The original construction of the Orthodox Church was built in the 6thCentury, in what is now Gaza

Phoebe Greenwood, writing from Gaza City in The Guardian on 23 December, reported:

"There hasn't been a Christmas tree in Gaza City's main square since Hamas pushed the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza in 2007 and Christmas is no longer a public holiday."

The headline said Hamas had "cancelled Christmas". Could this possibly be true?

When I visited Gaza in late 2007 Fr Manuel Mussallam, the feisty old priest in charge of the Catholic community, took me and others to meet Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and some of his colleagues. Relations between Christian and Muslim – or at least between the Catholic community and the Hamasgovernment – seemed strong enough and friendly enough for Christmas celebrations to be left undisturbed.

The very idea of a ban actually makes me smile because Scotland, a Christian country of course, saw Christmas as a papist festival and for centuries discouraged it. When I lived there it wasn't even a public holiday.

But back to the Strip... Is Hamas being beastly to Gaza's Christians? Has Phoebe Greenwood got her story straight? I wrote to her at The Guardian, pointing out that revelations of this kind in the popular British press undo the hard work activists put in to help the Palestinian cause. Could she please throw more light onto it? I've had no reply.

I'm in England and unable to contact Hamas. Phoebe Greenwood is on the spot. Shouldn't someone from Mr Haniyeh's office be given a chance to comment?

As for Fr Manuel, he has finally retired and left Gaza. The school he ran there, part-funded by the Vatican, had 1200 pupils. About 1000 were Muslim and some of these the children of Hamas leaders.

The relationship between Muslim and Christian in the Holy Land, and the potential for friction, is frequently poked and prodded simply to make mischief.

Those with a rightful cause versus those who took it away

Archbishop Theodosius Hanna (Greek Orthodox Church), on a visit to Ireland a year ago, told politicians:

"The problem in Palestine has nothing to do with religion – it is not a religious issue. It is not a conflict of Christians, Muslims and Jewish people. It is a conflict between those who are the holders of a rightful cause and those who took away that right by military might.

"Palestinian people as a whole, including Christians and Muslims, have said repeatedly that what they want is peace. We want two states that live together in peace. However, the reality on the ground is that we are extremely far away from that goal because Israel does not want peace."

Fr Manuel, who accompanied the Archbishop, told his listeners what happened when the Christian school in Gaza was targeted.

"Five Hamas ministers visited the school after it was attacked and promised they would repair the damage... A Hamas minister, a Muslim, picked up the Holy Bible thrown on the ground, kissed it and put it back on the altar. He said Muslims were forbidden to do such things to the Bible. Hamas paid more than $122,000 to repair all the damage caused.

"Afterwards I met the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. When he embraced me he said this, and we believed it. He said: "Go to your family, but be assured that Hamas will employ weapons against Muslims to protect Christians in Gaza." This is the reality. Christians in Palestine are not suffering persecution, because we are not considered to be a religious community, but rather the people of Palestine. We have the same rights and the same obligations."

From left: Archbishop Theodosius Hanna and Father Manuel Mussallam

It is hardly surprising that Israeli oppression aided and endorsed by western Christendom, and the grinding poverty this evil alliance creates in the occupied territories, drives some Muslims into the arms of Islamic extremism. Hamas insists that extremist acts are incidents not policy.

Fr Manuel went on to tell the Irish what things were really like under military occupation.

"We have spoken to Israel for more than 18 years and the result has been zero. We have signed agreements here and there at various times and then when there is a change in the government of Israel we have to start again from the beginning. We ask for our life and to be given back our Jerusalem, to be given our state and for enough water to drink. We want to be given more opportunity to reach Jerusalem. I have not seen Jerusalem since 1990."

He described the nightmarish system of entry and exit permits, which Israel invariably refused.

"We want to see an end to this occupation, and please do not ask us to protect those who are occupying our territory."

A week ago, on Christmas Day, the Voice of Palestine website ran this news item:

DAMASCUS – Hamas Movement have offered its best wishes to all Palestinian Christians in occupied Palestine, and other countries on the occasion of Prophet Jesus' birth and wished them a happy holiday.

"On the occasion of rejoicing the birth of Prophet Jesus peace of God be upon him, the Islamic Movement of Hamas extends its sincere wishes to all our fellow Christians in their homeland Palestine, the cradle of prophecies and the land of divine messages, as well as to the Palestinian Christians in the Arab and Islamic countries and the whole world," Hamas said in a press release on Saturday.

Hamas wished this occasion to be an opportunity for uniting the Palestinian people and pooling the efforts of the world's free people to support the Palestinian cause and protect the Islamic and Christian holy sites.

