Liberals Blame America for Nick Berg's Death

[Leader]

The Devil Made Them Do It

By Shawn Macomber
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 14, 2004

The Left has finally found a movie it can condemn almost as strongly as Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”! That film is “Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi slaughtering an American,” the film posted on a militant Islamic website showing a Pennsylvania contractor, Nicholas Berg, being mercilessly beheaded. The Chomsky types, perhaps feeling a nagging sense of latent guilt, could not wait to make it clear to everyone how horrified they were by the whole scene. However, their hatred is not motivated by a disgust of the hideous practice, nor the brutality of our Islamist enemy; it stems from the fact that the terrorists' action makes it harder for the Left to place the blame for Berg's death “where it belongs”: on the United States of America.

For example, on the popular Daily Kos leftist blog (around 2.5 million hits a month), Markos Moulitsas Zúniga posted an entreaty entitled, “Why Berg Was Murdered.” It started off harmlessly enough with a rote denunciation of the terrorists. Naturally, that doesn’t last.



“The lesson (of Berg’s murder) is that not finishing the job in Afghanistan and invading Iraq with no good rationale gave Al Qaida and similar groups time to catch their breath, reorganize, and direct their efforts against a conveniently near target – Iraq,” Zúniga writes. “This is the neocon ‘flypape’" theory in all its glory. It's working. The neocons WANTED it this way. And they got it. Congratulations.”



But Zúniga doesn’t just say “congrats” at the conclusion of his rambling conspiracy theory and go on his merry way. He keeps flailing away in barely controlled anger.



“The prison abuse didn't cause Berg's horrific murder,” Zúniga writes. “Bush's (inept) War, in all its glory, did. The Neocon agenda, in all its folly, did. The war cheerleaders now trying to use this for propaganda purposes, in all their idiocy, did. Congrats. Your war spirals ever out of control. Good luck trying to wash the blood out of your hands.”



As usual, today’s peaceniks cannot maintain a single thought for very long if it doesn’t directly concern themselves or their fight against George W. Bush. Berg cannot be a tragedy; he has to be an indelible product of neo-conservatism, an amorphous catch-all boogeyman that arguably has no meaning, especially in the context of Bush himself.



“Everyone thinks it’s just horrible that someone could cut someone else’s head off; only a ‘barbarian’ would do such a thing,” Eli writes over at Left I On the News. “So what kind of person is it that could fly overhead and drop an oh-so-cutely named ‘Daisy Cutter’ or ‘Mother of All Bombs’ or maybe just a nice simple 500-pound bomb or a laser-guided missile and blow dozens of people to smithereens? Is it more ‘civilized’ because they're not looking their enemy in the face.”



A few more spastic paragraphs and then the swan song, where Eli admits Berg’s “blood is on the hands of those who killed him.” But he can’t let it lie at that, adding that Berg’s blood “is also very much on the hands of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the lot of them, who sent U.S. soldiers into another country to illegally overthrow their government, and who also put into motion the illegal detention and torture of prisoners around the world, from Bagram to Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib, which triggered this particular act of killing.”



The folks over at alt.Muslim.com seem angy that al-Qaeda has robbed them of a stick to beat Bush with.



“Just as American officials were grappling with the aftermath of the Iraqi prison abuse scandal, just as more Americans than ever before think that invading Iraq was a mistake, just as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld came tantalizingly close to losing his job, and just as Bush's popularity hit an all time low, al-Qaida ruins it all and grabs the moral low ground with a dramatic videotaped beheading of Nick Berg,” an unnamed editor writes. Yes, yes, what an inconvenient death indeed.



Max Sawicki contributor to The American Prospect and Dissent tried to spice up his anti-Americanism with a heavy side of sarcasm.



“If I could, I would write a letter of protest to the U.S. Department of Beheading Facilitators, but of course there is no such place,” Sawicki writes. “There is nobody for me to appeal to who is beholden to me in any way, has a conscience, or has some responsibility for this heinous crime. Evidently, the outrage should motivate some response, but what? We took a country governed by a despot and handed it over to terrorists. Another fine mess, Ollie.”



Kevin Drum, blogging over at The Washington Monthly attempted a sage comparison between the crimes of al-Qaeda and those of America.



“Barbaric behavior doesn't win wars, it just makes your enemies more dedicated to their cause,” Drum writes. “This is why it's so important to eliminate the kind of barbarism exhibited by our own side at Abu Ghraib: because it just makes our enemies stronger. If we don't purge it root and branch, we've as good as lost the war. In more ways than one.”



Tim Horne over at American Samizdat thought it was “worth noting that Mr. Berg was not military personnel, but was in Iraq seeking work in the rebuilding process.” Perhaps this makes him a more sympathetic figure than the terrible American soldiers? At any rate, the thought turns out to be just a small footnote in the Bush bash: “In the video, his captors claim to have offered the U.S. Berg in exchange for Iraqis held at Abu Ghraib, but the U.S. refused,” Horne writes. “How many more videos like this will it take before the current administration realizes they can't fix the mess they have created?”



Later in the day, the conspiracy theorists began coming out of the woodwork, contending that the group that killed Berg was left to flourish in Iraq because Bush didn’t want to kill terrorists; he wanted to kill Saddam. Their message is clear: Bush killed Berg.



“Think about that: as a matter of policy, the Bush Administration refused to take out a terrorist cell – a cell that has now killed an American citizen,” the blog Lean Left posited. “And the press doesn't think that's worthy of discussion. Perhaps the decision not to strike was justified, perhaps the former members of Bush's National Security Council were wrong about the quality of the opportunity or the motive for not striking. But shouldn't someone ask? Because if there is no good reason, then the Bush Administration did not do everything in its power to protect the world from a known terrorist organization. In a sane world, that would be the very definition of outrageous.”



Suddenly the pacifists have become the world’s biggest fans of the preemptive strike doctrine. That, to me, is the “very definition of outrageous.” Undoubtedly, this leftist supported a pre-9/11 strike on Afghanistan? Please….



Shortly after that, other bloggers citing Sawicki’s post enlarged the scope of the conspiracy investigation. Now Bush was in it with the folks who post over at the Free Republis. (They prefer to be called “Freepers,” but that’s neither here nor there.) Back in March somebody posted an “enemies list” composed of “signatories to an anti-war petition,” one of whom was supposedly Nick Berg's father, Michael.



“The CPA now wants to paint a picture that it was the Iraqi police forces who arrested and held Berg for thirteen days, not the American military,” a writer at The Left Coaster posts. “Who do the Iraqi police forces report to? If the FBI was visiting an American citizen in custody in Iraq, why did we allow a citizen to stay in the custody of a police force that we control? And if we didn't control the situation, then why was Berg released so quickly after his parents filed a federal suit April 5 alleging he was being held illegally by the American military? Oh, and the Iraqis in Mosul can't confirm that Berg was even detained by them.”



