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Christians flee Iraqi city after killings - convert to Islam or face death
At least 900 Christian families have fled Mosul in the past week, terrified by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists ordering them to convert to Islam or face possible death, officials said Saturday.
The attacks may have been prompted by Christian demonstrations ahead of provincial elections, which are to be held by the end of January, the deputy governor of Nineveh province said.
Deputy Gov. Khasro Goran said 13 Christians have been slain in the past two weeks inMosul, about 260 miles (420 kilometers) north of Baghdad. Fleeing Christians have sought refuge in monasteries and churches and with family members in other towns, an Interior Ministry official said.
The attacks began after hundreds of Christians took to the streets in Mosul and surrounding villages and towns, seeking greater representation on provincial councils, whose members will be chosen in the local elections.
Duraid Mohammed Kashmoula, Nineveh's governor, told The Associated Press that the exodus was "a major displacement."
"Of course, al Qaeda elements are behind this campaign against Christians," Kashmoula told AP.
The Interior Ministry official said the homes of three families were destroyed with explosives Saturday after the occupants left. No injuries were reported.
A week ago, leaflets were distributed in several predominantly Christian neighborhoods, threatening families to "either convert to Islam or pay the jizyah or leave the city or face death," said the Interior Ministry official.
Historically, jizyah is a tax paid by non-Muslims in exchange for protection.
Goran said that a few days after the leaflets were passed out, gunmen set up checkpoints in parts of Mosul, stopping vehicles to inspect identification papers, searching for Christian names or other signs of religious affiliation. Many of the Christians killed were targeted in this way, he said.
Bashir Azoz, 45, told AP he fled his Mosul home after gunmen warned a neighbor to leave or be killed.
"Where is the government and its security forces as these crimes take place every day?" asked Azoz, a carpenter who is staying with his wife and three children in a town about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Mosul, according to AP.
The Rev. Bolis Jacob, of Mosul's Mar Afram Church, told AP he couldn't understand the attacks.
"We respect the Islamic religion and the Muslim clerics," he said. "We don't know under what religion's pretexts these terrorists work."
Goran said police have set up security checkpoints in Christian neighborhoods.
In response to the violence, Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader al-Obaidi visited Mosul on Saturday morning, conducting meetings with local authorities and military commanders.
His spokesman, Mohammed al-Askari, said that in addition to ordering more checkpoints in Christian neighborhoods, al-Obaidi ordered more troops deployed, additional security patrols and an increase in aerial surveillance of Christian areas.
Al-Obaidi also ordered more guards for Christian clerics, al-Askari said. At least 900 Christian families have fled Mosul in the past week, terrified by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists o... more -
Indonesia. Una scuola coranica aperta ad omosessuali e travestiti per la preghiera...
Per permettere a travestiti ed omosessuali di praticare la religione mussulmana in piena libertà, è stata aperta un’apposita scuola aperta solo a loro a Notoyudan, un villaggio non lontano da Giakarta. Perseguitati di sovente come “deviati sessuali” lesbiche, gay, bisessuali e transessuali tenuti lontano dai luoghi di culto, con l’apertura di questo luogo viene dato un segnale molto importante ... continua Per permettere a travestiti ed omosessuali di praticare la religione mussulmana in piena libertà, è stata aperta un’apposita scuola ap... more
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US to appeal for more Nato troops in Afghanistan
(WTF is this image doing on the internet? ARE they baiting them or what?)
Budapest: The United States will on Thursday appeal to Nato allies to send more troops to fight Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, despite the prospect of spending cuts because of the global financial crisis.
Defence ministers of the 26-nation alliance hold a two-day meeting in Budapest against a backdrop of a rise in violence in Afghanistan even though there has been a big increase in the size of the Nato-led international force in the past two years.
Commanders of the 50,700-strong force are seeking up to 12,000 more troops, but Washington's European allies have been reluctant to commit additional numbers.
NATO is also seeking to plug shortfalls in equipment such as helicopters and to resolve differences among member countries over U.S. calls for a more aggressive fight against the drugs trade that fuels the Taliban insurgency.
On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed to allow for a boosting of German troop numbers in Afghanistan by 1,000 to up to 4,500. But Berlin has resisted Washington's calls to station troops in the insurgent-troubled south.
