Israeli Suicide Bombing Follows London Attack

Haaretz has the latest...

Ken Tomlinson Should Resign

Not for the reasons these people say...

But because he's pretty much discredited himself in his handling of the PBS and NPR bias issue, in his role as Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I saw him on the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer last night,testifying at the ridiculous Senate hearing described in this New York Times story. It was comical to hear him and the Republican CPB president Patricia Harrison -- who helped turn the whole world against the USA while she was in charge of public diplomacy at the State Department -- sing the praises of federally funded broadcast networks that are trying to bring Tomlinson, his party and his President down.

Plus, he's obviously small-minded. If Tomlinson had given Fred Mann $14 million to study public broadcasting bias, it might have been impressive. But $14,000? And they say he's a Texan?

Pathetic.

Why This Karl Rove Story Has Legs

Even Fox News on the chase. The reason is simple, the old Washington adage holds true: "It's not the crime, it's the coverup." If Rove lied to federal investigators, that's a felony. If he commited perjury at the behest of President Bush, that's an impeachable offense. The Plame outing part of it becomes irrelevant...

Hurricane Dennis Photos

Now online atPensacolaNewsJournal.com. Less damage than Ivan, but still a big storm--and now they are worried about Tropical Storm Emily . . .

Van Gogh Killer Confesses

The BBC reports on the trial of Mohammed Bouyeri, who told the court he would do it again. "'I take complete responsibility for my actions. I acted purely in the name of my religion,' he told the court in Amsterdam."

Hell's Kitchen

Last night we caught Hell's Kitchen, the American version of Chef Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmare, which we saw on TV in Wales during our walk along Offa's Dike. It is really a great show, The Apprentice meets Survivor meets Big Brother meets The French Chef. The torrent of profanities, bleeped out here in America, were fully audible in the UK. Ramsay is an entertaining character--I seem to remember hearing that his actual restaurant went out of business in Britain, so maybe he's a better as an actor than restaurant proprietor. He sort of plays a very loud version of a British public-school character, instructing his charges in making a Mango Flambe instead of conjugating Latin verbs. Despite the hype, reassuringly old school. And the irony of a British show about cooking, with celebrity chefs. Who would have imagined?

This Book Looks Interesting...

Fred Siegel's account of how Rudy Giuliani saved New York City sounds like a tale that needs telling. Siegel was sort of an insider guru, so I bet the book is pretty good. Adding it to my summer reading list...

Why They Call It "Londonistan"

Rita Katz & Michael Kern explain Britain's bases for terrorists...

Daniel Pipes on the MI5 Report

He calls his article The Next London Bombing.

The point that most of all interested me, however, in reading Young Muslims and Extremism is where it draws on MI5 information to make this astonishing statement:

Intelligence indicates that the number of British Muslims actively engaged in terrorist activity, whether at home or abroad or supporting such activity, is extremely small and estimated at less than 1% (pdf 2, p. 9).

If one accepts the report's estimate (pdf 2, p. 5) that the Muslim population of Great Britain numbers 1.6 million, then up to 16,000 "British Muslims actively engaged in terrorist activity."

"Extremely small"? Excuse me, but that number strikes me as an extremely large.

That the British authorities do not recognize that they should worry about thousands of terrorists in their midst is reason to worry what planet they inhabit. Their waffling, myopia, and general incompetence make one despair for their country.

Some Thoughts on the London Bombings

Yesterday evening, a British friend dropped by. She told us that she was surprised, living in Washington, that she has had so few expressions of sympathy from her acquaintances in Georgetown. At a block party, no one even mentioned the London tube attacks. Why didn't Washingtonians seem to care?

Thinking about her complaint, I realized that neither Republicans or Democrats have much incentive to dwell on the horror.

Republicans were shown up, because the London bombings are pretty dramatic evidence that President Bush's war on terror isn't working. Bush's claims that Osama bin Laden is on the run, being smoked out, unable to act, etc. are proven to be empty boasting, Texas-grade. And if Bush is losing, he may be a loser, so better not to think about it. Let's talk about something else--Hurricane Dennis, anyone?

Democrats, on the other hand, have been shown up, too. For many of them have echoed Michael Moore's line that there is no terrorist threat, that the whole 9/11 episode was just something milked by Bush & Co. to get re-elected and give defense contracts to Halliburton, instead of more funding to Head Start. When downtown London is hit in a devastating blow, it looks like maybe the Democrats are wrong to pooh-pooh the terrorism problem. So, let's talk about something else--how about that Supreme Court fight?

