National Review Online: Newt’s Right on Sharia

Whether you love him, hate him, or you’re just plain indifferent, one thing is undeniably clear: Newt Gingrich would make a much better President than the current occupant of the Oval Office …

By Frank J. Gaffney Jr. – “Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was asked yesterday whether he would support a Muslim for president. His answer may have been one of the most important teaching moments of the long and difficult campaign season.

Speaker Gingrich responding by saying it depends on whether the candidate was ‘a modern person who happens to worship Allah.’ Or ‘a person who belonged to any kind of belief in sharia, any kind of effort to impose that on the rest of us.’ He rightly concluded by saying that the former would not be a threat while the latter would be a ‘mortal threat.’

Newt is absolutely right in making such a distinction. The danger we currently face from the so-called Muslim world arises not from the fact that people are Muslim, but from the extent to which they adhere to the totalitarian, supremacist Islamic doctrine of sharia.

Gingrich also repeated his earlier call for federal legislation to ensure that sharia is not practiced in U.S. courts. An appellate-court ruling last week in connection with an amendment to the Oklahoma state constitution would seem to preclude such an initiative.

In fact, legislation that would prevent any foreign laws — including sharia — from being practiced in state courts if they conflict with U.S. constitutional rights or state pubic policy has been enacted in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arizona. In none of the three cases has the constitutionality of this statute, known as American Laws for American Courts (ALAC), been challenged. ALAC is under consideration in roughly another 20 state legislatures.

Some have argued that there is no need for such legislation. There is. A Center for Security Policy study of a microcosm of American jurisprudence — 50 state appellate-level cases — established that there have been at least 27 cases in 23 states where sharia law was applied. A pro-sharia group, ShariaInAmerica.com, found many more such cases.” Read more.

Syria: Christians Targeted in Series of Kidnappings and Killings, 100 Dead so Far

“The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians have now been killed since the anti-government unrest began.

A reliable source in the country, who cannot be identified for their own safety, told Barnabas Aid that children were being especially targeted by the kidnappers, who, if they do not receive the ransom demanded, kill the victim.

And the source provided detailed information – some of which cannot be made public for security reasons – about incidents that have taken place since Christmas. Two Christian men, one aged 28, the other a 37-year-old father with a pregnant wife, were kidnapped by the rebels in separate incidents and later found dead; the first was found hanged with numerous injuries, the second was cut into pieces and thrown in a river. Four more have been abducted, and their captors are threatening to kill them too.

On 15 January two Christians were killed as they waited for bread at a bakery. Another Christian, aged 40 with two young children, was shot dead by three armed attackers while he was driving a vehicle.

These latest reports are reminiscent of the anti-Christian attacks that have become commonplace in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, and heighten concerns about the future for Christians in Syria as the anti-government protests there continue.

SYRIA PIVOTAL IN REGIONAL POWER BATTLE

Several expert commentators are calling into question the narrative being spread by Western media about the nature of the unrest in Syria. They argue that it is not merely an internal conflict between the government and the rebels but has become an

Kazakhstan: Fall of Soviet Union Gives Birth to Islamic Religious Revival in Former Soviet Republic, and the Rise of Islamic Terror

By Jacob Zenn – “After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the people of Kazakhstan, like those in the rest of the former Soviet Republics, experienced a revival in religious affiliation.

In some sectors of Kazakh society, the repression of spiritual life in the Soviet days was reversed when Kazakhstan became independent in December of that year. Previously non-existent elements of Salafism crept to the surface in Kazakhstan and are now apparent, especially in the southern and western regions of the country located near the Caspian Sea and the volatile North Caucasus.

Salafism is a reform movement of Islam in which followers believe that the life of their Prophet Mohammad and the earliest Muslim community constitutes a universal paradigm for interpreting world events and history…

‘Jihadi-Salafists’ see historical evolution as the unfolding of a single contest: the struggle of Good (true Islam) versus Evil (false Islam and Disbelief)…

On November 12, 2011, in Taraz, southeastern Kazakhstan, Maksat Kariyev went on a noontime rampage killing five security officers, one gun shop guard, and himself in a suicide bombing that he detonated when a police commander approached him…

On October 31, in Atyrau, a port city on the Caspian Sea in western Kazakhstan, a terrorist blew himself up next to an apartment building near the intended target – the Prosecutor-General’s office – and another bomb detonated in a garbage can blocks away…

In Boraldai Village outside of Alamaty, five JaK fighters were killed on December 3, 2011, when Kazakhstan security forces surrounded them inside their safe house. Kazakh authorities suspected the cell of carrying out a drive-by shooting that killed two police officers on November 8 and possibly another November 11 shooting in Almaty in which two other police officers were killed…

On December 6, three days after the Boraldai shootout, JaK issued a statement saying that JaK fighters were ‘ready to be killed in the thousands in order to support [Islam]’ …” Read more.