“I don’t think we really know who killed Nick Berg,” another wrote, ignoring the fact that the terrorists produced a graphic video of the crime, then hurried to claim responsibility.



Dave Johnson over at See the Forest thought it might be worthwhile to give his take on American foreign policy.



“The beheading is an attempt to provoke Bush into doing something else stupid, like he did with Fallujah, and draw us even deeper into Iraq,” Johnson writes. “Every penny spent and every person sent to Iraq is one less resource with which to battle al-Qaeda. And the more al-Qaeda can provoke us into seeing Iraq and Islam as the enemy, and the more they can promote tribal thinking of us against them – the better for their cause.”



Huh? This makes as much sense as anything else the Left has to say about the brutal murder of a young American civilian.



It’s worth reviewing one final denunciation of Berg’s murder. See if you can guess the author:



“----- condemns this horrible act that has done very great harm to Islam and Muslims by this group that claims affiliation to the religion of mercy, compassion and humane principles. The timing of this act that overshadowed the scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in occupation force’s prisons is suspect timing that aims to serve the American administration and occupation forces in Iraq and present excuses and pretexts for their inhumane practices against Iraqi detainees.”



That was the statement released by Hezbollah on the decapitation of Nick Berg. If you can find one whit of difference between that and the commentaries coming out of the leftist blogosphere, you’re a better man than I am. The parallels are ominous, indeed.

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Rea...e.asp?ID=13381

[God'sson]

I only read about half way until I felt the ware of repition. It is a shame that some put politics before the truth. I cannot conceive why the few of "Americans" continue to try to use a man's death to provide favor for their beliefs. Berg died in the eyes of the enemy as an American despite his own political stance whatever it may be. If a raging liberal were to preach his extreme disapproval of Bush and Rumsfeld he is still an American in the eyes of the enemy. It shames me to know fellow Americans continue to ridicule a government who has protected them, and even more so try to change the government who has protected them.

Go live in Spain where those outside the boarders choose your fate.

Dimented fundamentalist are the cause.

[jth298]

Dimented fundamentalist are the cause.

Of course it depends on which side you are on as to who is a demented fundamentalist...

Violence and hate will always breed more of the same - In my opinion the more you bomb the crap out of a place the more polarised people become in their stance toward those that do the bombing.

If you don't think that this is true then gauge your own feelings towards arabs and muslims pre and post 9/11. Would you be so supportive of the military actions now taking place if 9/11 hadn't occurred? Would these military actions be taking place at all?

In my opinion, if we want to TRULY feel safe from terrorist attack then it would pay for us to try to understand what are the actual causes of acts such as 9/11 and to build foreign policy that takes this into account.

If demented fundamentalists are the cause then it would be a good idea to get rid of them on both sides...

[Leader]

Of course it depends on which side you are on as to who is a demented fundamentalist...

This war is not relative. There is factual right and wrong.

Violence and hate will always breed more of the same - In my opinion the more you bomb the crap out of a place the more polarised people become in their stance toward those that do the bombing.

Seen any German or Japanese suicide bombers likely? You eliminate threats by destroying them not by pleading with them to please stop killing you.

If you don't think that this is true then gauge your own feelings towards arabs and muslims pre and post 9/11. Would you be so supportive of the military actions now taking place if 9/11 hadn't occurred? Would these military actions be taking place at all?

I was supportive for getting rid of Saddam before 9/11. In fact, we should have done it in 91. We certainly should have taken out bin Leaden and AQ. We were clearly asleep at the switch for about a decade.

In my opinion, if we want to TRULY feel safe from terrorist attack then it would pay for us to try to understand what are the actual causes of acts such as 9/11 and to build foreign policy that takes this into account.

Appeasement then? As I have stated before we do not need to understand terrorist; we need to kill them.

If demented fundamentalists are the cause then it would be a good idea to get rid of them on both sides...

Comparing your opponents to people who fly passenger planes in to office buildings isn't going to win you any points.

[themuffinman]

Of course it depends on which side you are on as to who is a demented fundamentalist...

Violence and hate will always breed more of the same - In my opinion the more you bomb the crap out of a place the more polarised people become in their stance toward those that do the bombing.

If you don't think that this is true then gauge your own feelings towards arabs and muslims pre and post 9/11. Would you be so supportive of the military actions now taking place if 9/11 hadn't occurred? Would these military actions be taking place at all?

In my opinion, if we want to TRULY feel safe from terrorist attack then it would pay for us to try to understand what are the actual causes of acts such as 9/11 and to build foreign policy that takes this into account.

If demented fundamentalists are the cause then it would be a good idea to get rid of them on both sides...

I think arabs and muslims are just as safe in the U.S. as they were before 9/11. Americans are not like the people in the middle east. You don't see us dancing in the streets when Iraqi's are killed do you? Here is a list of Americans KILLED by terroists

February 23, 1970, Halhoul, West Bank. Palestinian Liberation Organization terrorists open fire on a busload of pilgrims killing Barbara Ertle of Michigan and wounding two other Americans.

March 28-29, 1970, Beirut, Lebanon. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) fired seven rockets at the U.S. Embassy, the American Insurance Company, Bank of America and the John F. Kennedy library.

September 14, 1970, En route to Amman, Jordan. The PFLP hijacked a TWA flight from Zurich, Switzerland and forced it to land in Amman. Four American citizens were injured.

May 30, 1972, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel. Three members of the Japanese Red Army, acting on the PFLP's bbehalf, carried out a machine-gun and grenade attack at Israel's main airport, killing 26 and wounding 78 people. Many of the casualties were American citizens, mostly from Puerto Rico.

September 5, 1972, Munich, Germany. During the Olympic Games in Munich, Black September, a front for Fatah, took hostage 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. Nine athletes were killed including weightlifter David Berger, an American-Israeli from Cleveland, Ohio.

March 2, 1973, Khartoum, Sudan. Cleo A. Noel, Jr., U.S. ambassador to Sudan, and George C. Moore, also a U.S. diplomat, were held hostage and then killed by terrorists at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. It seems likely that Fatah was responsible for the attack.

June 29, 1975, Beirut, Lebanon. The PFLP kidnapped the U.S. military attaché to Lebanon, Ernest Morgan, and demanded food, clothing and building materials for indigent residents living near Beirut harbor. The American diplomat was released after an anonymous benefactor provided food to the neighborhood.

November 14, 1975, Jerusalem, Israel. Lola Nunberg, 53, of New York, was injured during a bombing attack in downtown Jerusalem. Fatah claimed responsibility for the bombing, which killed six people and wounded 38.

November 21, 1975, Ramat Hamagshimim, Israel. Michael Nadler, an American-Israeli from Miami Beach, Florida, was killed when axe-wielding terrorists from the Democrat Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO faction, attacked students in the Golan Heights.

August 11, 1976, Istanbul, Turkey. The PFLP launched an attack on the terminal of Israel's major airline, El Al, at the Istanbul airport. Four civilians, including Harold Rosenthal of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were killed and 20 injured.

