free water and electricity: Al Qaeda embraces civic duties and courts hearts and minds in South Yemen.
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aziz
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aziz
China is cracking down on Uighurs – and is claiming that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement is a full terrorist organization with links to Al Qaeda.
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aziz
Al Qaeda finally noticed something is going on in Egypt. They phoned in their response:
A top al-Qaida figure–who is also a native son of Egypt–appeared in a videotaped statement released Friday warning that his home country had “deviated from Islam” and warned that democracy “means that sovereignty is to the desires of the majority, without committing to any quality, value or creed.”
In the 34-minute tape, Ayman al-Zawahri appeared to be warning Egypt’s liberal, secular activists who agitated for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak that they were likely to repeat the sins of the long-time leader if they failed to pursue an Islamic state.
It’s like they aren’t even trying anymore.
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thabet
Pear-shaped and Pete Tong:
Although there are no firm figures, security and political officials say hundreds of the well-disciplined fighters — many of whom have gained extensive knowledge about the American military — appear to have rejoined Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Beyond that, officials say that even many of the Awakening fighters still on the Iraqi government payroll, possibly thousands of them, covertly aid the insurgency.
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Dan
I don’t get the Pete Tong reference here (yes I know who Pete Tong is and listen to his radio show a lot).
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thabet
It’s all gone Pete Tong!
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Dan
Ahhhh duh! Man I’m slow today lol
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aziz
once the Doctor returns I will again be able to communicate with my British brethren again.
of course, i need to hack my web proxy so I can watch on the BBC viewer online…
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Dan
I’m sure MikeLyons can teach a thing or two to you about web proxies ahaha
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thabet
Well, you’d better make the best of BBC’s online programmes.
Now that The Cancer’s friends are in power now I fear in 4-5 years time there may no longer be a BBC as we know it today. They have long wanted to kill off the BBC as competition to the big C’s ugly corporation and now they have their chance.
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aziz
i’ve long entertained the idea that the BBC would be more immune to pressure if it were a private nonprofit rather than a government entity.
Actually what would really be awesome for journalism would be for Al Jazeera and BBC to merge. political independence. But also deep resources.
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thabet
‘Al-Qaeda tirade against Turkey’:
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Dan
The only thing I am surprised about is how long it took for them to condemn Turkey.
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aziz
worth highlighting: 85% of Al Qaeda’s victims are muslims.
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willow
My op-ed in the Washington Post “On Faith” blog, about Molly Norris and the now infamous fallout of “Draw Muhammad Day”.
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shams
That was relly excellent willow…and beautiful…i <3 the way you write.
But i think Molly is not quite so innocent.
Out here in the west we have a whole class of citizens that we call snake-pokers.
They come in to urgent care with a snakebite and their story is always the same….they were jogging or cycling, just exercising their peaceful constitutional right to freedom of exercise….but….
the snake bite is always on their hand or wrist.
so obviously these peaceful free exercise advocates had picked up a stick and were snakepoking.
Molly picked up the stick.
I have no sympathy for her.
ya-haqq!-
shams
Out here in the west we have a whole class of citizens that we call snake-pokers.
They come in to urgent care with a snakebite and their story is always the same….they were jogging or cycling, just exercising their peaceful constitutional right to freedom of exercise, and the snake jumped out and bit them!
….but….the snake bite is always on their hand or wrist.
so obviously these peaceful free exercise advocates had picked up a stick and were snakepoking.fixed.
i think ill make this into a teaching story. -
Dan
shams, show some compassion.
Molly apologized after she realized how wrong she was in her efforts and she went out of her way to repent. Aren’t we as Muslims supposed to be forgiving to those who repent and realize their mistakes?
I personally believe it is incumbent for Seattle’s Muslim community to protect her at all costs from harm. Failure to do so just proves how messed up many of us can be. Islam is a religion of mercy and compassion, remember that.
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shams
betcha all the people that got snakebit were sorry too.
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shams
Dan, the stupid is my sworn enemy.
I know I seem harsh to you guys.
Its my own personal haqiqa and adab.
i don’t really expect anyone else to understand. -
shams
also, willow is much better for public consumption than i am.
that is why i didnt make this comment at the Wapo.
im not really fully formed yet.
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Hitch
We have lost the center. The only thing worth discussing anymore are the extremes.
Historic devotional depictions of the prophet are no longer shows in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. But there is no space anymore to even deliberate that. Either one feeds racists or one sides with extremists and those are the folks we should pay attention to.
