Dinah Lord

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for 2010!

Texas: Explosive device found with Koran

Oh boy. 

From WFAA.com:

Authorities tell News 8 a suspicious device found in a North Texas neighborhood did contain explosives. It was found near a copy of the Koran. Investigators don't know whether they were left by the same person.

A resident found what appeared to be a coke can on the street just before noon Thursday.  What he saw inside, however, caused him to call 9-1-1.  “It's some type of metal in a coke can,” said Sean Hughes, Northeast Explosives Response Team.  Firefighters at the scene called in the Northeast Explosives Response Team.  

“They zip tied the can in case it was a grenade type of device with a trigger, and they secured the can, and then they picked it up and put it in the trailer.” Hughes said.

The team took the device to a local range and determined the can did contain explosives. It was, a spokesman says, rendered safe.

The fire department turned all potential evidence over to the FBI, including a copy of the Koran found in the street not far from the explosive device.

”What we found was a relatively new Koran, looked like it had been fairly recently purchased and unused,” Hughes said.

Investigators don't know whether the discovery of the Koran is a coincidence. The FBI is now heading the investigation.

Hooligans leaving a twisted message or Muslim PR stunt?  Hopefully, time and investigation will tell.  It's not exactly the lamb's head left in the microwave at the Ohio Ikea.

FYI - North Richland TX is approximately 3 miles away from the Al-Sahaabah Mosque and call me crazy, but I don't like the way this outfit sounds.  They're all peace be upon you until you get to their vision and realize they are all about making the da'wah and establishing the ummah in America.  No thanks.  Not until you stop with the gender apartheid in your worship services, m'kay?

• Our vision is to provide and practice the Islamic principles in our community. Our goal is to serve Muslims, especially the new Muslim generation.  As there are many Muslims and converts that are not practicing the religion of Islam, we look forward to supporting our Muslim brothers/sisters using our resources in the most effective ways. Current and next generation of Muslim children deserve to have the opportunity to acquire the needed Islamic knowledge here in the United States. Now is the time to make the dreams for the future come true.
• Produce a new generation of Muslims to serve Islam and Da'wah according to the principles of Qu'ran and Sunna.
• Attract both Muslims and non-Muslims in North America to pursue Islamic studies and achieve academic degrees in order to strengthen their faith and establish their conviction in Islam.
• Produce highly educated and trained Islamic researchers and scholars who have a good understanding of Islam, practice Islam to convey their knowledge to the larger Muslim communities.
• Bring the Holy Qur'an to the forefront of Muslim daily life.
• Initiate joint research and cooperation with surrounding communities, educational institutions, and research centers in North America to provide practical solutions for issues facing the American Muslim society.

The roots of radical Islam - down where it's tangled and dark

Normally, Dinah's not all that into identifying the root causes of terror in radical Islamists.  To her way of thinking the only root cause that really needs to be identified is ISLAM.  

Oh, I have pondered the nauseatingly high rates of consanguinity in Muslim countries.  Talk about peeing in the gene pool!  And then there's that whole shame based Muslim culture that sure seems to serve up a lot of crazy.  To say nothing of that whole he-man, woman hating thing.  Really, where does that come from?

But I have to admit that I had never really given much thought to the 'father figure' issue until I read this article by Phyllis Chesler today. 

One is the 17th son; the other is the 16th son. Neither are the sons of a first wife. One is an engineer; the other was an engineering student. Both have ancestral roots in Yemen. Both are educated and come from wealthy families.

I am talking about Osama bin Laden–the 17th son among 57 children whose father is Yemeni–and the Christmas Day Bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab–the 16th and youngest son, whose mother is Yemeni. Both men were born "shamed," disadvantaged, because their mothers were not "first," or high-status wives.

Both men are lonely sons of Allah, yearning for paternal attention, even affection, in a polygamous culture in which fathers have too many children and little incentive to pay close attention to any one of them. This is devastating, especially to sons, because the culture overly values fathers and men, and grossly undervalues mothers and women. Thus, the attention a son may receive from his mother (if she is not sent away, as Bin Laden’s mother was) does not make up for the missing and longed-for father.

Ms. Chesler goes on to draw an even more interesting comparison:

Based on his memoirs, even our totally assimilated American President is still in search of his missing, absent, polygamous Muslim father. Folks: The comparison stops here. I am not suggesting that Obama has anything else in common with Bin Laden or Abdulmutallab.