January 1, 1977, Beirut, Lebanon. Frances E. Meloy, U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, and Robert O.Waring, the U.S. economic counselor, were kidnapped by PFLP members as they crossed a militia checkpoint separating the Christian from the Muslim parts of Beirut. They were later shot to death.

March 11, 1978, Tel Aviv, Israel. Gail Rubin, niece of U.S. Senator Abraham Ribicoff, was among 38 people shot to death by PLO terrorists on an Israeli beach.

June 2, 1978, Jerusalem, Israel. Richard Fishman, a medical student from Maryland, was among six killed in a PLO bus bombing in Jerusalem. Chava Sprecher, another American citizen from Seattle, Washington, was injured.

May 4, 1979, Tiberias, Israel. Haim Mark and his wife, Haya, of New Haven, Connecticut were injured in a PLO bombing attack in northern Israel.

November 4, 1979, Teheran, Iran. After President Carter agreed to admit the Shah of Iran into the U.S., Iranian radicals seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 66 American diplomats hostage. Thirteen hostages were soon freed, but the remaining 53 were held until their release on January 20, 1981.

May 2, 1980, Hebron, West Bank. Eli Haze'ev, an American-Israeli from Alexandria, Virginia, was killed in a PLO attack on Jewish worshippers walking home from a synagogue in Hebron.

July 19, 1982, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah members kidnapped David Dodge, acting president of the American University in Beirut. After a year in captivity, Dodge was released. Rifat Assad, head of Syrian Intelligence, helped in the negotiation with the terrorists.

August 19, 1982, Paris, France. Two American citizens, Anne Van Zanten and Grace Cutler, were killed when the PLO bombed a Jewish restaurant in Paris.

March 16, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. Five American Marines were wounded in a hand grenade attack while on patrol north of Beirut International Airport. The Islamic Jihad and Al-Amal, a Shi'ite militia, claimed responsibility for the attack.

April 18, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. A truck-bomb detonated by a remote control exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 employees, including the CIA's Middle East director, and wounding 120. Hizballah, with financial backing from Iran, was responsible for the attack.

July 1, 1983, Hebron, Israel. Aharon Gross, 19, an American-Israeli from New York, was stabbed to death by PLO terrorists in the Hebron marketplace.

September 29, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. Two American marines were kidnapped by Amal members. They were released after intervention by a Lebanese army officer.

October 23, 1983, Beirut, Lebanon. A truck loaded with a bomb crashed into the lobby of the U.S. Marines headquarters in Beirut, killing 241 soldiers and wounding 81. The attack was carried out by Hizballah with the help of Syrian intelligence and financed by Iran.

December 19, 1983, Jerusalem, Israel. Serena Sussman, a 60-year-old tourist from Anderson, South Carolina, died from injuries from the PLO bombing of a bus in Jerusalem 13 days earlier.

January 18, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. Malcolm Kerr, a Lebanese born American who was president of the American University of Beirut, was killed by two gunmen outside his office. Hizballah said the assassination was part of the organization's plan to "drive all Americans out from Lebanon."

March 7, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah members kidnapped Jeremy Levin, Beirut bureau chief of Cable News Network (CNN). Levin managed to escape and reach Syrian army barracks. He was later transferred to American hands.

March 8, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. Three Hizballah members kidnapped Reverend Benjamin T. Weir, while he was walking with his wife in Beirut's Manara neighborhood. Weir was released after 16 months of captivity with Syrian and Iranian assistance.

March 16, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah kidnapped William Buckley, a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Buckley was supposed to be exchanged for prisoners. However when the transaction failed to take place, he was reportedly transported to Iran. Although his body was never found, the U.S. administration declared the American diplomat dead.

April 12, 1984, Torrejon, Spain. Hizballah bombed a restaurant near an U.S. Air Force base in Torrejon, Spain, killing 18 servicemen and wounding 83 people.

September 20, 1984, Beirut, Lebanon. A suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in East Beirut killed 23 people and injured 21. The American and British ambassadors were slightly injured in the attack, attributed to the Iranian backed Hizballah group.

September 20, 1984, Aukar, Lebanon. Islamic Jihad detonate a van full of explosives 30 feet in front of the U.S. Embassy annex severely damaging the building, killing two U.S. servicemen and seven Lebanese employees, as well as 5 to 15 non-employees. Twenty Americans were injured, including U.S. Ambassador Reginald Bartholomew and visiting British Ambassador David Miers. An estimated 40 to 50 Lebanese were hurt. The attack came in response to the U.S. veto September 6 of a U.N. Security Council resolution.

December 4, 1984, Tehran, Iran. Hizballah terrorists hijacked a Kuwait Airlines plane en route from Dubai, United Emirates, to Karachi, Pakistan. They demanded the release from Kuwaiti jails of members of Da'Wa, a group of Shiite extremists serving sentences for attacks on French and American targets on Kuwaiti territory. The terrorists forced the pilot to fly to Tehran where the terrorists murdered two passengers--American Agency for International Development employees, Charles Hegna and William Stanford. Although an Iranian special unit ended the incident by storming the plane and arresting the terrorists, the Iranian government might also have been involved in the hijacking.

June 14, 1985, Between Athens and Rome. Two Hizballah members hijacked a TWA flight en route to Rome from Athens and forced the pilot to fly to Beirut. The terrorists, believed to belong to Hizballah, asked for the release of members of the group Kuwait 17 and 700 Shi'ite prisoners held in Israeli and South Lebanese prisons. The eight crewmembers and 145 passengers were held for 17 days during which one of the hostages, Robert Stethem, a U.S. Navy diver, was murdered. After being flown twice to Algiers, the aircraft returned to Beirut and the hostages were released. Later on, four Hizballah members were secretly indicted. One of them, the Hizballah senior officer Imad Mughniyah, was indicted in absentia.

October 7, 1985, Between Alexandria, Egypt and Haifa, Israel. A four-member PFLP squad took over the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, as it was sailing from Alexandria, Egypt, to Israel. The squad murdered a disabled U.S. citizen, Leon Klinghoffer, by throwing him in the ocean. The rest of the passengers were held hostage for two days and later released after the terrorists turned themselves in to Egyptian authorities in return for safe passage. But U.S. Navy fighters intercepted the Egyptian aircraft flying the terrorists to Tunis and forced it to land at the NATO airbase in Italy, where the terrorists were arrested. Two of the terrorists were tried in Italy and sentenced to prison. The Italian authorities however let the two others escape on diplomatic passports. Abu Abbas, who masterminded the hijacking, was later convicted to life imprisonment in absentia.

December 27, 1985, Rome, Italy. Four terrorists from Abu Nidal's organization attacked El Al offices at the Leonardo di Vinci Airport in Rome. Thirteen people, including five Americans, were killed and 74 wounded, among them two Americans. The terrorists had come from Damascus and were supported by the Syrian regime.

