The Western Word

This Week's Editorial

AN AWAKENING FROM THE MULTICULTURAL SLUMBER
By Avi Davis

Anyone who wants to obtain a sense of the havoc that architecture can wreak on a nation’s identity, need only visit Moscow. In the many churches and public buildings surviving from the 13th century onwards, you can gaze upon the ghost of the Mongol conquest of Russia, characterized by the bulbous and ubiquitous onion dome. The prevalence of the dome has left such an eerily Asian stamp on the landscape, that looking at it you can easily forget that you are standing on European soil. Indeed, Russia’s historic defensiveness and traditional resistance to be being brought within the European ambit is at least partly attributable to its connections to Asia, cemented during the 200 years of Mongol rule.

No one can dispute that conquerors usually have the last word on architectural style in their vanquished realms. The Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Moorish empires all left their permanent architectural mark on the nations they conquered and there is little doubt that the manner and style of their constructions also had a significant impact on the way the people of those conquered countries thought of themselves.

Perhaps that’s what the Swiss citizenry remembered when they voted November 29, so decisively, to ban the further construction of minarets in Swiss towns and cities. One can understand the resistance to the encroachment of Muslim architecture. It is, after all, difficult to imagine a Swiss chalet, nestled in one of those pleasantly verdant Alpine villages, forced to compete with a minaret for the domination of its skyline.

But there is much more than aesthetics involved in the Swiss decision. It represents a turning point in European awareness of the threat to national identity encouraged by relentless Muslim encroachment.

This was expressly recognized by a report from The Egerkinger Committee – an alliance of the conservative Swiss People’s Party and the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland, responsible for placing the initiative on the ballot. The committee reported that "the construction of a minaret has no religious meaning. Neither in the Qur'an, nor in any other holy scripture of Islam, is the minaret expressly mentioned. The minaret is far more a symbol of a religious-political power claim.”

The initiators justified their point of view by quoting parts of a speech made by the would-be Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 1997: "Mosques are our barracks, domes our helmets, minarets our bayonets, believers our soldiers. This holy army guards my religion.” Ulrich Schluer, who is one of the Egerkinger committee’s most prominent exponents, states in this respect: "A minaret has nothing to do with religion: It just symbolizes a place where Islamic law is established.”

The success of the initiative is even more startling when we appreciate the alliance of forces that were arrayed against it. The Swiss Federal Council, the seven-member executive council which serves as the Swiss collective head of state, rejected the initiative. The Federal Assembly, (the Swiss Parliament) voted 129-50 in the spring of this year to advise Swiss citizens to spurn it. Both the Catholic Church and the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities came out adamantly in the negative. Advocacy groups such as the Society for Minorities in Switzerland and Amnesty International decried it “as an assault on human rights.” Swiss labor unions such as the influential Economiesuisse claimed it would affect Swiss foreign interests and would cause turmoil in the Islamic world.

These elites, some of whom are now plotting to have the ban overturned, see in the approval of the initiative an atavistic tribalism which threatens their multicultural ethos. They see no problems associated with the spread of Islam in Europe, have no fear of Europe becoming Islamicized, and seem full of confidence that minarets, blaring amplified calls to prayer and set in the middle of suburban streets, can only add to the blessed polyglot magic that is Switzerland.

But it is more likely fear which drives them. Perhaps they all remember the Danish cartoon riots of 2006 and its result - how the Danish government cravenly fell to its knees begging forgiveness from its Muslim population as its embassies in Muslim lands were torched and Danes the world over vigorously denounced.

With such deep seated fear driving opposition, the obvious question remains: how did this initiative pass? If we read deeply enough into the debate and the final vote, we might arrive at the conclusion that the Swiss people have begun to recognize what the emergence of the true ‘multicultural state’ really portends: Perhaps it means the surrender of a united national culture; or maybe the acceptance of values that are at odds with the general thrust of Western humanism; Or, with the confirmation of Muslim power, an ultimate capitulation to Muslim intolerance and its abiding contempt for democratic values.

Awareness of this threat is growing in other parts of Europe. This year the French were convulsed by a debate on whether the burqa, or Islamic veil, should be banned for women in public - a reaction to its ubiquity in certain parts of that country. The initiative did not pass, but the debate itself underlines the discomfort many in France feel about the insistence of Muslim leaders on social separation and their rejection of the majority culture.

