Europe Criticises Copenhagen over Cartoons
From the desk of Paul Belien on Wed, 2005-12-21 15:13

According to Islam it is blasphemy to depict the Prophet Muhammad. Last Summer a Danish writer complained that he could not find an artist to illustrate his book about Muhammad because illustrators feared retaliation by Denmark’s Muslim immigrant population. This prompted Jyllands-Posten (JP), Denmark’s largest newspaper, to test whether the threat of Islamic terrorism has restricted the freedom of expression in Denmark. JP asked a considerable number of artists to draw a picture of Muhammad to illustrate an article about freedom of speech in a multicultural society. Only 12 artists were prepared to do so.

On 7 December, the 56 member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) unanimously condemned Denmark for its refusal to act against alleged “islamophobia” in the press. In a letter to the OIC Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, deplored the Danish newspaper’s “lack of respect for the religion of others” and announced that the UN experts on racism would take the matter up with the Danish government.

Islamophobia ? Is that what you call it when Muslims make death threats?

Of course Muslims are well-known for their sense of humor. Ahem. Take for example Albert Brooks’ Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World:

Although the movie does not discuss religion and lightly ridicules Washington, Brooks faced difficulties getting it on screen. He said the title caused Sony to refuse to distribute it fearing reprisals from Muslims, a reaction he said underscored the importance of challenging stereotypes in Hollywood.

According to Brooks Americans are so stupid we can’t tell the difference between Arab and Asian Muslims. Ha ha. Let me take a crack. One wants to conquer the world starting with the Middle East, the other wants to conquer the world starting with Asia. Or is there something about dar al islam, dar al harb, and jihad that I don’t understand?

So what is the result of the Jyllands-Posten “test”? Where are the brave free speech advocates and champions of secularism that should be leaping to the defense of this Danish newspaper? They leap to the defense of those who drown Christ in piss, but Allah forbid you draw his Prophet. Cross that line and you’re on your own islamophobe.

Best of Notable Quotables
The 18th Annual Awards for the Year’s Worst Reporting

Matt Lauer in Baghdad: “Talk to me…about morale here. We’ve heard so much about the insurgent attacks, so much about the uncertainty as to when you folks are going to get to go home. How would you describe morale?”
Chief Warrant Officer Randy Kirgiss: “In my unit morale is pretty good. Every day we go out and do our missions and people are ready to execute their missions. They’re excited to be here.”
Lauer: “How much does that uncertainty of [not] knowing how long you’re going to be here impact morale?”|
Specialist Steven Chitterer: “Morale is always high. Soldiers know they have a mission. They like taking on new objectives and taking on the new challenges….”
Lauer: “Don’t get me wrong here, I think you are probably telling me the truth, but a lot of people at home are wondering how that could be possible with the conditions you’re facing and with the attacks you’re facing. What would you say to those people who are doubtful that morale can be that high?”
Captain Sherman Powell: “Sir, if I got my news from the newspapers also, I’d be pretty depressed as well.”
— Exchange on NBC’s Today, August 17.

Among the many jawdropping examples of bias this one highlights what I think is the most important. The war. For many of us the gap between what the major US news organizations say and what is really going on is getting clearer, due primarily to the free exchange of information and opinion made possible by the internet. This year beside the war reporting the bias was apparent in the undercoverage of historic events like the elections in the Middle East, Syrian machinations in and eventual withdrawal from Lebanon, the UN oil for food scandal, Iran’s march toward nuclear weapons and its leader’s bizarre statements, the genocide in Sudan, and the French riots. Just as telling was the ridiculous overexposure of Natalee Holloway, Cindy Sheehan, Wilson/Plame, and the redefinition of “gulag” and “torture”. Those who decide what’s fit to report might consider rejiggering their priorities. As a consumer of news it’s a pain to sift through so much crap to find the intellectually honest reports, but the option is at least available nowadays. The information monopoly is dead.

But back to the point I wanted to make: The bias in the news has killed people this year. People have died in Iraq because the media continues to distort the truth about the nature of our enemy, their attacks, and the success of our efforts against them. The connecting thread of Islam is conveniently overlooked, except where it illustrates the violation of some political correctness taboo. The unknown mother of one dead soldier is elevated above all the rest and provided an unlimited limelight, her more ignorant and bigoted comments and the lack of popular support conveniently muted. In the wake of a new constitution and on the eve of the 3rd election an unknown congressman declares Iraq lost calls for immediate withdrawal and is elevated to hero. About the same time Senator Lieberman’s firsthand observations and opposing opinion go unnoticed. The non-outing of a pair of partisan leakers is portrayed as a major blow against (rather than for) national security. It could even be the Next Watergate™. Meanwhile the Washington Post and New York Times print with glee the real secrets of still more partisan leakers and really do hurt national security. The Pulitzers are already in the mail. Last but not least they report anti-terror measures taken by the government after 9/11 with a scandalous tone – until polls reveal it helps Bush. See? Even though it’s unintentional there is sometimes a right-wing bias in the news.

