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Posted on 12/15/2005 5:40:46 PM PST by nwctwx
Good question on if the refugees will return to N.O., some yes, but not all.
Many appear to have taken the chance of a new start with help, holding on with both hands and going for a new life in the world.
The N.O. was never as it was given to us, the media hyped it to the point of pure lies, so it is of no use to them now.
To talk about it would expose some of the lies they gave out.
They tried to throw the people off the cruise ships, but they got an attorney and the last I heard on the news, the judge said they can stay there until Feb of 2006.
I don't know how they can do much about N.O. as the local
leaders don't appear to know/care about what is being done.
No, I am not surprised to find that the media in Australia direct what will be reported and will happen...
A truthful and thoughtful post.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1542145/posts
Police taped terror plot to kill Howard
The Australian ^ | December 17, 2005 | James Madden
Posted on 12/16/2005 7:22:17 PM PST by Dundee
Police taped terror plot to kill Howard
TWO Melbourne terror suspects discussed killing John Howard and his
family, launching a large-scale attack at a football game and causing
carnage at a train station as part of a religious war in Australia.
In a series of chilling conversations caught on police listening devices
and revealed yesterday, self-styled Muslim cleric Abdul Nacer
Benbrika, 46, and 20-year-old Abdulla Merhi discussed the terror plot
as payback for the deaths of Muslims.
"For example, if John Howard kills innocent Muslim families do we ...
do we have to kill him and his family ... (and) his people, like at the
football?" asked Mr Merhi. Mr Benbrika allegedly replied: "If they kill
our kids, we kill little kids."
"We send a message back to them," Mr Merhi allegedly said.
"That's it, an eye for an eye," Mr Benbrika replied.
The conversations, recorded on September 24, were played to the
Melbourne Magistrates Court during the unsuccessful bail applications
of two of the accused men who were charged after last month's
early-morning anti-terror raids in Melbourne.
The prosecution alleged that Mr Merhi went to see Mr Benbrika to seek
the cleric's advice on whether it was best to "bring jihad" here or
overseas.
According to the police surveillance transcripts, Mr Benbrika told Mr
Merhi to be patient and that rather than working alone, he should
work together with the group.
"You shouldn't just kill one or two or three," Mr Benbrika allegedly
said, before advising him to consider doing something "close to the
(train) station".
"Do a big thing," Mr Benbrika said. "Like Spain," Mr Merhi added, in
an apparent reference to the terrorist attacks in Madrid in March last
year, in which 191 people were killed when 10 bombs exploded on
four trains during the morning peak hour.
Mr Merhi was also overheard asking Mr Benbrika - who is believed to
be the spiritual leader of the 10-strong alleged terror cell in Melbourne
- if committing to jihad would please God.
Mr Benbrika said it would, "because they are killing our brothers and
Allah is telling us (to take revenge) according to the verse (the
Koran)".
Mr Merhi allegedly replied: "I want in on everything."
Another of the accused terror suspects, 31-year-old Hany Taha, who
was also refused bail yesterday, was said to be present during a
conversation about "slaughtering police".
The court also heard Mr Benbrika had become infuriated by a rival
Melbourne cleric preaching that al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden
was "on the wrong path".
According to Crown prosecutor Nick Robinson, Mr Benbrika spat each
time the unnamed Muslim teacher's name was mentioned, and
suggested his followers attack the man with a baton because it was
thought he might have tipped off police about the group's activities.
"How can this man who appears knowledgeable in faith say that
Osama bin Laden is on the wrong path?" Mr Benbrika said.
The two men's lawyers unsuccessfully argued that their clients should
be released on bail because of the expected long delay before their
committal hearing, tentatively set down for June.
It was also put that both men had sworn on the Koran that they would
adhere to whatever conditions were placed on them, should they be
released on bail.
But magistrate Reg Marron said that while the prosecution's case was
"not overwhelming", the alleged conversations involving Mr Merhi and
Mr Benbrika showed some "disturbingly strong and reasonably
assertive positions".