Of course, each side has a rationale. Democrats might say, if only Britain weren't in Iraq they wouldn't be a target (but America was a target before Iraq or Afghanistan, as was France, as was Moscow, as was Jerusalem). And Republicans might say, if only we prevail in Iraq we will prevail over terror (but we prevailed in Afghanistan, we thought, and terror did not cease).

So, the meaning of London may not be crystal clear, but the blasts that tore through the Underground at King's Cross, Edgeware Road, and Liverpool Street station also tore through the pieties and stereotypes of the American political class--which is why they may have difficulty expressing condolences even to a Britisher living among them.

Our sympathies...

First London Bombing Victim Named

Susan Levy, of Hertfordshire, a mother of two, killed on the Picadilly Line, according to The Telegraph.

Why Do They Hate Us? (Continued)

Amir Taheri explains the thinking behind the London bombings:

But sorry, old chaps, you are dealing with an enemy that does not want anything specific, and cannot be talked back into reason through anger management or round-table discussions. Or, rather, this enemy does want something specific: to take full control of your lives, dictate every single move you make round the clock and, if you dare resist, he will feel it his divine duty to kill you.

The ideological soil in which alQaeda, and the many groups using its brand name, grow was described by one of its original masterminds, the Pakistani Abul-Ala al-Maudoodi more than 40 years ago. It goes something like this: when God created mankind He made all their bodily needs and movements subject to inescapable biological rules but decided to leave their spiritual, social and political needs and movements largely subject to their will. Soon, however, it became clear that Man cannot run his affairs the way God wants. So God started sending prophets to warn man and try to goad him on to the right path. A total of 128,000 prophets were sent, including Moses and Jesus. They all failed. Finally, God sent Muhammad as the last of His prophets and the bearer of His ultimate message, Islam. With the advent of Islam all previous religions were “abrogated” (mansukh), and their followers regarded as “infidel” (kuffar). The aim of all good Muslims, therefore, is to convert humanity to Islam, which regulates Man’s spiritual, economic, political and social moves to the last detail.

But what if non-Muslims refuse to take the right path? Here answers diverge. Some believe that the answer is dialogue and argument until followers of the “abrogated faiths” recognise their error and agree to be saved by converting to Islam. This is the view of most of the imams preaching in the mosques in the West. But others, including Osama bin Laden, a disciple of al-Maudoodi, believe that the Western-dominated world is too mired in corruption to hear any argument, and must be shocked into conversion through spectacular ghazavat (raids) of the kind we saw in New York and Washington in 2001, in Madrid last year, and now in London.

That yesterday’s attack was intended as a ghazava was confirmed in a statement by the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe, an Islamist group that claimed responsibility for yesterday’s atrocity. It said “We have fulfilled our promise and carried out our blessed military raid (ghazava) in Britain after our mujahideen exerted strenuous efforts over a long period of time to ensure the success of the raid.” Those who carry out these missions are the ghazis, the highest of all Islamic distinctions just below that of the shahid or martyr. A ghazi who also becomes a shahid will be doubly meritorious.

There are many Muslims who believe that the idea that all other faiths have been “abrogated” and that the whole of mankind should be united under the banner of Islam must be dropped as a dangerous anachronism. But to the Islamist those Muslims who think like that are themselves regarded as lapsed, and deserving of death.

(Link via Little Green Footballs)

Arab News Charges Tony Blair Behind London Bombings

This article is based on just the type of repellent crackpot logic used in "black propaganda" that George Bush was behind 9/11.

I've seen the same line on Chechen bombings in Russia for example. When we lived in Moscow, we would often pass by the memorial to those who died in the bombing at Pushkinskaya Metro station. Same M.O. as London...

Frightening to think millions around the world may believe an item in Arab News that is obviously nonsense to any reasonable person. And perhaps more disturbing to realize there are editors at papers like Arab News who willingly choose to publish this sort of thing. What Motive for the Heinous Crime of London Bombings?:

Dictatorial governments have always used some fabricated or isolated incidents to justify their tyrannical actions. In recent years, Western governments have shown that they are always willing to borrow a leaf of dictators' book. Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and David Blunkett's measures that were ruled unconstitutional by the British House of Lords are examples of such readiness. Do we see in the London bombings an act that will play into the hands of Tony Blair's government? This is not to suggest that the government has any hand in the planning or execution of this crime. It is only likely that in the aftermath of the bombings, the Blair government may find it much easier to introduce some draconian measures of the type that was ruled unconstitutional, without encountering much opposition.

