Sunday, October 23, 2011

In The News: The Rise of Islam

As we become engaged in following our domestic news - the presidential campaign, the OWS, missing children, and the World Series, to name a few, we cannot divert our focus from the one ever present danger that looms in our nation's horizon - The Threat of Islam. 

Some months back we witnessed what came to be known by the somewhat romantic name of "The Arab Spring."  We were told that the young people out in the streets, holding signs, and protesting against the government in power were "hungry for democracy" and wanted to do away with dictatorships and the tyranny of their leaders.  Some of us were skeptical, especially when we saw the spectre of the Muslim Brotherhood begin to insinuate itself in the demonstrations.

One by one, the "new" leaders of those countries are publicly announcing that they are embracing Sharia Law and putting its tenets in place.  There is no way that a country which is ruled by Sharia can lay claim to democracy.  In some cases the old Sharia rules regarding banking and marriage are being put into effect.

As we watched the demonstrations, especially in Egypt, we saw young women out in the crowd, expressing their opinions and exerting their rights.  We wondered then, and we know now, that those rights will soon vanish.  Under Sharia Law women have no rights.  Rather than advancing forward into the 21st century, they are taking steps back to the days when a woman's opinion did not count.  Under Sharia law, women are relegated to second class citizen status and do not enjoy the same freedoms or rights which men do. 

Just today the transitional Libyan  government leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil set out a vision for the post-Gadhafi future with an Islamist tint, saying that Islamic Sharia law would be the "basic source" of legislation in the country, and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified. These laws include the practice of men taking more than four wives.  

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "met with NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril and Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni, offering funding and technical support. She said afterward that Libya should be governed by “the rule of law, not the whims of men,” and should have a “transparent and fair judicial system.” [1]

The Journal "The Hill" stated: 
NATO did not intervene to see the installation of Shariah law in Libya. Is the U.N. political mission being set up in Tripoli going to help the transitional authorities implement Islamic law, which can provide for punishments such as stoning and amputations? Its application often discriminates against women. Did Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) realize that this would be the outcome of his strong support for the Libyan rebels.
This is a truly important time in our history.  We are facing an election that can either help us restore this great nation to its former glory, or if the unthinkable should happen and Barack Hussein Obama is re-elected, we will have to face the danger of an unbridled Obama at the head of our government.  This could present a critical situation from which we may never recover.  However, we must not lose track  of occurrences in the Muslim world which, as we've already experienced, presents our homeland security with a truly dangerous threat.
Two Sisters



TUNIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Tunisian voters poured into polling stations to vote on Sunday in their country's first free election, 10 months after vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in an act of protest that started the Arab Spring uprisings.

The leader of an Islamist party predicted to win the biggest share of the vote was heckled outside a polling station by people shouting "terrorist", highlighting tensions between Islamists and secularists being felt across the Arab world.

Bouazizi's dramatic suicide, prompted by despair over poverty and government repression, provoked mass protests which forced President Zine al-Abidine to flee Tunisia. This in turn inspired revolts in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria.  READ MORE HERE




BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya's National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil kneeled in prayer after taking the stand in a celebration of liberation on Sunday after 42 years of one-man rule by Muammar Gaddafi and promised to uphold Islamic law.
"We as a Muslim nation have taken Islamic sharia as the source of legislation, therefore any law that contradicts the principles of Islam is legally nullified," he said.
Jalil thanked the Arab League, the United Nations, and the European Union for supporting the uprising which ended with Gaddafi's death Thursday.  READ MORE HERE


Who benefits? The Pakistanis, who would obtain a tool for buying time indefinitely, saying they need to see the "dialogue" through, and that now is not the time (it never is) for firmer action that could upset a delicate situation. They don't need to do much to look busy.

Who else benefits? The Haqqanis, who can also buy themselves time and an air of legitimacy, playing to false hopes that there is a "pragmatic" element that can be split off and a working relationship established through "engagement." All the while, they will continue fighting and plotting attacks, and they will use the prospect of cutting off talks as an instrument of blackmail.  READ MORE HERE


I first saw the news breaking from Jake Tapper on his Twitter account, and then at ABC. (In a close tie with James Joyner.) Assuming there isn’t yet another round of backtracking and “clarifications” over the coming weeks – a possibility which can never be ruled out in politics – Barack Obama will be removing all troops from Iraq by the end of the year with the exception of a small marine force at the embassy who will oversee the transfer of military equipment and security for the diplomats. Many questions remain, such as what will happen to the tens of thousands of civilian contractors and others who have existed under our wing there for some time.

