Ramadan Bombathon 2013 Scorecard Because, if you think all religions are the same, then you haven't been paying attention

2013	In the name of The Religion of Peace	In the name of ANY Other Religion	By 'Islamo- Phobes'
Terror Attacks	310	0	1*
Suicide Bombings	28	0	0
Dead Bodies	1651	0	0
Wounded	3048	0	0

* A Ukrainian has been charged with placing a bomb near a mosque
in England during Ramadan.  No injuries or deaths resulted. 
We list it as an attack even though we don't include attacks
 by Islamic terrorists unless they result in actual casualties.

Arabs for Israel - X-Muslims for Israel - Hamas leader's son

Mosab Hassan Yousuf, son of Hamas leader of West Bank Sheik Hassan Yousuf talks on T.V and as an Palestinian Arab Muslim claims he supports Israel because he is righteous and knows through his religion and history whose land it really belongs to, the Israelis. He exposes all Arab lies against Israel and criticizes Islam for the hatred it teaches since he experienced it when he was a young boy. He very well admits the Arabs don't want peace, just hate, war and fight while Israelis are striving for peace. Thank you Mus'ab Hassan Yousuf you are a righteous Arab and are respected for spreading the truth, not Paliwood lies.

I’m Tired

Thirty-one years is long time. Actually, it's far too long. This week will be my birthday and I won't be celebrating.

At the age of 51, I can only look back and wonder why, why things have gotten worse rather than better. I have been speaking, writing and teaching about terror, Islam, Sharia and counter-terror for 31 years.

With all the news surrounding the death of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Libya, I have to start with the last death of an American Ambassador.

Although the last U.S. ambassador to die in the line of duty was Arnold Raphel, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, it is unsure whether it was a terrorist act. He perished in a plane crash in 1988, along with the then president of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.

Prior to that, the last ambassador to be killed in the line of duty was Adolph Dubs, the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, in 1979. On February 14, 1979, he was kidnapped by four terrorists and was killed when he was shot during an exchange of gunfire started between the terrorists and Afghan security forces.

An American Ambassador killed by terrorists. Did America notice? No.

Months after the Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran and Iran voted to become an Islamic Republic we had the embassy takeover. On November 4, 1979 Iranians seized the U.S. embassy, taking 66 hostages. 14 were later released with the remaining 52 freed after 444 days on the day of President Reagan's inauguration.

This was not enough for people to take notice.

When I arrived back in the U.S. in 1981, I tried and tried to introduce this country to what I knew would be needed, anti-terrorism. I applied and interviewed with every alphabet soup government agency and was shot down by each and every one with the exception of the CIA. I was told, "This is America, we don't have terrorism."

The CIA offered me a position that I couldn't speak about for years under the penalty of ‘treason', but needless to say it wasn't in the area of counter-terror. I refused the offer since it would have been going against my own morals, ethics and beliefs, not to mention, Israel.

In 1981 there weren't even a handful of counter-terror people, as a matter of fact I knew of only two, myself and my dear friend and colleague Dr. Walid Phares.

Interestingly, both I and Dr. Phares have been saying and warning of the same things for all these years.  Even though what we say and warn about seem to come to fruition each and every time, very few listen.

Between 1982 and 1991 we had the kidnappings and deaths of Americans in Lebanon. Thirty U.S. and other Western hostages were kidnapped in Lebanon by Hezbollah. Some were killed, some died in captivity and some were eventually released. Terry Anderson was held for 2,454 days.

This too was not enough for people to take notice.

Shortly after I arrived back in the U.S. from Israel we had the Lebanon bombings.

On April 18, 1983, the U.S. embassy in Beirut was bombed killing 63 people, most were embassy and CIA staff members, several were soldiers and one was a Marine. 17 of the dead were Americans.

That same year on October 23, the U.S. Marines barracks were destroyed by suicide bombers during their stay as part of multinational ‘peace keeping force'. What many do not know is that this was only the second "suicide bombing" in history, it was carried out by the terrorist organization Hezbollah and killed 241 American servicemen: 220 marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers, along with sixty other Americans injured.

The Marine barrack attack was the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II, the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States military since the first day of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War, and the deadliest single attack on Americans overseas since World War II.

Was the bombing of the U.S. embassy and the Marine barracks in Lebanon not enough for people to realize that perhaps we as Americans were not dealing with a conventional enemy? Did the American people take notice? No. Did the world take notice? No.

Before the end of that horrendous year on December 12, 1983, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait was attacked by Shiite truck bombers, killing five and injuring 80.

Did America start to take notice? No.

Then a second time within 17 months on September 20, 1984 a suicide bomber driving a truck packed with 400 pounds of explosives targeted the American embassy in Aukar, nine miles north of Beirut. 23 people are killed and 21 injured.

