balazs Orban, Deputy Minister for the Prime Minister’s Office described the historical importance of the letter on Twitter.

“PM Orbán met Pope Francis and presented a letter that King Béla IV wrote for Pope Innocent IV in 1250,” he wrote. “The King warned of the looming threat of the Tatar invasion and called for the unity of Europe. He was ignored. 35 yrs later Hungary fended off the Tatars with great bloodshed.”

However, Pope Francis is unlikely to change his mind and this was emphasized when he told a crowd in Budapest that Hungarians should “extend their arms to everyone,” referring to migrants and refugees.

COMMENT | The easy line here is that you cannot sell out if you do not have any principles in the first place. I mean some Pakatan Harapan political operatives talk about political frogs as anathema to democracy but take this “hear no evil, see no evil” stance when it comes to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim attempting his various counter coups.

Also this idea of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) as a means to constrain former Umno prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, merely reflects the kind of personality instead of policy politics that is driving Harapan. 

And it sounds absurd, you claim you are working for the rakyat but then say that this is a political strategy to constrain your political opponent, especially since Anwar was sniffing around personalities of the court cluster hoping to hitch a ride to Putrajaya and Harapan did not seem to have an issue with this.

Time and again he showed enormous guts to question/condemn corrupt practices of Congress and Nehru Family. Excellent speech with facts. He is the most courageous politician in India. The Gandhi family has ruined India through their incompetence and corruption on a gigantic scale. Hope they get convicted and rot in jails for the rest of their lives.

The seeds of the humiliating American withdrawal from Afghanistan were laid shortly after the post 9/11 US invasion of the country, when the United States refrained from confronting Pakistan over its continued support of its Taliban proxy.

The Taliban was founded in 1980 as a joint US-Pakistani-Saudi effort to combat Soviet troops in Afghanistan shortly after the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979.

Pakistan provided the geographical base and an almost endless supply of manpower, primarily Pashtuns, who comprise about 40% to 45% of Afghanistan and approximately 20% of Pakistan. About 85% of them live in “Pashtunistan,” which straddles the Durand Line. The United States provided the weapons while Saudi Arabia provided the funding to buy those weapons and cover the costs of maintaining Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.

The Pashtun-dominated Taliban rapidly emerged as the biggest and best-armed component of the mujahideen, the umbrella organization of Afghan rebels fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan….

The Taliban consists almost entirely of ethnic Pashtuns, who are spread between Afghanistan and Pakistan; the border – demarcated by the Durand Line – does not exist for them; they cross the porous border at will.

Pashtuns from Pakistan helped Afghani Pashtuns in the “Taliban” movement that the U.S., Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia together created to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. That effort proved successful; the Taliban turned out to be the most numerous and best fighters against the Russians in Afghanistan.

The gloating from millions of Muslim sympathizers around the world has also never been greater than on this 20^th anniversary of 9/11. But it wasn’t always like this on September 11. Accordingly, and since we apparently cannot look to the present for solace or satisfaction on this date, let us look back. As it happens, a major jihadist terror campaign was defeated before—and celebrated on—September 11: the Ottoman siege of the Mediterranean island of Malta.

Even more ironically, the situation was the exact opposite of today: Those defending the tiny island were immensely weaker and outnumbered in comparison to their Islamic foe; but, through a superhuman effort, they actually prevailed. After declaring jihad in the spring of 1565, 30,000 Turks, armed to the teeth and with all sorts of heavy artillery, descended on the tiny island of Malta, which was defended by a few thousand shabbily armed Maltese men, under the leadership of the Knights of Saint John (formerly the Knights Hospitallers), the Turks’ bane.

And here is where the difference lay: If the Europeans were vastly outnumbered, they also had much manlier leadership than we are familiar with. Enter Jean Parisot de Valette (1494–1568), the Grand Master of the Knights:  “His disposition is rather sad,” wrote a contemporary, but “for his age [seventy-one], he is very robust” and “very devout.” As the Muslim sails approached, he explained to his men what was at stake: “A formidable army composed of audacious barbarians is descending on this island,” he warned; “these persons, my brothers, are the enemies of Jesus Christ. Today it is a question of the defense of our Faith as to whether the book of the Evangelist [the Gospel] is to be superseded by that of the Koran? God on this occasion demands of us our lives, already vowed to His service. Happy will those be who first consummate this sacrifice.”