March 30, 1986, Athens, Greece. A bomb exploded on a TWA flight from Rome as it approached Athens airport. The attack killed four U.S. citizens who were sucked through a hole made by the blast, although the plane safely landed. The bombing was attributed to the Fatah Special Operations Group's intelligence and security apparatus, headed by Abdullah Abd al-Hamid Labib, alias Colonel Hawari.

April 5, 1986, West Berlin, Germany. An explosion at the "La Belle" nightclub in Berlin, frequented by American soldiers, killed three--2 U.S. soldiers and a Turkish woman-and wounded 191 including 41 U.S. soldiers. Given evidence of Libyan involvement, the U.S. Air Force made a retaliatory attack against Libyan targets on April 17. Libya refused to hand over to Germany five suspects believed to be there. Others, however, were tried including Yassir Shraidi and Musbah Eter, arrested in Rome in August 1997 and extradited; and also Ali Chanaa, his wife, Verena Chanaa, and her sister, Andrea Haeusler. Shraidi, accused of masterminding the attack, was sentenced to 14 years in jail. The Libyan diplomat Musbah Eter and Ali Chanaa were both sentenced to 12 years in jail. Verena Chanaa was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Andrea Haeusler was acquitted.

September 5, 1986, Karachi, Pakistan. Abu Nidal members hijacked a Pan Am flight leaving Karachi, Pakistan bound for Frankfurt, Germany and New York with 379 passengers, including 89 Americans. The terrorists forced the plane to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, where they demanded the release of two Palestinians and a Briton jailed for the murder of three Israelis there in 1985. The terrorists killed 22 of the passengers, including two American citizens and wounded many others. They were caught and indicted by a Washington grand jury in 1991.

September 9, 1986, Beirut, Lebanon. Continuing its anti-American attacks, Hizballah kidnapped Frank Reed, director of the American University in Beirut, whom they accused of being "a CIA agent." He was released 44 months later. September 12, 1986, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah kidnapped Joseph Cicippio, the acting comptroller at the American University in Beirut. Cicippio was released five years later on December 1991.

October 15, 1986, Jerusalem, Israel. Gali Klein, an American citizen, was killed in a grenade attack by Fatah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

October 21, 1986, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah kidnapped Edward A. Tracy, an American citizen in Beirut. He was released five years later, on August 1991.

February 17, 1988, Ras-Al-Ein Tyre, Lebanon. Col. William Higgins, the American chief of the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization, was abducted by Hizballah while driving from Tyre to Nakura. The hostages demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and the release of all Palestinian and Lebanese held prisoners in Israel. The U.S. government refused to answer the request. Hizballah later claimed they killed Higgins.

December 21, 1988, Lockerbie, Scotland. Pan Am Flight 103 departing from Frankfurt to New York was blown up in midair, killing all 259 passengers and another 11 people on the ground in Scotland. Two Libyan agents were found responsible for planting a sophisticated suitcase bomb onboard the plane. On 14 November 1991, arrest warrants were issued for Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima and Abdel Baset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi. After Libya refused to extradite the suspects to stand trial, the United Nations leveled sanctions against the country in April 1992, including the freezing of Libyan assets abroad. In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi agreed to hand over the two suspects, but only if their trial was held in a neutral country and presided over by a Scottish judge. With the help of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, Al-Megrahi and Fahima were finally extradited and tried in Camp Zeist in the Netherlands. Megrahi was found guilty and jailed for life, while Fahima was acquitted due to a "lack of evidence" of his involvement. After the extradition, UN sanctions against Libya were automatically lifted.

January 27, 1989, Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey. Three simultaneous bombings were carried out against U.S. business targets--the Turkish American Businessmen Association and the Economic Development Foundation in Istanbul, and the Metal Employees Union in Ankara. The Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left) was held responsible for the attacks.

March 6, 1989, Cairo, Egypt. Two explosive devices were safely removed from the grounds of the American and British Cultural centers in Cairo. Three organizations were believed to be responsible for the attack: The January 15 organization, which had sent a letter bomb to the Israeli ambassador to London in January; the Egyptian Revolutionary Organization that from out 1984-1986 carried out attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets; and the Nasserite Organization, which had attacked British and American targets in 1988.

June 12, 1989, Bosphorus Straits, Turkey. A bomb exploded aboard an unoccupied boat used by U.S. consular staff. The explosion caused extensive damage but no casualties. An organization previously unknown, the Warriors of the June 16th Movement, claimed responsibility for the attack.

October 11, 1989, Izmir, Turkey. An explosive charge went off outside a U.S. military PX. Dev Sol was held responsible for the attack.

February 7, 1991, Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Dev Sol members shot and killed a U.S. civilian contractor as he was getting into his car at the Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey.

February 28, 1991, Izmir, Turkey. Two Dev Sol gunmen shot and wounded a U.S. Air Force officer as he entered his residence in Izmir.

March 28, 1991, Jubial, Saudi Arabia. Three U.S. marines were shot at and injured by an unknown terrorist while driving near Camp Three, Jubial. No organization claimed responsibility for the attack.

October 28, 1991, Ankara, Turkey. Victor Marwick, an American soldier serving at the Turkish-American base, Tuslog, was killed and his wife wounded in a car bomb attack. The Turkish Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

October 28, 1991, Istanbul, Turkey. Two car bombings killed a U.S. Air Force sergeant and severely wounded an Egyptian diplomat in Istanbul. Turkish Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

November 8, 1991, Beirut, Lebanon. A 100-kg car bomb destroyed the administration building of the American University in Beirut, killing one person and wounding at least a dozen.

October 12, 1992, Umm Qasr, Iraq. A U.S. soldier serving with the United Nations was stabbed and wounded near the port of Umm Qasr. No organization claimed responsibility for the attack.

January 25, 1993, Virginia, United States. A Pakistani gunman opened fire on Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees standing outside of the building. Two agents, Frank Darling and Bennett Lansing, were killed and three others wounded. The assailant was never caught and reportedly fled to Pakistan.

February 26, 1993, Cairo, Egypt. A bomb exploded inside a café in downtown Cairo killing three. Among the 18 wounded were two U.S. citizens. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

February 26, 1993, New York, United States. A massive van bomb exploded in an underground parking garage below the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six and wounding 1,042. Four Islamist activists were responsible for the attack. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the operation's alleged mastermind, escaped but was later arrested in Pakistan and extradited to the United States. Abd al-Hakim Murad, another suspected conspirator, was arrested by local authorities in the Philippines and handed over to the United States. The two, along with two other terrorists, were tried in the U.S. and sentenced to 240 years.

April 14, 1993, Kuwait. The Iraqi intelligence service attempted to assassinate former U.S. President George Bush during a visit to Kuwait. In retaliation, the U.S. launched a cruise missile attack two months later on the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

July 5, 1993, Southeast Turkey. In eight separate incidents, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) kidnapped a total of 19 Western tourists traveling in southeastern Turkey. The hostages, including U.S. citizen Colin Patrick Starger, were released unharmed after spending several weeks in captivity.

