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IRAQ - Al Qaeda Cigarette Ban Making Enemies Yon eports AQ Order Cigarette Fingers Chopped Off
Michael Yon ^ | June 24 2007 | Michael Yon

Posted on 06/25/2007 11:25:30 AM PDT by swarthyguy

Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had tarnished its name here by publicly attacking and murdering children, videotaping beheadings, all while imposing harsh punishments on Iraqi civilians found guilty of violating morality laws prohibiting activities like smoking. The AQI installed Sharia court had sanctioned the amputation of the two “smoking fingers” for those who violated anti-smoking laws. In part because local sentiment was shifting against it, AQI synthesized with other groups and undertook an image makeover, christening itself “The Islamic State of Iraq.” But the new name was just lipstick on a pig here.

On the evening of the 24th I spoke with a local Iraqi official, Colonel Faik, who said the Muftis would order the severance of the two fingers used to hold a cigarette for any Iraqis caught smoking. Other reports, from here in Diyala and also in Anbar, allege that smokers are murdered by AQI. Most Iraqis smoke and this particular prohibition appeared to have earned the ire of many locals. After an American unit cleared an apartment complex on the 23rd, LTC Smiley, the battalion commander, reported that residents didn’t ask for food and water, but cigarettes. In other parts of Baqubah, people have been celebrating the routing of AQI by lighting up and smoking cigarettes.

Other AQI edicts included beatings for men who refused to grow beards, and corporal punishments for obscene sexual suggestiveness, defined by such “loose” behavior as carrying tomatoes and cucumbers in the same bag. These fatwas were not eagerly embraced by most Iraqis, and the taint traveled back to the Muftis who sat in supreme judgment. Locals, who are increasingly helpful in pointing out and celebrating the downfall of AQI here, said that during the initial Arrowhead Ripper attack the morning of the 19th, AQI murdered five men. Townsend’s men found the buried corpses behind an AQI prison, exactly where they’d been told to look for the group grave. Locals also directed Townsend’s men to a torture house. Peering through a window, American soldiers saw knives, swords, bindings and drills. AQI is well-known for its macabre eagerness to drill into kneecaps, elbows, ribs, skulls, and other parts of victims.

One local Mufti who was said to have always worn a hood and sunglasses—and to have somehow disguised his voice—was pointed out to the Iraqi Army this weekend, who promptly captured him. Iraqi officials said today that although they did not previously know that this man was a Mufti, his name had been on their target list. The Mufti is being questioned and his name has not been released.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; alqaedainiraq; america; jihad; michaelyon; pufflist; smokers
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To: elkfersupper
Try again.

You neither relent nor apologize in your quest for statism.

(Fingers too big for tiny keyboard).

121 posted on 06/26/2007 7:06:44 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: swarthyguy
Did you know 60% of Americans said that they would rather be blown up by a non smoking jihadi than be exposed to secondhandsmoke?

I'd bet you have a bumber sticker on your hybrid sissy vehicle that says, "I brake for hallucinations."

122 posted on 06/26/2007 7:21:25 PM PDT by inneroutlaw
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To: elkfersupper

swarthyguy may have been pulling your leg. Hard to tell sometimes.


123 posted on 06/26/2007 7:24:39 PM PDT by listenhillary (Conservatives -- We're NOT DEAD YET !!!)
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To: swarthyguy

While here is evidence that smoking in REALLY bad for you health.


124 posted on 06/26/2007 7:27:03 PM PDT by tiki
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To: swarthyguy
That’s pornographic. Ever look closely at an open or semi opened rose.

Have a gander at the Mooselimb's sacred moon rock shrine ...


125 posted on 06/26/2007 7:27:38 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: swarthyguy; All
A picture says a thousand words. Let's see if 4 pictures say 4,000 words.


126 posted on 06/26/2007 8:57:59 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084 (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shouldn't be a federal agency...it should be a convenience store.)
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To: inneroutlaw

No - mine says, in Spanish,

Wecome to America
Marry a fag, don’t smoke one.


127 posted on 06/27/2007 10:26:00 AM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: Eric Blair 2084

Was she a smoker? Sounds like we could apply that in NYC - or Cali or Takoma Park Maryland (they want to ban smoking in your own backyard there).

Nice, eh?

Property rights are so passe, aren’t they.

Think of the chillun.


128 posted on 06/27/2007 10:27:28 AM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: swarthyguy; SheLion

Lioness doesn’t get my sick perverted dry irony of a sense of humor either sometimes. She took me entirely too seriously once before a few months ago. I take some getting used to, as do you.

Good stuff. Have your people call my people and we’ll do lunch.


129 posted on 06/27/2007 6:34:40 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084 (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shouldn't be a federal agency...it should be a convenience store.)
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To: swarthyguy

You have definitely got to be kidding. Aren’t you? Gees.


130 posted on 06/27/2007 7:26:03 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: Eric Blair 2084

> lunch.

You buying?

Shame about England, after kowtowing to jihadis by banning smoking, even in nightclubs, they still almost get nailed.

Perhaps if we switch to banning alcohol, pork, dogs and putting our women in sacks and sheets, we might achieve Kumbaya with them.


131 posted on 07/02/2007 10:42:17 AM PDT by swarthyguy
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