More flag draped coffins. Did America start to notice a trend here? No.

Dec. 3, 1984 we had the hijacking of Kuwait Airways Flight 221on its way from Kuwait to Pakistan. After it was hijacked it was diverted to Tehran. The hijackers killed two American officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Hezbollah was once again found to be behind this as well.

Did anyone notice? No.

The Middle East wasn't the only area Americans were attacked. On April 12, 1985 the El Descanso restaurant just outside Madrid, Spain was bombed. The explosion killed 18 Spaniards and injured 82 others, including 11 American servicemen, who according to the investigation were the target of the attack. The Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility for the bombing.

More Americans targeted. Did we notice? No.

Once again, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad struck at Americans. On June 14, 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked. The eight crewmembers and 145 passengers endured a three-day intercontinental ordeal and were held for 17 days. Some passengers were beaten. Passengers with Jewish sounding names were separated from the others, and U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem was tortured and murdered. His body was thrown onto the tarmac. Dozens of passengers were held hostage over the next two weeks until released by their captors after some of their demands were met.

Flag draped coffin of U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem. Did America notice? No.

It wasn't only the American servicemen and women that had to worry. On October 7, 1985, four heavily armed Palestinian terrorists hijacked the Italian cruise ship, Achille Lauro. The ship had more than 400 passengers and crew. The terrorists killed disabled American tourist 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer because he was a Jew, and threw his body overboard with his wheelchair.

Did anyone outside of the Klinghoffer family notice? Not really.

Muslim terrorists found that airports were easier than cruise ships and on December 27, 1985, four PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) terrorists walked up to the shared ticket counter for Israel's El Al Airlines and Trans World Airlines at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport outside Rome, Italy. After they fired assault rifles and threw grenades, 16 were dead and 99 were injured.

Within minutes on the same day, the Schwechat Airport (Vienna International Airport) in Vienna, Austria, was attacked as well. Three terrorists threw hand grenades into a crowd of passengers checking in for a flight to Tel Aviv, two people were killed instantly and 39 others injured. A third victim died on January 22, 1986, of hand grenade wounds sustained in the attack. These two attacks killed 19 people, 5 of whom were Americans. The bombing was linked to Libya.

More Americans dead. Did America notice? No.

On April 2, 1986, terrorists exploded a bomb inside TWA Flight 840 as it flew from Rome to Athens. Four American citizens, including a nine-month-old infant fell to their deaths after being sucked from the cabin through the nine-by-four foot hole that the blast created in the side of the plane.  Five others on the aircraft were injured as the cabin suffered a rapid decompression.

Anyone remember TWA 840? Anyone notice? No.

April 5, 1986, saw the attack on the La Belle discothèque in West Berlin, Germany. This was yet another location that was commonly frequented by United States soldiers. A bomb placed under a table near the disk jockey's booth exploded killing three people and injuring 230 people, including 79 American servicemen. This attack was also linked to Libya.

More American servicemen killed. Did any Americans notice? No.

Another hijacking of an American plane occurred on September 5, 1986, while on the ground at Karachi, Pakistan, by four terrorists from the Abu Nidal Organization. Pan Am Flight 73 had 360 on board. Twenty of the passengers were killed during the hijacking, 13 were from India and the rest were from United States, Pakistan and Mexico.

An American plane hijacked. Did any Americans notice? No.

Excluding Americans that were killed in Israel in other terror attacks, there was two years of quiet that was shattered in Lockerbie on December 21, 1988. This time it was Pan Am Flight 103 departing from Frankfurt to New York. It was blown up in midair, killing all 259 passengers and another 11 people on the ground in Scotland.

You would have thought that after this Americans would take notice. Sadly, no.

On January 27, 1989, three simultaneous bombings were carried out against U.S. business targets, the Turkish American Businessmen Association and the Economic Development Foundation in Istanbul, and the Metal Employees Union in Ankara.

More Americans as targets. Did America notice? No.

More Americans were targeted on June 12, 1989, in Bosphorus Straits, Turkey. A bomb exploded aboard an unoccupied boat used by U.S. consular staff. The explosion caused extensive damage but no casualties.

American State Department employees targeted. Did any Americans notice? No.

Between 1989 and 1991 there were no less than six attacks on Americans and American servicemen all on U.S. bases. On October 11, 1989, in Izmir, Turkey, an explosive charge went off outside a U.S. military PX.

On February 7, 1991, in Adana, terrorists shot and killed a U.S. civilian contractor as he was getting into his car at the Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

On February 28, 1991, two terrorists shot and wounded a U.S. Air Force officer as he entered his residence in Izmir, Turkey.

On March 28, 1991, three U.S. marines were shot at and injured by an unknown terrorist while driving near Camp Three, in Jubial, Saudi Arabia.