I made a bit of fun there toward the end, but it really doesn’t fit. The distortion in the reporting from Iraq and relating to the war in general has eroded our morale and lent hope to our enemies. The fighting in Iraq has undoubtedly been more intense and lasted longer because of it. Obviously shit happens in war. How much shit happens is not entirely beyond our control. Maybe the media just doesn’t want to come across as cheerleaders. Instead they come across as ahistoric Chicken Little defeatists. It has made things worse. Is that what they wanted?

Here’s wishing that in 2006 they report more about what’s really going on. Give us some context for the next report on “torture”, secret prisons, and spying. Don’t suppress the grisly images of attacks against us. Don’t gloss over the substance when we get a new message from al Qaeda. Should laymen have to search out jihadi communications themselves? Why are there no 60 Minutes or 20/20 reports on this? Surely it’s better fodder for professional investigative journalists than the drivel they’ve tried to puff up into scandals throughout 2005. What precisely is the difference between moderate Islam and radical Islam? Is the Islamofacist threat over- or underestimated? Considering that the fate of civilization hangs in the balance the mainstream media’s failure to even ask such questions is absurd.

EXCLUSIVE: Nuclear Monitoring of Muslims Done Without Search Warrants
Posted 12/22/05
By David E. Kaplan

In search of a terrorist nuclear bomb, the federal government since 9/11 has run a far-reaching, top secret program to monitor radiation levels at over a hundred Muslim sites in the Washington, D.C., area, including mosques, homes, businesses, and warehouses, plus similar sites in at least five other cities, U.S. News has learned. In numerous cases, the monitoring required investigators to go on to the property under surveillance, although no search warrants or court orders were ever obtained, according to those with knowledge of the program. Some participants were threatened with loss of their jobs when they questioned the legality of the operation, according to these accounts.

Isn’t it odd how difficult a time the liberal press has mentioning the Islamic factor in any terrorist act, to the point where such mention is found only in the last few paragraphs of their story, or left out entirely, but when it comes to a perceived infringement of privacy perpetrated by the government in their efforts to protect us from aforementioned terrorist acts the liberal press doesn’t hesitate to see and state clearly the Islamic angle right up front? Don’t matters of life and death deserve more or at least as much scrutiny as matters of mere privacy? Wouldn’t it be fair, if you’re going to mention “9/11” and “Muslim” in the first paragraph that it be to point out that the 9/11 terrorists were all Muslim and singularly motivated by a desire to advance Islam’s cause? Wouldn’t that help explain why the government has an interest in investigating Muslims and monitoring their meeting places? And since the press feels compelled, presumably for contextual purposes, to provide the total body count since 2003 every time they report the latest US military casualty in Iraq, you’d think in this story it would make sense to mention Jose Padilla, AKA Abdullah Al Muhajir, AKA the Muslim dirty bomber.

These and other developments suggest that the federal government’s domestic spying programs since 9/11 have been far broader than previously thought.

Two individuals, who declined to be named because the program is highly classified, spoke to U.S. News because of their concerns about the legality of the program.

With so many enemy sympathizers working within our government it will take a miracle to prevent the coming attacks from Muslims. Is it OK to say that? If you break the law for sure to tattle on something you think might be illegal but for damn sure is effective, isn’t it fair to infer that your sympathies must lie more with the enemy than with your own country? Is it OK to note the fervent ideology of the attackers and monitor those who gather to discuss it? “Far broader” would be Geiger counters everywhere and monitoring what they actually say in the mosques. The attitude that simply checking for radioactivity is an intolerable invasion of privacy would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so serious.

Fitzgerald: Monitoring mosques, and its cost
December 23, 2005

Monitoring the mosques all over the non-Muslim world, of course, is a tall order. And a very expensive one, added to all the other huge expenses incurred in the campaign to make Infidel lands safe from the very people who are, paradoxically, still allowed in when should have been clear to all who had bothered to study the doctrines of Islam and the history of Islamic rule over non-Muslims, what was to have been expected.

Unprecedented and unjustified? No.

Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches
December 20, 2005, 9:46 a.m.

In a little-remembered debate from 1994, the Clinton administration argued that the president has “inherent authority” to order physical searches — including break-ins at the homes of U.S. citizens — for foreign intelligence purposes without any warrant or permission from any outside body.

Executive Order 12333, signed by Ronald Reagan in 1981, provides for such warrantless searches directed against “a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power.”

Those who wage jihad in order to impose sharia are indeed agents of a foreign power. They threaten the survival of civilization itself, not just the US, and some “infidels” are unfortunately having trouble coming to grips with that.