Washington has urged countries in southeastern Europe, including aspiring Nato members, to send more troops.
The United States plans to increase its troop strength in Afghanistan from the present 33,000, which include 13,000 under NATO command, but U.S. officials are concerned allies will see this as an excuse not to meet pledges.
"I want to make sure that everybody understands that the increases in US forces are not seen as replacements for Nato contributions. They're reinforcement," US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters.
Comment about image above... WTF is this doing on the Internet? Shouldn't' some things be secret? (WTF is this image doing on the internet? ARE they baiting them or what?) ... more -
COUNTERTERRORISM functions of FIRE DEPARTMENTS? Yeah.
STRATEGIC OUTLOOK ON INTELLIGENCE
According to the FDNY, intelligence has a place in all three of its missions: prevention, preparedness, and response. For example, advance intelligence (foreknowledge) can alert firefighters responding to an incident to the proximity of volatile chemicals or potentially dangerous activities already under surveillance. Familiarity with surroundings increases firefighters’ situational awareness, improves their operational efficiency, and increases the safety of first responders and the public. Intelligence can also tell fire departments where best to deploy their limited resources on the basis of where threats are most likely to arise. And intelligence can help departments anticipate an event and thereby improve its chances of preventing it.
Collectors of Intelligence
The FDNY has identified the following as ways in which it can produce operational intelligence. Many of them can also be adopted by fire departments across the United States. Increased coordination, integration, and communication with other public-safety agencies enhance a fire department’s ability to fulfill its core mission of protecting life.
* Access to venues. During the course of routine building inspections, arson investigations, and responses to fire and medical emergencies, fire department personnel enjoy access to buildings generally denied outsiders. These firefighters are passive collectors, who are positioned in the normal course of their duties to observe the signs of terrorist activity and, assuming that the firefighters are properly trained, to recognize them as such. When properly shared with local law enforcement and local and national intelligence centers, this information can fill critical intelligence gaps and generate leads.
* Access to, and knowledge of, premises storing hazardous materials. Fire department personnel regularly inspect buildings and sites where hazardous materials are stored. Being familiar with such materials and their destructive potential, fire department personnel are in a privileged position to observe and report on suspicious or unusual conditions and to educate facility managers to do the same.
* Observation of suspicious activity. Firefighters may observe possible terrorist materials, such as equipment and planning documents, in the course of responding to an incident.
* Detection of possible weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Because many fire department units carry equipment, including radiation detectors, capable of identifying hazardous materials, fire departments can assist in discovering materials used in a WMD or dirty bomb. With proper training, firefighters and emergency responders can become alert to physical symptoms in humans that might indicate the occurrence of a biological or chemical attack.[8]
* Protecting critical infrastructure.
Users of Intelligence
Intelligence provided to fire departments can be a force and awareness multiplier in a heightened threat environment. Having access to intelligence about current threats allows fire departments to focus their limited resources on increasing their training and readiness for particular scenarios.
Intelligence Training and Sharing
The FDNY has conducted classes in identifying suspicious behavior and recognizing what might be indicators of terrorist planning.[10] Using faculty from the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy, the FDNY has created a graduate-level executive-education program—the first of its kind in the nation—to educate fire and EMS officers (who are under FDNY supervision) about the threat terrorists pose to first responders and the cities they protect.
Sure it's good to keep stuff on the down low so that terrorists don't know every move before we make it. Classified stuff should be classified... At the same time, it's on the internet. So should we feel more comfortable knowing there are more watching out for us? STRATEGIC OUTLOOK ON INTELLIGENCE ... more -
To understand Iraq NOW, one must study it's past for it to make any sense re...
(above Iraq dug mass graves to deal with the death toll)
This isn't meant for fly-by posters. You guys skip this please.
To even begin to understand what is happening in Iraq today, it is clear that one must have clear cut knowledge of their past, I would like to take it back a couple hundred years, but I think it's like 12 pages to just do 30.... so I'll post maybe 30 odd years of past. It will clear up much of the political mess inside Iraq, the "why" of it.
Why read this? So you will know why insurgents are trying to destroy democracy. So you will understand the reason for the war and that there is much at stake. And so that you can better communicate here as well as with your senators are representatives in the house.
Don't like to read, I have some videos for you, but finish this one post please.