Turkey: Secular Opposition Laments the Rise of Islamism in Turkish Government and Society, Christians Under Increasing Pressure

“(ANSAmed) – ANKARA, JANUARY 18 – In a Turkey with a secular constitution and a government and population of the Muslim faith, the social-democrat opposition has denounced an attack by the government and the presidency on the tradition of Ataturk festivities, symbol of the state’s secular nature. The alarm has come on a day in which a daily paper provided details on a report by the Association of Protestant Christian Churches noting numerous ‘attacks’ on Christian communities. As concerns celebrations linked to the acts of Mustafa Kemal (known as Ataturk, ‘Father of the Turks’), the founder of modern Turkey after World War I resulted in closer ties to the West of the country created from the dissolved Ottoman Empire, a high level representative of the People’s Republican Party (CNP) has denounced an initiative by Head of State Abdullah Gul to place under review celebrations for national festivities. The move is an attempt by the moderate Islamic party AKP under Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to erode Turkey’s secular tradition and that of its founding father, said CHP vice president Birgul Ayman Guler in a statement released yesterday.

These ‘shameful acts’, which Erdogan and Gul’s party call ‘updating’, are in reality – said the politician – an ‘attempt to discredit and sweep away what remains of Ataturk.’ Implying that the festivities are mass events that bear little relevance to present times, events redolent of the 1930s or of a dictatorial nation, the presidency confirmed that they are carrying out an ‘update’…

The attention on the erosion of the legacy of the ultra-secular Ataturk runs parallel to that of the advance of Islam in the country’s politics and society. It is within this context that the opposition paper Milliyet reports on a dossier in which Protestant churches noted a bomb attack in May 2011 on one of their places of worship in Bursa, and shots fired at a Smyrna church in April during religious services. Also noted are access denied to places of worship, missionaries described as security threats in a textbook and numerous rejections of requests for exemption from Islam classes in schools, with the case of a teacher who was not punished in any way after beating a student who did not want to say the the declaration of Muslim belief.” Read more.

North Sudan: Authorities Threaten to Arrest Church Leaders Involved in Preaching or Evangelistic Activities

“KHARTOUM, Sudan, January 18 (CDN) — Sudan’s Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments has threatened to arrest church leaders if they carry out evangelistic activities and do not comply with an order for churches to provide their names and contact information, Christian sources said.

The warning in a Jan. 3 letter to church leaders of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) arrived a few days after Sudan President Omar al-Bashir told cheering crowds on Jan. 3 that, following the secession of largely non-Islamic south Sudan last July, the country’s constitution will be more deeply entrenched in sharia (Islamic law).

‘We will take legal procedures against pastors who are involved in preaching or evangelistic activities,’ Hamid Yousif Adam, undersecretary of the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment, wrote to the church leaders. ‘We have all legal rights to take them to court.’

Sources said the order was aimed at oppressing Christians amid growing hostilities toward Christianity.

‘This is a critical situation faced by our church in Sudan,’ said the Rev. Yousif Matar, secretary general of the SPEC.

Another church leader said the order was another in a series of measures by the government to control churches.

‘They do not want pastors from South Sudan to carry on any church activities or mission work in Sudan,’ he said.

Sudanese law prohibits missionaries from evangelizing, and converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by imprisonment or death in Sudan, though previously such laws were not strictly enforced. The government has never carried out a death sentence for apostasy, according to the U.S. State Department’s latest International Religious Freedom Report.

Christians are facing growing threats from both Muslim communities and Islamist government officials who have long wanted to rid Sudan of Christianity, Christian leaders told Compass. They said Christianity is now regarded as a foreign religion following the departure of 350,000 people, most of them Christians, to South Sudan following the July 9, 2011 secession.” Read more.

New Zealand: MV Rena Oil Spill Kills an Estimated 20,000 Birds, Becomes NZ’s Worst Ever Maritime Environmental Disaster

“An estimated 20,000 birds have now been killed by the wrecked container ship MV Rena, causing New Zealand’s worst ever maritime environmental disaster.

