Today we found out that some of the British Muslims who were detained on suspicion of plotting to blow up airliners bound for the US were members of or linked to Tablighi Jamaat, an orthodox Islamic proselytizing movement (the name means "proselytizing group"). Assad Sarwar (26) and Waheed Zaman (22) are part of this movement and share that distinction with at least one of the 7/7 suicide bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan and possibly another, Shehzad Tanweer.
For me, this is sort of a fortuitous event, but for you (at least most of you who don't know much about Islam), it's a new threat from within Islam. The reason it's neat for me is that I'd planned on writing a bit about the link between charity and terrorism and about why Islam is more succeptible to that angle. With Pakistan allowing Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant wing of the Dawa wal Irshad charity group, help with rebuilding the earthquake damage in Kashmir to both Hamas and Hezbullah's charity wings (look who's rebuilding the Lebanon, now), Americans should be aware that not only do the most virulent Islamic organizations have a political agenda, but they also do significant charity work. Only recently with this administration's restriction on money for AIDS and impoverished countries do we get the opportunity to feel the confusion of how religious mores affect good works.
Anyone can wikipedia either Tablighi Jamaat and LeT (hopefully, people are more aware of LeT and their influence over Pakistan) and get some information about them. TJ, in particular, is a bit of an oddity - Islam is a non-proselytizing religion, regardless of what sort of tripe the Church fostered about a "violent religion of the sword." So having a retroactively conservative organization that's managed to incorporate the heresy of "spreading the good news" starts out at being at odds with itself. Their targets are mainly the Muslim community itself, and not external conversions, and because of this, they're not considered a "cult" or anything more than really passionate by the Muslim community at large. Most Muslims, if they're aware of TJ at all, see the adherants as very pious and serious Muslims with no political agenda.
Some people might want to know how I know that TJ's mostly an apolitical, peaceful, if strange, group, considering I'm not a TJ follower: I've known tablighi missionaries that've been involved with them for a very long time. The majority of them are definiately kooky, but harmless, focusing on encouraging Muslims to be better Muslims.
This isn't to say that TJ is a harmless organization. After it's origins around New Delhi, India in 1927 as a Sunni Deobandi sect organized to convert Indian Muslims whom they thought were too "indianified," a section of this loosely organized group moved - like a lot of aggressive retroactive Islamic movements - to Pakistan where they have a pattern of recruiting "believers" not just into proslyetizing missions, but in a lot of cases, towards a radicalized view of Islam. In a derrogatory way, Pakistani and Bangledeshi TJ's a "gateway drug" religion for hard-core politics. There are definitely Indian, Bangledeshi, and Pakistanki TJ groups that remain apolitical and peaceful, but I don't think those are of any interest to the media nor are they relevant to figuring out how to excise a lunatic strain from Islam.
Giving alms to the poor, a tithe, and caring for the poor are central tenets in Islam and, in this way, a lot of money's available to charity organizations. Also, since a lot of the giving is not through traditional banks, it's a great way for organizations who either lose their way or are malicious in the first place to get money under the radar. Islam is a religion of what can be explained as "works" combined with "belief" (for the Christians) - no separation of politics and religion - and those people that want to take advantage of a political agenda in the name of Islam have a bit of a leg up.
So, what's to be done about it? When people ask that question, they usually mean "So, what's Islam going to do about it?" The answer is that most Muslims have a good grasp about what's right and what's wrong with the variety of offshoots in the religion and in society. There're a few lines and when crossed, it's not for "polite company." Really, making sure that Muslims understand their own religion is a big part of all of this. Realizing that there are people who're willing sub/pervert the faith for their own ideas means that we have to be more vigilant about what the religion really means. So, next time some Deobandis or Salafists come knocking at your door or bug you on campus on one of their proselytizing missions, do what most Americans do with cults - be ready to engage them or turn them away.
Recognizing that they're not mainstream Islam and being able to discriminate between the types of these heretical bida cults is also really important for both the fight against lunatics who not only seem to be a major threat to us and our allies but who also prey on the religious for their fodder.
The British have picked up on the TJ connections and are now watching the European headquarters (called markaz) which is located in Dewsbury, England. (53.681206°, -1.628523°) There are even some reports that the British police are starting to keep track of TJ adherents as they go about some of their itinerant travels.