Today those who led the successful initiative are being accused of racism, bigotry and prejudice. Yet we must see it all in context. Muslims the world over routinely declare Europe ripe for conquest. They understand that multicultural sensitivities offer them an effective tool to pry open European society, exposing the weakness and lack of self belief at its heart.

Last week, the citizens of Switzerland proved them wrong. Despite the opposition of their elites and despite the unrelenting denunciations of human rights groups, the Swiss declared their commitment to preserving their own and Europe’s heritage. Other European nations may quickly follow suit , confirming the growing consciousness that tolerance of the intolerant is not a recipe for integration but a prescription for the almost certain collapse of national identity.

Avi Davis is the President of the American Freedom Alliance.

Want to comment on this article? See Avi Davis’ blog
Avi Davis is the president of the American Freedom Alliance in Los Angeles. He can be contacted at isdev@ix.netcom.com

The Persistence of Islamic Anti-Semitism
by Robert Spencer

A new study released Sunday shows that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe. The “German Situation” study, which is conducted by the University of Bielefeld Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence, found that across Europe in the last year, “Islamophobia” has declined, while anti-Semitic incidents have increased. True to form for such studies, however, it ignored the persistence and strength of Islamic anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism in the Islamic world has often been attributed to the baneful influence of Christianity. Many analysts assert that the Islamic designation of Jews (as well as Christians) as “People of the Book” indicates a higher level of respect for them than was manifested by Christians who derided Jews as bestial “Christ-killers.” Journalist Lawrence Wright asserts in this vein in The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11: (Frontpagemagazine)

Chicagoan Charged with Conspiracy in 2008 Mumbai Attacks in Addition to Foreign Terror Plot in Denmark-DOJ
Additional Charges Unsealed Alleging Retired Pakistani Major Conspired in Danish Plot
New federal charges filed today allege that a Chicago man, who was arrested in October for planning terrorist attacks against a Danish newspaper and two of its employees, also conducted extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai for more than two years preceding the November 2008 terrorist attack on India’s largest city that killed approximately 170 people, including six Americans, and injured hundreds more. The defendant, David Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen, earlier this decade allegedly attended terrorism training camps in Pakistan maintained by Lashkar e Tayyiba (Lashkar), and conspired with its members and others in planning and executing the attacks in both Denmark and India, federal law enforcement officials announced today. Also today, a criminal complaint was unsealed in federal court in Chicago charging Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Abdur Rehman), a retired major in the Pakistani military, with conspiracy in planning to attack the Danish newspaper and its employees. Another Chicago man, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan, was arrested in October on federal charges filed in Chicago relating to the Danish terrorism plot. (DOJ)

Protesters Rally Against New York Terror-Trial Plan-AP
NEW YORK--Several hundred people rallied in the rain near Manhattan's federal courthouse complex Saturday to protest the plan to put major terrorism suspects on trial in New York City. Opponents of the plan say that a New York trial could again make the city a terrorism target, and that the five suspects should instead face a military tribunal. Anger at the Obama administration ran hot in the crowd. One person held up a sign calling Attorney General Eric Holder "disgraceful and despicable.'' Demonstrators at the Saturday event included the actor Brian Dennehy and a number of people who lost friends and relatives in the 9/11 attacks. Addressing the crowd, Mr. Dennehy passed along a message from Judea Pearl, the father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who is opposed to a public trial for reputed terror mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed. The actor said he also believed the trial would be "an uncalled-for ordeal that could be used for political purposes.'' "This will provide the radicals with a huge forum,'' said Mr. Dennehy, a Marine Corps veteran. "Why should they have the normal constitutional protections?'' (WSJ)

Radical Islam Movement's Leader Forecasts America's Demise-Steve Emerson
As the spotlight moves away from the Fort Hood massacre, one of America's most openly radical Islamist organizations has taken to the murderer's defense. As-Sabiqun, a Washington D.C.-based organization with branches in four other major American cities, released a flyer labeling shooter Nidal Malik Hasan as "victimized" and the "target of psychological warfare." The handout also defended convicted terrorists and suspects. As-Sabiqun has repeatedly predicted the demise of the United States and dreams of "the Islamic State of North America no later than 2050." It has openly declared support for terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, and even claimed it funded anti-American militants. With concerns growing over radical Islamist propaganda in the United States, As-Sabiqun is one of the leading organizations building a bridge between international Islamism and its developing American counterpart. (Familysecuritymatters)