Once the Turks arrived, they subjected the tiny Mediterranean island to what was then the heaviest nonstop bombardment any locale had been subjected to in history. “With the roar of the artillery and the arquebuses, the hair-raising screams, the smoke and fire and flame,” a chronicler wrote, “it seemed that the whole world was at the point of exploding.” The vastly outnumbered and soon wearied defenders, who were ordered to “fight bravely and sell their lives to the barbarians as dearly as possible,” did just that; and for every Christian killed defending the fort, numerous Muslim besiegers fell.

After reducing to rubble and storming the fort of St. Elmo, the Turks sadistically slaughtered all 1,500 of its defenders: the Knights of Saint John “were hung upside down from iron rings . . . and had their heads split, their chests open, and their hearts torn out.” The Muslim commander, Mustafa, ordered their mutilated corpses (along with one Maltese priest) nailed to wooden crosses and set adrift to deride and demoralize the other onlooking defenders. The terror tactic failed: The seventy-one-year-old Valette delivered a thundering and defiant speech before the huddled Christians, beheaded all Muslim prisoners, and fired their heads from cannon at the Turkish besiegers.

The Ottomans continued to subject the rest of the island to a sustained bombardment (some 130,000 cannonballs were fired in total). “I don’t know if the image of hell can describe the appalling battle,” wrote a contemporary: “the fire, the heat, the continuous flames from the flamethrowers and fire hoops; the thick smoke, the stench, the disemboweled and mutilated corpses, the clash of arms, the groans, shouts, and cries, the roar of the guns . . . men wounding, killing, scrabbling, throwing one another back, falling and firing.” Although the rest of the forts were reduced to rubble, much Muslim blood was spilled for each inch gained; for “when they got within arms’ reach the scimitar was no match for the long two-handed sword of the Christians.” Desperate fighting spilled into the streets, where even Maltese women and children participated.

Dante Tambika

That is what likely led to the murder of Dante Tambika. Islamic law forbids proselytizing for another religion and conversion to another religion, on pain of death.  “Muslim Extremists Kill 19-Year-Old Christian in Boat for His Faith,” Morning Star News, September 8, 2021:

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Muslim extremists in eastern Uganda last week boarded a boat in which a young evangelist was fishing and killed him, sources said. Dante Tambika, also known as Patrick, was beaten and strangled to death near Nankodo 3 village, Nankodo Sub-County, on Aug. 31 after he and friends went out on Lake Lemwa, said Stephen Mukama, a survivor of the attack. Tambika was 19.

Mukuma, Tambika and two other friends were walking toward the lake when they realized five Muslim teenagers were following them, Mukama said. They knew the five Muslims who stopped them, he said. “They tried to provoke us by calling us infidels and saying that they were going to crush us just like Allah did to those who used to attack their prophet, Muhammad,” Mukama said.

Rimini, 12 Sep – Fear and madness in Rimini, where a Somali immigrant stabbed five people, including a 6-year-old child who now, hospitalized in an emergency, is on the verge of death. The crime took place last night on the bus line 11 of the city of Romagna, and more precisely in the Miramare district. Two controllers (two women) approached the Somali citizen to ask him to buy a ticket. In response, the immigrant pulled out a knife: he wounded both women in the middle of the bus, with terrified passengers sounding the alarm. The man runs away and, on the street, began to slash anyone who comes within range. Among these is, in fact, a 6-year-old child, whose jugular was severed by the immigrant.

Murderous rampage. Ambulances arrived at the scene of the crime: the two controllers, as reported by Resto del Carlino, were immediately taken to the hospital in Cesena. One of the two women, wounded in the neck, is in bad shape. Meanwhile, the Somali criminal, fleeing through the streets of Rimini, tried to steal a car from two motorists. But the various attempts failed. The police, meanwhile, chased the man. Thanks to the indications of the witnesses, the agents stopped the Metromare, and it was precisely there that the immigrant was found, who was promptly immobilized and arrested.

Who is the Somali who terrorized Rimini Not much is known about the Somali who brought madness and terror to Rimini. He is 26 years old, and his residence was a Red Cross facility. A few months ago, he applied for refugee status. In the past, he had already manifested an aggressive and violent character. At the time of his arrest, he did not seem to have been under the influence of alcohol or substances, but for this, confirmation of the analyzes will be needed.

“Terror in Jerusalem: 2 injured in stabbing attack at Central Bus Station,” by Tzvi Joffre, Jerusalem Post, September 13, 2021:

בשעה 15:20 התקבל דיווח במוקד 101 של מד"א במרחב ירושלים על 2 פצועים מדקירה ברחוב יפו סמוך לתחנה המרכזית בירושלים. חובשים ופראמדיקים של מד"א מעניקים במקום טיפול רפואי ל 2 פצועים כבני 25 במצב בינוני. עדכון בהמשך. pic.twitter.com/LHnxvOsNq7

— מגן דוד אדום (@mda_israel) September 13, 2021

Two Israeli men were moderately injured in a stabbing attack at a store next to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station in Jerusalem on Monday. Two female Border Police patrol officers at the scene shot and wounded the terrorist. The attacker was identified as 17-year-old Basil Shawamra from the village of Deir al-Asal al-Fauqa near Hebron in the southern West Bank. Two additional suspects were detained…. The attacker underwent surgery at Shaare Zedek after resuscitation attempts.