On October 28, 1991, Victor Marwick, an American soldier serving at the Turkish-American base, Tuslog in Ankara, Turkey, was killed and his wife wounded in a car bomb attack. The Turkish Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

Lastly on October 28, 1991, two car bombings killed a U.S. Air Force sergeant and severely wounded an Egyptian diplomat in Istanbul, Turkey. The Turkish Islamic Jihad again claimed responsibility.

Yet more flag draped coffins. Did anyone notice? No.

The year 1991 saw more attacks on Americans in Beirut, Lebanon. On November 8, a 100-kg car bomb destroyed the administration building of the American University in Beirut, killing one person and wounding more than a dozen.

Through all the attacks on Americans in 1991, did America notice? No.

On October 12, 1992, a U.S. soldier serving with the United Nations was stabbed and wounded near the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq.

Back in the U.S. on January 25, 1993, a Pakistani gunman opened fire on Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees standing outside of the building in Virginia. Two agents, Frank Darling and Bennett Lansing, were killed and three others wounded. 

This occurred on American soil in Virginia. Did Americans notice? No.

Then in 1993 we had the first attack on the World Trade Center. On February 26, a massive bomb exploded in a van in the underground parking garage below the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six and wounding 1,042. Four terrorists were responsible for the attack.

At this point I really thought that America would take notice. I was wrong.

Between the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and September 11, 2001 there were at least 55 other attacks around the world by Muslim terrorists that targeted Americans, many were killed and scores more injured, but America didn't notice.

These listed attacks were against Americans; during this same period Israel was the target of and suffered even more attacks.

Since 9/11, things have gotten worse throughout the world, not better. Somehow through backwards political correctness and ignorance, the perpetrator has made himself the victim. Sadly, that's what Americans notice. What's more, most Americans believe it.

It has been stated by leaders the world over as they have seen their own countries succumb to and be held hostage by Islam.

Former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, on February 11, 2011, while being interviewed on French National Television about Islam in his country,

"My answer is clearly yes, it [multiculturalism] is a failure."

On February 5, 2011, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, stated in a speech while speaking on taking a tougher stance on groups promoting Islamist terror in his country,

"Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism. Let's properly judge these organizations: Do they believe in universal human rights - including for women and people of other faiths? Do they believe in equality of all before the law? Do they believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own government? Do they encourage integration or separatism?"
"Again it just seems the Muslim community is very much in the spotlight, being treated as part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution."

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany stated on October 17, 2010 while speaking on Muslims in Germany,

"We kidded ourselves for a while that they wouldn't stay, but that's not the reality."
"Of course the tendency had been to say, 'let's adopt the multicultural concept and live happily side by side, and be happy to be living with each other'. But this concept has failed, and failed utterly."

As leader after leader has seen their country under the threat of terror and retaliation become more Islamic, more Sharia compliant and they lose their right to free speech, they have all come to the same conclusion. Americans though don't take notice.

The Arab Spring has brought us more Islamic ruled governments, not more "freedom;" the reason is simple, what we in the West refer to as "freedom" is not what Muslims see as freedom. Their freedom is that of the Quran. Their freedom is the word of Allah. Their freedom is living like they did 1400 years ago. Period.

If you think I am wrong, look at the Middle East. Take notice.

I'm tired of being called "an alarmist," I'm tired of being called "an Islamophobe," I'm tired of being called "a nut," but most of all I'm tired of America not waking up to the truth.

Since the terror attack that should have been the one to end all others, 9/11, there have been 19,680 deadly attacks, with over 260,000 deaths, all in the name of Islam. This is not a few people "that have hijacked a religion." This is the religion. This is Islam. It's time to take notice.

Iran - The Greatest Threat to Western Civilization

America is a relatively safe place. However, a regime halfway around the world could destroy our way of life. 

From the beginning, the current Iranian regime made it clear that America is public enemy #1. One way to seriously damage America would be a nuke, and one terrifying scenario is a nuclear bomb detonated at high altitude. This is an issue that Congressional commissions and others have investigated, and concluded that it is a credible threat. This would cause severe damage or catastrophic destruction to the electric grid across America. 

In this day and age, everything ultimately depends on electric power: communications, transportation, banking, finance, food and water. The result of such an attach would mean that within a short amount of time, it will be nearly impossible to get food and water, pump gas, provide medical care, withdraw money or use cellular phones. Moreover, without electricity, nuclear power plants melt down. If their containment buildings are breeched, the areas around them could become uninhabitable for centuries. Anarchy. Starvation. Disease. 

As long as the current Iranian regime is in power, we are NOT SAFE..

A word to rioting Muslims - Pat Condell at his best....