Not everybody who participated in DMD was a racist or even an islamophobes, but there is no discursive space for this kind of nuance anymore. Everything is extreme.
And because we participate in this, extremizing tendencies indeed dominate. The moderation disappears.
And we no longer explain our cultures to each other, rather we spend time painting the “other” in the worst possible light. Terrorists, racists, islamophobes. There is nobody left, it seems, who wants to understand and find a space that works for everybody – people who are willing to try and participate. Try to explain differences rather than radicalize them. People who see both sides rather than advocate for one. If we cannot find that space, I think we are in trouble. I hope I’m wrong.
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Dawood
Random and O/T question, but what WoW server are you (and anyone else here who plays) on? I am thinking of starting a new character and it would be cool to virtually hang with you guys! =) (feel free to contact me by email if you would prefer)
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shams
i moved off aziz’s server to join a progression guild in my timezone…..but….with cata coming up we could make a talkislam guild somewhere and lvl to 85 together.
id luff to play with PPU and you Dawood.
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shams
aziz and willow are on the same server, but if we are going to start worgens or goblins we should pick a better server.
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shams
Aziz could finally have his Ash Feather Federation guild.
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Pretty Pink Ponies
ZOMG I’m also a WoWer.
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aziz
i’m going to post at my geekblog about my wow guild idea, its one ive been after for a while…
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Willow
Do it man. I’d kick in some gold. But you’d doubtless want an Alliance guild, which means I’d either have to start a new char or race-change my troll, and you know how I love my troll…
Dawood we’re on Staghelm. If you make a new char post his name and I’ll add you.
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shams
Staghelm is a lame server. randoms were so horrible there.
i allus wound up trying to heal a 30k DK through HoR or in PoS they’d want to run up the ramp without killing the mobs…wipe.
its better to be on a server with fewer DKs.
we should all transfer to Area 52, its the best horde server in all the realms. if we can get 10 playahs we can do end game content.
i want a worgen druid…so ill have to play alliance somewhere. -
Dawood
I created an Orc Warrior on Staghelm, named.. Dawood :O Never been one before (the only toon I have is a Pally on another server) so it should be fun.
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shams
okfine, don’t lissen to me.
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Aziz
I’d be willing to go Horde and transfer my toons from Staghelm.
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Willow
Woah! That is a true and noble sacrifice, Aziz. But is it really worth it to move all the way to an EST server? (Area 52 is EST.) Could create connectivity issues. I’d prefer to find one no further east than Central, since I’m on PST.
Apologies to everyone reading this in a state of stunned disbelief at the level of geekery at Talk Islam.
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Willow
Plus, as soon as Cata comes out I want a Worgen, so I wouldn’t mind an Ally guild.
We should probably move this convo to your designated geekery blog.
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aziz
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Lawrence of Arabia
Is anyone really surprised by geekery at TI?
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shams
hmmm…geekery correlates with liberalism and wow?
TNC plays, John Cole plays….does any know of any conservative bloggers that play? Praps they are all tooo old. Thass how conservatives got tagged with the teabagger meme, LoA. Younger people don’t think of taxation without represention and funnie tricorner hats when we hear “tea”…..we think of teabagging our fallen guildies in video games.
Consider Audra Shay (pushing 40) and James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles….old people in young person suits so crude you can see the zipper a half mile away…..are there no young conservatives?
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abunoor
Foreign Policy presents “The Almanac of Al-Qaeda”
Like a snake backed into a corner, however, a weakened al Qaeda isn’t necessarily less dangerous. In the first comprehensive look of its kind, Foreign Policy offers the Almanac of Al Qaeda, a detailed accounting of how al Qaeda’s ranks, methods, and strategy have changed over the last decade and how they might evolve from here. What emerges is a picture of a terrorist vanguard that is losing the war of ideas in the Islamic world, even as its violent attacks have grown in frequency.
It’s not because the United States is winning — most Muslims still have extremely negative attitudes toward the United States because of its wars in the Muslim world and history of abuses of detainees. It’s because Muslims have largely turned against Osama bin Laden’s dark ideology. Favorable ratings of the terrorist leader and the suicide bombings he advocates fell by half in the two most-populous Islamic countries, Indonesia and Pakistan, between 2002 and 2009. In Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s ruthless campaign of sectarian violence obliterated the support al Qaeda had enjoyed there, deeply damaging its brand across the Arab world.
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aziz
Al Qaida was planning to fly planes into the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, and possibly other targets (presumably the Imam Husain shrine in Karbala. Security forces have foiled the plan, thankfully.