Fear being branded racist and of offending minorities hampers social workers' action over forced marriage-Daily Mail Reporter
Women and young girls at risk of being taken abroad and forced into marriage are being failed because local officials fear 'offending' minority communities, according to a Government report. Social workers are being slow to use new court orders aimed at stopping potential victims being spirited overseas to be married without their consent, the report said. It pointed to 'a fear of being accused of racism or not being culturally sensitive'. Judges who rule on applications for the orders warned of a 'political correctness agenda' hampering efforts to help. Schools were accused of failing to alert pupils to the issue, for fear of offending parents. Children as young as nine have been taken overseas by their parents and forced to marry complete strangers. Around 70% of cases are from families originally from Pakistan and 10% of Bangladeshi origin. (Dailymail.co.uk)

New Anti-Terrorist Law Proposed
A new law will be introduced to make it illegal to encourage, educate and recruit people to carry out terrorist crimes. With this legislation, the Swedish Government wants to bring Swedish law in line with the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism and the Eu's Framework Decision on combating terrorism.To encourage or to recruit someone to carry out serious crimes is already illegal in Sweden, but the new law is supposed to emphasise the seriousness of terrorist crimes. It also makes it illegal to in Sweden encourage someone to commit a crime abroad. The centre-right Government has the support of the Social Democratic opposition party on this, but according to the daily Svenska Dagbladet, the Left and the Green Parties have criticised the law, which they think criminalises opinions in a way that would be against the Swedish Constitution. (Sr.se)

Terrorists Inside U.S. and Planning to Strike, Says DHS Secretary-Matthew Harwood
Home-based terrorists are currently inside the United States and are looking to strike targets here and abroad, the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in a speech last night. “Home-based terrorism is here. And like violent extremism abroad, it is now part of the threat picture that we must confront,” Napolitano told the America-Israel Friendship League [1] in New York City, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press release [2]. Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post called Napolitano's statements last night [3]her "bluntest assessments yet of terror threats within the country" a night after President Obama announced he will send an additional 30,000 U.S. service members to Afghanistan to fight Taliban militants and al Qaeda terrorists in an effort to stabilize the war-torn country. According to Hsu, Napolitano listed two recent cases to support her statement that jihadist radicalization has gained traction inside the United States. (Securitymanagement)

Lawyers argue over extradition rules: Defence wants to call witnesses to disprove French case against accused terrorist-The Ottawa Citizen
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN. Lawyers in the extradition case of suspected synagogue bomber Hassan Diab continue to argue over whether witnesses should be allowed to appear in the accused terrorist's defence. Diab, accused by French authorities of murdering four people in a 1980 Paris bombing, faces a formal extradition hearing in January. Lawyers are currently arguing over case law to determine what form that hearing will take. The Lebanese-born Diab, who became a Canadian citizen in 1993, has been under virtual house arrest since he was taken into custody late last year. Electronic monitoring is the main condition of the 56-year-old's bail along with numerous other conditions, including a curfew. Donald Bayne, Diab's lawyer, wants to call witnesses to the extradition hearing in an effort to prove the French authorities seeking Diab's deportation have no grounds for their request. Justice department lawyers are countering with the argument that the deportation hearing is not a trial and that Diab's innocence or guilt is a matter for a French court. (Theottawacitzen)

Signing on to FEAR-Peter Wood
Yesterday, I added the National Association of Scholars to the list of organizations that endorses the AAUP’s new “statement of principle,” Free Expression at Risk, at Yale and Elsewhere. Among the other sixteen signatory organizations are the American Civil Liberties Union, the Modern Language Association, and the People for the American Way. This is somewhat unfamiliar company for the NAS, but our friends, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, are also on the list. Free Expression at Risk—FEAR—starts with the premise that “the free exchange of ideas is in peril of falling victim to a spreading fear of violence.” It is a premise that deserves skeptical scrutiny, not least because “spreading fear of violence” is so often misused by campus groups. It gets used by feminist groups eager to promote the false idea that there is an epidemic of violence against women on campus. It gets used by gay and lesbian groups demanding “safe spaces” on campus, as though colleges were rife with violence against homosexuals. (NAS)