March 8, 1995, Karachi, Pakistan. Two unidentified gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles opened fire on a U.S. Consulate van in Karachi, killing two U.S. diplomats, Jacqueline Keys Van Landingham and Gary C. Durell, and wounding a third, Mark McCloy.

April 9, 1995, Kfar Darom and Netzarim, Gaza Strip. Two suicide attacks were carried out within a few hours of each other in Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. In the first attack a suicide bomber crashed an explosive-rigged van into an Israeli bus in Netzarim, killing eight including U.S. citizen Alisa Flatow. Over 30 others were injured. In the second attack, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in the midst of a convoy of cars in Kfar Darom, injuring 12. The Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Shaqaqi Faction claimed responsibility for the attacks.

July 4, 1995, Kashmir, India. In Kashmir, a previously unknown militant group, Al-Faran, with suspected links to a Kashmiri separatist group in Pakistan, took hostage six tourists, including two U.S. citizens. They demanded the release of Muslim militants held in Indian prisons. One of the U.S. citizens escaped on July 8, while on August 13 the decapitated body of the Norwegian hostage was found along with a note stating that the other hostages also would be killed if the group's demands were not met. The Indian Government refused. Both Indian and American authorities believe the rest of the hostages were most likely killed in 1996 by their jailers.

August 1995, Istanbul, Turkey. A bombing of Istanbul's popular Taksim Square injured two U.S. citizens. This attack was part of a three-year-old attempt by the PKK to drive foreign tourists away from Turkey by striking at tourist sites.

August 21, 1995, Jerusalem, Israel. A bus bombing in Jerusalem by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) killed four, including American Joan Davenny, and wounded more than 100.

November 9, 1995, Algiers, Algeria. Islamic extremists set fire to a warehouse belonging to the U.S. Embassy, threatened the Algerian security guard because he was working for the United States, and demanded to know whether any U.S. citizens were present. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) probably carried out the attacks. The group had threatened to strike other foreign targets and especially U.S. objectives in Algeria, and the attack's style was similar to past GIA operations against foreign facilities.

November 13, 1995, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A car bomb exploded in the parking lot outside of the Riyadh headquarters of the Office of the Program Manager/Saudi Arabian National Guard, killing seven persons, five of them U.S. citizens, and wounding 42. The blast severely damaged the three-story building, which houses a U.S. military advisory group, and several neighboring office buildings. Three groups -- the Islamic Movement for Change, the Tigers of the Gulf, and the Combatant Partisans of God -- claimed responsibility for the attack.

February 25, 1996, Jerusalem, Israel. A suicide bomber blew up a commuter bus in Jerusalem, killing 26, including three U.S. citizens, and injuring 80 others, among them another three U.S. citizens. Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing.

March 4, 1996, Tel Aviv, Israel. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device outside the Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall, killing 20 persons and injuring 75 others, including two U.S. citizens. Both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing. May 13, 1996, Beit-El, West Bank. Arab gunmen opened fire on a hitchhiking stand near Beit El, wounding three Israelis and killing David Boim, 17, an American-Israeli from New York. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, although either the Islamic Jihad or Hamas are suspected.

June 9, 1996, Zekharya, West Bank. Yaron Ungar, an American-Israeli, and his Israeli wife were killed in a drive-by shooting near their West Bank home. The PFLP is suspected.

June 25, 1996, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. A fuel truck carrying a bomb exploded outside the U.S. military's Khobar Towers housing facility in Dhahran, killing 19 U.S. military personnel and wounding 515 persons, including 240 U.S. personnel. Several groups claimed responsibility for the attack. In June 2001, a U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, identified Saudi Hizballah as the party responsible for the attack. The court indicated that the members of the organization, banned from Saudi Arabia, "frequently met and were trained in Lebanon, Syria, or Iran" with Libyan help.

August 17, 1996, Mapourdit, Sudan. Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels kidnapped six missionaries in Mapourdit, including a U.S citizen. The SPLA released the hostages on August 28.

November 1, 1996, Sudan. A breakaway group of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) kidnapped three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), including one U.S citizen. The rebels released the hostages on December 9 in exchange for ICRC supplies and a health survey of their camp.

December 3, 1996, Paris, France. A bomb exploded aboard a Paris subway train, killing four and injuring 86 persons, including a U.S. citizen. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Algerian extremists are suspected.

January 2, 1997, Major cities worldwide, United States. A series of letter bombs with Alexandria, Egypt postmarks were discovered at Al-Hayat newspaper bureaus in Washington, DC, New York, London, and Riyadh. Three similar devices, also postmarked in Egypt, were found at a prison facility in Leavenworth, Kansas. Bomb disposal experts defused all the devices, but one detonated at the Al-Hayat newspaper office in London, injuring two security guards and causing minor damage.

February 23, 1997, New York, United States. A Palestinian gunman opened fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State building in New York, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine."

July 30, 1997, Jerusalem, Israel. Two bombs detonated in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market, killing 15 persons, including a U.S. citizen and wounding 168 others, among them two U.S. citizens. The Izz-el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, claimed responsibility for the attack.

October 30, 1997, Sanaa, Yemen. Al-Sha'if tribesmen kidnapped a U.S. businessman near Sanaa. The tribesmen sought the release of two fellow tribesmen who were arrested on smuggling charges and several public works projects they claim the government promised them. The hostage was released on November 27.

November 12, 1997, Karachi, Pakistan. Two unidentified gunmen shot to death four U.S. auditors from Union Texas Petroleum and their Pakistani driver as they drove away from the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi. Two groups claimed responsibility -- the Islamic Inqilabi Council, or Islamic Revolutionary Council and the Aimal Secret Committee, also known as the Aimal Khufia Action Committee.

November 25, 1997, Aden, Yemen. Yemenite tribesmen kidnapped a U.S citizen, two Italians, and two unspecified Westerners near Aden to protest the eviction of a tribe member from his home. The kidnappers released the five hostages on November 27.

April 19, 1998, Maon, Israel. Dov Driben, a 28-year-old American-Israeli farmer was killed by terrorists near the West Bank town of Maon. One of his assailants, Issa Debavseh, a member of Fatah Tanzim, was killed on November 7, 2001, by the IDF after being on their wanted list for the murder.

June 21, 1998, Beirut, Lebanon. Two hand-grenades were thrown at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. No casualties were reported.

June 21, 1998, Beirut, Lebanon. Three rocket-propelled grenades attached to a crude detonator exploded near the U.S. Embassy compound in Beirut, causing no casualties and little damage. August 7, 1998, Nairobi, Kenya. A car bomb exploded at the rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. The attack killed a total of 292, including 12 U.S. citizens, and injured over 5,000, among them six Americans. The perpetrators belonged to al-Qaida, Usama bin Ladin's network.