If you want to post with authority about the situation in Iraq, against President Bush, etc. Theory for ending it, there are a few... Read these pages so you know what happened in their past, it's neutral.
There are many that say to understand the present, one must understand the past...
Here it is...
The source also has video. I fear some people may be "numb" to seeing this on film, as violence on TV is more dramatic and include special effects. But real slayings have no special effects.
When you stop and realize the truth in this, it's heartbreaking, and the fact that no one resists, is even worse... lambs to the slaughter, every one..
I just watched someone's tongue being cut out and my own is in pain. When it took a few wackes with a machete to get all the fingers off a young man, my hand hurts after seeing that. And the beheading was sloppy. But they didn't seem to mind.
I had to post each one in a new "post" only so it could be downloaded and accessed. I put the full disclaimer on the first one.
Thanks for reading. Watching or how ever you took in the information.
It's meant to help us all understand why and how Iraq is what it is today. Western minds don't even think in that realm. (above Iraq dug mass graves to deal with the death toll) This isn't meant for fly-by posters. You guys skip this please. ... more -
White House seeks to halt release of 17 detainees
Again, we see this administration that thinks it is above the law..even the Supreme Court. Why? They have much to hide..here is the article, and the rest at the link
This week could see a remarkable moment in American legal history, as 17 Guantanamo detainees are on the verge of being let out of prison. On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the men released into the U.S. and told the Bush administration to produce the men in his courtroom Friday morning.
The detainees are 17 Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, who have been held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for nearly seven years. In past decades, the U.S. government has treated the group as Chinese nationalists. But in 2003, in an effort to accommodate the Communist Chinese government, the Bush administration listed one of the Uighur groups as a terrorist organization, using the designation as a rationale for the Uighurs' continued detention at Guantanamo.
However, a largely conservative panel of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled in June that the group is not hostile to the U.S. and that the administration had produced no reliable information to justify holding the Uighurs. The case was then sent back to a lower court for further action, including the possibility of release.
Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina said Tuesday that, in essence, enough is enough. Whatever authority the government may have had for detaining the Uighurs has ceased, he said.
The government now concedes these men are not enemy combatants, Urbina noted, and has provided no other justification for detention.
Uighurs living in the United States have arranged for 17 families to take the men until more permanent arrangements can be made. Urbina said he would hear from the Department of Homeland Security as to any conditions it would like imposed on the men after release — conditions that could include a ban on travel and requirements that the men report to authorities on a regular basis. The judge reacted angrily, however, when Bush administration lawyers suggested they could imprison the men in the U.S. once the Uighurs are transferred here. It is expected he will forbid that.
As luck would have it, one of the lawyers for the Uighurs was in Guantanamo on Tuesday and told the men of their court victory. The lawyer is not permitted to talk about the men's reaction by phone under classification rules.
The Chinese government on Tuesday again demanded that the men be returned, but the U.S. has refused because it concedes they would be tortured and possibly killed. The Chinese government sees the Uighurs as a threat because many of them want greater autonomy from Beijing. Again, we see this administration that thinks it is above the law..even the Supreme Court. Why? They have much to hide..here is the a... more -
Rare Islamic artifact sells for $5.5 million
A rare Islamic crystal jug mistaken earlier this year for a cheap French claret pitcher has sold at auction for almost 3.2 million pounds ($5.6 million).
An anonymous bidder bought the 1,000-year-old rock crystal ewer — one of only seven of its kind known to exist — during a sale Tuesday of Islamic and Indian art at Christie's auction house in London.
The sale price of 3,177,250 pounds ($5.58 million) includes buyer's premium.
In January, the Lawrences auction house in southwest England identified the object as a 19th-century French claret jug and offered it for sale for 100 to 200 pounds ($175 to $350).
Some collectors sensed it was more special than that and, after a bidding war, the jug sold for 220,000 pounds, more than 1,000 times the list price.
Christie's said it has now been identified as "one of the rarest and most desirable works of art from the Islamic world." The auction house said the original sale had been annulled by agreement between the purchaser and the original owners, who wish to remain anonymous. No further information on that was available.
The slim-necked vessel, carved from a single piece of rock crystal and decorated with elaborate engravings of cheetahs, was made for the court of the Cairo-based Fatimid dynasty, which ruled a swath of the Middle East and North Africa between 908 and 1187 A.D.
