Free Republic

Stop Using the Word ‘Islam’ in Reports on Terrorism, Islamic Bloc Says Thursday, December 04, 2008 By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor (CNSNews.com) – If the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) had its way, media reporting on terrorist activity would exclude “any reference to Islam” – whatever the affiliation, identity or motivation of the perpetrators. The bloc of Islamic nations, which is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to have the “defamation” of Islam outlawed, this week voiced criticism about media coverage of recent terrorist attacks. Without citing any specific attack, the OIC’s Jeddah-based general secretariat said in a...

Last week in Mumbai we witnessed as clear a case of carefully planned mass terrorism as we are ever likely to see. The seven-venue atrocity was co-ordinated in a highly sophisticated way. The terrorists even used BlackBerrys to stay in touch with each other during their three-and-half-day rampage. This meticulously organized operation was aimed exclusively at civilian targets: two hospitals, a train station, two hotels, a leading tourist restaurant and a Jewish centre. The terrorists didn’t want to negotiate. They wanted to murder as many Hindus, Christians, Jews, atheists and other “infidels” as they could. So why are so many...

Radical Islam is subverting America without guns or bombs. That's the subtitle of a frightening and important new book by Robert Spencer, one of the leading authorities on radical Islam. We may have been spared the guns and bombs of the Islamofascist terrorists since 9/11, but we haven't been spared their attempt to substitute the laws of Islam for the U.S. Constitution and to make America more like Iran, Saudia Arabia, or the Sudan, where the Muslim laws are in full force. Mr. Spencer is an important voice of these matters, and if you think this is too shocking to...

NEW DELHI: Mumbai's 26/11 was actually a plan hatched by "Hindu Zionists" and "Western Zionists", including the Mossad, said a self-styled Pakistan security expert on a Pakistan news television show. " Inki shaklein Hinduonwali hain, jis zabaan mein guftagoo kar rahein hain, woh zabaan koi Pakistani istemaal nahin karta hai (They look like Hindus. No Pakistani speaks the language they chatted in)," said Zaid Hamid while referring to the terrorists on the show Mujhe Ikhtilaf Hai (I differ) on Pakistan's News One channel. The sensationalist channel was launched in November last year. Hamid said that it was a "badly planned"...

A range of Lego-style fighting figurines - including an Islamic terrorist militant - has sparked outrage among Muslims. The toy mini-figures, made by American Will Chapman, includes a masked terrorist bandit with an assault rifle, grenade launcher and belt of explosives...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress, made the hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca last week, calling it a "transformative" experience. The Democrat from Minnesota's 5th Congressional District traveled to the Saudi Arabian city along with about 3 million people. The journey is a lifelong dream for many Muslims. "It was transformative. It was a wonderful experience," Ellison said in a telephone interview today. "I learned a lot about myself, about my faith."

KABUL, Afghanistan — The top U.S. military officer said Saturday that the Pentagon could double the number of American forces in Afghanistan by next summer to 60,000 – the largest estimate of potential reinforcements ever publicly suggested. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that between 20,000 and 30,000 additional U.S. troops could be sent to Afghanistan to bolster the 31,000 already there. This year has been the deadliest for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Suicide attacks and roadside bombs have become...

Taliban blow up lorry carrying Christmas turkeys for British troops Army chiefs have flown out a special consignment of Christmas turkeys to replace the ones destroyed when Taliban insurgents attacked a lorry packed with the birds bound for British troops.... The frozen birds were completely destroyed....en route from Pakistan to Camp Bastion. The consignment of turkey roll breasts weighing 325kg was intended for soldiers stationed at Britain's main base in Helmand Province,...where...3,000 personnel will spend the festive season. Dinner will be served: Replacement turkeys have been flown in... Regimental Catering Warrant Officer Nick Townley, who is in charge of organising...

A lot of the fighting in Afghanistan isn't about religion or "expelling the foreigners." No, it's usually about money, power and tribal politics. The current Afghan government is having the same problems "running the country" that the Taliban did. These were the same problems the loose coalition that defeated the communist government in the early 1990s had. These were the same problems that the monarchy had for over a century, even though the kings were usually well aware of what they were dealing with (a loose coalition of tribes and ethnic groups that don't really get along, but really can't...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2008 – Afghan National Army commandos, assisted by coalition forces, detained an insurgent leader and two other militants in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, military officials reported. The commandos, acting on credible information, conducted a raid on a compound in the Behsood district of Nangarhar province that served as a transit point for various insurgent groups. During a search, the commandos detained three militants -- Abdul Wahid, Raz Gul and a man known only as Haider. All three identified themselves during questioning. Wahid is believed to be responsible for numerous attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and facilitating...