In the past Hamas has shown great respect for the Christian tradition of Christmas and, I hear, Hamas officials in Bethlehem used to dress up as Santa Claus to distribute gifts to Christian children. So the question remains: has Hamas really become such a Scrooge* as to torpedo Christmas with a tree ban?

If so, it's a sure-fire way to lose friends and alienate people.

* for more about the mean-mindedness of that notorious character Ebenezer Scrooge, and his hatred of Christmas, see 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. Scrooge eventually sees the light and redeems himself.

* Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. Read other articles by Stuart.

Video link: http://youtu.be/obp2J3rVgSA

Usually at this time of year I put up a Christmas post in which I feature the folk Christmas tune called "The Cherry Tree Carol" and I point out its relationship to the beautiful story of the birth of Jesus in the Quran. Items 1 and 2 below are taken from my original Cherry Tree Carol post from 2009. Sting's rendition of the song is just plain gorgeous. It will change your mood. Please take a few moments and give it a listen.

1. The Cherry Tree Carol is a haunting story of the mystery and beauty of Christmas derived from one of the apocryphal Gospels, that of Psuedo- Matthew, which is also know as The Infancy Gospel of Matthew.

In this now popular Christmas carol, Joseph and Mary are walking near or through an orchard of cherry trees. She asks Joseph to pick some cherries for her because she is with child and would appreciate a helping hand. Joseph, as husbands tend to do when they discover their wives are pregnant and they know they are not the father, gets angry and tells her to just let the guy who got her pregnant get the cherries for her. No doubt dejected and feeling rejected, Mary knows not what to do.

But then a voice cries out from within his mother's womb. It's the voice of Jesus who commands the cherry trees bow down so that his mother may have something to eat. The trees do what any tree would do if ordered by Jesus, they bow down and Mary exclaims to the effect of "Hey Joseph, look, I can get all the cherries I want, nyah nyah." Joseph then realizes that there's more going on than he at first realized.

Now in the Psuedo-Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Twenty, the story as one might expect, is a bit different, but the similarities are clear. In this version, thought to be the inspiration for The Cherry Tree Carol, Mary, Joseph and a very infant Jesus are in the desert in Egypt and are exhausted from the heat. They come across a date palm tree where they rest. Mary asks Joseph for some dates, but they are pretty high up in the tree and he whines about it saying that instead she should be concerned because of the lack of water and their thirst. The baby Jesus orders the date palm to lower it's branches and his Mother is able to eat. Now the date palm, being humble and worshipful, did not rise back up after she had eaten, but rather it awaited Jesus' command. Jesus tells it to rise, says it will have its place in paradise, and then he makes one more request of it – something interesting in light of the Quranic version of this story that I will discuss below. He asks it to provide water through one of its hidden roots and it does so – providing clear, cool and sparkling water for the three of them and their animals.

2. Many features of the Cherry Tree Carol and the story from which it is derived are found in the Quranic version of the story in Surah 19, verses 16-34. In this version Joseph is noticeably absent, an absence which highlights the miraculous nature of Jesus' birth. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary, who has gone away from her people for some sort of religious purpose, in fully human form and tells her she will give birth to a son. She is astonished by this and asks how on earth that could be possible since she has never been touched by a man. Gabriel tells her that this is easy for God and that her son will be sent as a mercy to mankind.

So she is now with child and is driven to a date palm tree during the pains of childbirth, pains so severe she wishes she had never been born. But then a voice cries out – said by commentators to be that of Gabriel though in my own view it could even be that of Jesus – who tells her that all is well and that water has been provided for her beneath her feet. He then tells her to shake the date-palm and that fresh and ripe dates will come pouring down. He tells her to eat and drink and "cool thine eye." Lastly the voice commands her that if she comes across any man to say that she has vowed to speak to no one that day.

The next thing we see is Mary carrying her new baby back to her people who challenge her morality, as she had no doubt expected and feared. But keeping to her command, she said nothing to them and merely pointed to her baby. The crowd mocked her telling her that they could not possibly converse with a new born. At this point, the baby Jesus performs his own version of "enough is enough" as he addresses the crowd in no uncertain terms telling them, among other things, that God has made him a prophet and that he is to be blessed wherever he is. He also tells them that he has been commanded to be faithful to his mother, something he clearly intends to do. No doubt the audience was dumb struck. . .

The new-born Jesus then closes: "And peace be upon me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I am raised up alive."

3. The video below is the entire Surah of Mary recited in Arabic by Shaykh Idris Akbar. The story of Mary and her baby begins at exactly 2:59 into the video and runs to about 8:06. So if you want to hear the Quranic story of the birth of Jesus recited in Arabic by a great reciter, enjoy. The video includes the Arabic script so readers of this page who are studying Arabic can follow along.