Gantz wished the victims a speedy recovery and praised the Border Police officer who shot the terrorist, as well as the IDF soldiers who thwarted a terrorist attack earlier in the day at the Gush Etzion junction. Magen David Adom paramedic Shlomi Pinchas described the scene in the capital’s thoroughfare, saying: “We arrived at the scene and there was a big commotion. The two wounded were lying conscious and suffering from stab wounds. We provided them with advanced medical care in the field that included bandages, stopping the bleeding and medication, and quickly evacuated them to the hospital as they were in moderate condition.”…

Hamas praised the stabbing attack on Monday, saying: “The escalation of stabbings in occupied Jerusalem, the shootings, the increasing confrontations of popular anger in the West Bank and the demonstrations in Gaza, come within the framework of the freedom intifada launched by our Palestinian people in solidarity with the heroic prisoners and confronting the brutality of the occupation against them.

“Sustaining the clash with the Zionist occupation and escalating the pace of operations with various means and tools is the best option to confront the Zionist occupation and force it to stop its crimes against our people and our prisoners in the occupation prisons,” the terrorist group said. Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman Daoud Shehab also responded to the terrorist attack on Monday afternoon, saying: “The commando operations in Jerusalem and the West Bank reflect the extent of the rising popular anger as a result of the aggressive policies of the occupation against the prisoners.”

Shehab warned that Israel would “pay a price for its arrogance,” adding that, “Acts of resistance are a legitimate right of the Palestinian people, and we bless and support this jihadist act and salute all the revolutionaries in Jerusalem, the West Bank and everywhere – and we affirm that resistance is the most capable approach to deterring the occupation.” The attack came just hours after an attempted stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion junction, in which IDF soldiers stopped a terrorist who attempted to stab them. That attacker was also taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center with gunshot wounds to his hand.

Afghan Mohammad H. (63)

The Qur’an teaches that men are superior to women and should beat those from whom they “fear disobedience”: “Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them.” — Qur’an 4:34

Muhammad’s child bride, Aisha, says in a hadith that Muhammad “struck me on the chest which caused me pain, and then said: ‘Did you think that Allah and His Apostle would deal unjustly with you?’” — Sahih Muslim 2127

An another hadith states: “Rifa`a divorced his wife whereupon `AbdurRahman bin Az-Zubair Al-Qurazi married her. `Aisha said that the lady (came), wearing a green veil (and complained to her (Aisha) of her husband and showed her a green spot on her skin caused by beating). It was the habit of ladies to support each other, so when Allah’s Messenger came, Aisha said, ‘I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!’” — Sahih Bukhari 7.77.5825  “Afghan kills wife with 64 stitches,” translated from “Afghane tötet Ehefrau mit 64 Stichen,” by Corinna Perrevoort, Bild, September 12, 2021 (thanks to Medforth):

Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt

Will he rebuke Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt? Stay tuned.  “Bishop Attacks ‘Drug Jihad’ Against Catholics,” by Jules Gomes, ChurchMilitant.com, September 10, 2021:

KERALA, India (ChurchMilitant.com) – A senior Syro-Malabar bishop has broken ranks with Pope Francis and the Indian Catholic hierarchy to confront the “narcotics and love jihad” being waged by Islamic extremists against Catholics in the southern state of Kerala.

Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt triggered a nationwide controversy after his Wednesday sermon warning against Muslim jihadis who use drugs and sex to groom and lure Catholic girls into Islam. The Syro-Malabar bishop was addressing a congregation at the famous archiepiscopal Marth Mariam Pilgrim Church in Kuravilangad, Kottayam district — a Marian pilgrim center that claims to date back to A.D. 105 and is steeped in the ancient Syriac tradition.

“From a tender age, girls are being targeted by jihadi groups getting them addicted to drugs,” Kallarangatt preached. “Drug jihad has become a reality, and youngsters from non-Muslim communities are being trapped and becoming slaves of such banned substances.” “The growing drug abuse cases in the state point in this direction. Such people operate out of restaurants, ice cream parlors and juice bars run by hardcore jihadis. This is validated by rave parties in Kerala and those who are caught for organizing them,” the bishop said.