Sixteen Reasons Why Islam Is Not the Religion of Peace

Islam is not the religion of peace.  The following sixteen reasons, all sourced from the original sacred documents (the Quran and Traditions), classical law, and history, tell us why.

Each item in the list has one or more back-up articles.  Readers should click on them to find out that the points come right out of original Islam and are not invented out of thin air.

Nearly all of the back-up articles also have a section on modern Islam, mentioning Muslims -- too few -- who advocate reform.

And if readers would like to see various translations of the Quran, they may go to the website quranbrowser.comand type in the references.  If readers are in doubt about the meaning of a verse, they may go to the tafsir(commentary) written by Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), one of the most authoritative and highly regarded classical commentators in the Sunni world, at qtafsir.com.  Or the readers may search through the modern commentary by Sunni Indo-Pakistani religious scholar and politician Sayyid Abul A'La Maududi (d. 1979) at englishtafsir.com.

The first reason is the foundation of all the others.

1. The mosque and state are not separate.

To this day, Islamic nations that are deeply rooted in sharia, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, do not adequatelyseparate the two realms, giving a lot of power to courts and councils to ensure that legislation does not contradict the Quran (never mind whose interpretation).

Back-up: Mosque and State

2. Jihad may be waged against injustice or an unjust nation, as Islam defines the terms.

Classical texts say Islam is justice, and no Islam is injustice.  Therefore, a "just war" can be waged against a nation or people who does not submit to Islam.

Yet we are told in the 1990 Cairo Declaration of Human Rights, which is based on sharia, that humane rules must be followed (Article Three).  Does that article offer hope that modern Islam can move past old Islam?  Maybe.

However, the Quran, sacred traditions, classical law, and historical Islam contradict or balance out some elements in Article Three.  Would there be a conflict between the old Islam and modern Islam if war broke out?  Many Islamic clerics issue fatwas (religious rulings) to wage jihad.

Back-up: Jihad and Qital and The Early Muslim Community and the Sword

3. Jihad may be waged to spread Islam and force conversions -- a holy war.

Waging jihad to spread Islam and force conversions is a perfect description of "holy war."  See Quran 8:39, 9:5, 9:11-12, 9:14, and 9:29; and then see 9:33, 61:9, and 48:28.

Yet we have been told for many years now that holy wars and forced conversions were never done in Islam.  That's a myth imagined by Westerners.

However, read those verses and click on the back-up articles.

Back-up: Jihad and Qital, The Mission of Muhammad and the Sword, and The Early Muslim Community and the Sword.

4. Muhammad nicknames his weapons.

Tabari (AD 839-923) is an early Muslim historian who is considered largely reliable by scholars today.  In fact, the State University of New York Press selected his history to be translated into 38 volumes.  (We use The Last Years of the Prophet, trans. Ismail K. Poonawala, vol. 9, 153-55.)

In the context of the list of Muhammad's assets at the end of his life (horses, camels, milch sheep, and so on), Tabari records the nicknames of Muhammad's weapons.

Muhammad nicknames three swords that he took from the Jewish tribe Qaynuqa after he banished them from Medina in April 624: "Pluck Out," "Very Sharp," and "Death."  Two other swords from elsewhere are named: "Sharp" and "That is wont to sink" (presumably into human flesh).  Finally, there is "Having the vertebrae of the back."  This last sword Muhammad collected as booty after his victory at the Battle of Badr in March 624.

Next, Muhammad took three bows from the Jewish Qaynuqa tribe and named them as follows: "Most conducive to ease, or wide," "white," and "of nab wood" (species of tree from which bows are made).

Muhammad's name for a certain coat of mail implies "ampleness" or "redundant portions," probably because Muhammad was portly (cf. Ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad, trans. Guillaume, p. 383).

Finally, even Muhammad himself has a nickname.  After Tabari lists the positive ones, he matter-of-factly provides one that is not so positive: "The obliterator."

Back-up: The Mission of Muhammad and the Sword

5. A captive in jihad may be executed, enslaved, ransomed for money, exchanged for other prisoners, or released freely.

Quran 47:4, 33:25-27, and 4:24 say these things (and the last option -- free release -- is positive).  Yet we aretold that in a jihad today, everything must be done humanely and justly.

However, as stated before, the back-up article, this fourth item, and the next four items in this list balance outthat claim.  One must ask whether there be a conflict between old Islam and modern Islam in the event of a war.

Back-up: Jihad and Qital and Slavery

6. A woman captive of jihad may be forced to have to sex with her captors (now owners).

Quran 4:24 and especially the sacred traditions and classical law allow this.  The sacred traditions say that while out on military campaigns under Muhammad's leadership, jihadists used to practice coitus interruptus with their female captives.

Female soldiers fighting terrorists today must be forewarned of the danger.

