Free Republic

June 19, 2004 -- YESTERDAY'S brutal murder of Paul Johnson was just the latest atrocity by terrorist Wahhabis — extremist acolytes of the hate cult that's rooted in the heart of the Saudi state. And the lessons are simple: * Terrorism terrorizes. Extremely vile terrorism that literally goes for the throat terrorizes most of all. Bombs go off and are forgotten in a week. The horrible deaths of Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, and Paul M. Johnson, Jr. stick in our minds. * Beheading is low-cost, and flatters the Wahhabis' belief that they are imitating the Prophet Muhammad, who lived in...

I had intended to follow my last TCS column, on the growing crisis of American Islam — i.e. on the problem of extremist domination of the American Muslim community — with some long-developed reflections on the silence of the American Muslim community about the extremist threat to America's security, and to the situation of American Muslims. Unquestionably, the continued extremist dominance of Islamic discourse within the U.S. and globally -- and Muslim passivity in the face of it -- threatens American Muslims even more, in some respects, than it does non-Muslim Americans. Non-Muslim Americans simply cannot be blamed for interpreting Muslim community...

In his recent writings on NRO (here [Posted on FR: The Good & the Bad] and here) and elsewhere, and in his new book, The Two Faces of Islam, Stephen Schwartz appropriately draws the attention of policymakers and the public at large to the dangerous, unsavory interactions between the Saudi royal family, Wahhabi Islam, and international terrorism. Unfortunately, however, Mr. Schwartz identifies Wahhabism as the source of all Islamic terror and injustice. He does not mention that the twin institutionalized scourges of Islam at the crux of the violent, nearly 1,400-year relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims — i.e., jihad...

The last thing they need in Baghdad is another statist medium. AS IF THE COALITION in Iraq didn't have enough problems, on May 3 most of the staff of al-Sabah (Morning), the daily newspaper published with support from the Coalition Provisional Authority, walked out. Ismael Zayer, the paper's editor in chief, announced that a new, independent daily would be established, to be called al-Sabah al-Jedid (New Morning). Zayer moved his newsroom to a private house. The story of al-Sabah, which claimed the largest daily circulation of any newspaper in Iraq, dramatizes numerous questions about how the Coalition can help construct...

Since the shock of September 11th, and parallel to military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. government officials in various agencies have sought to "win hearts and minds" in the Arab and Muslim world by crafting publicity schemes and media projects. All of those produced so far have been characterized by a combination of bombast, naivete, and silliness that, according to many friendly watchers and listeners in the targeted publics, does more to undermine than to reinforce American credibility. First there was Charlotte Beers, a former executive at such leading advertising firms as Ogilvy & Mather, named Undersecretary of State...

A Massacre in Kosovo A member of the United Nations police force murders his American colleagues. by Stephen Schwartz 04/29/2004 12:00:00 AM ON APRIL 17, as reported in THE WEEKLY STANDARD, two American women and an American man were slain in Kosovo, and eleven people were injured when they came under armed attack by a Palestinian from Jordan. The killer was a member of the same body in which they served: the United Nations police force in the territory. The male American, who died of his wounds, was Gary Weston, of Vienna, Illinois. The Palestinian, Sergeant Major Ahmed Mustafa Ibrahim...

The Party of Liberation By Stephen Schwartz Tech Central Station | April 21, 2004 Isolationists, Islamist extremists, and "intellectuals" -- and other types beginning with the letter "i," who will be left unnamed in the interest of civility -- have sneered at the awkward eloquence of President George W. Bush, embodied in his press conference on the evening of April 13. "Awkward eloquence" is not an oxymoron, for those who express themselves with some difficulty, or when struggling with emotion, may yet speak more powerfully than those whose orations are brilliantly-crafted, and well-practiced. Moses, the prophet of freedom, was afflicted...

Isolationists, Islamist extremists, and "intellectuals" — and other types beginning with the letter "i," who will be left unnamed in the interest of civility — have sneered at the awkward eloquence of President George W. Bush, embodied in his press conference on the evening of April 13. "Awkward eloquence" is not an oxymoron, for those who express themselves with some difficulty, or when struggling with emotion, may yet speak more powerfully than those whose orations are brilliantly-crafted, and well-practiced. Moses, the prophet of freedom, was afflicted with a stammer, and the prophet Muhammad was an illiterate. Neither of them would...

Saudi cheerleading for killers in Iraq.WHY FALLUJA? Why should this relatively obscure Iraqi city of half a million have become the crucible of atrocities against the Coalition in Iraq?Some analysts say Falluja was a stronghold of Baathist sympathy. The reality is rather different. The al-Jumaili clan, which is a leading force in the area, produced two pre-Saddam presidents of Iraq, the brothers Abd as-Salaam Arif, who ruled from 1963 to 1966, and Abd ar-Rahman Arif, whose tenure lasted from 1966 to 1969. The first died in a suspicious aerial accident, and the second was driven from power, and then from...

The so-called "Shia uprising" in Iraq, with reports of bonding between Shia Muslim rebels and terrorists from Fallujah in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," seemed like a dream come true for opponents of the U.S.-led coalition. For Kerry supporters, old-fashioned leftists, Saddam nostalgics, and Islamofascist sympathizers of various kinds, it appeared that the Iraqi people were prepared to forget their religious differences and unite in a great insurrection against the invader. Even the "Wahhabi lobby" in American mosques injected itself into the uproar. The Islamic Center of Long Island, in Westbury, NY, is a notorious center of Islamist extremism. On April...