That opening was funny, and helped offset the BS of the world. It's important to be able to laugh.

Regensburg – On Saturday evening, a woman was raped at a railway underpass in Regensburg. The police are looking for a man (about 1.80 meters) who is described as follows: late 20s or a little younger, athletic figure, broken German, brown, neck-length hair combed back, white T-shirt and blue jeans.

And then another detail: “Dark skin color – described as an Arab appearance.” Information that Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) has deliberately left out in an article. A BR spokesman for BILD: “Especially when the police are called, we report all relevant aspects in order to be able to identify offenders more quickly.”

It goes on to say: “The internal standards mentioned were not met here. The online article was supplemented in the morning according to the guidelines.

Al-Qaeda on Tuesday called for the “liberation” of Kashmir and other so-called Islamic lands from the “clutches of the enemies of Islam” in a message congratulating the Taliban for its victory in Afghanistan….

“0’ Allah! Liberate the Levant, Somalia, Yemen, Kashmir and the rest of the Islamic lands from the clutches of the enemies of Islam. 0’ Allah! Grant freedom to Muslim prisoners across the world,” said the message titled “Congratulations to the Islamic Ummah on the victory granted by Allah in Afghanistan!”….

“We praise the Almighty, the Omnipotent, who humiliated and defeated America, the head of disbelief. We praise Him for breaking America’s back, tarnishing its global reputation and expelling it, disgraced and humiliated, from the Islamic land of Afghanistan,” the al-Qaeda message said. “Afghanistan is undoubtedly a graveyard of empires and an impregnable fortress of Islam. With the defeat of the Americans, this is the third time that the Afghan nation, within a span of less than two centuries, has successfully defeated and expelled an invading imperialist power.”

The defeat of the “American Empire of Evil” is a “tremendous source of inspiration for the oppressed of the world”, the statement said, and offered al-Qaeda’s congratulations to the Taliban leadership, especially its chief Haibatullah Akhundzada.

Mussaed Ahmed al-Jarrah denies all involvement

What is known about Saudi involvement in 9/11 is damning enough. The 28-page section of the 9/11 report detailing Saudi involvement in the September 11, 2001 jihad attacks was finally released in 2016 (albeit with substantial portions still redacted), and it is now clear why one president who held hands with the Saudi King and another who bowed to him worked so hard all these years to keep these pages secret: they show that it is highly likely that the 9/11 jihad murderers received significant help from people at the highest levels of the Saudi government.

The report states that Omar al-Bayoumi, who “may be a Saudi intelligence officer,” gave “substantial assistance to hijackers Khalid al-Mindhar and Nawaf al-Hamzi after they arrived in San Diego in February 2000. Al-Bayoumi met the hijackers at a public place shortly after his meeting with an individual at the Saudi consulate.”

Around the same time, al-Bayoumi “had extensive contact with Saudi Government establishments in the United States and received financial support from a Saudi company affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defense.” That company “reportedly had ties to Usama bin Ladin and al-Qa’ida.”

And so Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, along with Pramila Jayapal, introduced a resolution claiming that Muslims were the real victims of September 11 and suffered persecution due to counterterrorism. The hateful resolution reads in part…

“Whereas there was a climate of hate in which Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Sikh communities experienced bullying and violence in their everyday lives and in their workplaces, businesses, community centers and houses of worship;

Whereas the government targeted Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian and Sikh communities with overreaching policing, surveillance, and criminalization policies that resulted in wrongful interrogation, coercion, detention, deportation, arrest, and incarceration;

Whereas core principles like due process, presumption of innocence, and evidence of wrongdoing were replaced with mob mentality and guilt by association; Whereas the fearmongering and hateful rhetoric witnessed in the aftermath of the attacks remain commonplace today;

Whereas border officials and government authorities cast aside constitutional rights and engaged in discriminatory searches and seizures of Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Sikh community members;

Whereas false narratives about Arabs, Islam and American Muslims abound, and are encouraged and justified by a network of closely connected and well-funded organizations and activists that seek to propagate misinformation about these communities and provide support for policies that curtail their rights;

Whereas the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, as well as human rights violations ranging from torture at Guantanamo Bay to extrajudicial drone strikes, also contributed to this climate of hate and the government targeting of these communities;”

The resolution “acknowledges the climate of hate that Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian and Sikh communities have experienced since September 11, 2001” and  Calls the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Health, and the National Science Foundation to work together to study the impact of hate, government targeting, and profiling on physical and mental health.”