Ex-Muslim's college speech disrupted by arson
Nonie Darwish's previous appearances canceled by Columbia, Princeton-WorldNetDaily
Author Nonie Darwish, whose new book warns of the advance of Islamic law in the West, completed a scheduled speech at Boston University but not without the interruption of an apparent arson in a nearby restroom. Darwish, whose recently scheduled addresses at both Columbia and Princeton were canceled following Islamic opposition, said the students who arranged her Boston University appearance this week believe the fire was an attempt to hinder her message. "I am still in shock," she said in an e-mail to supporters. "Fifteen minutes before I was to speak at Boston University a fire was set on purpose in a bathroom near the room I was to speak at." One of the students who arranged her appearance, Alan Korn, said in an e-mail that it appears the fire was "intentional." (WND)

Coleman: Media Will Ignore Climategate Until They Hear ‘I Was Wrong’ (PJM Exclusive)-John Coleman
This simple three-word phrase is almost impossible to say because it changes everything. It is easiest for a child to say it — after all, a child isn’t expected to be right about things. But the higher you climb through life, the more difficult it becomes to admit being wrong. It would be devastating for a president of the United States to say it: “I was wrong.” And it may be about as difficult for an established, respected scientist who does research at an institution funded by millions of tax dollars. That is why I don’t expect any of the scientists caught by the Climategate [1] leak to admit “I was wrong” anytime soon. Consider the case of Roger Revelle [2], the “grandfather of global warming.” He didn’t say “I was wrong” during all the years he was heading up the Scripps Institute of Oceanography or the Center for Population Studies at Harvard. He waited until he was in a retirement job back at UC San Diego — a mere professor without any research or grant monies coming in — to admit he was wrong about CO2 being an important greenhouse gas. (Pajamasmedia)

The Perversion of Language; or, Orwell Revisited-Mark Falcoff
The media’s distorted words reveal faulty assumptions.
One of George Orwell’s most famous and frequently republished articles, “Politics and the English Language,” originally appeared in 1946. It deals mainly with the use of clichés and obscurantism in the writing of our language, quoting (with embarrassing effect) some of the great literary names of the day. Orwell even conceded towards the end of the piece that he probably was guilty of some of the same abuses. His major concern, however, was not merely with literary niceties but with the moral consequences of linguistic obfuscation. He put the point thus: “The decline of language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer.” He was particularly irritated with the way political words were used “in a consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition.” Far too many political articles, he wrote, consisted “largely of euphemisms, question begging, and sheer cloudy vagueness.” Such usages were “deliberately intended to deceive.” (Nationalreview)

Donald Kennedy and the Corruption of Science Magazine- James Lewis
Science magazine has been stewing so long in the global warming bouillabaisse that its very brains are beginning to smoke. That may be because its august editor-in-chief Donald Kennedy (until last year) was a dedicated warm-monger. Science is the flagship journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the political lobby for Big Science in Washington, D.C. The editor-in-chief of Science is like the Queen of England: It's the closest thing to God in the church hierarchy. Everybody kisses your butt, and all you have to do is wave your hand to the cheering peasantry from your golden coach. Try a Google search for "Donald Kennedy AND global warming" and you get almost six million hits. Search for "global warming" in Science magazine itself, and you get 2,792 citations -- almost as many as you get for "increased science funding."Here are some Science magazine headlines in the last several years, a period when we know that atmospheric temperatures were flat or declining. (Americanthinker)

Interview with Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff "I Am Against Dialogue"-S.M. Steinitz for Profil
I Am Against Dialogue
A criminal complaint is being filed against Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff for “hate speech” under Austrian law, essentially the same thing that Susanne Winter was convicted of early this year. Elisabeth gave a presentation about Islam at an FPÖ-organized seminar, and said some of the usual things that anti-jihad advocates say when they talk about Islam. A left-wing magazine, which had planted someone in the audience, caused charges to be brought against her at the same time as they publicized it in their magazine. Elisabeth held the controversial Islam Seminar at the FPÖ-political academy. Charges of defamation of a religious group have been filed against the daughter of a diplomat. This is her only interview in which she explains her views.
Mrs. Sabaditsch-Wolff, are you afraid of Muslims?
No, I am afraid of political Islam, which is massively gaining influence in Europe. That is what I am against.
What is your goal?
I want to preserve Europe and its democratic and secular values.
What bothers you about the Islamic way of life?
Islamic doctrine discriminates against women and non-Muslims. Islamic law, or shariah, cannot be reconciled with democratic principles and universal human rights. (Europenews.dk)