The real sufferers will be the Muslim community in Britain and in other European countries.

An important factor that supports this view is the outcome of the recent general elections in Britain, when the Blair government lost much of its parliamentary majority, and the Muslim community was for the first time more selective in how it votes. The first steps toward shaping a “Muslim vote” factor that influences election results were seen to have taken place. In order to prevent such a factor taking firm roots, something needs to be done now to send the Muslim community back into its long political slumber. What can bring this about better than alienating it from British society?

This Arab News article seems a good illustration of Voltaire's observation, that those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

Newsweek Outs Karl Rove

As Matt Cooper's source for the Valerie Plame-CIA connection according toWar and Piece.

Islamism on Trial

Daniel Pipes discusses Vanessa Blum's Legal Times thumb-sucker about the conviction of Islamist Ali al-Timimi as part of the "Virginia jihad network." It seems like an important case that is not getting too much media attention.

Sunday Times: Al-Qaeda Recruiting British University Students

Leaked No 10 dossier reveals Al-Qaeda’s British recruits : "AL-QAEDA is secretly recruiting affluent, middle-class Muslims in British universities and colleges to carry out terrorist attacks in this country, leaked Whitehall documents reveal. A network of 'extremist recruiters' is circulating on campuses targeting people with 'technical and professional qualifications', particularly engineering and IT degrees." (link via Little Green Footballs)

A Star Is Born

We just came back from seeing the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg's Kirov Ballet's performance of Le Corsaire at the Kennedy Center. Young Leonid Sarafanov stole the show (a pretty good show at that) as Ali, bringing the audience to life, receiving roaring applause and cheers (unusual enthusiasm for a Washington, DC crowd).

It must have been something like this when a young Baryshnikov or Nureyev first toured the USA. Keep an eye out for the 20-year old male dancer in future productions.

Coffee: The Drink That Changed the World

Jonathan Yardley reviews Dark History by Antony Wild, the history of coffee. The theory: coffee helped people sober up from generations of beer drinking--and launched the modern intellectual revolution based in coffeehouses that led to Lloyd's of London, the Stock Exchange, and myriad other institutions we take for granted to day--not to mention the British Club...

London Was World Terrorism Capital

According to PittsburghLIVE.com:

London has long been home to many radical Islamic groups and preachers, so much so that it is often called 'Londonistan.' Sir John Stevens, former head of Scotland Yard, has estimated that up to 200 militants trained in Afghanistan's jihadist camps may live in England.

Rita Katz, director of the terrorism-monitoring SITE Institute, says London has 'a lot of jihadis, more than any other city in the Western world.'

'In London,' she says, 'what you have are the four factors of terrorism: recruitment, planning, financing and execution.'

If this is true, then democracy appears to be conducive to terrorism. Britain is also a wealthy, free-market economy.

As one counter-example disproves an erroneous universal claim, the London bombing explodes both George Bush's "Democracy" strategy for countering terrorism, along with his liberal critics' "Economic Development" strategy, which blames poverty.

Left standing is Daniel Pipes' political and ideological explanation--a theoretical approach shared by the Russians, Israelis, Indians and Chinese, among others...

Abu Hamza Link in London Blasts?

The New York Sun's Eli Lake reports on the Finsbury Mosque leader's connection to terrorism:

WASHINGTON - Just two days before yesterday's horrific attacks on London's mass-transit system, a British court began proceedings to deport a man widely believed to be Osama bin Laden's envoy to the United Kingdom.
Abu Hamza al-Masri, a former Afghan Mujahedeen warrior turned Islamic scholar, stood in the dock on July 5 in London to hear the government he so often pledged to destroy make the case that he has urged fellow believers to kill Britons.

Terrorism experts yesterday were careful not to draw a link between the attacks and Mr. Masri's case, saying the bombings were most likely linked to Al Qaeda's campaign against the West, but in many ways the two matters are deeply connected. The Finsbury Park mosque, where Mr. Masri, 48, often gave fiery sermons imploring his faithful to defend Muslims against an assault from the West is widely considered to be the training and indoctrination ground for the jihadist movement in England.

'The leadership of the European Islamists relocated from Germany to England in the late 1990s. The Finsbury Park mosque was the central point, the embassy, the nexus for many of these groups. It served as both a recruitment and indoctrination school,' a Hudson Institute terrorism analyst, Christopher Brown, told The New York Sun yesterday.

A former CIA analyst and current chief executive officer for the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Michael Swetnam, yesterday said the Finsbury mosque likely played an important role in the London attacks.