Yet a migrant couple in Pennsylvania illustrated Thursday that there is ample reason to temper our enthusiasm over Old Joe’s welcome mat: Shahidul Gaffar, a naturalized citizen, and his wife, Nabila Khan, a legal permanent resident, both from Bangladesh, were sentenced to federal prison for sending nearly $5,600 to Khan’s brothers, who happen to be Islamic State (ISIS) jihadis.

As Gaffar was sentenced, he declared: “God bless America, God bless the United States.” Khan insisted that the couple only sent money out of love for her brothers, not because they supported ISIS. Weeping, she said: “I’m really sorry about everything I did.…It has cost my family a lot.” U.S. District Judge Joshua D. Wolson nevertheless sentenced Gaffar to eighteen months in prison, and Khan to two years, after which she is to be deported back to Bangladesh.

The Philadelphia Inquirer observed that “the nearly four-hour court proceeding in Philadelphia — which played out days before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks — brought into focus the persistent allure of extremist ideologies in the decades since but also the difficult choices and disastrous consequences facing some families of those caught in that web.”

So is this just a tragic story of misguided family loyalty? Not exactly. The Inquirer goes on to note that one brother started talking about joining ISIS, prompting Khan, for reasons left unexplained in the story, to take their children and visit family in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the other brother was living with Gaffar and started expressing a desire to join ISIS as well.

Gaffar “told the court Thursday that he and his wife foolishly indulged Ibrahim, hoping they could talk him out of going and fearing if they pushed back too hard it might push him away. The money Gaffar sent to Bangladesh was mostly intended to support his wife while she was overseas, he said. Ibrahim had pressured her to give it to him instead.”

Gaffar explained: “The thought process was: Since we’ve already lost one brother, let’s not lose another. We tried to solve our own problem. This is why I didn’t go to the police here. This is why I didn’t alert police there. We thought we could handle it ourselves.”

Well, all right. Unfortunately for his story now, however, at the time “Gaffar texted his mother-in-law, telling her to be proud of her son ‘for the noble cause and for the sake of Allah!!’” Gaffar even “expressed disappointment that he had remained behind in the U.S., which he described in a text as ‘the land of great unbelievers.’” When the second brother joined ISIS, Gaffar was thrilled: “At the same time, I feel very proud. What a lucky mom and dad.” There is more.

Dumfuk George Bush

Bush is publicly comparing 9/11 to Jan 6

They want Trump supporters treated like jihadists

Are you paying attention yet?pic.twitter.com/ByOi5hEoXt

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) September 11, 2021

“The security measures incorporated into our lives are both sources of comfort” – speak for yourself, George – “and reminders of our vulnerability.” That vulnerability was apparently laid bare anew during the January 6 events that the Left has worked so very hard to portray as an unprecedented, life-threatening attack on our “democracy” (it’s actually a republic, folks) as if they cared about that, and our way of life.

Bush continues: “We have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders, but from violence that gathers within. There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home, but then there’s disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit, and it is our continuing duty to confront them.”

If Bush had been talking about Antifa and Black Lives Matter, he would have been right. And while there is some chance that he may have been, most observers believe that this was a veiled reference to the Left’s chief “extremists,” that is, Trump supporters. Supporting that interpretation is the fact that Bush was, in fact, one of the first to jump on the January 6 “insurrection” bandwagon, issuing this statement on the same day:

Laura and I are watching the scenes of mayhem unfolding at the seat of our Nation’s government in disbelief and dismay. It is a sickening and heartbreaking sight. This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic – not our democratic republic. I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement. The violent assault on the Capitol – and disruption of a Constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress – was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes.

Insurrection could do grave damage to our Nation and reputation. In the United States of America, it is the fundamental responsibility of every patriotic citizen to support the rule of law. To those who are disappointed in the results of the election: Our country is more important than the politics of the moment. Let the officials elected by the people fulfill their duties and represent our voices in peace and safety. May God continue to bless the United States of America. There is more.

Read the rest here.

The Legacy of Mahathirudan

COMMENT | Do not go into this book, thinking that this is merely an exercise in Mahathir bashing. While the machinations of Dr Mahathir Mahathir are meticulously documented, this is also a book about the failings of oppositional political operatives in this country.

The indictment here is that Mahathir has never been able to make the kinds of political plays he has, if it was not for willing acolytes – either in BN or Pakatan Harapan – who falsely assumed they could ride his coattails and remain in power. As Ignatius did, in his other book "Diplomatically Speaking", he draws not only on personal experience with the personalities involved, but also on sources, gained over decades of loyal service. 

He is an insider explaining the arcane workings of the racial and religious politics of the establishment, to outsiders, his countrymen, who do not really know how deep the rabbit hole goes. For instance, having served under Mahathir and having numerous interactions with former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, Ignatius makes a clear distinction between the two. 