Mr Merhi and Mr Taha are among 10 Melbourne men charged last
month with being members of a terrorist organisation. Eight of the 10
men are also charged with financing a terrorist organisation, and Mr
Benbrika is charged with directing a terrorist organisation.
Mr Merhi and Mr Taha showed no emotion as they were refused bail.
But Mr Merhi's 18-year-old wife Violet, who is due to give birth to the
couple's first child in 10 days, left the courtroom in tears.
The 10 men will next appear in court in April.
850koa.com, radio news, had a report on air, of a semi truck, which hit a train, driver is ok, the incident is being investigated.
The Bakery muslim gang in San Francisco area, has issued another threat to a liquor store, to stop selling liquor.
per kgo.com news.
kgo.com radio news.
Lancaster, Calif.
Two youths arrested, with plans to blow up high school.
Into the Gothic, had black trench coats and boots.
Since I highly doubt that FEMA would allow me to bring my neccessary personal weapons....there is no way I would comply. Applying tinfoil...if they we so ineffective this past year in Lousiana, Texas, et.al....I don't see how they would get families like mine to go to one of these camps....unless they are far better equipped and trained for "prison" camps than they are for "evacuation" camps.
Ok, I have lost the kgo.com station, but have to tellyou, that they found 51 packages of fake tami meds at the San Francisco airport shipping dept.
I just heard a young lady speak on ABC news, that had I heard in person, i think i would have slapped her.
On a flight to Las Vegas, 2 men were heard talking about a bomb. As I understood it, the plane landed, maybe in San Francisco.
The plane was emptied, and the luggage researched.
The stupid gal said " I think it is wrong to delay our flight, why they even brought dogs in to sniff".
Yes, she had the normal "San Francisco - Liberal voice", you really needed to hear her voice, to understand, why she would have caused you to loose all control.
For all that I know, there are fools out there, who still remind me of why the President has the troubles that he has, the fools who do not know that we are at war.
I thought this was funny. It seems they have killed/captured al-qaeda's number 3 about six times since 9/11. I think being "al-qaeda's #3" is equivalent to being the Star-Trek extra in the red uniform. You know they are gonna get blown up by the end of the episode.
An Australia blog, with riot reports, as per the email that I get.
http://aussie_news_views.typepad.com/aussie_news_views/2005/12/cronulla_beach__2.html
I heard a woman call in to QVC the other day saying she was sitting in a FEMA trailer because of hurrican Katrina. She was buying gold necklaces and stuff to replace her lost jewelry. I'm going to think positively and hope she's spending insurance money. There is no way a person cannot regroup themselves after all this time unless they are legitimately disabled. Jobs are available everywhere, these people just need to go out and find them. Then they can pay their own way. If the government continues to foot the bill they have no reason to change their habits of taking handouts.
Lucy, where did the info you posted next come from?
The babe on the plane will be in the link here.....
There is also another radiation leak in Chechnya...granny
December 17, 2005 Anti-Terrorism News
(Australia) Police taped terror plot to kill Howard
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17594275%255E601,00.html
Two terrorist suspects in Australia, Abdul Nacer Benbrika and Abdulla
Merhi, were caught on tape discussing killing Prime Minister John Howard
and his family, launching a large-scale attack at a football game and
causing carnage at a train station as part of a religious war in
Australia.
Senator: Bill would prevent chemical plants from becoming WMDs
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/16/plant.security/index.html
A Maine senator is planning to introduce legislation Monday that would
set mandatory security standards for chemical plants
Commentary: The Senate's pre-9/11 mindset
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20051216-093824-6963r.htm
Patriot Act renewal fails in Senate
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/16/patriot.act/index.html
GOP fights to save provisions before end-of-year deadline
US House of Representatives passes resolution against Hamas
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309595237&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The US House of Representatives passed in a overwhelming majority
Friday a resolution calling for banning the Hamas from taking part in the
Palestinian elections.