Jack asked me the other day whether Iraq was in a civil war. I said no, because from what I’ve read, the insurgent groups don't have a coherent idea of a ruling government after they “won.” The Sunni-allied political factions have come around and are participating in the existing government and even Moktada Sadr’s puerile acting up is being poorly integrated into the existing government structure. To me, this continues to place the anti-Iraqi government insurgents outside a “civil” structure and that was my reason for saying that it wasn’t a “civil war.” Additionally, I believe that not only can an American presence be still properly utilized to stabilize the country but that Iraqis want to be our allies.
No matter how much I’ve read or do read about Iraq, I’m not there, so I don’t know. When I read about a debate on Iraqi television between two prominent theologians, a Sunni and a Shia, in Iraq, where there was never a question or disagreement between the two on the very same question about a civil war, I knew I my answer to Jack was wrong and the situation on the ground predominated: Iraq is in the middle of a civil war and it’s because Sunnis are killing Shia and vice versa. That was their answer. It's not (just) a government thing, it's a sectarian thing.
The only question that the audience really had was what to do about the civil war now and what will come out of it?
Considering I have no experience at all with what's going on with Iraq, I can only speculate. I suspect there'll be pound-of-flesh taking until someone decides to stop it. Since the Iraqis call it a civil war, it seems like it must be a fight for the future civil structure of the nation. The Sunni and secular insurgents have always wanted to destabilize a government they see as pro-American or, at the very least, heavily influenced and reliant upon America. Sadr's group and SCIRI would rather have that dependance somewhere else - and they'll take help where they can get it for their objective, and that means Iran.
There's apparently a huge internal refugee crisis in Iraq - people moving around, out of where they used to live in response to death squads -the Mahdi Army, Sadr's goons, and the Mujahideen Shura - an umbrella Sunni insurgent group.
Since we don't have a nuanced view of Iran, Iraq'll start to look too pro-Iran for our liking and I suspect we'll start encouraging the Sunni insurgents, relabeled "resistance" at that point. The place isn't going to be calm for a long time, probably not for 50 years or so. The Iraqis will divide themselves up among sectarian lines. Like the "three states within a state" tail-tween-legs "solution" that Biden tried to appropriate a while back, this de facto split will allow us to sulk away and the residents will have just have to adjust to this new reality - just like all the other Arab states have.
I used to think Biden's advocation of a "three-in-one state" solution for Iraq was and is a defeatist and overly negative - not pragmatic - look at the future of Iraq. Preparing the American public to accept a different outcome than "victory" with regards to the Iraq situation is noble and a proper direction, but I don't think that was Biden's intention. Now, I think advocating a pragmatic view of what's happening isn't so much a self-fulfilling prophecy and abandoning our ideals as just what is. America's never been one to follow through on an imposition of an ideal regardless of rhetoric and, whether Biden understands that his proposition tacitly reinforces that, I think that's how it is. Even the Iraqis themselves seem to be realizing they're going to have to split in order to create a fireline between the factions spurring and retaliating fighting the civil war.
If it is a civil war, what do we do about it? We leave and let them deal with it. We take a cue from the UN - if it's a civil conflict, ignore it until it's genocidal, then be embarrassed and refuse that you could've done anything about it. Preferrably, we can try a limp-wristed solution to seperate the combatants and bury our heads and hope that they'll work it out sooner, rather than later. We can then leave Iraq so that we can deny we had anything to do with it. Granted, we won't do that excatly, but will put a unique American spin on it and wait until we can say that the ungrateful Iraqis can't be shown the path towards democracy. Then we can hate on their neighbors and the region and pump more money into our proxies. The Iraqi civil war means it's their problem now, not ours. Literally. If they think they're in a civil war, all our wishful thinking's not going to change that. Auger in on entrenched partisan positions. We can follow other news stories now, it's official: the Iraq war is over. It's legacy will be with us throughout our lifetimes.