The wreck foundered off the Bay of Plenty coast, near Tauranga, North Island, last October, and more birds are being killed and harmed since the wreck broke up on January 8. No effort should be spared to clean up the oil and debris from the Rena as the toll on wildlife continues to rise, Forest and Bird (BirdLife in New Zealand) said this week.

‘We are deeply concerned about the effects on shorebirds, seabirds, and other marine life as oil and debris spread from the wreck,’ Forest and Bird Field Officer Al Fleming said. ‘It is vital that we continue working hard to clean up the Bay of Plenty coast and seas to minimise the damage to wildlife and the environment.’

At least 60 dead oiled birds have been collected since the beginning of last week. Overseas research suggests only around 10 per cent of all birds killed in an oil spill are ever recovered, with most sinking without trace at sea. Around a dozen oiled Little Blue Penguins have been recovered for treatment during the last week, as well as three Grey-faced Petrels and a New Zealand Dotterel. They are being cared for at the Oiled Wildlife Response Centre in Mt Maunganui, or at Massey University in Palmerston North.

Fleming said there are also concerns about the impact on wildlife of debris, particularly the translucent plastic beads that spilled from the Rena’s cargo. One bird recovering at the response centre has been seen vomiting plastic beads and birds on the beach have been spotted feeding on the beads.

‘Shorebirds, such as the threatened New Zealand Dotterel, feed on sandhoppers and fish eggs, which are also translucent and a similar size to the beads. Floating beads float also pose a threat to seabirds feeding on the water,’ he said. ‘A number of dead birds have been found on the beaches that have not been oiled. Autopsies will confirm whether they have eaten debris or died from other causes.'” Read more.

Somalia: 3 Tonnes of Dead Fish Wash Up on Bossaso Shore, Toxic Dumping Blamed

“BOSSASO, Somalia Jan 19 2012 (Garowe Online) – Three tonnes of dead fish washes up on Bossaso’s shore on Tuesday, Radio Garowe reports.

Abdiwahid Mohamed Jo’ar Director General of the Ministry of Fishery in Puntland who spoke to media stated that the dead fish that washed up on Bossaso’s shore is a result of toxic dumping in Somali waters.

Mr. Jo’ar who has been very outspoken against the toxic dumping in Somali waters told reporters that authorities are investigating this matter.

Reports about piracy suggest that toxic dumping along with illegal trawling in Somali waters has led many fisherman to join piracy due to a lack of work on the coast of Somalia.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah a Mauritanian diplomat and former UN special envoy to Somalia told AFP in July 2008 that illegal fishing and waste dumping in Somali waters is a disaster for the Somalia environment.

He added, ‘I am convinced there is dumping of solid waste, chemicals and probably nuclear waste.’

Somalia has the longest coast in Africa and has huge number of commercial fish species.” Source – Garowe Online.

Blink: USS Abraham Lincoln Sails Into Waters Off Iran After Iran Threatens to Torpedo US Carriers

By Barbara Starr – “(CNN) — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the Arabian Sea on Thursday, Navy officials said, a likely prelude to testing Iran’s recent warning against sending a U.S. carrier through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Lincoln joins the USS Carl Vinson, already in the region, returning the U.S. Navy its standard two-carrier presence there. The carrier USS John Stennis left in the past few days and is now traveling back through the western Pacific.

The Lincoln’s arrival puts into place all the elements for a U.S. carrier to travel back into the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since recent tensions with Iran escalated.

U.S. military officials have told CNN the United States will continue its long-standing military commitment to having an aircraft carrier in the Gulf, but will not say when the transit will take place in light of security concerns about Iran.

Several weeks ago, as the Stennis left the Gulf, Iranian officials warned the United States not to send in another carrier. In recent years, the United States has kept one carrier in the Gulf and one in the North Arabian Sea for much of the time.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said that the U.S. naval and military presence in the region will not change and the current level is sufficient to deal with any situation that could arise.” Read more.

Iran Threatens To Torpedo US Carriers In The Persian Gulf – “Underscoring its desire to keep U.S. aircraft carriers from the Persian Gulf, a senior Iranian military commander today announced his possible plan to ambush the American fleet… Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army’s Self-Sufficiency Jihad, Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri told FARS that Iran has the finest electric diesel submarines in the world, and that while the U.S. has focused on Tehran’s ‘astonishing surface capabilities,’ it has forgotten about the underwater threat. Amiri said he plans to slip his fleet of subs onto the Persian Gulf floor and ‘fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.’ Iran claims to have 17 Ghadir diesel electric subs in its fleet, and four have been photographed together, so the threat is not entirely without merit.” Read more.