That will all be sorted out in the months to come, for better or worse. But, as I said, barring a major reversal the end appears to be in sight. I would raise a glass to “celebrate” this, but it would be bitter indeed. This is more than nine years overdue.  READ MORE HERE



Here's the problem I'm having with some of my friends who point out that Islamists make up a portion of the opposition of [insert name of Arab country here], therefore any show of support for the opposition is de facto a support for Islamism.

Ummmm, okay.

Look, we are not talking here about the choice between Dictator X and liberal reformer Y. The choices in the world just aren't that clear cut.

I'd love for those to be our choices, but they're not. Given the choice between a dictator like Ghaddafi with American blood on his hands and an imperfect opposition movement, I choose the opposition.

Further, if the choice is between the enemy of my enemy spilling blood or my own troops, I choose the enemy of my enemy.

No, the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. He's my ally.

Better they die in a mutually beneficial cause then us. READ MORE HERE




By Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times


New estimates of the former leader's assets — more than $200 billion — are called 'staggering.' If they prove true, he would rank among the world's most rapacious leaders.

Reporting from Washington— Moammar Kadafi secretly salted away more than $200 billion in bank accounts, real estate and corporate investments around the world before he was killed, about $30,000 for every Libyan citizen and double the amount that Western governments previously had suspected, according to senior Libyan officials.

The new estimates of the deposed dictator's hidden cash, gold reserves and investments are "staggering," one person who has studied detailed records of the asset search said Friday. "No one truly appreciated the scope of it."

If the values prove accurate, Kadafi will go down in history as one of the most rapacious as well as one of the most bizarre world leaders, on a scale with the late Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire or the late Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. READ MORE HERE

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The United States pledged on Sunday to maintain a strong security relationship with Iraq for years to come despite the scheduled pullout of all U.S. troops and warned Iran not to try to exploit the situation.

"No one should miscalculate America's resolve and commitment to helping support the Iraqi democracy," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on the NBC program "Meet the Press." "We have paid too high a price to give the Iraqis this chance."

No one should doubt American commitment to Iraq, in particular its neighbor Iran, Clinton added.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta expressed confidence Iraq would be able to deal with any threat from Iran-backed militants after the U.S. withdrawal.

After months of negotiations with officials in Baghdad failed to reach an agreement to keep possibly thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq as trainers, President Barack Obama announced on Friday he would stick to plans to pull out the remaining force of 40,000 American troops by year's end.  READ MORE HERE

Sharia über Alles versus Western Justice

By Andrew G. Bostom

How is it that intelligent people cannot see the lesson of history when sharia enters a non-Islamic society, step by step? Yale Assistant Professor of religious studies Eliyahu Stern's 9/2/11 NY Times op-ed ("Don't Fear Islamic Law in America") vilifies those who seek fair, rational legislative remedies to the encroachment of Islamic law (Sharia) in America as "stigmatizing Islamic life". Stern's vitriol is directed specifically at SB 1028, a bill which was recently passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, and includes this straightforward language regarding sharia:
This bill defines "sharia" as the set of rules, precepts, instructions, or edicts which are said to emanate directly or indirectly from the god of Allah or the prophet Mohammed and which include directly or indirectly the encouragement of any person to support the abrogation, destruction, or violation of the United States or Tennessee Constitutions, or the destruction of the national existence of the United States or the sovereignty of this state, and which includes among other methods to achieve these ends, the likely use of imminent violence. Under this bill, any rule, precept, instruction, or edict arising directly from the extant rulings of any of the authoritative schools of Islamic jurisprudence of Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali, Ja'afariya, or Salafi, as those terms are used by sharia adherents, is prima facie sharia without any further evidentiary showing.
Michael Nazir Ali was the first bishop of Raiwand in Pakistan's West Punjab (1984-1986), who emigrated to become the initial non-white diocesan bishop in the Church of England. READ MORE HERE

posted by Sister One and Sister Two @ 10:20 PM   2 Comments