Summons of the Accused-Diana West
Now available online is the English translation of the summons to Geert Wilders to court in Amsterdam on January 20, 2010 for exercising free speech in defense of his country and, in fact, the wider Western world and civilization. Such as it is. (Here it is at Jihadwatch.) The Wilders summons is the perfect dhimmi document, a shameful manifestation of the extent to which Islamic legal restrictions against criticizing Islam have been incorporated into a submissive Dutch justice system. Read through at least part of this lengthy, repetitious document to see what, according to Amsterdam prosecutors, is illegal and punishable by jail time in Holland today. It includes quoting Oriana Fallaci, rejecting Islamization, calling to ban the Koran (as Mein Kampf is banned in Holland), defending freedom. Extremely curious is the meticulous prose version of Geert's short film Fitna, which prosecutors have written, scene by scene, Sura by Sura, atrocity by atrocity, into the summons. It makes plain that, according to the Dutch legal establishment, simply quoting Koranic and Muslim exhortations to violence, (which puts Islam in an unfavorable light) and simply showing news reports and film evidence of Koranic-inspired Muslim violence and Islamization (which puts Islam in an unfavorable light) is a crime -- just as it is a crime under sharia (islamic law).
Here's an excerpt of one alleged "offense," Geert saying:
We must stop the tsunami of the Islamization. This hits us in the heart, in our identity, in our culture. If this man goes to prison -- unthinkable, yes, but possible in these nightmare days -- there is no heart, no identity no culture left. (Dianawest)

S. African found guilty of inciting hatred against Jews to lead anti-Israel tour in UK -Jonny Paul, Jpost correspondent in London , THE JERUSALEM POST
A member of the South African trade union federation charged with inciting hatred against the Jewish community is the guest of the University College Union (UCU) this week, attending a forum to discuss the academic boycott against Israel and taking part in a UK university campus tour calling for sanctions and boycotts against Israel. Last week, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) found Bongani Masuku, international secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), guilty of using inflammatory, threatening and insulting statements against the South African Jewish community after he made threats against Jewish businesses and supporters of Israel and pronouncements declaring that Jews who support Israel must leave the country. (Jpost)

Antisemitic incidents on the rise in Australia-Dan Goldberg
Antisemitic incidents in Australia have reached record levels, although the number of physical assaults on Jews have dropped, according to an annual report. Jeremy Jones, who has been collating data on antisemitic incidents in the country since 1989, told the annual conference of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) on Sunday that an unprecedented 962 reports of anti-Jewish violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation were received by Australian Jewish organisations between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. His 144-page report reveals that the latest technology was being employed to “spread ancient hatred” and that “rhetorical red lines” had been crossed, especially by the political left, which had engaged in comparisons of Jews and Israelis to Nazis. But Mr Jones, a former president of the ECAJ and the director of community and international affairs for the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, stressed it was not all doom and gloom. (Jewishchronicle)

Melbourne: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators crash Minister Shalom's hotel-Roni Sofer
Protestors calling for 'liberation of Palestine' and 'end to apartheid Israeli regime burst into Israeli delegation's hotel, contained by local police. Minister tells conference Palestinians delaying peace talks despite Israeli financial assistance
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators crashed Minister Silvan Shalom's hotel in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday. Four of the demonstrators were arrested. The incident took place after Minister Shalom addressed some 400 Australian public opinion leaders during a conference that focused on strategic issues. During the conference, some 200 students took part in a protest rally outside the hotel in which the Israeli delegation was staying. The protestors circled the hotel a few times and chanted slogans calling for the "liberation of Palestine" and an end to the "Israeli apartheid and occupation regime." Members of the Israeli delegation, which includes a number of Knesset members and public figures, said the protests intensified as the conference's gala approached. (Ynetnews)