Back-up: Jihad and Qital and Slavery

7. Property can be destroyed or confiscated during jihad.

Quran 59:2 and 59:5 discuss those rules.  Sacred traditions and classical law expand on the Quranic verses.  Modern Islamic law officially improves on the Quran: see Article Three of the 1990 Cairo Declaration of Human Rights, which is nonetheless based on sharia but outlaws wanton destruction of property.  Once again, would there be any conflict between old Islam and modern Islam in a war today?

Back-up: Jihad and Qital and The Quran and the Sword

8. Jihad may be waged to collect spoils.

Quran 8:1, 8:7, 8:41, and 48:20 show this clearly.  Early Islam followed the old Arab custom of raiding caravans, but as its military grew, the raids were elevated to jihad.  The spoils of war were coveted.  Which Islam would prevail in a war today -- the old one or the modern one?

Back-up: Jihad and Qital and The Quran and the Sword

9. The Quran promises gardens for martyrs dying in jihad.

Throughout the Quran, Muhammad promises the men in his fledgling Muslim community that if they die fighting for Allah and for him, Allah will reward them with a "virgin-rich" garden (Quran 44:51-56; 52:17-29; 55:46-78).

In Quran 4:74, 9:111, and 3:140-143, the Arabic word "jihad" (root is j-h-d) is the means or currency to trade in this life for the life to come in an economic bargain.

Back-up: Martyrdom and the Sword

10. A second-class submission tax, called the jizya, must be imposed on Jews and Christians (and other religious minorities) living in Islamic countries.

Quran 9:29 offers three options to Jews and Christians: (1) fight and die, (2) convert to Islam, or (3) keep their religion, but pay a tribute or submission tax, the jizya, while living under Islam.

In Islamic history, vanquished Jews and Christians became known as dhimmis.  This word appears in Quran 9:8 and 9:10, meaning a "treaty" or "oath," but it can also mean those who are "condemned," "reviled," or "reproved" (Quran 17:18, 17:22, 68:49).  The word "submission" in Quran 9:29 can also be translated as "humiliation," "utterly humbled," "contemptible," or "vile."  It can mean "small" as opposed to "great."

Islamic nations today still seek to impose this second-class religion tax.

Back-up: Jihad and Qital and The Quran and the Sword

11. Muhammad executes around 600 male Jews and enslaves the women and children.

Quran 33:25-27 justifies this atrocity.  After the Battle of the Trench in March 627 (named after a trench that the Muslims dug around parts of Medina) against a large coalition of Meccans and their allies, Muhammad imposed the ultimate penalty on the men in the Jewish clan called Qurayzah.

The sentence: death by decapitation for around 600 men (one Islamic source says 900) and enslavement for the women and children (he took a beautiful Jewess as his own prize).

Back-up: Jihad and Qital and The Sword and the Jews

12. Slavery is allowed.

It is true that freeing slaves was done in original Islam (Quran 5:89 and 24:33), and the Quran says to be kind to slaves (Quran 4:36), but that is not the entire story.

In addition to those verses, Quran 4:24, 23:1-7, and 33:52 allow the institution.  Muhammad owned slaves, even one who was black (so says a sacred tradition).  He was militarily and politically powerful during his later life in Medina, but he never abolished slavery as an institution.

Officially, Islamic nations have outlawed slavery (Article 11, which is still based on sharia).  That proves that Islam can reform on at least one matter.  Can it reform on the other sharia laws?  And we are told that "no other nation or religious group in the world treated slaves better than the Muslims did."  The back-up article and next two items in this list contradict that claim.

The legacy of slavery still runs deep in Islamic countries even today.

Back-up: Slavery

13. A male owner may have sex with his slave-women, even prepubescent slave-girls.

See Quran 4:24 and 23:1-7 -- but it is classical law that permits sex with prepubescent slave girls and describes them as such.  Some Muslim religious leaders and others still advocate this practice, taking the slaves as concubines (though sex with prepubescent slave-girls is another matter).

Back-up: Slavery

14. Slaves may be beaten.

That's what sacred Traditions and classical laws say.  See "Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery."

Back-up: Slavery

15. Apostasy laws, including imprisonment or execution, may be imposed on anyone who leaves Islam (an apostate).

Normally this is a prescribed punishment, but it is also political, since it is about freedom of religion.  Surprisingly the Quran does not cover punishing apostates down here on earth, though in the afterlife they will be punished.  Does this mean modern Islam can reform old Islam?  Quran 4:88-89, 9:73-74, and 9:123, read in that sequence, might deal with earthly punishments.  Mainly, however, the sacred traditions and classical law permit harsh treatment for anyone who leaves Islam.

Islamic courts and laws still impose these punishments today, or religious scholars today argue for the law.