Israel has found out what we've known, but won't acknowledge, about fighting a stateless enemy - "resolve" in defeating an enemy is incomplete and ultimately detrimental when the engagement's only military. It's not just that our people aren't willing to "win," we don't know what winning looks like, nor can we fathom winning with anything more than physical weaponry. This has been clear since before America awoke on 9/11/2001. We've been in denial because Americans like action and our politicians invested themselves in trashing diplomacy and reviling anything that didn't look like a bullet, gun, and explosions as "hugging." In this race, I hope the Israelis take a clue from us, even though we haven't been the paragons of a syncretic guns & butter solution, instead of the embarassment of policy that we've had by taking Israeli advice. Israel's policies of dealing with "terrorists" have simply brought them what they have right now - the constant fear and tension of maintaining and enforcing a prison. Maybe we can get a clue from Israel's "failure to win" and not repeat their mistakes. Also, it's ironic how America thinks we can play some sort of mediator in any Israel-* peace when we've got our own issues. It's a long time coming, but our benevolent neutrality's starting to wear really thin.
British Muslims and Muslim leaders are very worked up about British foreign policy. We're lucky, as Americans, that our Muslim communities aren't as disenfranchised as theirs are, yet unlucky since, in a way, we're cowed by assimilation. Our only established outlet of disapproval slips directly into the American socialist Left, which is not what Muslims are. It's a voiceless outrage, another thing Americans outsource to other countries.
The Pakistan connection to Laskhar-e-Taiba's dawa (charity) parent organization's being made in the press, both our press and Pakistan's press. I think the Rashid Rauf connection (British Pakistani, brother of an arrested alleged bomber, Tayib) - arrested in Lahore, from the eastern Bahawalpur region - to Al Qaeda is being made through the charity work that the Jamaat ud-Dawa's been doing in the wake of the Kashmiri earthquakes. I think it's resonable, but a noticeable amount of stretch. More on this later.
The Bank of England freezes the accounts of 19 of the 24 caught suspects of the air bombiing plot and publishes their names.
| Name |
DOB |
Age |
| PATEL, Abdul Muneem |
4/17/1989 |
17 |
| KHATIB, Osman Adam |
12/7/1986 |
20 |
| HUSSAIN, Nabeel |
3/10/1984 |
22 |
| KHAN, Assan Abdullah |
10/24/1984 |
22 |
| RAUF, Tayib |
4/26/1984 |
22 |
| ZAMAN, Waheed |
5/27/1984 |
22 |
| TARIQ, Amin Asmin |
6/7/1983 |
23 |
| ALI, Cossor |
12/4/1982 |
24 |
| SADDIQUE, Muhammed Usman |
4/23/1982 |
24 |
| HUSSAIN, Tanvir |
2/21/1981 |
25 |
| HUSSAIN, Umair |
10/9/1981 |
25 |
| KHAN, Waheed Arafat |
5/18/1981 |
25 |
| ALI, Abdula Ahmed |
10/10/1980 |
26 |
| SARWAR, Assad |
5/24/1980 |
26 |
| SAVANT, Ibrahim |
12/19/1980 |
26 |
| ALI, Shazad Khuram |
6/11/1979 |
27 |
| ISLAM, Umar |
4/23/1978 |
28 |
| KAYANI, Waseem |
4/28/1977 |
29 |
| UDDIN, Shamin Mohammed |
11/22/1970 |
36 |
Here're their locations in Google Earth: 
Statement coming from his Eminence al-Sayyid al-Sistani (May Allah perserve
him) regarding Massacre Ghana
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful , the Most Compassionate,
In a series of persistent assaults on noble Lebanon, the military forces
of the Israeli enemy have commited today a fresh massacre in the wounded
town of Qana Its victims were tens of innocents in such a spectacle, how
disgusting and horrible it was !
verily words are insufficient to denounce this loathsome crime, a sin which
was brought on by those who have totally stripped themselves of any
humanitarian principles and morals so even women and children in refuge
shelters are not safe from them.
Verily the size of the disasters that have occurred in Lebanon , as the
result of the continuance of Israeli aggression, has reached a limit which ,
any further patience is not imaginable nor is standing by with hands
withheld , in front of it. So the international community must
undertake compelling an immediate cease-fire and putting an end to this
horrific tragedy. The Muslim world and the rest of the nations, who love
peace will not pardon those sides who are trying to inhibit such an
undertaking. Such inhibtion will lead to disastrous consequences in the
region, in its entirety.