The former a meticulous note-taker, coldly intelligent, shrewd and always waiting for the intended or unintended slight and the latter, a scion of the establishment, easy-going, comfortable around power, a polished diplomat, unfailingly courteous, unlike the pompous and arrogant minister Ignatius was used to dealing with. This is why, Mahathir, could first systematically neuter institutions and personalities who would constrain him over his long watch and sire creatures who would believe that his blueprint was the only way to maintain power. 

This is also why someone, like a disgraced former prime minister, could emerge as a power broker in Umno, enjoying grassroots support. And forget about Mahathir knowing the Malay mind. Mahathir knows the non-Malay mind probably better than he does the Malay mind. At the very least he knew the non-Malay political establishment mind. 

Ignatius writes of how, after decades of demonising the opposition, especially the DAP, which he always used as a proxy for the Chinese community, Mahathir welcomed them into the fold. His speech, at the Chinese Assembly Hall, resulted in teary eyes. His embracing of the DAP was like “manna from heaven” after decades of abuse. 

The brilliance of this book is that all of this happens early on in the book. These snapshots of how the opposition fell under the charm of Mahathir, should have been a warning sign. It is as if Mahathir had inherited a political tabula rasa.

George Bush the dumfuk along with the Dumfuk Americans said this: "Stop funding terrorists, turn them against one another, drive them from place to place until there is no refuge or places of rest. We will pursue Nations that provide aid or safe haven.

MEDIA BLACKOUT

DNC Deputy Chair, Keith Ellison-Muhammad 👉🏻A Muslim Brotherhood Shill, blamed 9/11 attack on Jews#NeverForget #September11 pic.twitter.com/zjbOYf458M

— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) September 11, 2017

Every nation has a decision to make, you are either with us or against us". Something to that effect, now my balls are seriously laughing. Hello, Osama Ben Laden was hiding next to Pakistan's Military Academy at Abbotabad. Do NOT forget you stupid Dicks wanted to build a mosque on/near the site of the Twin Towers? It is an act of triumph over the Infidels. Pakistan was a double headed snake when it came to the war on terror.

Supporting Pakistan the epicenter of terrorism. Obama was the Manchurian Candidate.

They allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to penetrate into the White House. Allowing for terrorists to attack from within. Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Hasan congratulates Taliban from death row in handwritten letter. You have terrorist sympathizers in Congress like Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and so many other leftist idiots, you condone and give oxygen to CAIR, a terrorist outfit.

🌹The three Malaysian victims who died during the 9/11 attack in NYC 20 years ago are Vijayashanker Paramsothy, Khoo Sei Lai, and Ang Siew Nya. Their names are etched into panels at the National September 11 Memorial.

Vijay

Vijayashanker, 23, was a financial analyst for Aon Corporation at the World Trade Centre who was chasing his dreams in the Big Apple. His father described him as a “great companion” and a prankster who loved playing jokes and drinking with his dad.

Sei-Lai Khoo

Khoo, 38, was a mutual fund manager at Fred Alger Management and was continuously sought out by the press for her knowledge on tech stocks and market trends. Her brother remembers her as someone who always made time for family, friends, and co-workers despite her busy schedule.

Siew-Nya Ang

Penang-born Ang, 37, was a hardworking mother and technical analyst at Marsh USA who wanted to give her children life opportunities that she never had growing up. She cherished spending time with her family and would often call home from work to make sure her daughters were prepared to take on a day of school and extracurricular activities.

Most Americans saw the mosque as a stab in the heart of the families who lost their loved ones to radical Islamist terrorists, a laceration of wounds barely healed.

When Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the mosque's developer, proposed to call it Cordoba House, he added insult to injury. The mosque in Cordoba, Spain was a triumphalist mosque that, according to Christian tradition, was built on top of the Basilica of Saint Vincent of Saragossa in the eighth century. It was not until the reconquest of Spain that the location's Catholic origins were restored.

Although Imam Rauf proposed this as a center for outreach to many faiths and a means of reconciliation between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities, many Americans, including some leading political figures, saw this as Muslims creating a triumphalist mosque — a repeat of Cordoba — yards from the horror and tragedy of Ground Zero and a slap in the face to the families of the victims and the survivors.

After all, mosques sit atop the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the most sacred land in Judaism. The famed Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was built as a Christian Basilica in the sixth century by the emperor Justinian. A thousand years later, when the Muslims conquered Constantinople in 1453, they turned the Hagia Sophia into a triumphalist mosque. In the 1930s, the secular government of Turkey turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum. But with the revival of a fundamentalist Islam sweeping through Turkey, the Hagia Sophia will once again become a mosque.