(California) Jet evacuated at airport over bomb remark
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10500963/
One man detained after flight attendants in California overhear comment
Officials: Bush Authorized NSA Eavesdropping in U.S.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,178893,00.html
(Thailand) Australians warned of terrorist threats
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/17Dec2005_news09.php
(Russia) Radiation alert at Chechen plant
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4535452.stm
The case has also raised fears militants could take radioactive waste
to use in a so-called "dirty bomb". The plant has reportedly not been
secured since Russia bombed it in 1999.
French terror suspects to appear before judge
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=26255&name=French+terror+suspects+to+appear+before+judge
Eleven suspected Islamic extremists arrested in raids around the French
capital this week were to be brought before an anti-terrorist judge
late on Friday
British intelligence ruled London bombers were not a threat: report
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2005/December/theworld_December480.xml§ion=theworld
(UK) 'A Real Risk To Security'
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13480373,00.html
Five alleged international terrorists who face deportation from the UK
have been granted conditional bail by the Special Immigration Appeals
Commission (SIAC).
(UK) Home Office dumps plan to close mosques
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1933440,00.html
The Home Secretary today quietly dropped his controversial plans to
give police the power to shut down mosques being used by extremists.
(Spain) New arrest in hunt for gang which funded terror
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=26249&name=New+arrest+in+hunt+for+gang+which+funded+terror+
Spanish police have arrested another suspect accused of financing an
Algerian terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda. Hichem Canit, an
Algerian, is alleged to be part of an 11-strong gang which was arrested last
month in Alicante, Granada and Murcia.
(Israel) Counter-Terror Operations in Gaza and N. Samaria Widen
http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=94936
(Russia) Russian Security Forces Say Top Al Qaeda Operative Killed Near
Chechnya
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/12/16/fsbqaida.shtml
Follow-up - see also December 14 news story on this
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/12/13/alqaedarussia.shtml
(Netherlands) Suspect knew of murder plan, court told
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=26262&name=Suspect+knew+of+murder+plan%2C+court+told
Terrorist suspect Nouriddin El F. knew in advance about the plan to
kill film director Theo van Gogh, a witness told the trial on Friday.
(Netherlands) Dutchman guilty of exporting nuclear equipment to Khan
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=26260&name=Dutchman+guilty+of+exporting+nuclear+equipment+to+Khan
(Canada) How a terror group cloned Ted Rogers' cellphone
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051217.wxcellphone1217/BNStory/Technology/
Bangladesh uncovers another explosives cache
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/December/subcontinent_December618.xml§ion=subcontinent&col
Police seize 200 bombs, 2,000 detonators, 144 pieces of power gel
explosives and bomb making materials, and arrest four militants in second
major success this week against terrorists
in the red uniform. You know they
are gonna get blown up by the end of the episode.<<<
I laugh, as I see the little painted men in a carnival booth, that you hit with a baseball and they fall over, then jump up again.
I hope they take out a 100 or the #3's, before Jan. 1st, 2006.
It is fun to kill off the ones who want to be the leaders in
al-Qaeda.
They line up to move higher in the ranks and must know that it makes them the target.
It was explained by a caller the other day on a talk show and makes sense to me:
It the refugees take a job, they loose the free or reduced rate housing, the free medical, the food stamps, etc, that they are and have been receiving for being un-employed.
And they will not earn enough to make up for what they have lost, as most are unskilled and not trained to keep jobs.
Sad, but it is true.
http://202.71.102.108/~alsafnat/vb/showthread.php?t=19363
I do not know what this says, but there are photos of jihad troop leaders and black flag banner, plus links, many links.
I do not know if it is old or new.
Thanks for the ping and link. I'm watching Australia closely because I'm just about convinced the "common" people there are the only ones around who will stand up to the RoPers.