(I've always said the man has issues, but I digress.)

Ms. Chesler concludes:

If Arab Muslims truly want to change the culture in which terrorism flourishes and which includes the master handlers and manipulators (Nancy Kobrin and I call them “serial killers by proxy”), the sexually repressed and permanently “shamed” young men, the permanently endangered women, and the homicide-and-hate preachers—that culture will have to undergo a revolution as far as women are concerned.

Think about what that revolution might look like. Polygamy; forced, arranged child marriage; purdah; forced veiling; female illiteracy; female genital mutilation; female sexual slavery; gender segregation; sexual repression/obsession; in short, everything that characterizes Islamic gender apartheid would have to go.

As would Islamic religious apartheid.

If not, we will be playing catch-up for a hundred years with hundreds of thousands of would be martyr-killers, some of whom we ourselves will release and have to catch again.

She delivers the root cause coup de grace with this:

And, think about it: Abdulmutallab was willing to set fire to his genitals. The explosives were not only taped to his leg; they were also contained in a condom-like pouch in his crotch inside his underwear. If anyone out there is willing to think symbolically, psycho-analytically, here goes: We are looking at a young man whose sexuality is literally “on fire,” whose ability or desire to procreate is all bound up with his desire to kill and die.

Eros versus Thanatos. Good versus Evil. Big stuff.

Indeed. 

This hurts: Afghan suicide bomber was invited guest at CIA base, not searched.

He was being recruited as an informant... and the base was at the heart of a covert program overseeing strikes by drones along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Courtesy of AP:

The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees and wounded six more at a remote outpost in southeastern Afghanistan had been invited onto the base and had not been searched, two former U.S. officials have told The Associated Press.

A former senior intelligence official says the man was being courted as an informant and that it was the first time he had been brought inside the camp.

The official says a senior and experienced CIA debriefer came from Kabul for the meeting, suggesting that the purpose of the meeting was to gain intelligence.

The former intelligence officials and another former official with knowledge of the attack spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The CIA would not confirm the details, and said they were still gathering evidence.

In other panty bomber news: Bomber's final call wigged out Dad so bad ...

"the father approached Nigerian officials who took him directly to the CIA's station chief in the Nigerian capital..."

Umar the panty bomber and dear old dad.  The pic of Umar is believed to be about 10 years old.  Note the absence of a prayer bump in this photo. But not in this one.  More about dear old dad and Umar later.  ----->

According to ABC News.

The accused "underwear bomber" made a dramatic final call to his father that he found so alarming, the father approached Nigerian officials who took him directly to the CIA's station chief in the Nigerian capital, sources told ABC News.

Current and former officials of the Nigerian government, including a source close to the suspect's family, say Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, called his father from Yemen with the warning that it would be his last contact.

It has previously been reported that the man's father, prominent Nigerian banker Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, went to Nigerian and American officials on Nov. 19 to warn them that his son had been radicalized by Islamic militants in Yemen.

[...]

ABC News' sources said that during Abdulmutallab's final call, he told his father the call would be his last contact with the family. He said that the people he was with in Yemen were about to destroy his SIM card, rendering his phone unusable.

[...]

The next day the embassy sent out a thin report to U.S. embassies around the world warning Adbulmutallab may be associating with extremists in Yemen.

The CIA official compiled two more robust reports following the meeting with the suspect's father. One was sent back to CIA's Langley, Va., the other remained in draft form in Nigeria and was not circulated until after the attempted attack on Christmas Day, according to a U.S. official.

Oh, and about that 'preliminary review' due on Obama's desk today?  The most transparent administration in history will not be releasing it.  They won't even be releasing details of the so-called review.  So there, sheeple.

Iraq and Afghanistan. A tale of two conflicts.

As one winds down:  December poised to be first month with no combat deaths in Iraq war.

The other surges:  Number of US soldiers killed in Afghanistan doubles in 2009.

May God bless and protect our troops wherever they may serve in 2010.

Nigeria: Panty bomber started his trip in Ghana...

...and only spent 30 minutes in Lagos.  He was screened twice - once upon check-in and again at the boarding gate. 

