Monday, December 1, 2008

Connecting The Terrorist Dots

From Powerline:

Muslims "Worry About Image" 

That's what the Associated Press says. Somehow, it seems like we've been down this road before:

Muslims from the Middle East to Britain and Austria condemned Sunday the Mumbai shooting rampage by suspected Islamic militants as senseless terrorism, but also found themselves on the defensive once again about bloodshed linked to their religion.

Yeah, that keeps happening. Funny thing.

Many Muslims said they are worried such carnage is besmirching their religion.

D'ya think? Some Muslims, though, don't seem to share that concern:

In Islamic extremist Web forums, some praised the Mumbai attacks, including the targeting of Jews.

A man identified as Sheik Youssef al-Ayeri said the killings are in line with Islam.

"It's all right for Muslims to set the infidels' castles on fire, drown them with water .... and take some of them as prisoners, whether young or old, women or men, because it is one of many ways to beat them," he wrote in the al-Fallujah forum.

In the Gaza Strip, the territory's Islamic militant Hamas rulers declined comment. Hamas has carried out scores of suicide attacks in Israel, killing hundreds of civilians in recent years. However, Hamas has said it does not want to get involved in conflicts elsewhere.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad referred to the attacks as terrorism, but added that the violence is rooted in "unjust policies" aimed at destabilizing the region. He did not elaborate.

No doubt Muslims who actually advocate mass murder are a minority. Some would say that it's what the majority does, or doesn't do, that is the problem.

Muslims and Arabs must confront the violence "that is taking place in our name and in the name of our (Islamic) tenets," wrote Khaled al-Jenfawi, a columnist for Kuwait's Al-Seyassah daily.

"Unfortunately, we have yet to see a distinguished popular condemnation in the traditional Arab or Muslim communities that strongly rejects what is happening in the name of Islam or Arab nationalism," wrote al-Jenfawi.

That's true. So far, most of the world's Muslims haven't been embarrassed enough to take any significant action to reform their religion. They have, I think, a remarkably high threshold of embarrassment.

On a related note, the terrorist slaughter of innocent people in Mumbai finally appears to be over...for now.  Conducted by radical Islamic terrorists (i.e. Muslims) who didn't care one damn bit about their image, the body count is expected to soar to around 300 once the hotel is fully searched.  Apparently, there are rooms where bodies are 'piled' up, and there were a number of instances of horrific torture, especially of Jews that happened to be in the hotel at the time.  Adding insult to evil, some Muslim leaders are actually gloating about the attacks, praising the murderers who slaughtered men, women, and children.

Always helpful, CNN was on the scene, reporting on the whereabouts of survivors inside the hotel.  The terrorists then used those reports to track down and kill some of those survivors.  Thanks, CNN, for adding to the bloodshed.  I hope the families of those people killed through their reports sue them into bankruptcy.

Of the ten known terrorists, nine were killed and one has been captured.  He's a 19-year old who is apparently singing like a bird, explaining in detail how they planned and conducted the attacks.

The group suspected of carrying out the attack is called Lashkar-e-Taiba, and is considered to be closely linked to Al Qaeda:

Lashkar-e-Taiba has an extensive network in southern and Southeast Asia. A senior US military intelligence official described the group as "al Qaeda junior," as it has vast resources, an extensive network, and is able to carry out complex attacks throughout its area of operations. "If by some stroke of luck al Qaeda collapsed, LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) could step in and essentially take its place."The relationship between al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba is complex, the official noted. "While Lashkar-e-Taiba is definitely subordinate to al Qaeda in many ways, it runs its own network and has its own command structure. The groups often train in each others' camps, and fight side by side in Afghanistan."

One of the biggest causes of the magnitude of this rampage is that Indian police were under-equipped and under-prepared to handle it.  Some were unarmed.  Some simply fled.  The terrorists were highly trained, highly disciplined, and seemed to know the terrain better than the cops.  As the woefully inadequate police force floundered about, the terrorists continued slaughtering civilians inside the buildings.