From the link:
Ignorance:
"The chief weapon in the quiver of all Islamist expansionist movements, is the absolute necessity to keep victims largely unaware of the actual theology plotting their demise. To complete this deception, a large body of ‘moderates’ continue to spew such ridiculous claims as “Islam means Peace” thereby keeping non-Muslims from actually reading the Qur’an, the Sira, the Hadith, or actually looking into the past 1400 years of history. Islamists also deny or dismiss the concept of ‘abrogation’, which is the universal intra-Islamic method of replacing slightly more tolerable aspects of the religion in favor of more violent demands for Muslims to slay and subdue infidels"
http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2370612
NEW INFORMATION EMERGES ON UZBEK
ISLAMISTS, BUT IS IT ACCURATE?
By Igor Rotar
Friday, December 16, 2005
The Russian newspaper Moskovsky novosti recently published
an extensive interview with Shuhrat Masirokhunov, identified
as the former chief of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's
Counterintelligence Service. Masirokhunov was extradited from
Pakistan to Uzbekistan a few months ago. His comments
should provide considerable insight into the workings of the
IMU.
Masirokhunov stated that in 1998 he attended a training camp
for Islamic radicals located near the village of Avtury,
Chechnya. Along with some 50 Uzbeks, he studied both
religion and military tactics in courses taught by Arabs who
spoke good Russian. After his training, Masirokhunov returned
to Uzbekistan a year later.
Before departing for Uzbekistan, Masirokhunov was assigned to
send money to Chechnya in order to support the Uzbek
community in Chechnya. They also considered kidnapping the
children of wealthy parents, mainly Jews. However,
Masirokhunov said he failed to carry out that mission.
After the terrorist attacks in Tashkent in winter 1999,
Masirokhunov had to flee Uzbekistan. He traveled through
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Iran finally reaching the
Chor-Aseb camp near Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Masirokhunov claims that al-Qaeda has no real unified
structure; instead, each group of Islamic terrorists acts
autonomously. Information and instructions are circulated
among the cells via the Internet. "For example, [Abu Musab]
al-Zarqari in Iraq. He is called a representative of [Osama] bin
Laden, but it is not true; he is on his own. It was not long ago
that we got in touch with him and offered help to him, but he
refused to accept it. I met with al-Zarqari two years ago,"
Masirokhunov continued. "There was nothing outstanding
about him, and back then I was much higher in our hierarchy."
According to Masirokhunov, the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan has refashioned itself as the Islamic Movement of
Turkistan (IMT) to include not only ethnic groups from all
Central Asian republics, but also Uighurs from China. The main
IMT camps are still located along the border between
Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Hanta-Thal ravine and
near the village of Vana. Each camp has about 100 people,
mostly from Central Asia, Russia, and some Arabs.
Masirokhunov claims that the Pakistani military is not even
trying to eliminate the IMT insurgents.
"You know how special operations are conducted against the
militants in Pakistan? They encircle us and it looks like there is
no escape for us, but Pakistani soldiers show us where to go:
‘There, there, go there, leave, it is clear there!' If Pakistan
starts fighting against us, the whole country will explode,
because people in Pakistan sympathize with us. That is why
they pretend to help America, but in fact they are helping us.
Where does bin Laden live? In Pakistan. And they cannot get
him? Of course, they can," Masirokhunov told the paper
(Moskovsky novosti, November 25-December 1).
There is little doubt that at least part of the information
Masirokhunov provided is true. The information about Uzbeks
training in camps in Chechnya, as well as about Chechen
instructors training IMU militants in the mountains of
Tajikistan, has been mentioned many times in the Russian
press (e.g., Nezavisimaya gazeta, November 16, 2000; Novye
izvestiya, October 21, 2003).
However, many independent analysts find the interview
suspect. "One cannot take seriously an ‘interview' with the
‘main counterintelligence spy' published in Moskovsky novosti
for several reasons," writes Arkady Dubnov of Vremya novosti.