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Abu Noor Al-Irlandee
Other stories indicated that, as is often the case when governments trumpet these arrests in any country, it is quite unclear and there are differing accounts about how far along the plan was, whether the plan was even feasible, and other details.
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aziz
do you find the story particularly improbable? Would it surprise you that Al Qaeda would want to do that? It’s hardly the first time that the shrines have been targeted.
Since Karbala is wracked by bombs almost monthly – including two while I was there last year – I find the idea that you can analogize claims by Iraqi authorities to Geoirge Bush’s terror alerts quite specious.
Please share any links you may find though – would definitely like to know the whole story. And I for one would be quite relieved to know that no such plot was in the making.
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Abu Noor Al-Irlandee
No, Aziz, I don’t find it improbable that some people might “want” to do that, or might talk about doing that. (I don’t really understand it, but I know that it exists). I’m just saying there’s a big difference between arresting some dudes who are talking crazy and “foiling a plot,” which to me implies there was something imminent. It’s also a little hard to figure what the incentives of the govt are in this situation, whether they would wish to play up or play down the threat. I’m just saying in these cases, headlines are often misleading, which doesn’t mean that I have any idea what’s actually going on.
Sorry if my contribution seems pointless. (In regards to my actual knowledge I’m more concerned about how this phenomenon plays out here in the U.S)
By the way, it has absolutely nothing to do with George Bush, I really think the personalization of problems with the U.S. during his admin was a tremendous mistake, as it leads to the false notion that everything is ok now, even when the exact same things are going on.
As to the idea that Iraqi authorities are somehow beyond reproach or that what is going on in that society is more transparent than the U.S. I don’t even know how to respond — here is HRW’s summary of the human rights violations by the current Iraqi government.
The point of my post was not, actually, to criticize the Iraqi government but just to point out something stated quite clearly in most of the media reports on this story, including in quotes from Iraqi government officials, but was not evident from your post.
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razib, murtad fitri
As to the idea that Iraqi authorities are somehow beyond reproach
aziz didn’t say that. you’re ascribing that to him. your points are valid. that being said, i as a non-muslim ,my viewpoint here is conditioned by the reality that
1) iraq has been characterized by sunni-supremacism back to the ottoman period (in the run up to the 2005 election it was rather disgusting to hear sunni arabs complain that the traditional ‘ruling class’ was going to be marginalized by democracy).
2) within the context of reciprocal violence between sunni and shia arabs (and within each community between factions) there is a recent history of provocative religiously tinged attempts by sunnis to destroy or desecrate shia holy sites.
this is the sort of thing for why i laughed out loud earlier when you stated you weren’t a shill for saudi arabia. you aren’t, yes, but when you approach particular issues it seems to me that your concerns for people whose confession is closest to yours is pretty obvious.
in the context of a website where the “central tendency” was closer to your own affinities your responses would be expected and normal. but on a diverse site like this it often sticks out. to invert it, if you put up a posting of how the sunni kurds in iran were being religiously persecuted, i doubt aziz or any of the other shia would first off offer up the valid issue that many of the resistance movements to the central in iran are themselves less than paragons of virtue. the point is correct, but but that’s not the point of bringing the issue up.
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razib, murtad fitri
correction: some sunnis. obviously it’s a subset, which aziz is pointing to.
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Abu Noor Al-Irlandee
Two U.S. intelligence officials in Washington confirmed the plot but said it did not appear to be fully planned out, nor was it clear that militants would be able to carry out any attacks.
Sheikh Fayyad al-Shimari, head of the Najaf provincial council, and other officials downplayed reports of a security threat.
Now perhaps, there was something quite imminent and the government has an interest in downplaying it to seem like they are in control. As I said above, it is hard for me to pin down what exactly are their incentives in this situation.
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johnpi
Adam Gadahn arrested: Al Qaeda’s American spokesman arrested in Pakistan.
Enemy combatant or American citizen?
Military tribunals or civil courts?
The charge against him, treason, is a death penalty offense for which no one has been executed since the 60s. This is going to be high in the news for a long time and will prompt some major constitutional questions.
Gadahn was just in the news yesterday for a new tape calling on Western Muslims to attack their own countries and suggesting targets. It will also probably feature prominently in media coverage.
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midwinterspring
Is it treason or defection? Does the law distinguish between the two? It seems to me there is a big difference between working for the enemy while pretending to be on the other side and declaring quite vocally which side you are on and leaving the country. I don’t know of any reason I should have sympathy for Gadahn, of course, but the “war on terror” tends to be structured so that only one side is allowed to be at “war,” whereas the other side is supposedly criminal by default.