Israel pressing EU to reject J'lem draft-Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST
Both Israeli and European officials believe the conclusions on the Middle East expected to emerge from Monday's EU foreign ministers' meeting will be different from a Swedish draft text calling for east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. However, what remains unclear after nearly a week of internal EU wrangling and heavy lobbying by both Israelis and Palestinians is exactly what the changes will be. Israel is pushing for a text much shorter than the three-to-four-page Swedish draft, and one that would commend Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's housing-start moratorium in the settlements and urge the Palestinians back to the negotiation table. The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, is trying to convince the 27 EU nations to support the Swedish draft resolution on the Middle East that for the first time refers to "Palestine," and calls for a resumption of negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state with "East Jerusalem" as its capital. (Jpost)

Collaborators in the War Against the Jews: Richard A. Falk – by Steven Plaut
It is a bit of a shame that Richard A. Falk, professor emeritus of International Law and Practice from Princeton, cannot go back in time in some sort of time machine to right historic wrongs. If he could, there is no doubt at all that he would revise and re-orchestrate the Nuremberg Trials conducted by the Allies after World War II so that the leaders of the United States and Britain were the ones indicted instead. After all, from 1945 onwards the Allies were guilty of “occupation.” Earlier, they had even dared to use military force against German terrorism, had caused German civilian deaths in their earlier military incursions and air bombing campaigns, and then illegally colonized German territories. If it were up to Falk, the Nuremberg trials would have been devoted to prosecuting the Jews of Europe for causing so much trouble for those poor innocent Germans. Falk is not only one of the worst collaborators in the academic wars against the Jews, he is also America’s leading practitioner of the Orwellian inversion. (Frontpagemagazine)

TERRORISM, security and policy

Al-Qaida Kills Eight Times More Muslims Than Non-Muslims- Yassin Musharbash
Few would deny that Muslims too are victims of Islamist terror. But a new study by the Combating Terrorism Center in the US has shown that an overwhelming majority of al-Qaida victims are, in fact, co-religionists. In the battle against unbelievers, can one also kill Muslims? Even the terror network al-Qaida is troubled by this question. A leading al-Qaida ideologue for the terror network, Abu Yahya al-Libi, has developed his own theologically-based theory of collateral damage that allows militants to kill Muslims when it is unavoidable. Even the Iraqi affiliates of Osama bin Laden's terror group, who are known to be particularly bloodthirsty, claim that they too consider this question. For instance, in a message claiming responsibility for an August attack in Baghdad, the group wished those Sunnis injured in the "operation" a speedy recovery and expressed their hope that those killed would be accepted by God as "martyrs." But even as such apologetic communiqués from al-Qaida show the terror network stylizing itself as a defender of the true faith wrestling with religious concepts, they also make it look as though any dead Muslims are regretful but isolated cases.

The FBI Bungles on Terror Again-Gabriel Schoenfeld
From the December 4, 2009 New York Post
The FBI's failure to see clear warning signs in the Fort Hood case revives the ques tion of whether it's up to the task of countering terrorism. Before his murderous rampage, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was exchanging e-mails with a radical Yemen-based imam with ties to the 9/11 hijackers. FBI investigators examined intercepts -- and, finding that their "content was explainable by his research," concluded "that Hasan was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning." It did not warn the Army of the potential menace. The lapse has been attributed to an FBI bending over backward to avoid giving offense to Muslims. Perhaps it did -- but, thanks to reporting by National Public Radio, we've learned that sheer incompetence played a larger role.
After Hasan's e-mails came under scrutiny, NPR reports, his investigative file languished for months on an agent's desk, growing out of date. When the FBI opted to close the case, the file didn't include fresh e-mails, held in another office, in which Hasan pondered whether Sgt. Hasan Akbar, a Muslim solder who threw grenades at fellow troops at the start of the Iraq war, was a holy martyr. (Hudsoninstitute)

Exclusive: Soldiers of Allah – Preying on Innocent Targets in Their Quest for Jihad-Renee Taylor
The massacre of four police officers in Lakewood, Washington, by Maurice Clemmons, comes less than six months after Arkansas experienced the horrific drive-by shooting that killed one soldier and wounded another in front of an Army recruiting center in Little Rock. Clemmons’ ties to Arkansas have been well-publicized in the days since the murders. Clemmons, a former inmate at the Cummins prison in Grady, Arkansas, had a history of violent criminal behavior. His sentence was commuted by then-governor, Mike Huckabee, who has had much to answer for. Huckabee’s record of pardons is deplorable and that, added to the “catch and release” system that allows violent criminals ample opportunity to continue to terrorize, murder and maim, should cause law makers to take yet another look at both the pardon system and the laws that allow career criminals like Clemmons to go free. (Familysecuritymatters)