When you hear "wathkur filkitaab Maryam" you will know you are at the start of the right section.

Video link: http://youtu.be/_PESbd1PqkE

4. The story of Jesus in the Quran may well have saved the lives of about 80 to 100 of the first Muslims living in Mecca with Muhammad. They had to flee Mecca to Abyssinia because of religious persecution and they sought refuge from the Christian ruler there. The Meccans tried to bribe the ruler into forcing them to return to Mecca, but this ruler actually behaved like a Christian ruler should and granted the Muslims asylum. (No doubt he'd never stand a chance of becoming the president of the US today, but I digress.) As part of the discussion and debate between the pagan Meccans who had come to Abysinnia to bribe the ruler on the one hand, and the Muslims seeking protection on the other, the Muslims recited the story about Jesus to which I have linked above. After hearing it, the Christian ruler was so moved that he granted his protection to them. Things sure have changed.

A frequent commentator on this blog, Perry, mentioned the film on Muhammad's life called "The Message" produced by the late Mustafa Akkad. Akkad did two versions of the film, one in Arabic and one in English – filming them at the same time and using different actors. Below is the English version of the story of the King of Abyssinia. Very nicely done. Thanks to Perry for bringing this movie back to my mind.

Video link: http://youtu.be/KePlv9olUAU

5. I also love Judy Collins' rendition of the Cherry Tree Carol.

Video link: http://youtu.be/YNeQNQdo8TM

6. "No US administration has done more in support of Israel's security than ours. None. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. It is a fact," Obama told a cheering crowd.

"To back up his position, Obama cited American cooperation with Israel on developing the Iron Dome anti-rocket system, efforts to clear out the besieged Israeli embassy in Cairo in September, and actions to counter attempts to delegitimize Israel in international forums like the United Nations."

"Shoring up his hard line on Iran, Obama reiterated that no options were off the table inpreventing the Islamic Republic from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and touted his administration's imposition of "the most comprehensive, the hardest-hitting sanctions the Iranian regime has ever faced. We haven't just talked about it, we've done it."

7. Israel goes entire week without killing a Palestinian in Gaza, but finally gets its fix.

8. Somebody help me here, just why is it that we are supposed to kill these people? Abe? Alan? Newt? Michelle? Mitt? Herman? Barack? Please remind me, I just can't seem to remember.

(Note to Shas Party members, the young lady on your right in the video below has a beautiful voice. Not to be missed.)

Video link: http://youtu.be/nEX_G7wZlFY

Merry Christmas folks.

The dynamic of democratic, nationalist and class struggles throughout the Muslim world has set in motion a new constellation of alliances between the imperial West (US and European Union) and Islamist parties, leaders and regimes, dubbed "moderate" by US officials, propagandists and academics.

This essay analyzes the changing contemporary context of imperial domination, especially the demise of longstanding client regimes. It then examines the previous significant ties between western imperial powers and Islamist movements and regimes and the basis of 'historical collaboration'.

The third part of the paper will outline the political circumstances in which the imperial powers embrace "moderate" Islamists in government and utilize "armed fundamentalists" in opposition to secular regimes. We will critically analyze how "moderate" Islam is defined by the Western imperialist powers. Is this a tactical or strategic alliance? What are the political "trade-offs"? What do imperialism's neo-liberal clients and their new 'moderate' Muslim allies have in common and how do they differ?

In conclusion we will evaluate the viability of this alliance and its capacity to contain and deflect the popular democratic movements and repress the burgeoning class and national struggles, especially in regard to the 'obstacles' posed by the Israel-US-Zionist ties and the continued IMF policies which promise to worsen the crises in the Muslim countries.

The Transition from Neo-Liberal Client Rulers to Power-Sharing with Moderate Islamists

The key motivation in Washington's and the European imperial troika's (England, France and Germany) embrace of what their press and officialdom hail as "moderate" Islamist parties has been the collapse or weakening of their long-term client rulers. Faced with the ouster of Mubarak, in Egypt, Ali in Tunisia and Saleh in Yemen, mass protests in Morocco and Algeria, the US-EU turned to conservative Muslim leaders who were willing to work within the existing state institutional framework (including the army and state police), uphold the capitalist order and align with the empire against anti-imperial movements and states. In Egypt, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) (the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood), in Tunisia the Renaissance Party, in Morocco the Justice and Development Party have all indicated their willingness to serve as reliable partners in blocking the pro-democracy movements that challenge the socio-economic status quo and the long-standing military-imperial linkages.