The Office of al-Sayyid al-Sistani
Rajab 4, 1427
That's July 30, 2006. As we all know, since we've studied our Bibles, Qana, Lebanon (33.2080556, 35.3002778) is where Jesus turned water to wine, 2006 years ago. Israeli's updated that by turning more than 60 civilians into blood.
Sistani's our great hope in Iraq. With Iraqi PM Maliki being shunned by our congress due to his statements on Israel and Lebanon, we're rapidly running out of allies on the ground.
Hazard definitions, particularly "Pyrophoric" means a chemical that will ignite spontaneously in air at a temperature of 130 deg. F (54.4 deg. C) or below and Organic peroxides, which undergo autoaccelerating thermal decomposition, are excluded from any of the flashpoint determination methods specified above. Oh, and of course, triacetone triperoxide (TATP). It's really too bad I didn't pay enough attention in orgo or pchem.
Precedent includes the 1994 bombing of a Manila - Tokyo flight planned by Ramzi Yousef (in custody here in Florence's supermax) that used nitroglycerine hidden in a contact lens solution bottle, stabilized with cotton balls, and set off with a Casio wrist watch - it ripped through a Boeing 747, killing a Japanese passenger and forcing the plane to make an emergency landing. It was a "dry run" for a plan to be executed on to be repeated on 11 American commercial jetliners, with the timing devices synchronized to go off as the planes reached mid-ocean and would have killed an estimated that 4,000 passengers had the plot been successful. [source, Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2000, Bust and Boom, Washington Post, Dec 30, 2001] The image on the right is a snap from Ramzi Yousef's Manila apartment (cnn)
Detecting explosive liquids requires bombarding the target with neutrons and looking for a nitrogen presence. Neutrons means nuculars and particularly "gamma rays." Let the Hulk jokes begin. Poop, someone's already on it: Patent for Multi-sensor explosive detection system.
Al Qaeda? I don't think so. It's more likely that it's copy-cat or ex-AQ-influenced British of Pakistani extraction taking off on OBL's declaration of war on the US that occured this month, 1996.
More, as it develops.
So, I'm at the new Edwards Cigar Shoppe, buying cigars for Jack's new child, Sloopers, and there're three guys sitting in their leather loungy chairs chatting. One of them gets up to help me and shows me around the 3rd largest humidor in Colorado (they've expanded since they moved). Nice guy, helpful, informative, gets me "It's a Boy!" stickers for the sticks.
While I'm being rung up, I'm talking with him about my car, his car, the new shoppe, etc, I overhear the other two guys talking - one guy, really. He's explaining to the other guy how Muslims are all about streaming into Europe to take advantage of their social welfare all the while setting up mosques to enforce how the locals should behave and that this behavior's been going on since the Ottoman Empire. Who're they to say what anyone should do? Additionally, how's a superior culture supposed to treat these Muslims? It's not really our fault if we have better weapons and whatnot - if they can't defend themselves in Lebanon or Iraq, they lose, just like the American Indians.
Further, with something he read in the NRO that said that Israel or the US doesn't really have "winning" as a goal in mind, he posited: What'd be wrong with that anyway? We should want to "win" and these oppressive, ignorant Muslims, such as the Palestinians, who just want to impose their rules and take advantage of our wealth should eat it.
I took my cigars and left. Yeah, a few times I wanted to engage and did turn around once or twice at places where counterpoints would've made him think (such as his truncated history - the Crusades; historicity being a much more present thing in middle eastern minds; the situation of the Palestinians not nearly being "won" or "winning," Israel's deliberate apartheid culture), but I stopped myself.
I had a transaction to complete, and it just isn't polite to interrupt a guy's ramblings. I figured, I'm brown enough - my body language should be sufficient for the guy to get a clue, lower his voice, or whatever. Or not. I thought, briefly, maybe I could engage, sit down, smoke one of the hour-longs I bought and have some sort of conversation with them. I wanted to know how many Muslims he knew, how many Republican-voting Muslims he knew - I'm guessing a whopping 0 & 0. But what'd've done? My transaction was over.