"The main reason is obvious. One cannot trust any words
ascribed to someone who is in an Uzbek jail. One can see that
the words are not in line with reality from watching the TV
reports about the Tashkent trial of people accused of the
Andijan events. The first proceedings of the trial have recently
ended. One can simply imagine how Uzbek prison guards
extracted similarly profound and memorized testimonies from
the accused in that case" (www.fergana.ru, November 28).
Dubnov also pointed out some apparent errors in the
Moskovsky novosti interview. For example, Masirokhunov
claims that he spent seven years in Afghanistan. But,
according to Dubnov, "Masirokhunov fled from Uzbekistan in
winter 1999, and Pakistan extradited him in 2005; a simple
calculation shows the number to be six." Dubnov also points
out that people who know the situation in Uzbekistan
considered Masirokhunov's statement that he had transferred
several thousand dollars to Uzbekistan through Western Union
to be absurd. According to journalists, sending such money to
Uzbekistan on a regular basis is simply fantasy.
"There is not any sense in analyzing this ‘interview',' Dubnov
declared. "It is a short list of what information the Uzbek
Secret Service possesses about activities of the international
terrorist network and that they permitted to be published. And
publishing the interview is an ordinary, so-called ‘active
measure' conducted under the brand of a formerly respectable
newspaper" Dubnov added (fergana.ru, November 28).
Email this article to a friend
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=74823&d=17&m=12&y=2005
Saturday, 17, December, 2005 (16, Dhul Qa`dah, 1426)
Pressure to Withdraw US Troops Lies at Home, Not
Iraq
Amir Taheri
It is one of the paradoxes of modern politics that the
presence of the US-led coalition in Iraq which was hardly
raised during the Iraqi election campaign is emerging as
the number one issue in the American mid-term elections
in 11 months’ time.
President George W. Bush and his key aides tackle the
issue by saying that the whole thing depends on
“conditions on the ground in Iraq.”
But anyone with any knowledge of what is going on in Iraq
would know things are not as simple as that. In fact, had
things depended on “conditions on the ground in Iraq” the
issue might not have generated so much heat.
The truth is that this “whole thing” about withdrawal
depends on conditions on the ground not in Iraq but in the
United States. Calling for withdrawal from Iraq is used by
Bush’s opponents at home as a prop to cover their failure
to offer a coherent alternative to the administration’s
basic domestic and foreign policy options.
Domestically, attempts at inciting people to envy and
worse with reference to Bush’s tax cuts have failed to fly.
Most Americans seem to like the cuts, although they do
not all enjoy them in equal measure. Nor is there any sign
of the recession that has been forecast almost daily by
the anti-Bush camp for the past three years. Efforts to
make an issue of Bush’s educational reform program also
failed because the teachers, most of whom vote
Democrat, appear to like the measures proposed by the
president. Even the Katrina calamity, which seemed so full
of promise for a bit of Bush-bashing, faded faster than
many had hoped for.
All that is left is Iraq.
And Iraq is an excellent subject for a number of reasons.
First, most Americans get a very narrow view of the whole
thing, largely in the form of television images of burned
cars used by suicide-bombers. Since Iraq is not covered in
any properly journalistic sense, partly because most
reporters have left, with those still present keeping a low
profile in the “Green Zone”, one can imagine both the best
and the worst about what is happening. And, since good
news is no news it is always the worst that wins the
headlines.
Also, Iraq can be used as the core of a cluster of issues
including “Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction”,
the “yellow-cake scandal”, the Richard Clarke confessions,
the outing of the CIA agent Valerie Plame, the Abu-Ghraib
pornographic photo sensation, and the most recent
“secret prisons” rumors, among many others.
All of those things, of course, have nothing to do with
what is happening in Iraq itself. But the word Iraq covers
them all.
That the fuss has little or nothing to do with what is
happening inside Iraq, is not hard to demonstrate.