The so-called "Shia uprising" in Iraq, with reports of bonding between Shia Muslim rebels and terrorists from Fallujah in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," seemed like a dream come true for opponents of the U.S.-led coalition. For Kerry supporters, old-fashioned leftists, Saddam nostalgics, and Islamofascist sympathizers of various kinds, it appeared that the Iraqi people were prepared to forget their religious differences and unite in a great insurrection against the invader. Even the "Wahhabi lobby" in American mosques injected itself into the uproar. The Islamic Center of Long Island, in Westbury, NY, is a notorious center of Islamist extremism. On April...

The Case of Suitcase Nukes Recently, two fascinating topics have grabbed the attention of the Western public: speculation that Russians had sold "suitcase nuclear bombs" to al-Qaida terrorists -- based on a claim by a biographer of Osama bin Laden's factotum, Ayman al-Zawahiri -- and an outbreak of terrorist incidents in the Central Asian ex-Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. These two matters are linked, for as I previously wrote in TCS, Uzbekistan sits in the middle of a dangerous nest of nuclear, ex-nuclear, and aspiring nuclear powers, including its former ruler, Russia; its neighbor Kazakhstan; nearby Pakistan, and China. In addition,...

'House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties' Craig Unger; Scribner The year 1979 was a climactic one in the Islamic world. On Jan. 16 of that year, the shah of Iran fled the country he had ruled in the face of a revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. That event marked the birth of an entirely new kind of Islamist sensibility bent on active confrontation with everything Western. On Dec. 24, the armies of what was then the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, signaling a decisive chapter in Communism's death agony. A...

Why Spain was targeted for attack. SPAIN has now had its 9/11. Though scarred by a civil war 70 years ago, and by the fascist terrorism of the Basque separatist ETA movement in recent years, Spain has seen no previous horror that could prepare it for yesterday's Madrid nightmare. The blasts struck three railroad stations in the capital, killing at least 190 people and injuring 1,400 more. Spanish authorities at first blamed the atrocity on ETA - but evidence of al Qaeda involvement soon started piling up, including a letter to a Palestinian newspaper in London explicitly taking credit for...

The Chechens' story. THE WEEKEND OF February 6 saw yet another deadly incident in Moscow, when an explosion in the subway killed at least 39 people. Predictably, Russian president Vladimir Putin blamed the bloodshed on "Chechens." Doubts abound, however, among ordinary Russians as well as journalists. Newspaper commentator Pavel Felgenhauer noted on February 10 that it was unclear whether the blast was a terrorist attack or an accident. Others have suggested the death toll was much higher. It may well be that Chechens were involved in this dreadful event. Regardless, one must wonder how many people not particularly conversant with...

The question of revised borders offers a parallel between Iraq and the former Yugoslavia -- one of several that should... Will Iraq survive as a single country, or is it destined to be partitioned between its three constituent communities, the Kurds, Sunni Muslim Arabs, and Shia Arabs? This controversy, which has yet to rise to the status of formal debate anywhere, nonetheless lurks in the background as policy experts and pundits offer predictions for Iraq's future. The question of revised borders offers a parallel between Iraq and the former Yugoslavia -- one of several that should trouble the sleep of...

Evidence continues to build that the terrorist "resistance" in the Sunni Triangle, far from being a spontaneous response to new frustrations, has a history and an ideology. The correct name for the main influence inciting Sunni Muslim Iraqis to attack coalition forces is Wahhabism, although its proponents seek to disguise it under the more acceptable name Salafism. It is financed and supported from inside Saudi Arabia, which shares a long border with southern Iraq.Iraqis, as well as coalition commanders on the ground, are quick to admit this fact--which military and political planners in Washington, ever concerned not to offend...

Think of Iraq as ten times more volatile than Kosovo and you have an idea just how bad UN biases against efficient privatization could make Baghdad look. And remember, in Kosovo Serbs and Albanians fight each other, but don't attack NATO. We all know how that differs from Iraq. In the five years since the NATO intervention in Kosovo, the devastated former Yugoslav province has lost the attention of global media and political leaders. This is dismaying for its residents, who have grown to depend on the world powers to assist them in finding their way, but is also unfortunate...

EVIDENCE continues to build that the terrorist "resistance" in the Sunni Triangle, far from being a spontaneous response to new frustrations, has a history and an ideology. The correct name for the main influence inciting Sunni Muslim Iraqis to attack coalition forces is Wahhabism, although its proponents seek to disguise it under the more acceptable name Salafism. It is financed and supported from inside Saudi Arabia, which shares a long border with southern Iraq. Iraqis, as well as coalition commanders on the ground, are quick to admit this fact--which military and political planners in Washington, ever concerned not to offend...

George Soros Betrays the Balkans By Stephen Schwartz TechCentralStation | January 12, 2004 For months, domestic and international media have been a-twitter with the tale of George Soros, global hedge fund speculator, and his transformation into the angel of the Democratic party and the broad American left. How a man once associated with capitalist ruthlessness -- when he bet his fund against the British pound -- suddenly became the savior of "progressive" politics, would make an interesting study in social psychology. Why, when Soros brags about throwing $15.5 million into the anti-Bush effort -- including a major donation to MoveOn.org,...