Back-up: Freedom of Religion

16. Blasphemy laws, including imprisonment or execution, may be imposed on critics of Islam or Muhammad.

These verses should be read in historical sequence, as follows, for they show that as Islam's military power increased, the harsh treatment of mockers and critics also intensified: Quran 3:186, 33:57-61, 9:61-66, 9:73, and 9:123.  Sacred traditions, classical laws, and historical Islam are unambiguous about the punishments, recording the people, and often their names, who were assassinated for mocking Muhammad and the Quran.

Islamic nations and pockets of Islam in non-Muslim countries still impose these punishments today.

Back-up: Free Speech

For those sixteen reasons, Islam is not the religion of peace.

The thinking world was laughing at Islam behind its back.  Now we're laughing at it to its face.

Islamic religious leaders must reform their religion.  Those sixteen points have expiration dates on them -- from back in the seventh century.

Only after reform will we have even slight peace.

In the meantime, while we wait patiently for this Islamic Reformation and Modernization (if it happens), the Western elites may want to remember three universal rights that are self-evident, according to the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The hallmarks of those three rights are, among other things, freedom of conscience to follow a religion of one's choice (or no religion at all) without being harassed.  Freedom of speech -- even the kind that criticizes the Quran and Muhammad -- is a sign that democracy and justice have taken root.  Equality before the law for both sexes also defines the three universal rights.

If we bend any part of those God-given rights, we will weaken our nation.

James M. Arlandson, Ph.D., has written a book: Women, Class, and Society in Early Christianity.  He has recently completed a series on "The Sword in Early Christianity and Islam."  He has posted a series on sharia at jihadwatch.org, from which this article is inspired

A primer on Islam on the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11

Islam’s practice and growth affects us all, whether we subscribe to the religion or not. Islam is becoming more and more prevalent in our society and we are constantly being asked to accommodate it at the expense of our values, principles, institutions and way of life. Many far-sighted, well-informed people think our culture is doomed and our country will be turned into an Islamic state if it is left unchecked.
That having been said, the vast majority of us know nothing about Islam and as such cannot make informed decisions about it or fully appreciate the threat it poses, even in the face of unspeakable events like the 9/11 attacks which were carried out in its name. This primer will hopefully fill the gap in our knowledge and understanding. At the very least the information herein should make us less susceptible to being manipulated into thinking Islam is tolerant, peaceful and benign and not the unforgiving, destructive and evil phenomenon it really is.
One brief caveat before we begin. This primer is about Islam. It is not about Muslims. Muslims are individuals and should be dealt with solely on their merits, the same way we deal with everyone else. No Muslim should be maligned, stereotyped, rejected or harmed because of anything contained in this primer.
Islam means “submission to the will of God”, or Allah as he is referred to by believers. The Koran is Islam’s holy book and is considered to be the literal word of God (Allah) as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad 1,400 odd years ago. Since Allah is seen as perfect his words are seen as perfect too and cannot be questioned or challenged because doing so would be viewed as questioning or challenging Allah himself. Besides, Allah and his words are perfection personified and perfection cannot be improved upon. Indeed, not one of the Koran’s 114 suras (chapters) has been changed over the centuries. Islam requires believers to unconditionally accept and obey Allah’s words as given in the Koran, even if that brings them in conflict with the wider society they live in. There are terrible consequences for those who don’t.
Islam teaches that it is the one true religion and that all other religions and belief systems are false and not accepted by Allah. Believers are seen as inherently superior to unbelievers. There is no respect or tolerance for people of other faiths or beliefs in Islam, who are thought of as contemptible, unworthy, enemies of Allah and less than human. Islam teaches that it is a sacred duty of believers to convert, subjugate or kill all unbelievers in order to purify the earth, which belongs to Allah alone. It justifies any act which leads to their conversion, subjugation or death. There is no mention of Allah’s love or regard for unbelievers in the Koran. Allah’s hatred for them and cruelty towards them are mentioned over 500 times however.
Islam’s purpose is to have everyone on earth live under Islamic rule and Islamic law, Sharia. The fact that this means destroying all non-Islamic societies and shedding vast amounts of blood is irrelevant. The command comes straight from Allah through Muhammad to the Koran and is non-negotiable, like everything else in the book. All other forms of government are seen as a sin and an insult to Allah and striving to institute Sharia worldwide is an Islamic imperative. Jihad is the individual and communal effort to expand the territory ruled by believers, to spread the rule of Islam and Islamic law throughout the world by whatever means are necessary. Believers have conducted jihad against unbelievers from Islam’s beginning to the present time. Indeed, every single day that goes by is full of examples of believers conducting jihad against unbelievers and carrying out horrific acts in the name of Islam, up to and including mutilation, torture, homicide and mass murder.
Islam permits lying by believers to unbelievers and is in fact the only major religion with a well-developed canon sanctioning this. Lying to unbelievers takes one of two forms in Islam, taqiyya or kitman. Taqiyya is lying or deceiving by saying something which isn’t true and kitman is lying and deceiving by omission, by telling only part of the truth and withholding the rest. Both come from Allah and the Koran and may be used in a wide variety of circumstances, one of them being to gain the trust of unbelievers to make them weaker and more vulnerable prior to defeating them, another being to comply with any of Islam’s myriad imperatives. Taqiyya and kitman have been used extensively throughout Islam’s history to deceive unbelievers and to gloss over Islam’s true nature and intentions and spread the rule of Islam and Islamic law. Our time is no exception. Believers are constantly lying to unbelievers to bring them under Islam’s yoke.