Since March 2003 the US and its allies have achieved all
their political objectives— starting with regime change,
the dismantling of the Baathist military and security
machine, the capture of most Baathist leaders, the writing
and approval of a new constitution, a series of elections
and, within the next few weeks, the formation of a newly
elected government in Baghdad.
Normally, all that should be seen as a series of successes
by any standards. Regime change in Germany and Japan in
the 1940s took five years of war to achieve. And it took
both nations four to five years after liberation before they
could have new elected governments of their own.
Well, you might interject, what about the almost daily
killings in Iraq?
Well, there is that — to be sure. But anyone familiar with
terrorist insurgency would know that Iraq is doing no
worse than other nations afflicted by that particular
plague. Colombia has been fighting terrorism for more than
four decades. Egypt needed almost 20 years to defeat its
Islamist terrorists. The terrorist insurgency in Turkey
lasted almost as long. In Algeria the terrorists fought for
12 years and caused the death of some quarter of a
million people before going down in defeat. Right now at
least 22 nations across the globe face some level of
terrorist insurgency.
The question, of course, is whether or not the terrorist
insurgency in Iraq is in the ascendance or in decline?
It is too early to tell. What is certain however, is that it
has failed to disrupt, let alone stop, the political process,
including a series of municipal and general elections, in
any way. Nor has it been able to seize and control of any
chunk of territory which most other terrorist insurgencies
achieve. The Iraqi terrorist insurgency appears to have
lots of money. But that is largely due not to donations by
Iraqi sympathizers but to the half a billion dollars that
Izzat Al-Duri, Saddam Hussein’s number-two, managed to
steal from the Central Bank in Baghdad a day before the
regime collapsed. Some money is also coming from front
companies set up by the Baathists, initially in Jordan but
also in Austria and Cyprus, during the 1980s. A handful of
wealthy Arab businessmen may also be making
contributions, largely to the Islamist groups within the
insurgency.
More importantly, perhaps, the terrorist insurgency has
failed to develop anything resembling a political program.
It kills lots of people but consistently fails to translate
those murders into any form of political gain. Pushing the
Americans out of Iraq has never been spelled out as the
central goal of the terrorist insurgency. Abu Mussab
Al-Zarqawi is more focused on killing Shiites and Kurds and
envisaging a global jihad against all states, including
Muslim ones, rather than forcing the Americans to leave
Iraq.
In any case, one of the many paradoxes of this situation
is that the US-led coalition may have become something
of an insurance policy for the insurgents. As long as the
US-led coalition is there, the Shiites and the Kurds would
not be able to use their own considerable past experience
in insurgency against Zarqawi and the remnants of the
Baath party.
While all Iraqis want the US-led coalition to leave almost
no one wants an early withdrawal. More than a dozen
polls and anecdotal evidence gathered during visits to
many parts of Iraq show that most Iraqis want the
coalition to hang on for a bit longer. Had this not been the
case there would have been nothing to prevent
thousands, or millions, of Iraqis to march in Baghdad and
Basra shouting “Yankee! Go Home!”
The cry we hear is “ Yankee! Come Home!” emanating
from Bush’s opponents in Washington, Crawford, and San
Francisco.
Many Iraqis want the coalition to stay for a while longer
as a deterrent to predatory neighbors already positioning
themselves for greater intervention in Iraq.
It is in the US and not in Iraq that the idea of a speedy
withdrawal is gaining popularity. This is why the newly
elected leadership in Baghdad must turn its attention to
the real battlefield where the future of Iraq may be
shaped — that is to say the United States.
Once the new parliament is formed they should send
emissaries on barn-storming visits throughout the US both
to thank the American people for their sacrifices and to
inform them about what is really happening in Iraq.
Their message should be straightforward: We are grateful
for your help and want you to stay until we feel that we
no longer need you!
To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47944
Saturday, December 17, 2005
LAW OF THE LAND
Muslims claim detention was due to faith
ACLU lawsuit backs men held at border after Islamic
conference
Posted: December 17, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
The New York Civil Liberties Union is in court to stop the Department
of Homeland Security from detaining interrogating, fingerprinting and
photographing American citizens at the border because they attended
an Islamic conference.