August 7, 1998, Dar es Sala'am, Tanzania. A car bomb exploded outside the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Sala'am, killing 11 and injuring 86. Osama bin Laden's organization al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack. Two suspects were arrested.

November 21, 1998, Teheran, Iran. Members of Fedayeen Islam, shouting anti-American slogans and wielding stones and iron rods, attacked a group of American tourists in Tehran. Some of the tourists suffered minor injuries from flying glass.

December 28, 1998, Mawdiyah, Yemen. Sixteen tourists--12 Britons, two Americans and two Australians--were taken hostage in the largest kidnapping in Yemen's recent history. The tourists were seized in the Abyan province (some 175 miles south of Sanaa the capital). One Briton and a Yemeni guide escaped, while the rest were taken to city of Mawdiyah. Four hostages were killed when troops closed in and two were wounded, including an American woman. The kidnappers, members of the Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, an offshoot of Al-Jihad, had demanded the release from jail of their leader, Saleh Haidara al-Atwi.

October 31, 1999, Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the U.S. coast killing all 217 people on board, including 100 Americans. Although it is not precisely clear what happened, evidence indicated that an Egyptian pilot crashed the plane for personal or political reasons.

November 4, 1999, Athens, Greece. A group protesting President Clinton's visit to Greece hid a gas bomb at an American car dealership in Athens. Two cars were destroyed and several others damaged. Anti-State Action claimed responsibility for the attack, but the November 17 group was also suspected.

November 12, 1999, Islamabad, Pakistan. Six rockets were fired at the U.S. Information Services cultural center and United Nations offices in Islamabad, injuring a Pakistani guard.

October 8, 2000, Nablus, West Bank. The bullet-ridden body of Hillel Lieberman, a U.S. citizen living in the Jewish settlement of Elon Moreh, was found at the entrance to the West Bank town of Nablus. Lieberman had headed there after hearing that Palestinians had desecrated the religious site, Joseph's Tomb. No organization claimed responsibility for the murder.

October 12, 2000, Aden Harbor, Yemen. A suicide squad rammed the warship the U.S.S. Cole with an explosives-laden boat killing 13 American sailors and injuring 33. The attack was likely by Osama bin Ladin's al-Qaida organization.

October 30, 2000, Jerusalem, Israel. Gunmen killed Eish Kodesh Gilmor, a 25-year-old American-Israeli on duty as a security guard at the National Insurance Institute in Jerusalem. The "Martyrs of the Al-Aqsa Intifada," a group linked to Fatah, claimed responsibility for the attack. Gilmor's family filed a suit in the U.S. District Court in Washington against the Palestinian Authority, the PLO, Chairman Yasser Arafat and members of Force 17, as being responsible for the attack.

May 9, 2001, Tekoa, West Bank. Kobi Mandell, 14, an American-Israeli, was found stoned to death along with a friend in a cave near the Jewish settlement of Tekoa. Two organizations, the Islamic Jihad and Hizballah-Palestine, claimed responsibility for the attack.

May 29, 2001, Gush Etzion, West Bank. The Fatah Tanzim claimed responsibility for a drive-by shooting of six in the West Bank that killed two American-Israeli citizens, Samuel Berg, and his mother, Sarah Blaustein.

August 9, 2001, Jerusalem, Israel. A suicide bombing at Sbarro's, a pizzeria situated in one of the busiest areas of downtown Jerusalem, killed 15 people, including a 31-year-old tourist from New Jersey, Shoshana Greenbaum and wounded more than 90. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

September 11, 2001, New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania, United States. During a carefully coordinated attack, 19 Islamist extremists hijacked four U.S. jetliners and forced them to crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In all, 266 people perished in the four planes, and more than 3,000 people were killed on the ground. U.S. investigators determined on the basis of extensive evidence that Usama bin Ladin's al-Qaida group was responsible for the attack. The first plane, American Airlines Flight 11 en route from Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower at 8:48 a.m. Eighteen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, also headed from Boston to Los Angeles, smashed into the World Trade Center's south tower. At 9:40 a.m. a third airplane, an American Airlines Boeing 757 that left Washington's Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles, crashed into the western part of the Pentagon where 24,000 people worked. The fourth plane, a United Airlines Flight 93 flying from Newark to San Francisco, crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, most likely before it could hit its target. Hundreds of firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers who arrived in the site after the first plane crash were killed or injured.

January 15, 2002, Bethlehem, West Bank. Avraham Boaz, 71, a dual Israeli-American citizen, was kidnapped at a PA security checkpoint in Beit Jala and murdered.

January 27, 2002, Jerusalem, Israel. A Palestinian woman triggered a massive explosion in downtown Jerusalem killing one elderly Israeli and injuring more than 150, including American Mark Sokolow, his wife, and 16 and 12-year-old daughters. Sokolow had earlier survived the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, escaping from his law office on the 38th floor of the South Tower before it collapsed.

March 7, 2002, Eshel Hashomron Hotel, Ariel, Israel. A Christian tourist from Arkansas lost her right eye in an attack by a suicide bomber.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/704220/posts

[jth298]

we do not need to understand terrorist; we need to kill them.

You genuinely believe that this is a good idea? Given that recruitment for terrorism is based around frustration, hate and anger that is channeled by religious fanaticism. Do you think that killing them won't just generate more of the same and make the western world more unsafe?

Terrorists do not exist as a national entity in the same way that the Japanese and Germans did in WW2. In my opinion, it doesn't make sense to make a comparison because this war isn't about borders. To me it seems to be about a conflict of ideologies.

I am not anti-american or pro-muslim. I simply believe that bombing the crap out of eachother will become an ever-perpetuating cycle. Both sides villify the other when it seems logical and reasonable to me that responsibilty and a solution must lie somewhere between the two ideologies.

[Leader]

You genuinely believe that this is a good idea?

You believe that killing terrorists is a bad idea.

Given that recruitment for terrorism is based around frustration, hate and anger that is channeled by religious fanaticism. Do you think that killing them won't just generate more of the same and make the western world more unsafe?

No, I do not. Who wants to go in to a profession that can only lead to death?

Terrorists do not exist as a national entity in the same way that the Japanese and Germans did in WW2. In my opinion, it doesn't make sense to make a comparison because this war isn't about borders. To me it seems to be about a conflict of ideologies.

lol World War II wasn't about ideologies?

I am not anti-american or pro-muslim. I simply believe that bombing the crap out of eachother will become an ever-perpetuating cycle. Both sides villify the other when it seems logical and reasonable to me that responsibilty and a solution must lie somewhere between the two ideologies.

No, you are neutral, which is worst. You see good and evil and you do not pick a side. You act as though terrorism is logical and understandable that we can some how have peace with terrorists. They want to kill me. No matter who I am or what I do, they want to kill me for what I am, an American.

[Leader]

I think arabs and muslims are just as safe in the U.S. as they were before 9/11. Americans are not like the people in the middle east. You don't see us dancing in the streets when Iraqi's are killed do you?