Islam and violence cannot be separated

Islam and violence cannot be separated. They are virtually one and the same and always have been. Violence is at the heart of the religion and violent men and acts are revered and venerated. There are at least 109 verses in the Koran espousing violence and it is required of all believers, especially against unbelievers. Since the verses are immutable and unchangeable because they are thought of as the literal word of Allah they are just as relevant, obligatory and in force today as they were when they were received. Violence and jihad are completely ingrained in Islam and the narrative and history of the religion from the beginning right up to the present time leave no doubt about this whatsoever. Violence is also commonly directed inward as well as outward and believers and their wives, children, relatives and associates have always been brutally victimized as well. Violence is simply part and parcel of Islam and Islamic law and the religion cannot be practiced without it because it is required by Allah.
Christians and Jews are held in particularly low regard in Islam. They are especially reviled because they are seen as fellow peoples of the book who refuse to accept the supremacy of Allah, Muhammad and the Koran. Peoples of the book refers to followers of a monotheistic religion with a revealed scripture e.g. primarily Christians and Jews in the Islamic context. Historically, they were allowed to live in Islamic lands but only as second class citizens and only to reinforce Islam’s supremacy. They had to pay a poll tax called the Jizya to affirm their inferior status and indigenous Christians and Jews had to pay a land tax called the Kharadj as well. They were also discriminated against in many other legal ways, all of which were designed to punish, humiliate and degrade them and keep them in their place. Even in the best of times their existence was extremely precarious and they could be forced to convert or killed for real or imagined transgressions on a moment’s notice. Hatred, revulsion and discrimination towards Christians and Jews has always been an intrinsic part of Islam and remains so to the present day. Christians and Jews continue to be constantly vilified, discriminated against and victimized by Islam, often violently. Attacks of all sorts are very common throughout the world. This is all the will of Allah as expressed to Muhammad and is entrenched in the Koran.
Misogyny and maltreatment of women are fundamental precepts and defining characteristics of Islam. Under Islam women are treated as chattels, marginalized, dehumanized, objectified, mistreated, beaten, raped, disfigured, persecuted, dominated and killed as a matter of course. This is all perfectly legitimate and is sanctified by Allah’s revelations, the Koran, Muhammad’s behavior and Islamic law. It is endemic in Islamic societies now and has been since Islam first came into existence. Women have no real rights under Islam at all, including the most basic ones of all, the right to life and the right to personal safety and security. Among other things, Islam teaches that a woman is worth less than a man, women are required to cover themselves, women are not allowed to be alone with a man who is not a relative, husbands are allowed to beat their wives, the testimony of a woman in court is worth half of a mans, women cannot travel by themselves, adulterers are to be put to death, a woman must have four male witnesses to prove rape and her testimony is not accepted and on and on in the same vein. In Islam women are under the charge of men and totally controlled and completely subservient to them, be they husbands, fathers, sons, relatives or others. This has been the case from day one.
Islam commands that those who insult Allah, Muhammad or Islam itself should be killed. So should those who desecrate the Koran or commit other acts of blasphemy. Mocking, satirizing, questioning or criticizing are all considered acts of blasphemy. Blasphemy applies to both believers and unbelievers. Blasphemy provisions in Islamic law are very broad and are used to stifle dissent and criticism and to incite retribution and violence against those who dare to ask questions, voice concerns, depart from the party line or detract from Allah, Muhammad, the Koran or Islam in any way, shape or form. The draconian blasphemy provisions in Islamic law make discussion and examination impossible because even the mildest comment or expression can be taken as insulting or blasphemous and result in the blasphemers death. They are a real threat to freedom of speech and freedom of expression because they intimidate critics, dissenters and other interested people into silence…they are all-encompassing and anyone who violates them or is accused of violating them could easily find themselves in very serious trouble. .
Islam defines apostacy as unbelief which follows belief. An apostate is a believer who rejects Islam
and leaves it for another religion, or no religion at all. Apostates not only reject Islam but by definition they reject Allah, Muhammad and the Koran as well. Islam takes apostacy very seriously and apostates are put to death under Islamic law. Believers are not free to leave Islam. Once a person becomes a believer they are forced to remain one for the rest of their lives or be killed. Islam is the only religion in the world which compels its adherents to remain in the fold upon pain of death. The death sentence is in effect regardless of whether the apostacy took place in an Islamic state or not. Muhammad himself killed many apostates and whoever kills one today is simply following his lead and obeying Islamic law.