The NYCLU and the American Civil Liberties Union brought the case to
Judge William W. Skretny in Buffalo, N.Y., on behalf of five Muslim
American citizens who attended the Reviving the Islamic Spirit
conference in Toronto in December 2004.
Federal officials argue such conferences have been used to provide
cover for pro-terrorist operatives.
The men were stopped at the U.S-Canada border, where agents
detained, frisked, photographed and fingerprinted them.
The NYCLU, noting the border agents were acting under orders from
the Department of Homeland Security, wants to ensure it doesn't
happen after this year's conference, which opens Dec. 23.
"The government continues to insist that it's essential to national
security to detain, frisk, photograph and fingerprint law-abiding
American citizens simply because they are Muslim exercising their
right to participate in a religious conference," said Donna Lieberman,
executive director of the NYCLU. "Our Constitution does not permit
religious or ethnic profiling – but that's precisely what the government
has done in this case."
The NYCLU said some of the Muslims detained last year were held
overnight for as long as six and a half hours and were prevented from
contacting attorneys or family members.
"I was treated like a criminal for no other reason than because I was
Muslim," said Dr. Sawsan Tabbaa, a Buffalo orthodontist.
Catherine Kim, ACLU staff attorney, argued the government "cannot
criminalize American citizens for their religious beliefs."
"Americans need to know that they can practice their religion and
attend religious conferences without fear of government reprisals,"
she said.
Held annually in Toronto since 2003, the conference is billed as
promoting a strong message of building friendships with and alliances
between Muslim and non-Muslim communities. This year, Canadian
Prime Minister Paul Martin is expected to give a speech.
But as WorldNetDaily reported, while media stories have depicted the
conference as a harmless "religious" event for "mainstream" Islamic
groups, it has featured controversial Muslim speakers and attendees,
and U.S. officials say such events have been used in the past to
provide cover for pro-terrorist operatives.
The two-day conference in January 2003 advertised Sheik Abdul
Rahman Al-Sudais as the main speaker. The previous year, al-Sudais,
the chief cleric of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, reportedly prayed to
Allah to "terminate" the Jews whom he called "the scum of humanity,
the rats of the world, prophet killers ... pigs and monkeys." The sheik
also has characterized Jews as "evil," "evil forefathers," a "continuum
of deceit," and full of "tyranny" and "treachery." Due to logistical
problems, the sheik, the headliner of the event, missed the
conference. Jeewan Chanicka, media relations director for the Toronto
conference, called the sheik's absence "unfortunate."
The same conference featured Zulfiqar Ali Shah, the former president
of the Islamic Circle of North America, an organization linked to
Jama'at-I-Islami, a fundamentalist Pakistani group that calls bin Laden
the "hero" of the Islamic world and raises millions of dollars for global
jihad.
Mokhtar Maghroui, who spoke at an event featuring suicide-bombing
supporters, also was a speaker at the last two RIS conferences.
The 2003 RIS conference featured William W. Baker, who was outed
as a neo-Nazi by the Orange County Weekly.
Some writers and commentators, such as Daniel Pipes, a specialist on
Islam, have supported the U.S. government policy, arguing it's a
matter of national security. Controlling the border flow, he said, is
absolutely necessary and of "paramount importance."
Pipes argues, "Were the plaintiffs to prevail in this case, attending
religious conferences would instantly become the favored method for
terrorists and other Islamists to cross the American border without
hindrance."
Previous column:
The latest from Australia:
http://aussie_news_views.typepad.com/aussie_news_views/
Australia:Prime Minister John Howard;"You don't demonstrate
tolerance towards minorities by apologising for your heritage,"
Howard in call to save Xmas By Tony Vermeer18-12-2005 Sunday Herald
Sun PRIME Minister John Howard has made a passionate defence of
religion at Christmas and urged shopping centres to restore nativity
scenes. He said he had contempt for arguments...