Many artifacts from the era were lost when the Fatimid treasury was broken up by the Ayyubid rulers who succeeded them in the late 12th century.
Only six similar rock crystal ewers are known to survive, including one in London's Victoria and Albert Museum and another in the Louvre in Paris.
Another, part of the Pitti Palace collection in Florence, was dropped and smashed by a museum staff member in 1998. Restorers have worked without success to rebuild it. A rare Islamic crystal jug mistaken earlier this year for a cheap French claret pitcher has sold at auction for almost 3.2 million pou... more -
From £200 wine jug to £3m masterpiece - The Guardian
A medieval ewer valued at £200 after being mistaken for a French claret jug fetched more than £3m yesterday after it was identified as a rare Islamic work.
The 1,000-year-old crystal ewer from the Fatimid royal treasury in Egypt, decorated with cheetahs and link chains, is one of only seven such vessels known to have survived. Dating back to the late 10th or early 11th centuries, it was carved from flawless rock crystal, which is as hard as toughened steel.
Christie's, the auctioneers, described it as "one of the rarest and most desirable works of art from the Islamic world".
The ewer first resurfaced at Lawrences auctioneers in Crewkerne, Somerset, in January, under the catalogue description "A French claret jug ... £100-200". After dealers realised its potential worth, the artefact sold for £220,000. But the bid was annulled by "private agreement", prompting rumours that the vendor had agreed to sell the item along with the buyer.
Christie's was contacted in June, and it invited several of the Islamic art world's most affluent buyers to view the item. The auction house bustled with Arab art enthusiasts and historians yesterday, with one describing the ewer as a "holy grail" of the Islamic world.
Leading Islamic art collections, including the Aga Khan Museum in Canada and the Museum of Islamic art in Doha, Qatar, were believed to have placed bids, although the winning buyer is not known. A medieval ewer valued at £200 after being mistaken for a French claret jug fetched more than £3m yesterday after it was identified as... more -
Uncovering the Israeli-Republican-Evangelical Networks behind the “Obsession” DVD
A friend just send me a link to this, and it is excellent and frightening. A stark reminder of how far the Republican and right-wing parties will go to win a victory.
From the article:
"Something strange has been showing up inside the Sunday newspapers of millions of Americans the past few weeks. The material being included alongside comics, coupons, and advertisement for local stores is a controversial DVD called “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.” Some 28 million copies of this DVD have been distributed for free so far in this fashion. In some ways the scale of this campaign, and its ideological venom, are unprecedented: many newspapers state that they had never previously distributed free DVDs as inserts, certainly nothing with such a charged content. The copies were distributed not randomly across the country, but in the “swing states” (Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, etc.) that are seen as a toss-up in the November Presidential elections between McCain and Obama. Obviously, someone is trying to influence the American electorate by playing on fear-mongering and hate-mongering themes. But who? Who is behind this massive, multi-million dollar campaign?"
Read the rest of this detailed and excellent research at the link above... A friend just send me a link to this, and it is excellent and frightening. A stark reminder of how far the Republican and right-wing p... more -
Egyptian women blamed for being sexually assaulted
Egyptian women are angry that blame has not been placed on men for sexual attacks and ask what more a fully veiled woman can do to be dressed modestly.
CAIRO -- The eid, or holiday, celebrations marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan is a time of joy and coming together across the Islamic world. But eid turned into a holiday of fear in Cairo on Oct. 2 when a mob of about 100 youths sexually attacked women strolling through the streets of a middle-class neighborhood.
Details are still emerging from the incident in the Mohandiseen district, but already they are eerily reminiscent of another mob-style attack in Egypt's capital city that occurred almost two years to the day.
According to eyewitness accounts, around 100 boys and young men attacked women on the streets, ripping at their clothes in the country's worst sexual harassment incident since the Oct. 24, 2006, downtown Cairo attacks.
Women reported being violently molested and groped. Some women wearing the hijab headscarf had their clothes torn off by gangs of attackers. One woman who wore the conservative niqab veil, that covers the entire head and face, reported that men grabbed at it in an attempt to tear it off her face.