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cbarwa
Depends on your citizenship really, I think; in wartime if you engage in direct actions there really isn’t much difference
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Willow
I think conrad is right–it’s only defection if you ditch your citizenship. You can’t run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, or whatever that English metaphor is. Then again, seeing as Afghanistan is under US occupation, it might not matter either way–there is no other government to which he can appeal for sanctuary.
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aziz
well, Afghanistan isnt under occupation in the Palestine sense. It’s important tonote the difference – the Karzai govt is a sovereign entoty just as the Maliki govt is.
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cbarwa
Legally that is in a narrow sense true, Aziz; however, in reality as we all know the GoIRA is basically bankrolled and supported by NATO led coalition; without that support it would collapse. Moreover, given the dubious nature of how the govt was selected and the flawed electoral process, its representativeness can be questioned.
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aziz
all true. but not an “occupation” in the Palestinian sense nevertheless. The US govt is in fact relatively powerless to effect change within Afghanistan in the political sphere – the election fraud is evidence to that effect.
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Willow
That’s just votes. Even in this country real political change (or lack thereof) happens after the ballot boxes are emptied. If the Afghanis caught OBL on their own soil and wanted to try him themselves, what exactly do you think would happen? If the Maliki government ordered all US troops out of Iraq by next month, what would happen then?
Precisely. That’s a military occupation. “Sovereign” my foot.
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aziz
well, wasnt Saddam’s trial ru8n by the Iraqis? And to be fair, the Iraqis have in fact told us to get out – and we are. In fact Bush, not Obama, began gthe drawdown under a (gasp) timetable, thou the right would never be able to admit this.
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cbarwa
The US govt is in fact relatively powerless to effect change within Afghanistan in the political sphere – the election fraud is evidence to that effect.
Yeah but what was the alternative, back Abdullah Abdullah? The GoIRA is about as sovereign as the PDPA regime was during the Soviet Occupation or the South Vietnamese govt during that war. True, all these examples are not occupation in the Palestinian sense of the term and they are probably legally speaking regarded as sovereign states, but that would be about all imo.
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Dan
I’d say execute him, but I’m sure the losers on various Salafi Muslim blogs such as MuslimMatters and such will come to his defence and claim he’s being oppressed by the “kuffar”.
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aziz
im actually somewhat in favor of trying people like this under the military code rather than teh cvilian one. Its not like the UCMJ is a kangaroo operation – its a rigorous body of law that is in parallel to the civilian system and frankly may be better equipped to handled these cases.
As long as we are using a genuine system of justice, we are still abiding by our principles.
now, whether “military tribunal” is the same thing as a UCMJ trial is another matter…
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abunoor
The current military commissions act, passed in 2006 and amended in 2009 does not provide for trying U.S. citizens by military commission.
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aziz
the military commission thing is not teh same thing as the UCMJ – that latter was passed in 1950 i believe and it is a true system of law. military tribunals/commissions are essentially “battlefield courts” with officers serving as judge and jury.
i think that 2006 law shoudl be repealed. IN fact im an extremist here – i think Obama should add two more justices to SCOTUS (well within his power!) and get a overturn on that basis alone.
If libertarians were worth a half a damn in this ocuntry theyd sign on to this with anamen and a hell yes.
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Abu Noor Al-Irlandee
I’m familiar with military personnel being tried under the UCMJ and I see that it can be used for those fighting with foreign armies, but are you aware of the last time this process was used for non-military personnel, Aziz?
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aziz
not personally, but 802(2)(a) seems to cover non military personnel –
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aziz
theres also this, as applies to contractors:
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2007/0112defenseindustry_singer.aspx
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abunoor
Also, I’m not entirely sure what you mean by “better equipped” in this context, but it should remain clear that military commissions provide less rights for defendants and make obtaining convictions easier, and this is their primary attraction for the government.
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aziz
see above comment. a military commission/tribunal is *not* the same thing as the UCMJ.
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aziz
this is an interesting hypothetical case study which really tries to get into detail about teh differences:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m6007/is_2002_Wntr/ai_103136519/
summary:
The military justice system gives service members virtually all rights and privileges that are afforded to citizens who face prosecution in civilian courts. In many areas–such as the right to counsel, the pretrial investigatory process, discovery, sentencing, post-trial processing, and appeals–the military system offers benefits to an accused that are more favorable than those available in civilian systems.