Imam Rauf became swept up in controversy. Some saw him as an idealist reaching out for interfaith understanding, while others saw him as a man who could not articulate a strong denunciation of terrorism, especially when it came to Hamas. The project passed to a developer, who turned it into expensive condominiums.

The Sack of Constantinople

My linguistic skills in Arabic were mediocre. Since I left the Middle East in 2003 and haven’t practiced the language since, my Arabic has deteriorated and is now quite poor. For me, studying Arabic primarily became a door into studying Islam and Islamic culture. I was far better in this field of study, and continued my personal studies of Islam for years. I am at heart not a linguist, but rather an analyst with a strong interest in history.

Before September 2001, I was already growing more skeptical of Islam based on my own studies and personal experiences. Still, living in the largest city in the Arabic-speaking world during the September 11 Jihadist attacks was certainly interesting. The Mubarak regime imposed a curfew on Tahrir Square and parts of downtown Cairo that day. Perhaps they feared that some local Muslims would publicly celebrate the attacks, the way some Palestinian Muslims did. When Egypt received billions of dollars in aid from the USA, this would not have been good publicity.

I followed the news and newspapers back home via the Internet. They claimed that all Arabs and Muslims were sad and horrified by the attacks. This is not true. I know. I was there. Some of my Egyptian Muslim neighbors celebrated with cakes and said openly that they were very happy about the attacks.

To me, the most shocking thing about this was not that many Arabs and Muslims hated the West in general and the USA in particular. I already knew that. What was truly disturbing was that virtually the entire Western world seemed to be in complete denial about this fact. This was an entire civilization which once used to cultivate logic and reason, yet now seemed to have lost the ability to think rationally. That really scared me.

The Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu completed his book The Art of War around the year 500 BC. Despite being more than 2,500 years old, it remains surprisingly fresh and relevant. This is because Sun Tzu focused mainly on the psychological aspects of conflict. While human technology has changed greatly in 2,500 years, human psychology has changed a lot less. One of the most famous quotes from The Art of War is this:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

From what I observed in September 2001, it seemed that the Western world had forgotten who our enemies are. Far worse, though, was that we had even forgotten who we are, and the roots of our own civilization.

A decade later, another terror attack would have an even more direct impact on my life. Both attacks became national traumas. Yet the 2011 attacks in Norway were carried out by a single individual acting alone, whose alleged terrorist network only existed inside his mentally disturbed head. The 2001 attacks in the USA were carried out by many different individuals from a real international terror network whose ideology has adherents worldwide. Moreover, when a small country is attacked, this is bad for that small country. When a large and powerful country is attacked, this has geopolitical consequences.

By 2011, I had been living in the same flat in Oslo for eight years, since my return from the Middle East. When the July 22 attacks happened, some people blamed me personally for the atrocities. I suddenly found myself near the epicenter of an international news story. This was extremely unpleasant, but in some ways also educational. If the 2001 attacks weakened my trust in Western mass media, the 2011 attacks totally destroyed it.

This is one of those stories that it's impossible not to tear up. Saw this in school and what this man did was amazing. Wish I had the courage and confidence that he did to completely risk his life for his country when he could’ve lived easily. Respect for this guy.

One Minister in Afghanistan is missing, the Minister of Terrorism.😂🤣 Atrocities, radicalism, terrorism are their inherent attributes. A despotic nation formed on hatred and religious orthodoxy cannot be expected to do anything else but support even more despots ...what is shameful is the pillars of democracy and human rights have deserted Afghanistan ...Pakistan is the slave province of Taliban something that happened years ago.

It's far from over, it's gonna get brutal and people will see what the religion of peace stands for. War on terror will never end as long as the religion of peace continues to preach hate against people who are NOT them. Aided and abetted by politically correct idiots, it failed because of that. The years ahead will be fighting terrorism under the leadership of India, EU and once China experiences a devastating attack, will continue where America failed miserably.

Teaching Japanese American and Muslim American Histories.” There in a nutshell is much of what has gone wrong in our nation’s response to the 9/11 jihad attacks, and why we are so drastically on the wrong path now.

The CAIR panel is as noteworthy for what it is not about than for what it is about. It is not about the victims of 9/11, the lives lost, the lives destroyed, the magnitude of human suffering that was inflicted. It is most certainly not about the ongoing global jihad: a useful panel could be held on groups that still exist around the world that hold to the same belief system, ideology and goals that the 9/11 plotters and hijackers held, and which are an ongoing threat to Americans and to all free people. Hamas-linked CAIR is never going to hold such a panel, and neither is anyone else.