Egypt: ‘Child Preacher’ Calls for the Genocide of Jews; Cleric: The Battle is Coming and the Cancerous Jews Will Be Vanquished

More calls for genocide from the ‘religion of peace’, this time from a ‘child preacher’ giving a speech on January 14, 2012 on Al-Rahma TV in Egypt …

Hadith, Sahih Muslim, 41:6985, “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him …”

Muhammad Osama: “Through the worship (of Allah), we shall gain victory over our enemies, strengthen our religion, and defeat the Jews. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Judgment Day will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims will kill the Jews, and the Jews will hide behind the trees and the stones, and then the trees and the stones will say: Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the gharqad tree will not speak because it is one of the trees of the Jews.'”

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Not surprising. Instead of teaching love and peace this ‘religion of peace’ teaches hatred and war …

Luke 17:2, “It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.”

Egyptian Cleric Hazem Shuman: “I address them [Jews] on behalf of 85 million Egyptians, whose hearts beat with hatred for Jews … the battle is bound to come, Allah be praised. The Prophet Muhammad, whose words are divinely inspired, said: ‘Judgement Day will come when the Muslims fight the Jews.’ … Oh nation of Muhammad, Allah says to you: If you fear war with the Jews, brace yourselves for war with Allah. It is either a war with the Jews, or a war with Allah… My message to all the Jews is that the battle is bound to come and you will be vanquished. Allah has promised that you will be vanquished and that we will prevail… There is not a catastrophe in the world that is not the handiwork of Jews. These Jews are a cancer in the body of planet Earth, and if permitted, it will spread and infect the entire body. Getting rid of these Jews is a must.”

Russia: Western Support for Arab Revolts May Cause a ‘Big War’, Warns Against Meddling With Iran and Syria as UN Probes Iranian Nuclear Military Drive

By ELLEN BARRY and MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ – “MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, warned Wednesday that outside encouragement of antigovernment uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa could lead to ‘a very big war that will cause suffering not only to countries in the region, but also to states far beyond its boundaries.’

Mr. Lavrov’s annual news conference was largely devoted to a critique of Western policies in Iran and Syria, which he said could lead to a spiral of violence…

Mr. Lavrov said foreign governments were arming ‘militants and extremists’ in Syria, and he gave a bristling response to Susan E. Rice, the American ambassador to the United Nations, who on Tuesday expressed concern about possible Russian arms shipments to Syria.

‘We don’t find it necessary to explain or justify anything,’ Mr. Lavrov said. ‘We are only trading goods with Syria that are not prohibited by international law.’

Mr. Lavrov offered a similarly grave message about the possibility of a military strike against Iran, which he said would be a ‘catastrophe.’ He said sanctions now being proposed against Tehran were ‘intended to have a smothering effect on the Iranian economy and the Iranian population, probably in the hopes of provoking discontent.'” Read more.

UN to probe ‘military angle’ to Iran nuclear drive – “A high-level IAEA delegation visiting Iran January 29-31 aims to verify if Tehran’s nuclear programme has a military dimension, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said in an interview to be published Thursday. ‘We wish to simply verify all that has a military dimension… and I simply want Iran to cooperate,’ Yukiya Amano told Financial Times Deutschland. Iran denies Western accusations of a military nuclear drive, saying its programme is geared toward peaceful ends.” Read more.

IDF Chief Gantz: We must ‘prepare for the worst’ in wake of Mideast tumult – “The world needs to ‘prepare for the worst’ in wake of the ongoing upheaval in the Middle East due to the proliferation of weaponry throughout the world and into the hands of terrorist organizations, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz warned on Wednesday. Addressing a meeting of NATO military commanders at the western military alliance in Brussels, Gantz said that the world needed to ‘strengthen moderate elements and weaken the radicals.’ ‘Only through joint work combining tough and soft power can we deter and in the long term overcome these radical elements,’ Gantz said. Earlier in the day, Gantz met with the Canadian and Italian chiefs of staff. Gantz said that NATO’s decision to establish a missile defense system throughout Europe was a demonstration of the severity non-conventional weapons pose to the world.” Read more.