The Islamist collaborators are called "moderate and respectable" because they agree to participate in elections within the boundaries of the established political and economic order; they have dropped any criticism of imperial and colonial treaties and trade agreements signed by the previous client regions - including ones which collaborate with Israel's colonization of Palestine.

Equally important "moderate" means supporting imperial wars against nationalist and secular Arab republics, such as Syria and Libya, and isolating and/or repressing class based trade unions and secular-left parties.

"Moderate" Islamists have become the Empire's 'contraceptive of choice' against any chance the massive Arab peoples' revolt might give birth to substantive egalitarian social changes and bring those brutal pro- western officials, responsible for so many crimes against humanity, to justice.

The West and their client officials in the military and police have agreed to a kind of "power-sharing' with the moderate/respectable (read 'reactionary') Islamist parties. The Islamists would be responsible for imposing orthodox economic policies and re-establishing 'order' (i.e. bolstering the existing one) in partnership with pro-multinational bank economists and pro US-EU generals and security officials. In exchange the Islamists could take certain ministries, appoint their members, finance electoral clientele among the poor and push their 'moderate' religious, social and cultural agenda. Basically, the elected Islamists would replace the old corrupt dictatorial regimes in running the state and signing off on more free trade agreements with the EU. Their role would keep the leftists, nationalists and populists out of power and from gaining mass support. Their job would substitute spiritual solace and "inner worth" via Islam in place of redistributing land, income and power from the elite, including the foreign multi-nationals to the peasants, workers, unemployed and exploited low-paid employees.

Why the Empire Arms Fundamentalist Anti-Secular Muslims

While the US and EU have backed respectable "moderate Islam" in heading off a popular upheaval of the young and unemployed, in other contexts they have enlisted violent, fundamentalist Islamic terrorists to overthrow secular independent anti-imperialists regimes - like Libya, Syria - just as they had done earlier in Afghanistan and Yugoslavia. The US, Qatar and the European troika financed and armed Libyan fundamentalist militias and then engaged in a murderous eight months air and sea assault to ensure their client's 'victory' over the secular Gaddafi regime. Fresh from NATO's success, the US, the European 'Troika' and Turkey, with the backing of the League of Arab collaborator princes and emirs, have financed a violent Muslim Brotherhood insurrection in Syria, intent on destroying the nationalist economy and modern secular state.

The US and EU have openly unleashed their fundamentalists allies in order to destroy independent adversaries in the name of "democracy" and 'humanitarian intervention', a laughable claim in light of decade long colonial wars of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. All target regimes have one crime in common: Using their national resources to develop modern secular states - independent of imperial dictates.

NATO implements its campaigns through conservative 'moderate' or armed fundamentalist Islamist movements depending on the specific needs, circumstances and range of options in any given target nation. With the fall of pro-Empire 'secular dictatorships' in Egypt and Tunisia, pliable conservative Islamist leaders are the fall back "lesser evil". When the opportunity to overthrow an independent secular or nationalist regime arises, armed and violent fundamentalist mercenaries become the political vehicle of choice.

As with European empires in the past, the modern Western imperial countries have relied on retrograde religious parties and leaders to collaborate and serve their economic and military interests and to provide mercenaries for imperial armies to savage any anti-imperialist social revolutionaries. In that sense US and European rulers are neither 'pro nor anti' Islam, it all depends on their national and class position. Islamists who collaborate with Empire are "moderate" allies and if they attack an anti-imperialist regime, they become 'freedom fighters'. On the other hand, they become "terrorists" or "fundamentalists" when they oppose imperial occupation, pillage or colonial settlements.

Contemporary History of Islamist-Imperial Collaboration

The historical record of western imperial expansion reveals many instances of collaboration and cooptation as well as conflict with Islamist regimes, movements and parties. In the early 1960's the CIA backed a brutal military coup against the secular Indonesian nationalist regime of Sukarno, and encouraged their puppet dictator General Suharto to unleash Muslim militia in a veritable "holy war" exterminating nearly one million leftist trade unionists, school teachers, students, farmers, communists or suspected sympathizers and their family members. The horrific 'Jakarta Option' became a model for CIA operations elsewhere. In Yugoslavia the US and Europe promoted and financed fundamentalists Muslims in Bosnia, importing mujahedeen who would later form part of Al Qaida, and then backed the Kosovo Liberation Army, a known terrorist organization, in order to completely break-up and ethnically 'cleanse' a modern secular multi-national state - going so far as to have Americans and NATO bomb Belgrade for the first time since the Nazis in the Second World War.

