Sign the petition!

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) last week tried and failed (due to Democratic opposition in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence) last Thursday to add an amendment to the 2009 Intelligence Authorization Act that would stop the government's 'speech code' that prohibits people from discussing the Islamic aspects of terrorism and radical Islam. Now there's a petition online to support his effort.

I strongly recommend you click here and sign the petition. We'll never win this war if we can't even name the enemy (does this sound like the frightened people in Harry Potter or what?). Thanks to Jihad Watch for the alert.

Bad news from Beirut

It looks as Hizbullah has emerged much strengthened from the fighting of the last couple of days in Beirut. The unrest started when the Lebanese government uncovered a secret communications system and a surveillance system belonging to Hizbullah and declared them illegal. Hizbullah's response was to take over most of Beirut, apparently without serious opposition from the Lebanese army or any of the other militias. See the MEMRI blog for details, using the link on the right-hand side of this page (I couldn't enter the link).

Iran wants two client states on Israel's borders: Hamas in Gaza and Hizbullah in Lebanon. It's gotten the first one and is well on the way to getting the second. Another Mideast war may not be far away.

Ban the Burka

Here's a report on Dutch efforts to ban the burka in schools, government offices and elsewhere; it's not the first time they've tried, and it's not clear that the government will prevail in its attempt. Nevertheless, this move represents one way to respond to growing numbers of people who deliberately segregate themselves from Western society, yet often demand all the rights, privileges and protections accorded by that society.

In fact, all face coverings in public should be banned. Why allow young men in balaclavas to get away with shouting hateful things anonymously in street demonstrations? When I served with NATO in Bosnia, an effective means of defusing potentially violent street demonstrations was to take pictures of the provocateurs. They really didn't want to be identified and often disappeared, taking their incitement with them. Many Western demonstrations may be 'peaceful', but if people are shouting hate slogans that elsewhere are clearly calls to murder, there's absolutely no reason why they should be permitted to get away with it.

Interesting but frightening

If you want a chill to run up your spine, read this summary of a talk given recently by Iranian President Ahmadinejad (thanks to Jihad Watch). The interesting part is his description of domestic economic problems and his explanation of why the situation is so bad (the fault of his enemies). The frightening part is when he starts talking about Imam Mahdi.

What I want to know is: why are people who were so frightened about Bush praying in the White House not concerned by a man who thinks the Imam Mahdi is helping him get nuclear weapons so that he can use them? Particularly with the recent outbreak of fighting in Lebanon between the Sunnis and Iran-backed Hizbollah, anyone who thinks Ahmadinejad is just spouting nonsense should reconsider.

Go Maryland!

Dhimmi Watch reports on a court case in Maryland in which the judge refused to recognize a divorce done by the husband in Pakistan according to sharia law, noting that it would deprive the wife of the rights accorded her under American law. Read all about it here.

A year ago, a German judge caused an uproar by saying that a Moroccan husband had the right to beat his wife, since it was allowed under sharia law. Now, if only the Archbishop of Canterbury could understand the implications of allowing sharia law to be 'partially' implemented in Western countries - maybe he needs to visit Maryland more often.

Wonderful news

Senators Arlen Specter and Joe Lieberman, along with Representative Peter King, have introduced draft legislation entitled the Free Speech Protection Act of 2008. The bill would protect American journalists from libel suits brought in foreign courts that do not have the protections for free speech that the U.S. Constitution provides. According to Specter, "[t]here is a real danger that American writers and researchers will be afraid to address the crucial subject of terror funding and other important matters without these protections." Lieberman warned against the dangers inherent in using the courts to "chill inquiry and research."

The impetus for this legislation was the case of Rachel Ehrenfeld, who in 2003 wrote Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It. She was sued for libel in England, even though only 23 copies of her books were sold there, where libel laws are much more favorable to the plaintiff.

Still further legislation will be required to protect people against 'lawfare' - being intimidated or silenced by the threat of lawsuits - for writing about radical Islam. However, this is an excellent start.

More on UNRWA

Thanks to Matthew, who in commenting on an earlier piece pointed me toward a Powerline Blog entry of May 8 on the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Palestine. This entry discusses an article by Barry Rubin, Asef Asirowski and others pointing out the ways in which UNRWA "actually helps destroy the chance of Arab-Israeli peace, promotes terrorism, and holds Palestainians back from rebuilding their lives."

It is amazing how, for over 50 years, Americans have continued to fund a 'humanitarian' operation that pursues goals diametrically opposed to those of the main UN humanitarian organization, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR. UNHCR's work includes finding ways for people to either return home or settle somewhere else and get on with their lives. The wisdom of this approach is obvious: if you grew up in one of those refugee camps that UNRWA is dedicated to keeping alive, you'd probably be a terrorist too.