It's amazing that some people can't see a contrast that is so stark.

[jth298]

No, I do not. Who wants to go in to a profession that can only lead to death?

Someone who feels so strongly that they have been wronged that they would willing give up their life for what they believe is right. It is not a hard concept to grasp and I am sure that many Americans who were ready to give their lives were recruited following 9/11.

They want to kill me. No matter who I am or what I do, they want to kill me for what I am, an American.

and why do you think that might be..?

In my opinion, this is the most important question because if we are not honest with ourselves about this answer then we wont be able to solve the problem. No offence meant to you Leader but I am not confident that your ideas, which do appear to be shared by US administration, would result in a safer world. I would be very pleased to be proved wrong on this but I guess that time will tell.

[Leader]

Someone who feels so strongly that they have been wronged that they would willing give up their life for what they believe is right. It is not a hard concept to grasp and I am sure that many Americans who were ready to give their lives were recruited following 9/11.

So now firefighters that run in to burning buildings and the same as the people that set them on fire?

and why do you think that might be..?

They do not need a reason.

In my opinion, this is the most important question because if we are not honest with ourselves about this answer then we wont be able to solve the problem. No offence meant to you Leader but I am not confident that your ideas, which do appear to be shared by US administration, would result in a safer world. I would be very pleased to be proved wrong on this but I guess that time will tell.

How did the allies solve the problem with Germany and Japan? I don't remember anything about trying to understand them; I remember bombing the hell out of them until they gave up.

[Confed999]

and why do you think that might be..?

... because I refuse to convert to their brand of religion or follow their laws. Last I heard that was all the terrorists were really demanding.

[jth298]

... because I refuse to convert to their brand of religion or follow their laws. Last I heard that was all the terrorists were really demanding.

I agree that ostensibly this is a reasonable assertion. If indeed our cultures, laws and religions co-existed harmoniously then of course, there would not be these problems.

However, I am not convinced that religious conversion is the objective or the motive of terrorist attack. At least I do not think it was in the case of 9/11 or 3/11. If we do not fully understand the motives and background factors for such horrible acts then we will continue to fear their occurrence.

I would suggest the possibity that terrorist organisations such as Al - Queida act out of a sense of injustice and oppression that they perceive that they have suffered as a result of a long history of Western 'meddling' in their internal politics in order to serve our 'best interests'. Of course this could an over-simplification, or just plain wrong but it seems a likely possibility to me.

However, all this aside, this is a thread relating to a 'retalliatory' action by the murderers of Nick Berg and is very unlikely to be linked to the actions of Al-Queida. What it does emphasise, other than the sheer brutality and lack of respect for humanity of these murderers, is that the actions of US military have the potential to further deepen the anger of those who would act against us. Whilst they could be the tools to end this terrible war they also have the influence to worsen and prolong it.

[themuffinman]

I agree that ostensibly this is a reasonable assertion. If indeed our cultures, laws and religions co-existed harmoniously then of course, there would not be these problems.

However, I am not convinced that religious conversion is the objective or the motive of terrorist attack. At least I do not think it was in the case of 9/11 or 3/11. If we do not fully understand the motives and background factors for such horrible acts then we will continue to fear their occurrence.

I would suggest the possibity that terrorist organisations such as Al - Queida act out of a sense of injustice and oppression that they perceive that they have suffered as a result of a long history of Western 'meddling' in their internal politics in order to serve our 'best interests'. Of course this could an over-simplification, or just plain wrong but it seems a likely possibility to me.

However, all this aside, this is a thread relating to a 'retalliatory' action by the murderers of Nick Berg and is very unlikely to be linked to the actions of Al-Queida. What it does emphasise, other than the sheer brutality and lack of respect for humanity of these murderers, is that the actions of US military have the potential to further deepen the anger of those who would act against us. Whilst they could be the tools to end this terrible war they also have the influence to worsen and prolong it.

America is in danger of losing this war.

But not because of any lack of military might or intelligence capability, nor even because of any unwillingness to sustain grievous human and financial losses.

No, America is in danger of losing this war because of political correctness.

Answer me this: If we can't identify who the enemy is - and, in fact, refuse to do so - haven't we lost already?

The news media, the filter through which Americans receive their information, is reluctant to define the enemy. Indeed, within the last week, it has become politically incorrect to describe the Islamic terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center and Pentagon, murdering thousands of innocent Americans, as "Islamic terrorists."

As the Washington Times reported, "an organization of religion news reporters yesterday suggested that reporters avoid the term 'Islamic terrorist' or similar labels as Muslims and their beliefs receive greater scrutiny. The Religion Newswriters Association said it was 'troubled' by the frequent use of the term in the days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington." At its annual meeting last week, the group adopted a resolution also rejecting "similar phrases that associate an entire religion with the action of a few."

OK, but at least we can still call them terrorists, right?

Wrong.

Stephen Jukes, Reuters' global head of news, decreed that the giant wire service's 2,500 journalists should not use the T-word unless in a direct quote.

"We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist," he wrote in an internal memo. "To be frank, it adds little to call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack."

Attempting to explain his values-neutral approach, Jukes added: "We're trying to treat everyone on a level playing field, however tragic it's been and however awful and cataclysmic for the American people and people around the world."

So former Reagan staffer and columnist Paul Craig Roberts was right when he observed recently that "Americans might be so politically correct and racially sensitive as to be unable to deal with the problem at all."

And yet, as America's experience in Vietnam proved, widespread public support is critical for a successful campaign, especially a long, difficult and costly campaign, as the forthcoming war promises to be. Hard to garner support if the press doesn't tell us who the enemy is.

But the news media don't prosecute the war - the government does. So, how are our leaders doing in defining the enemy?

"Islam is a religion of peace," we are told, and these terrorists - oops, I guess I should say, these folks - are just some bad apples that belong to a widely dispersed "terror network" of a few hundred or even a few thousand members - who have "hijacked" Islam in order to philosophically justify their murderous hatred of the West.

But as Mideast expert Daniel Pipes wrote this week, "The president dismissed al-Qaida's version of Islam as a repudiated 'fringe form of Islamic extremism.' Hardly. Muslims on the streets of many places - Pakistan and Gaza in particular - are fervently rallying to the defense of al-Qaida's vision of Islam. Likewise, the president's calling the terrorists 'traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam' implies that other Muslims see them as apostates, which is simply wrong. Al-Qaida enjoys wide popularity - the very best the U.S. government can hope for is a measure of Muslim neutrality and apathy."

Although without question there are millions of peaceful, tolerant and decent Muslims, what we're talking about here is a particular brand of Islam -- a rapidly expanding one at that -- often called "Islamism." Like communism and Nazism, it is a brutal, coercive utopian movement bent on nothing less than total world domination. It's what President Bush described, in his excellent Sept. 20 speech to the nation, as heir "of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century ... they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism." Yes, the president, to his credit, characterized the enemy correctly, albeit briefly and incompletely. But he gave no sense of the size of the enemy.