Americans, now firmly settled in the era of an all-volunteer military force, would not support a military justice system that did not provide fundamental due process and fair trial guarantees. The Uniform Code of Military Justice establishes a system that is separate and different, but one that fully meets expectations for fairness and protection of individual rights. The American citizens who volunteer to serve their county deserve nothing less.
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Abu Noor Al-Irlandee
Aziz, and those same Americans apparently will not accept those they label as “terrorists” to be tried in a system which would confer similar rights upon them. As Obama reportedly is preparing to force his AG to reverse the decision to try KSM in a civilian trial (guaranteeing conviction was not enough) all of this discussion has very little to do with the real world, I’m afraid Aziz.
I can see the Fox News talking heads now: “And now some people want to give the same rights to the terrorists who want to kill us as the brave soldiers who defend us. They just don’t get it.”
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aziz
i dont know how it will play out, but I am thinking that a military trial might be something we can at least agitate for (we being the muslim community). Its better than tribunals, and in some ways actually better for the accused than a civilian trial.
plus – we can use some of the psychologiucal PR against the right this way. imagine the headline:
“Muslim Americans demand military trial for accused terrorists – ask Obama to apply UCMJ”
its pro-justice and anti-Fox News.
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Abu Noor Al-Irlandee
Aziz, I don’t think it would work as well as you do in terms of PR. The fundamental problem is you’re trying to appeal to contradictory audiences, you’re trying to appeal to civil liberties advocates and Muslims by saying that it has all the protections of a civilian trial but as I said at the beginning, this is exactly what those who are opposed to civilian trials don’t want, they don’t want protections.
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aziz
im not trying to appeal to the extremist audience – i do believe (your mileage may vary) that theres a “rational middle” who will skew towards bad policy if the nonsense from the right is not met with rebuttal or counterargument. I basically believe in the common sense of the common man, but also in GIGO.
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AA
Muslim Public Affairs Council of Southern California welcomes the news.
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aziz
wtf – is it really him or not? there appears to be substantial confusion.
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Pretty Pink Unicorns
To quote Mona Eltahawy: “And Muslims in the US tell al-Qaida to fuck off”.
Well said, Mona.
And fuck off, al-Qa’ida.
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Arwi, and 
thabet are discussing. 
Dan are discussing. 
shams, 
Lawrence of Arabia, 
Dawood, and 5 others are discussing. 
Abu Noor Al-Irlandee, and 
cbarwa, 
aziz 7:06 am on May 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
of course, it isn’t doing them much good: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/01/poll-many-muslims-in-mideast-pakistan-have-poor-view-of-al-qaeda/
thabet 4:47 pm on May 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Also according to Pew, al-Q seems about as popular in the regions polled as the US…
That should tell you something.
aziz 6:33 am on May 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
not really. Love/hate of the US is basically irrelevant – its driven by perception towards the IP conflict, towards imperial legacies, western history, and of course local islamist propaganda. AlQ’s declining popularity is relevant because it is declining – as purveyors of the propaanda themselves, its quite significant that they have squandered all their good will. Their claim to legitimacy was accepted at face value when it was theoretical, but now that people have had a chance to tase their actual rule they are repulsed.
Arwi 9:22 am on May 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Love/hate of the US is driven by “perceptions” of the IP conflict, imperial legacies, western history and Islamist propaganda. So drones killing civilians, tellig lies to make war on Iraq, shock and awe, Guantanamo, torture in Abu Ghraib, the presence of US troops,, etc. are not factors.
Strange that attitudes towards the US are driven by “perceptions” rather than experiences, when any number of places in West Asia have experienced US actions directly.
aziz 7:13 am on May 3, 2012 Permalink
I didnt say that attitudes were driven by perceptions of the US, I said they were driven by perceptions of the IP conflict.
I dont think its accurate to lump all US actions into one category either. Afghans and Iraqis alike will are not unanimous in their judgement of our actions there (as evidenced by eth very real angst in both places amongst the public about our impending withdrawal).
Arwi 9:24 am on May 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
The popularity of Islamist groups has been in based in the provision of social services. The strange thing to me is that the US doesn’t draw the support away by providing better services. The aftermath of the Pakistani earthquake was an ideal opportunity.
aziz 7:15 am on May 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I dont think its that simple. Providing “services” isnt as easy as dropping off a load of supplies here and there – it requires building an infrastructure and then active governance. As much as lefty critics compllain about the cost of war, the cost of such services would be massively greater (especially because unlike soldiers, the civilian workforce required would be much more vulnerable and tempting an effective a target).