Islam

The following is an address given by the US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzada.

In my remarks, I have explained the path to success in Iraq – the actions that the Iraqi government, the United States, and other members of the Coalition see as the keys to achieving the strategic goal of a stable and representative Iraq.  The Iraqis are going through a difficult transition, simultaneously facing the challenges of state and nation building while also fighting vicious terrorists.  Iraq’s leaders have committed themselves to a course of action that can succeed.  None of the steps in this strategy are easy, but all of them are doable.

I want to end by saying a word on the importance of succeeding in Iraq.  I am aware of the dangers of staying too long in Iraq, as well as the risks of leaving too soon, before success is ensured.  A precipitous Coalition departure could unleash a sectarian civil war, which inevitably would draw neighboring states into a regional conflagration that would disrupt oil supplies and cause instability to spill over borders.  It could also result in al Qaeda taking over part of Iraq, recreating the sanctuary it enjoyed but lost in Afghanistan.  If al Qaeda gained this foothold – which is the strategy of the terrorists – it would be able to exploit Iraq’s strategic location and enormous resources.  This would make the past challenge of al Qaeda in Afghanistan look like child’s play.  Finally, a precipitous withdrawal could lead to an ethnic civil war, with the Kurds concluding that the Iraqi democratic experiment had failed and taking matters into their own hands and with regional powers becoming involved to secure their interests.

Whatever anyone may have thought about the decision to topple Saddam – whether one supported it or not – succeeding in Iraq is now essential to the future of the region and the world.  Most of the world’s security problems emanate from the region stretching from Morocco to Pakistan.  Shaping its future is the defining challenge of our time.  What happens in Iraq will be decisive in determining how this region evolves.  Therefore, the struggle for the future of Iraq is vital to the future of the world.

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TSA motto:  Close enough for government work

Let’s see.  A man passes through airport security with: 

• a clock with a 9-volt battery taped to it
• a copy of the Quran
• shoes with the soles gutted out
• a Middle Eastern name
• incorrect responses to security questions

TSA response:  "All set, sir.  Have a nice flight."

Unbelievable.

The story can be found below the break, or here.

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ISRAEL last night threatened to assassinate Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh if Hamas militants did not release a captured Israeli soldier unharmed. The unprecedented warning was delivered to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a letter as Israel debated a deal offered by Hamas to free Corporal Gilad Shalit. It came as Israeli military officials readied a second invasion force for a huge offensive into Gaza. Hamas’s Gaza-based political leaders, including Mr Haniyeh, had already gone into hiding. But last night’s direct threat to kill Mr Haniyeh, a democratically elected head of state, sharply raised the stakes.

I hope they do. For many years I believed that Yassir Arafat, father of modern terrorism, should have simply been eliminated. As I stated in this previous posting, this is how our enemy must be dealt with- the only way to stop them is to kill them.

"Oh, but Doug- the Israelis blew up the power plant, threatening many innocent civilians!"

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In the classic ancient Chinese text of military strategy, The Art of Warfare, Sun-Tzu advises an attacking force:

“Revise your strategy according to the changing posture of the enemy to determine the course and outcome of the battle… At first be like a modest maiden, and the enemy will open his door; Afterward be as swift as a scurrying rabbit, and the enemy will be too late to resist you.”

Over the past weekend, the “New Hampshire Sunday News” printed an article written by Shawne K. Wickham entitled A call to build. The news contained within left me both perplexed and angry. When reading that

“Members of the Greater Manchester Interfaith Council are hoping that area churchgoers will pitch in to help build New Hampshire’s first mosque,”

I nearly fell off my chair. Why would they do such a thing?

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Back in March, I wrote in my Daily Sun column, “What if, while patiently waiting and planning the next big “hit,” our enemy was able to unleash small, individual attacks randomly throughout the US? Is it possible that the radical Islamo-fascists could unleash such attacks with virtually no coordination or planning, meaning no direct contact or communication between any would-be attackers? Is it possible that a radicalized strain of Islam, subtly taught in mosques throughout the US homeland, can have an effect on the ideological outlook of individuals in attendance week after week? Could some individuals so inclined toward jihad find communion with other like-minded persons via the technologies widely available in today’s modern world? Could ‘ideas’ be implanted in certain persons most receptive to such powers of suggestion?” This phenomenon is coming to be widely referred to as “random acts of jihad.” And it has now spread to Canada, our neighbor north of the “other border”.

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