United States launches new hunt for Osama bin Laden-AFP
The United States will launch a new effort to track down Osama bin Laden who is believed to be hiding in the mountains along the Afghan-Pakistan border, a senior US official said on Sunday. Intelligence reports suggest the Al-Qaeda chief “is somewhere inside north Waziristan, sometimes on the Pakistani side of the border, sometimes on the Afghan side of the border,” said national security adviser James Jones. Asked if President Barack Obama's administration planned a fresh attempt to go after Al-Qaeda's leader, Jones said: “I think so.” Bin Laden was a “very important symbol of what Al-Qaeda stands for” and it was crucial to make sure he was on the run or captured, Jones, a retired Marine general, told CNN's “State of the Union” program. (Theaustralian)

The Iranian Time Bombs-Michael Ledeen
Iranian President Ahmadinejad has been traveling, looking for someone who would recognize him as the legitimate head of government. Most Iranians certainly don’t, and his stock is pretty low in his own region. So he flew to South America, from Brazil–where President Lula was very friendly–and continued to Venezuela to visit his co-conspirator Hugo Chavez. He arrived to considerable pomp, but the military band at the airport played the pre-revolutionary (i.e., the shah’s) anthem, which could not have pleased the little leader. But the alliance with Chavez is working well, which troubles one of the best men on the continent, Alberto Nisman, Argentina’s courageous prosecutor who has indicted Iranian and Hezbollah leaders for the 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish Social Center. Nisman appeared at an event sponsored by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (where I hang my cloak), and warned about the Iranian penetration of Latin America. (Pajamasmedia)

Americans turning away from the world as isolationism rises to highest level since Vietnam war-Daily Mail Reporter
Americans are turning their backs on the rest of the world, showing a tendency towards isolationism that has risen to the highest level in four decades, according to a poll published yesterday. Almost half (49 per cent) said the U.S. should 'mind its own business' internationally and let other countries get along as best they can, the Pew Research Center found. The results appear to conflict with President Obama's activist foreign policy, including a newly announced build-up of 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Only 32 per cent of those questioned favoured increasing U.S. troops in Afghanistan, while 40 per cent favoured decreasing them. And fewer than half, or 46 per cent, of those polled said it was somewhat or very likely that Afghanistan would be able to withstand the radicals' threat. Forty-one per cent of those surveyed said the U.S. plays a less important and powerful role as a world leader than it did a decade ago, up from 25 per cent who said that just before the September 11 attacks, the report said. (Dailymail.co.uk)

Our New State Is Undemocratic. Is It Also Illegitimate?-Paul Belien
Yesterday the Lisbon Treaty came into force by which the European Union has become a state in its own right. Though many of them do not yet realize it, 500 million Europeans now have a common government to which the governments of their own countries are legally subservient. Since yesterday, the 27 member states of the EU have been reduced to the status of provinces. The Lisbon Treaty, which is the basic charter (i.e. its Constitution) of the new EU state, stipulates that the parliaments of the 27 provinces are obliged to “contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union.” It is their legal obligation to further primarily the interests of the Union, rather than those of their own people. Earlier this week Michel Barnier, the French member of the European Commission, explained to the Paris newspaper Le Figaro that “the European Commission is the EU’s Prime Minister.” Many Europeans think this is a metaphor, but, unfortunately, it is to be taken literally. (Brusselsjournal)

Skeptic Man-Robert Costa
Sen. James Inhofe’s (political) climate is changing for the better.
He’s been named the world’s number-one conservative idiot by left-wing bloggers. European protesters have stuck his mug on “Wanted” posters for calling man-made global warming a “hoax.” And the mainstream media has consistently ridiculed him as an ornery Archie Bunker type, calling him, among other things, “the noisiest climate skeptic in the U.S.” (Bloomberg), “banged on the head too many times” (Garrison Keillor), and, most colorfully, “the Senate’s resident denier bunny,” who “thinks global warming is debunked every time he drinks a slushy and gets a brain freeze” (Jon Stewart).The target of these barbs is the Senate’s resident climate skeptic: Sen. James Inhofe. After two decades in Congress, he tells me he’s used to the knocks. (Nationalreview)