Published: Aussie News on Sunday, 18 December 2005 01:43:05
Sydney, six beaches UNSAFE as BASTARDS plan attacks.
Six beaches unsafe By GEMMA JONESDaily TelegraphDecember 17, 2005
POLICE yesterday declared six popular beaches unsafe for public use this
weekend after intelligence revealed armed rioters are planning attacks. In
an unprecedented move, Police Commissioner Ken Moroney urged people
to...
Published: Aussie News on Sunday, 18 December 2005 01:34:44
Sydney Summer of fear.
A summer of fear By TONY VERMEER and LINDA SILMALISDaily
TelegraphDecember 18, 2005 POLICE warned of a new threat at Sydney's
beaches after learning troublemakers have travelled from interstate to
riot today. Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione said police had
serious...
Published: Aussie News on Sunday, 18 December 2005 01:28:37
Islam Australia: accused taped discussing killing PM John Howard.
Men talked of killing PM, court told Daily TelegraphDecember 16, 2005
TWO men accused of being members of a terrorist organisation allegedly
discussed killing Prime Minister John Howard, a court heard today. Abdulla
Merhi, 20, of Fawkner, and Hany Taha,...
Published: Aussie News on Sunday, 18 December 2005 01:15:20
Why Cronulla exploded. anon
Message Why Cronulla Exploded. Years of intimidation, aggression ,
violence and hatred by gangs of Middle Eastern young men who refuse to
embrace the Aussie Beach culture and respect the Aussie lifestyle led to
the riot last Sunday at North...
Published: Aussie News on Sunday, 18 December 2005 01:07:47
New Zealand Rabbit Plucker believed he was communicating via a
"third eye"
Financier 'communicated with animals' By Kim ArlingtonDaily
TelegraphDecember 16, 2005 A NEW Zealand financier accused of
mutilating and killing 17 rabbits and a guinea pig believed he was
communicating with animals through a third eye, a Sydney court was
told...
Published: Aussie News on Sunday, 18 December 2005 00:44:06
Sydney, Brian Wilshire 2GB Radio host shafted for telling the
truth..
Radio man apology for race comment Daily TelegraphDecember 16, 2005
CLAIMS that Sydney's race violence has been stoked by talkback radio
were reinforced today when a radio announcer was forced to apologise for
on-air comments about Lebanese Australians. Macquarie Radio...
Published: Aussie News on Sunday, 18 December 2005 00:21:36
Sydney:Muslim rampage The Wail Of The Muslim Estranged.
The Post Chronicle™ CommentaryAustralia: The Wail Of The Muslim
EstrangedBy J. Grant Swank, Jr.Dec 15, 2005 Here. Read this and weep:
The only thing I am worried about is that it's going to further play on the
minds of young...
Published: Aussie News on Sunday, 18 December 2005 00:12:49
Tookies Execution
TOOKIES EXECUTION
The chief weapon in the quiver of all Islamist expansionist
movements, is the absolute necessity to keep victims largely unaware
of the actual theology plotting their demise. To complete this
deception, a large body of ‘moderates’ continue to spew such
ridiculous claims as “Islam means Peace” thereby keeping
non-Muslims from actually reading the Qur’an, the Sira, the Hadith, or
actually looking into the past 1400 years of history. Islamists also
deny or dismiss the concept of ‘abrogation’, which is the universal
intra-Islamic method of replacing slightly more tolerable aspects of
the religion in favor of more violent demands for Muslims to slay and
subdue infidels"<<<<
And I know people who have bought this hook line and sinker.
Yes, I know that there are good muslims out there some place, but knowing that the religion teaches them to lie, then I have to say that I do not know how to tell which is a good one.
How sad that a billion people are stuck in this. It has set the world back hundreds of years, into a world of mis-trust.
My opinion of course.
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