Islam permits believers to steal from unbelievers but not from other believers. Unbelievers do not have a right to property and whatever property they do have nay be taken from them by believers as they wish. Theft from unbelievers is permitted for three reasons. First, Allah promised believers that they would profit in the jihad against unbelievers, second, Allah promised believers that he would always sustain them and theft from unbelievers is a legitimate way of doing that and third, unbelievers property is not considered theirs because their disbelief and resultant diminished status does not give them the right to own it in the first place. When believers steal from unbelievers it is viewed as returning property to a superior being and not as theft at all. In ancient times Muhammad frequently stole from unbelievers and believers have been following his example ever since. In modern times believers living on the dole is seen as stealing from unbelievers and part of the jihad against them. Conversely, the Koran states unequivocally that a believer who steals from another believer shall have his or hers hands cut off. Believers who balk at this are subject to punishment in turn because it is construed as rejecting their religion.
Believers consider lands which were once possessed by Islam to be Islamic forever, even if they were lost and regardless of how much time has gone by since the loss occurred. Once an Islamic land always an Islamic land is the belief, no matter how long ago its status changed. Islam views lands which were once Islamic as holy and makes it imperative that they be re-conquered and restored to Islam’s rightful rule. That is Allah’s will and it must be followed. This is but one reason why the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and her Islamic neighbors is so intractable. Israel sits on land which was once Islamic and Islam mandates its return to the fold, thus guaranteeing a perpetual state of war in the region. For that matter, Spain and much of Europe, among other places, also sit on land that was once Islamic. In fact, anyplace a mosque existed, or exists, is considered by believers to be forever Islamic.
Islam’s apologists point to a few early verses in the Koran as proof that Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, compassion and love. This is false however (Taqiyya anyone?) because those few early verses are abrogated by later verses and are cancelled and rendered invalid as a result. Only abrogating verses carry the weight of Islamic law and compulsion. Abrogated verses in the Koran are called mansukh and abrogating verses are called nasikh. Nasikh were all revealed after mansukh and cancel and render invalid mansukh in every case. Apologists like to use Sura 2.256 (“let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clear from error”) to deceive unbelievers about the true nature of Islam. That was an early verse and was abrogated by Sura 9.5, a later verse commonly known as the verse of the sword, which reads “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush”. Every passage in the Koran with any sort of a positive message for unbelievers is abrogated by a later verse, every one, which means that there is nothing in the Koran that is positive for unbelievers, nothing at all. The few verses that speak of peace, tolerance, compassion and love are all replaced and supplanted by abrogating verses which command violence, war, intolerance, revulsion, disdain and hate, commands which come straight from Allah, according to Islam.
That’s Islam in brief. So how does it manifest itself in today’s world? The answer is violently, viciously and totally uncompromisingly, the same way it has since its birth. Every day all over the world believers are murdering, maiming, torturing, beating, raping and otherwise horribly treating men, women and children of all ages in its name. Every day all over the world Islam is trying to force unbelievers to submit to its imperatives, to make everyone live under Islamic law. Every day all over the world Islam is attacking freedom, democracy, secularism and pluralism. Every day all over the world Islam is trying to wipe out freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and everything else that is requisite in free, non Islamic societies. Every day all over the world Islam is committing terrorist acts, often including mass murder. Islam is a violent, destructive, intolerant, supremacist, expansionist, religion and mindset and it proves the point every day wherever it is found, including wherever it is you happen to live. None of this is occurring, or has ever occurred for that matter, because anyone misinterprets or misunderstands it either. That is what Islam is and has always been, pure and simple.
There you have it-A Primer on Islam on the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Draw your own conclusions. Mine are that Islam is fundamentally incompatible with free, democratic, secular, pluralistic, modern societies, that no society can call itself civilized if it is governed in whole or in part by Islam, that the Western world and Western values, principles and institutions are under attack, that the Islamization of the Western world is well and truly underway, that Islamization must be stopped and reversed if the West is to survive, that the United States (my home country) and Israel are primary targets, that every Western country is seriously threatened, that it is incumbent upon freedom loving humanitarian people to fight and overcome the scourge that is Islam and that reality, history and Islam itself tell us exactly what will happen if they don’t.