Climate e-mails were hijacked 'to sabotage summit'-Ben Webster, Environment Editor, in Copenhagen and Murad Ahmed
UN officials have likened the theft of e-mails from university climate researchers to the Watergate scandal, after claiming computer hackers were probably paid by people intent on undermining the Copenhagen summit. Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, a vice-chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said that the theft from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) was not the work of amateur climate sceptics, but was a sophisticated and well-funded attempt to destroy public confidence in the science of man-made climate change. He said the fact that the e-mails were first uploaded to a sceptic website from a computer in Russia was an indication that the culprit was paid. “It’s very common for hackers in Russia to be paid for their services,” he said. “If you look at that mass of e-mails a lot of work was done, not only to download the data, but it’s a carefully made selection of e-mails and documents that’s not random at all. (Timesonline.co.uk)

Growing back a lost limb-ISRAEL21c Staff
An Israeli researcher has developed a biologically active 'scaffolding' of soluble fibers which could be used to regenerate lost or damaged bone and tissue.
If a lizard loses its tail, it grows right back, but for human beings a lost limb can never be replaced. Now, however, thanks to breakthrough research from Israel, we may one day be able to regenerate lost or damaged human limbs as effectively as a lizard replaces its tail. Prof. Meital Zilberman of Tel Aviv University has developed a new biologically active 'scaffold' made from soluble fibers, which could be used to help humans replace lost or missing bone or tissue. The artificial and flexible scaffolding releases growth-stimulating drugs to the place where new bone or tissue is needed. It connects tissues together in much the same way as scaffolding is used to surround an existing building when additions to that building are made. (Israel21c)

Paul McCartney: in love and back on the road-Robert Crampton
In love and back on the road, Paul McCartney is in the best place he has been for years. If only John Lennon were here — “It got a bit sticky,” he says, “but we were really good mates again”
For someone who’s been giving interviews for close on 50 years, Paul McCartney is surprisingly unjaded by the process. It’s often said of mega-celebrities how refreshingly normal they are, and usually they’re not: they’ve been spoilt by fame or they were just plain weird to start with. But McCartney, it seems, is an exception. No airs and graces, self-deprecating, relaxed, efficient but friendly, just an ordinary 67-year-old multimillionaire (some say billionaire but I suppose his investments have taken a hit of late) and arguably the most famous man on the planet. The young women in his outer office, which is dominated by a huge Peter Blake, as his inner one is by several de Koonings, say he brings them in leftover food sometimes — mashed potatoes — and doesn’t like being called Sir. “What’s your first question?” they ask. I say I’m going to ask him whether he’s played The Beatles: Rock Band yet. And I do. “Yeah,” McCartney says, once I’ve been ushered inside, “my assistant showed me how to set it up ’cos I’m not Mr Tech. I lost twice. On Easy.” You lost on Easy trying to simulate songs you wrote in the first place? “Yeah, and I was playing bass, I’m ashamed to say. It’s all red and green and yellow buttons. I said, ‘Can we start this again?’ ” McCartney’s Scouse accent, after so long living down south or across the Atlantic or up in Kintyre, is surprisingly strong. (Timesonline.co.uk)

His Art, His Words-MARY TOMPKINS LEWIS
Amsterdam. Artists' letters, often literary treasures in their own right, can provide compelling windows into the private struggles, public triumphs and towering ambitions that shaped their works and lives. The evocative and revealing correspondence of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), excerpted as early as 1893, has long fed a fascination with the artist's impassioned story. Over 800 letters written by van Gogh have survived, most of them addressed to his younger brother, Theo, an art dealer and an indefatigable source of support, and 80 others received from friends and family were saved by the artist. But while many of these letters had been published over the years, they hadn't been approached in their entirety as the illustrious literary monument they are, or with the fullest sense of their import for his art and career. This has now become possible with the publication of all of the artist's extant correspondence in "Vincent van Gogh—The Letters," a richly annotated and illustrated six-volume compendium, and the launch of a related, scholarly and eminently searchable Web edition (www.vangoghletters.org). In tandem and in time, they will undoubtedly reshape the landscape of van Gogh scholarship and the image of the artist long held by the public. (WSJ)