Unfortunately, there may be more attacks in the near future:

Five Mumbai terrorists may still be missing and could be roaming the streets of India's financial capital.
FOX News reported:

At least five terrorist gunmen have evaded capture in Mumbai and could make a secondary strike on India's financial capital, police feared Monday morning.

Indian security forces are officially claiming that ten militants – nine of whom were killed and one caught alive – were behind a coordinated terror attack that claimed nearly 200 lives.

However, the hijacked Indian fishing boat used by the gunmen to approach Mumbai, the crew of which were also slaughtered, had equipment for 15 men on board when it was discovered adrift off the city shore – suggesting that several gunmen could still be at large.

"Fifteen jackets were found, 15 toothbrushes even," one police source said. "That more men were involved, is possible."

The news came as Shakeel Ahmad, India's Deputy Home Minister, said that all the gunmen found so far were from Pakistan, an allegation that threatened to place further stress on the troubled relationship between the two nuclear powers.

...Mumbai residents suspect that perhaps two dozen gunmen had stormed the city – an impression supported by early police and media reports on Wednesday night when a wave of attacks at at least eight locations rocked Mumbai. Angry at the Government's response to the crisis, they are reluctant to accept the assurances that all the terrorists are all accounted for.
I want to point out a couple things.  First, the most obvious: terrorism is alive and well in this world.  The War on Terror will continue until one side or the other wins.  There will be no negotiated peace, only victory or defeat.  I've blogged about that many times before, so I'll mention it again now.

Second, let's all take a moment to consider what happens when the public (not to mention the police) is unarmed in the face of gunmen: they die.  I simply cannot fathom why people insist on 'gun free' zones at schools and on college campuses, or anywhere for that matter.  Owning and carrying a gun is a constitutional right here in the U.S., and going to some place that bars them is inviting disaster.  Remember Virginia Tech?  That psycho killed dozens of people before the cops stopped him.  On the other hand, do you remember that Christian-hating psycho who went on a rampage at a mega-church in Colorado?  I bet you don't, because he was quickly put down by an armed and trained security guard with ice in her veins.  Don't you think he probably would have killed dozens of church-goers if she hadn't stepped in?  Disarming the public is a dangerous thing.

Finally, what both of these articles underscores is that there is a clear and present danger from radical Islam.  We need to open our eyes and wake up to that fact, or we will once again find Muslim terrorists knocking down our doors, spraying bullets and death.  I'm not saying that all Muslims are evil or terrorists, but I am saying that almost all terrorists are radical Muslims.  There's a big difference.  As such, it is the height of insanity that this country (and others) are not taking more precautions to observe mosques and other Muslim organizations that are most certainly fomenting violence.  Yes, I'm talking about profiling.  Call it connecting the terrorist dots, if you will.  We are tempting fate by not doing it, and innocent people will likely pay the price of that temptation with their lives.  Once again, I don't hear any loud condemnation from Muslim groups about these attacks, and the silence is deafening, once again illustrating the need for the Muslim community to grow a spine and clean their own house.  The Christian community utterly rejects, loudly condemns, and actively works to prevent the actions of radical groups like the KKK or skinheads, so why can't Muslims do the same?  Until there is a loud opposition to this sort of violence, the rest of the world will hold Muslims in general in suspicion for the acts of the few.  Personally, I'm not convinced there is an opposition, but I'd love to be proven wrong on that.


This tragedy is still fresh in people's minds, and our thoughts and prayers need to go out to those who have been devastated by it.  At the same time, we need to learn from the mistakes that were made here, and correct them for our own future safety.

There's my two cents.



Sources:
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/mumbai-terrorists-tortured-israelis.html
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/british-hate-preacher-choudary-gloats.html
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/british-couple-at-taj-hotel-we-thought.html
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/mumbai-death-toll-may-reach-300-bodies.html
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/11/a_quick_backgrounder_on_lashka.asp
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122809281744967855.html
http://theresmytwocents.blogspot.com/2008/02/guns-save-lives.html
http://theresmytwocents.blogspot.com/2007/12/quick-hits-tuesday-edition.html

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