As I observed the immediate aftermath of the shoe throwing incident in Baghdad, I noted that the most striking effect occurred among the Western public, and particularly within the United States. Commentators and regular citizens were asking themselves again, seven years later, “why do they hate us?” missing one more time the fact that this particular violent expression, far from being a unique emotional reaction by one individual, is part of a war of ideas; it is a continuous organized confrontation over the future of the region. In short, this was another form of Jihadism, one I am coining now as a Jihad by the Shoe (Jihad bil Hizaa). Here is why.
I posted a video the other day from the same person and this one is just as good. A little shorter in length but just as good. This video is made of the men from 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2/503rd, 173rd Airborne BCT.
Last week, the French National Assembly (equivalent of Congress) issued a report concluding that Iran could get a nuclear weapon anywhere between 2009 and 2010.
It did not get the coverage it deserved but is a reminder that Iran needs to be a focus for the incoming Obama administration.
I wrote an article on this topic for The Middle East Times.
You can read it in full here.
Here is an excerpt:
While the recent focus of the world's media has been on the global economic crisis, another issue of major concern is looming: Iran and its nuclear program. The incoming U.S. administration of Barack Obama is going to have to tackle this issue in the first days of office. Indeed, even though it did not get much coverage, the French National Assembly issued an alarming report which assessed that Iran could get its first nuclear bomb between 2009 and 2010.
This assessment is the result of a one-year research where numerous experts were interviewed both in Iran and outside of Islamic Republic.
The president of the commission, Socialist MP Jean-Louis Bianco is certain that the Iranian nuclear program is military.
Said Bianco: "The Iranians have enriched 1,600 kilos of uranium but are unable to give an answer, to show a concrete project when one asks them about the advances of their civilian program. Why?"
Pakistan's interior Affairs advisor Rehman Malik has blamed the anti Shia, Al-Qaeda affiliate terrorist group Lashkar- e- Jhangvi for the Marriott hotel suicide attack in Islamabad, that killed over sixty people including Czech ambassador, couple of US Soldiers and many foreigners on September 20. Nearly 200 others were injured in the attack. According to earlier reports, the suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with around 600 kg of explosives (RDX) at the Marriott.
Soon after the attack in September last, a lesser known group Fidayeen-e-Islam had claimed responsibility while warning for more such attacks on Westerners. One spokesman identified himself as Ahmad Shah Abdali, reportedly told Al Arabiya TV in Islamabad over phone about the outfit’s involvement and put some condition to stop attacks against the US interests in Pakistan, including an end to the Pak-US cooperation. The initial suspicion was on another Al Qaeda affiliate terror group, Harkatul Jehad-ul Islami. However, Malik has said in the parliament on Dec 22 that the investigating agencies have completed their investigation into Marriott incident which was planned and executed by the LeJ.
….Its core objectives: namely the eradication of Pakistan’s Shi’a community and the eventual transformation of the country into a Taliban style Islamic state. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ - Jhangvi’s Army), firmly allied to the Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and with loose links to al-Qaeda, is undoubtedly the most prolific and callous terrorist organization in Pakistan.
Ostensibly a break-away faction of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), LeJ was founded in 1996 by an extremist triumvirate within SSP - namely Riaz Basra, Akram Lahori and Malik Ishaque. Inspired by the ideals of SSP’s founding leader Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, Basra and his followers accused the SSP leadership of not following the ideals of its slain leader. Another plausible reason for the emergence of LeJ was the rising violence of Sipah-e-Mohammed Pakistan (SMP), a Shi’a organization formed in 1994, ostensibly to target the leaders of SSP. Many top leaders of the SSP, including Israr-ul-Haq Qasmi and Zia ur-Rahman Farooqi were assassinated by SMP extremists in the following years. However it is widely believed that the split of 1996 was manufactured to protect the political integrity of SSP and enable the so-called breakaway faction to transform itself into a purely paramilitary-terrorist organization. In any case, events since 1996 have proved beyond doubt that the LeJ constitutes the armed wing of the SSP and is ultimately controlled by the leaders of that powerful and Saudi-backed sectarian organization.
Five Muslim immigrants were convicted Monday of plotting to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in a case the government said demonstrated its post-Sept. 11 determination to stop terrorist attacks in the planning stages.
The Marine Corps has awarded a limited contract to three rifle manufacturers for a weapon to replace its M249 Squad Automatic Rifle. The contract calls for a minimum of 10 weapons from each company to conduct further evaluation for an eventual down-select to one weapon. The final manufacturer could garner nearly $27 million for 6,500 of the rifles.
President Hamid Karzai pressed America's top military leader Monday on the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan as it prepares to pour up to 30,000 more forces into the country.
Nearly six out of 10 British soldiers drink so much they could be classified as alcoholics, according to a shocking internal report by the Ministry of Defence.
The U.S. Navy wants to teach sailors how to hunt submarines off the coast of Jacksonville, but it's trying to prove its proposed undersea-warfare-training range won't hurt the world's most endangered whale.
This is another reason why I have loved having President Bush in office. He is a man of character and values. So what he screws up a word every once in a while or speaks from emotion when he says things like we will get them “dead or alive”. The man is truthful and shows his heart to all. He does not put on that fake persona like Bill Clinton did or many other politicians do from both sides of the aisle.
I will truly miss him as President, and for all that have bashed him over the last eight years, you will to one day, you will too.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s), myself included, and not intended as a directive or recommendation. Your ability to in turn express your opinions are just one of the rights I defended as a United States Army soldier. I respect and encourage that right. I ask only this; if you disagree with any of the material presented, either by the author or by posters, take a deep breath and think before you post. Be introspective. Be concise. Form a complete, well thought, and above all polite response before posting. The inability to communicate politely and succinctly on emotionally charged issues will do nothing to promote productive sharing of viewpoints. We must speak rationally and intelligently to each other as individuals before we can ever hope to do it as a country. To do anything less is to denigrate each other, hide away the truth, and perpetuate that which we seek to overcome.