Take a deep breath. Of the world's approximately 1.2 billion Muslims, an estimated 10 to 15 percent are of the militant "Islamist" strain. Do the math - that's well over 100 million human beings who, to a greater or lesser degree, are caught up with what amounts to the world's most dangerous cult.

Paul Marshall, senior fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House, told this writer that right now perhaps eight to 10 governments are "scared of being toppled" if they stand up to the Islamic "jihad" against the West. Citing Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Jordan, Indonesia and other potential "coalition" members, Marshall said such states "are afraid their country could be destabilized if they support the West too much, which shows that opposition to American action is not simply from a few hundred people."

By the way, if you want to truly understand what America is up against, who the enemy really is - in-depth - you should read the upcoming issue of WND's "Whistleblower" magazine. This extra-large issue, titled "JIHAD: The radical Islamic threat to America," will be devoted from cover to cover to a groundbreaking exploration of America's most mysterious, and deadly, enemy.

Now that we've talked a bit about what we're up against, let's think about political correctness, that bizarre self-censorship that currently makes us afraid even to name the enemy, let alone fight it.

Political correctness, at its core, is intimidation. Terrorism, of course, is the ultimate in intimidation.

The militant Islamic movement - as opposed to peaceful Muslims - wants to intimidate the United States, to intimidate us out of the Middle East so it can destroy Israel, take over the so-called "moderate" states, especially Saudi Arabia, ushering in a unified and radicalized Islamic state throughout the Mideast, and control the world's oil. Oil is a powerful weapon.

Then, they can destroy America in their own good time - remember, it is central to their politicized, utopian, religious beliefs that they convert the entire world to Islam - by force, if necessary.

But how can America withstand such intimidation when we have already given in to seemingly far less threatening intimidators in recent times?

We have given in to the militant homosexual movement - not the live-and-let-live homosexual who wants to be left alone to live his or her life - but the radical strain of homosexual activism that wants to force a repugnant agenda down our throats - to teach kindergartners about perverted sex, make AIDS exempt from normal infectious-disease protocols and outlaw traditional Christian teaching on homosexuality as a "hate crime."

The militant women's movement - not your normal women's activists seeking equal pay for equal work, but the extremist wing - intimidated America into allowing women in combat, unlimited abortion-on-demand, no-fault divorce, and driving millions of mothers into the workforce who really would rather have stayed home and raised their children.

The militant civil-rights movement - not Martin Luther King who championed a color-blind society, with which most Americans heartily agree - but the radical, virulent strain, the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world, brought us forced bussing, reverse discrimination, endless hypocrisy and increased, not decreased, racial hatreds.

And Americans have been so intimidated by their own government that, just a few months ago, President George W. Bush had to stump across the nation, beg ging outrageously overtaxed Americans to accept a tax cut, so fearful and brainwashed are so many of us of losing some perceived government benefit.

If America is to have any chance of prevailing in this war - which is not only a military conflict, but a cultural and spiritual one as well - we in the Free World have to come to grips with Islam. But to do so, we first have to come to grips with ourselves. We must become virtuous. We must become courageous. We must become self-disciplined, mature and uncompromisingly honest. And we must throw political correctness onto "the unmarked grave" of history. If we do, we can address with a clear head and a pure heart the spiritual warfare in which, ready or not, we are now engaged.

For the truth is, there is no clean distinction between "good Islam" on one side and "bad Islam" on the other. There is, rather, a continuum. Take the estimated four to seven million Muslims in the U.S.A. At one end, and clearly this constitutes the majority, you have the peaceful Muslim family living down the street that obeys our laws, pays their taxes and are proud to be Americans. But since Sept. 11, we have learned that, while we were asleep in this country -- with our borders wide open, giving high-technology to our enemies -- an unknown number of terrorists also have set up shop in America, along with their supporters, sympathizers, apologists and funders.

In between these two types of Muslims - the loyal American and the enemy - you have many degrees of dissatisfaction and outright anger at the United States of America, of sympathy for Palestinian suicide bombers, of secret and sometimes open agreement with the Sept. 11 attacks and, in some cases, of actual cooperation with America's enemies. There is a great deal more to this adversary than meets the eye.

America's job is to utterly destroy - that means kill - the terrorist network, root and branch, and likewise to destroy the governments of the terrorists' patron states. If we do this just right, with the right spirit and timing, we may just succeed in shocking those millions of future Osama bin Ladens who today are following the siren song of militant Islam, and forcing them toward the more moderate end of the spectrum.

To accomplish such a Herculean task will take nothing less than God's intervention. And to receive such help from above, we must look to Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

http://www.bible-truth.org/AmericaKupelian.html

[jth298]

And so this is now a religious war? A christian crusade to 'cleanse' the world of the religious fanaticism that the right thinking, freedom(TM) loving west now lives in fear of?

Flip the argument to an extreme Islamic perspective and you've probably got exactly the same argument.

Is it perverse to suggest that we are in danger of reaching an Orwellian like situation where the date has somehow reverted to 1984 and we have all reached a state of mind where we unquestioningly believe the warnings of an omnipresent threat, where the enemy is everywhere and is going to kill us? Should we now blindly put our faith in our all knowing political and religious leaders to protect us? Do the loss of a few political correctnesses such as ethnic, sexual and gender tolerance matter little in the greater christian goal?

I've got to say... I really hope not.

[themuffinman]

And so this is now a religious war? A christian crusade to 'cleanse' the world of the religious fanaticism that the right thinking, freedom(TM) loving west now lives in fear of?

Flip the argument to an extreme Islamic perspective and you've probably got exactly the same argument.

Is it perverse to suggest that we are in danger of reaching an Orwellian like situation where the date has somehow reverted to 1984 and we have all reached a state of mind where we unquestioningly believe the warnings of an omnipresent threat, where the enemy is everywhere and is going to kill us? Should we now blindly put our faith in our all knowing political and religious leaders to protect us? Do the loss of a few political correctnesses such as ethnic, sexual and gender tolerance matter little in the greater christian goal?

I've got to say... I really hope not.

What do you think this is:

complete translation from the Arabic follows:

The Al Tawhid and Jihad Group claims responsibility for the assassination operation of the unbeliever, Ezzedin Salim.

A statement to the nation regarding the assassination operation against the traitor and enemy agent Ezzedin Salim

In the name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful

Announcement number 6

The praise of Allah saying: {then you fight the leaders of the unbeliever, you owe no allegiance to them, they are finished}…

Prayers and greetings to the messenger, the imam, the Best of All Creation, and to his family and his friends, the examples of the Islamic militants…

The militants from the Battalion of Death have returned, and they planned the painful attack on the leader of Allah’s enemies, sending them an important message: Their practices are destroying our land, and the occupation of our sanctuaries, and their criminal acts against our families in

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http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/