Mohsen Reda, an Egyptian member of parliament, argued that women should be dressed more modestly as "a lot our youth can't afford marriage, so it is only normal for some harassment to take place." Egyptian women are angry that blame has not been placed on men for sexual attacks and ask what more a fully veiled woman can do to be ... more -
I wore niqab for a day
What is life like from within the hooded veil worn by some Muslim women? Journalist Zaiba Malik dons the most extreme 'robe of piety' for a sweaty day to find out, encountering questioning tourists asking to take her picture, stares from fellow Muslims, and her perceived gaping loss of identity along the way. What is life like from within the hooded veil worn by some Muslim women? Journalist Zaiba Malik dons the most extreme 'robe of p... more
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Saudi cleric favours one-eye veil
A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.
Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.
The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.
The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair.
Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd. A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye. ... more -
Muslim children gassed at Dayton mosque after "Obsession" DVD hits Ohio
"On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- the fear-mongering, anti-Muslim documentary being distributed by the millions in swing states via DVDs inserted in major newspapers and through the U.S. mail -- were distributed by mail in Ohio, a "chemical irritant" was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service. The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. This, apparently, is what the scare tactic political campaigning of John McCain's supporters has led to -- Americans perpetrating a terrorist attack against innocent children on American soil." "On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West ... more
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Iran, altri tre minori condannati a morte. Due di loro condannati per atti omosess...
Tre ragazzi sono stati recentemente condannati a morte in Iran per reati che avrebbero commesso quando erano minorenni, al notizia è del 26 settembre scorso. Le prime due condanne sono state emesse il 23 settembre in casi distinti, nei confronti di un giovane identificato solo come Mahyear e di Nemat Safavi, giudicati rispettivamente per un crimine non specificato commesso a 17 anni e per ...continua Tre ragazzi sono stati recentemente condannati a morte in Iran per reati che avrebbero commesso quando erano minorenni, al notizia è d... more
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French Muslims find haven in Catholic schools
France is very strict about the separation of church and state, so Muslim students, and any other religious students for that matter, are not permitted to where religion-affiliate garb in school. Some find Catholic schools in France to be a safe haven, allowing them to be just as they are. France is very strict about the separation of church and state, so Muslim students, and any other religious students for that matter, ... more
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Muslim Children gassed at Dayton mosque after "Obsession" DVD hits Ohio
On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- the fear-mongering, anti-Muslim documentary being distributed by the millions in swing states via DVDs inserted in major newspapers and through the U.S. mail -- were distributed by mail in Ohio, a "chemical irritant" was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service.
The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- the... more -
Islamic 'porn' comment sparks suspected petrol bombing
An academic who called a novel about the Prophet Mohammed pornographic has been criticised after a publisher was targeted in a suspected bomb attack.
The book called 'The Jewel of the Medina' will be published by Martin Rynja's publishing house next month, despite an accelerant being lit in doorway of his house.
He's now under police protection. An academic who called a novel about the Prophet Mohammed pornographic has been criticised after a publisher was targeted in a suspect... more -
Terrorism Strikes Dayton, OH
DAYTON — Baboucarr Njie was preparing for his prayer session Friday night, Sept. 26, when he heard children in the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton coughing. Soon, Njie himself was overcome with fits of coughing and, like the rest of those in the building, headed for the doors.
Njie was one of several affected when a suspected chemical irritant was sprayed into the mosque at 26 Josie St., bringing Dayton police, fire and hazardous material personnel to the building at 9:48 p.m.
Someone "sprayed an irritant into the mosque," Dayton fire District Chief Vince Wiley said, noting that fire investigators believe it was a hand-held spray can.
Wiley would not discuss that report, but said the investigation has been turned over to police. Police were not commenting.
The 300 or so inside were celebrating the last 10 days of Ramadan with dinner and a prayer session, but the prayer session was interrupted so those suffering from tearing, coughing and shortness of breath could receive treatment.... DAYTON — Baboucarr Njie was preparing for his prayer session Friday night, Sept. 26, when he heard children in the Islamic Society of ... more -
Extremist Muslim cleric's daughter leaves home after pole dancing revelations
The daughter of the radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri has reportedly left home amid fears for her safety after it emerged that she was a pole dancer. The daughter of the radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri has reportedly left home amid fears for her safety after it emerged that she was ... more
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