Instead, CAIR, predictably enough, focuses on the people who hold the same beliefs as the jihad attackers of 9/11 and have, CAIR claims, been victimized and discriminated against in the United States as a result. Statistically speaking, such claims are wildly exaggerated. FBI hate crime statistics show that anti-Semitic hate crimes are far more common than attacks on Muslims, which actually dropped 42% in the last year. No hate crime is justified, but the idea that Muslims are living in fear of MAGA-hat-wearing redneck vigilantes in America is Leftist fantasy.

Nonetheless, that is not just the focus of this unsavory Hamas-linked group, but of the establishment media as well. The Los Angeles Times on Friday published a lengthy weeper entitled “Muslim youth in America: A generation shadowed by the aftermath of 9/11,” all about how some people say rude things to innocent Muslims just because some people did something way back two decades ago.

The article begins: “On a rainy day during her sophomore year of high school, as Aissata Ba studied in the library, a photo popped into her phone. It showed a beheading by Islamic State militants, along with a caption in red letters: ‘Go back to your country.’” In the big bad, “Islamophobic” USA, the perpetrator of this horror got off scot-free: “Ba reported the incident. Administrators never tracked down the person who sent it.”

The Times explained how Muslims are the true victims of the 9/11 attacks: “Asked when they thought such incidents became common, the Ba family didn’t hesitate. ‘It started with 9/11,’ said Ba’s mom, Zeinebou, who immigrated to Chicago in 1999. That day in 2001 caused a chain of tragedies — for the nearly 3,000 people who perished during the attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania; for the young men and women who died serving their country in the wars that followed; and for Muslims, and those perceived as Muslim, who became targets of hate.”

It would be much easier to sympathize with all this if not for the fact that since 9/11, CAIR and its allied groups, with eager help from the establishment media, have insisted that any honest investigation of the motivating ideology behind the attacks, and jihad terror in general, constituted “hate.” Then there are the numerous fake anti-Muslim hate crimes, fabricated apparently in order to buttress the claim that Muslims are uniquely harassed and victimized in the United States. The facts don’t bear out this claim. There is more.

Occurring just four years after Muslim prophet Muhammad had died, not only did the military engagement decide whether the Arabian creed thrives or dies; it became a chief source of inspiration and instruction for jihadis throughout the centuries, right down to the Islamic State.  And yet, very few in the West are even aware of the Battle of Yarmuk’s existence—much less how it motivates contemporary Islamic terrorists.

The contestants were the Eastern Roman Empire, under Emperor Heraclius, and the newly born Arabian caliphate, under the second caliph, Omar.  After a couple of years of Muslim depredations in then Christian/Roman Syria, the two forces met along the Yarmuk River.  The pre-battle exchange between the two generals, the Roman-Armenian Vahan and Khalid bin al-Walid—Islam’s much revered (and near cannibalistic) “Sword of Allah”—is instructive:

Vahan’s diplomatic mask instantly dropped and he launched into a tirade against the insolent Arab: “So, we thought you came seeking what your brethren always sought” — plunder, extortion, or mercenary work. “But, alas, we were wrong. You came killing men, enslaving women, plundering wealth, destroying buildings, and seeking to drive us from our own lands.” Better people had tried to do the same but always ended up defeated, added Vahan in reference to the recent Persian Wars, before continuing:

As for you, there is no lower and more despicable people — wretched, impoverished Bedouins. . . . You commit injustices in your own nation and now ours. . . . What havoc you have created! You ride horses not your own and wear clothes not your own. You pleasure yourselves with the young white girls of Rome and enslave them. You eat food not your own, and fill your hands with gold, silver, and valuable goods [not your own]. Now we find you with all our possessions and the plunder you took from our coreligionists — and we leave it all to you, neither asking for its return nor rebuking you. All we ask is that you leave our lands. But if you refuse, we will annihilate you!

The Sword of Allah was not impressed. He began reciting the Koran and talking about one Muhammad. Vahan listened in quiet exasperation. Khalid proceeded to call on the Christian general to proclaim the shahada—that “there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”—and thereby embrace Islam, in exchange for peace, adding, “You must also pray, pay zakat, perform hajj the sacred house [in Mecca], wage jihad against those who refuse Allah, … and befriend those who befriend Allah and oppose those who oppose Allah,” a reference to the divisive doctrine of al-wala’ wa al-bara’. “If you refuse, there can only be war between us. And you will face men who love death as you love life.”

“Do what you like,” responded Vahan. “We will never forsake our religion or pay you jizya.” Negotiations were over.