The West is indirectly funding the insurgency in Afghanistan thanks to a system of payoffs to Taleban commanders who charge protection money to allow convoys of military supplies to reach Nato bases in the south of the country. Contracts to supply British bases and those of other Western forces with fuel, supplies and equipment are held by multinational companies. However, the business of moving supplies from the Pakistani port of Karachi to British, US and other military contingents in the country is largely subcontracted to local trucking companies. These must run the gauntlet of the increasingly dangerous roads south of...

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- The parents of American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh are asking President George W. Bush to set their son free before Bush leaves office next month.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 16, 2008 – Afghan army commandos assisted by coalition forces detained two Taliban commanders and an additional suspect during a security patrol yesterday in Jalalabad City in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, military officials reported. Abdul Rahman is a Taliban commander suspected of carrying out homemade bomb attacks in the Korengal Valley, Konar province. He is linked to more than 50 attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. Rahman's nephew, Ishmail, also was detained and is linked to insurgent activities in the Korengal Valley. Abdul Aziz is a well-known insurgent in the Konar province and has conducted numerous attacks...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2008 – Afghanistan is making progress, and despite challenges, it can rely on America to help it defeat terrorists and grow its fledgling democracy, President George W. Bush told Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital city of Kabul today. “There’s been good progress made, but there are a lot of tough challenges” ahead in Afghanistan, said Bush, who made a surprise visit to Afghanistan following his unannounced visit to Baghdad yesterday. “I told the president that you can count on the United States -- just like you’ve been able to count on this administration, you’ll...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2008 – Coalition and Afghan forces killed at least two enemy fighters, detained 32 suspects and seized weapons in Afghanistan during operations last week, military officials said. Coalition forces killed one militant and detained sixteen suspected militants during operations targeting a group known as Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, or HIG, and Taliban commanders in Kabul and Zabul provinces Dec. 12. In Surobi District, some 30 km northeast of Kabul, coalition forces detained eight suspected militants, including a HIG commander, known for trafficking weapons and explosives into the Afghan capital and conducting attacks against civilians and security personnel. Troops also...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2008 – More emphasis on “holistic development” of rural Afghanistan is needed to weaken the enemy, a recently redeployed officer told bloggers in a teleconference. Marine Corps Col. Jeffrey M. Haynes participated in the Defense Department’s bloggers roundtable program Dec. 9 to share observations from his nine-month tour in Afghanistan, where he led the Regional Corps Advisory Command Central. He redeployed from Afghanistan a month ago, and is now serving in Okinawa, Japan. Haynes pointed to rural populations as a source of strength for the insurgency in Afghanistan. “Sometimes I think we’re a little bit too focused...

Marines Prevailed in a Day of Battle December 03, 2008 Military.com|by Christian Lowe It started out just like any other patrol in a war-ravaged Afghan province. Hardened by months of combat, sneak attacks and roadside ambushes, the Marines were ready for a fight. Rolling through the hardscrabble village of Shewan in Afghanistan's Farah province on August 8, the leathernecks of the Twentynine Palms, Calif.-based 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment knew enemy eyes were upon them. It was a village they'd had on their radar for months. Taliban insurgents and their al Qaeda helpers were constantly harassing the Marines charged with...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 11, 2008 – Afghan National Police and coalition forces detained five suspected militants during a combined operation to disrupt the Haqqani terrorist network in Afghanistan’s Khowst province yesterday. The combined operation in the province’s Khowst district, southeast of Kabul, targeted a Haqqani commander known to facilitate roadside-bomb attacks. The targeted militant also is believed to plan and conduct attacks against coalition forces in the area. The combined force searched the targeted compounds without incident, and detained five suspected militants during the operation while protecting seven women and eight children, officials said. (From a U.S. Forces Afghanistan news...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 11, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today he wants to send two combat brigades to Afghanistan by summer in addition to the brigade combat team already scheduled to deploy there in January. In an interview with reporters traveling with him, Gates discussed the way forward in Afghanistan before landing here with plans to visit troops and meet with senior leaders. The secretary will meet today with Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, and with commanders in the country’s southern region. Commanders on the ground...

CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick – A major research project on Canada´s military, aid and development mission in Afghanistan is the focus of the book Kandahar Tour: The Turning Point in Canada´s Afghan Mission published September 2008. Chronicling Task Force 1-07, the book, sends a powerful message to the military community according to the authors. "We´re discussing the Afghan mission totally in the context of casualties. I hope this book will change the nature of the debate," says co-author Professor Lee Windsor, one of three faculty of the University of New Brunswick´s Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society....