<--- Umar the panty bomber.  Note the beginnings of a prayer bump on his forehead.  I'd have profiled him just on the basis of that!  But that's just me.

Per Reuters:

"Further investigations by the Nigerian government have revealed that Abdulmutallab spent less than 30 minutes in the Nigerian airport before boarding the flight to Amsterdam," Information Minister Dora Akunyili said in a statement.

"He arrived in Nigeria on 24 December from Ghana via Virgin Nigeria (Ed, note:  his flying Virgin Nigeria seems kind of ironic - especially given the nature of injuries and him being a jihad and all.). His passport was scanned on entry into Nigeria at 20:08 and was scanned in at check-in for departure to Amsterdam at 20:35," she said.

Although Abdulmutallab was known to have bought his ticket in Ghana's capital Accra, he had been thought to have started his journey on December 24 in Lagos, where he boarded a KLM flight to Amsterdam before transiting to the Detroit flight.

[...]

He did not check in any baggage but was carrying a shoulder bag when he checked in for the KLM flight in Lagos, according to the head of Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority. He went through a metal detector and his bag was x-rayed before he went through a second screening at the boarding gate.

Obama on Panty bomber: "We will not rest until we find all who are involved...

and hold them accountable."

Or something. 

Could you pass the popcorn?

Obama family goes to the movies to see Avatar.

President Barack Obama's family is watching the movie "Avatar."

The Obamas visited a movie theater near their rented vacation home in Hawaii on Thursday morning for a screening of the sci-fi spectacular. Officials say the first family had the theater to themselves to watch director James Cameron's tech-heavy film.

The Obamas, including first daughters Sasha and Malia, left their compound before noon on New Year's Eve. Before the screening, Obama, a self-described movie buff, worked out at the Marine Corps base nearby.

The Obamas are set to return to Washington in the new year.

Texas: Rocket launcher, jihadist materials found in Houston apartment

No charges filed against purported owner, Nabilaye I. Yansane (funny, he doesn't sound Amish), because "maybe it belonged to somebody else".  Nothing to see here folks - move along now.

From Jihad Watch:

HOUSTON -- Police went to a southwest Houston apartment to break up a disturbance but ended up finding something else, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.

A woman called police on Monday and said a man was forcing his way into her apartment in the 5300 block of Elm Street.  When officers went inside, they found something that made them concerned enough to call the bomb squad.

They found an AT-4 shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. It can shoot a missile nearly 1,000 feet through buildings and tanks.

"It gives infantrymen the advantage with an ultra-light weapon that can stop vehicles, armored vehicles as well as main battle tanks and fortifications," said Oscar Saldivar of Top Brass Military and Tactical on the North Freeway. That type of rocket launcher has been used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The renter of the apartment didn't want to talk to KPRC Local 2.  "This is my house," the woman said. " Get away from here. I don't want to talk to nobody."

The woman did tell police that the rocket launcher belonged to Nabilaye I. Yansane, someone whom she allowed to store items at her apartment.

Police records show that she didn't want Yansane at her apartment, so she called them.

According to court documents, officers also found Jihadist writings that allegedly belonged to Yansane. The woman didn't want to talk to KPRC Local 2 about that, either.

"I don't know," she said. "You'll have to ask the police."

Yansane was charged with criminal trespassing and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to three days in jail, which he has already served. No charges related to the rocket launcher or writings were filed.

"Other people could have had access to the apartment, so maybe if a rocket launcher was located there, as is stated in the offense report, maybe it belonged to somebody else," attorney Garl Polland said.

Prosecutors said there are no state charges for having the unarmed launcher or possessing Jihadist writings, unless they contain some type of threat.

The former director of Houston's FBI office said rocket launchers can be dangerous if they're in the wrong hands.

No shi&, Sherlock.

Good news: 58% favor waterboarding Underpants Bomber

Bad news:  It will never happen under the Obama Administration.

Rasmussen reports:

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 30% oppose the use of such techniques, and another 12% are not sure.

Men and younger voters are more strongly supportive of the aggressive interrogation techniques than women and those who are older. Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party favor their use more than Democrats.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of all voters think the attempt by the Nigerian Muslim to blow up the airliner as it landed in Detroit should be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act. Only 22% say it should be handled by civilian authorities as a criminal act, as is currently the case.

I think you all know where Dinah comes out on this one.