During President Carter's administration, the CIA joined with Saudi Arabia's ruling royalty, providing billions of dollars in arms and military supplies to Afghan Muslim fundamentalists in their brutal but successful Jihad overthrowing a modern, secular nationalist regime backed by the USSR. The murderous fate of school teachers and educated women in the aftermath was quickly covered up.

Needless to say, wherever US imperialism faces leftists or secular, modernizing anti-imperialist regimes, Washington turns to retrograde Islamic leaders willing and able to destroy the progressive regime in return for imperialist support. Such coalitions are built mainly around fundamentalist and moderate Islamist opposition to secular, class- based politics allied with the Empire's hostility to any anti-imperialist challenge to its domination..

The same 'coalition' of Islamists and the Empire has been glaringly obvious during the NATO assault on Libya and continues against Syria: The Muslims provide the shock troops on the ground; NATO provides the aerial bombing, funds, arms, sanctions, embargoes and propaganda.

These Islamist-Imperialist coalitions are usually temporary, based on a common secular or nationalist enemy and not on any common strategic interest. After the defeat of a secular anti-imperialist regime, militant Muslims may find themselves attacked by the colonial neo-liberal regime most favored by the imperial west. This happened in Afghanistan and elsewhere after the overseas Islamist fighters (Afghan Arabs) returned to their own neo-colonized, collaborating home countries, like Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Egypt and elsewhere.

Contemporary History of Islamist-Imperial Conflict

The relation between Islamist regimes and imperialism is complex, changing and full of examples of bloody conflict.

The US backed the "modernizing" free market dictatorship of the Shah in Iran, overthrowing the nationalist Mosaddegh regime. They provided arms and intelligence for the Savak, the Shah's monstrous secret police as it hunted down and murdered tens of thousands of nationalist-Islamists and leftist resistance fighters and critics in Iran and abroad. The rise to power of the fundamentalist-anti-imperialist Khomeini regime fueled US armed attacks and provoked retaliatory moves: Iran backed and financed anti-colonial Islamist groups in Lebanon (Hezbollah), Palestine (Hamas) and Iraq (the Shia parties).

Subsequent to 9/11 the US invaded and overthrew the Islamist Taliban regime, re-colonized the country, establishing a puppet regime under US-European auspices. The Taliban and allied Islamist and nationalist resistance fighters organized and established a mass guerrilla army which has engaged in a decade long war with armed support from Pakistani Islamist forces responding to US military incursions.

In Palestine, Washington, under the overweening control of Israel's Zionist fifth column, has armed and financed Israel's war against the popularly elected Palestinian Islamist Hamas government in Gaza. Washington's total commitment to the Jewish state and its colonial expansion and usurpation of Palestinian (Muslim and Christian) lands and property in Jerusalem and elsewhere reflects the profound and pervasive influence of the Zionist power configuration throughout the US political system .They secure 90% votes in Congress, pledges of allegiance from the White House, and senior appointments in Treasury, State Department and the Pentagon.

What determines whether the US Empire will have a collaborative or conflict-ridden relation with Islam depends on the specific political context. The US allies with Islamists when faced with nationalist, leftist and secular democratic regimes and movements, especially where their optimal choice, a military-neo-liberal alternative is relatively weak. However, faced with a nationalist, anti-colonial Islamist regime (as is the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran), Washington will side with pro-western liberals, dissident Muslim clerics, pliable tribal chiefs, separatist ethnic minorities and pro-Western generals.

The key to US-Islamist relations from the White House perspective is based on the Islamists' attitude toward empire, class politics, NATO and the "free market" (private foreign investment).

Today's 'moderate' Islamist parties in Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco (and elsewhere), which have offered their support to NATO and its wars against Libya and Syria, uphold 'private property' (i.e. foreign and imperialist client control of key industries) and repress independent working class and anti-imperialist parties: They are the Empire's "new partners" in the pillage of the resource-rich Middle East and North Africa.

The US-brokered counter-revolutionary alliance among moderate Islamists, the previous military rulers and Washington is fraught with tensions. The military demands total impunity and a continuation of its economic privileges; this includes a veto on any legislation addressing the previous regime's brutal crimes against its own people. On the other hand, the Islamist parties uphold their electoral victories and demand majority rule. Washington insists the alliance adhere to its policy toward Israel and abandon their support for the Palestinian national struggle. As these tensions and conflicts deepen, the alliance could collapse ushering in a new phase of conflict and instability.

Emblematic of "moderate Islamiist" collaboration with US-EU imperialism is the role of Qatar, home to the 'respectable' Arabic media giant, Al-Jazeera, and the demagogic Qatari "spiritual guide" Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi. Sheik Youssef quotes the Koran and Islamic moral principles in defense of NATO's 8-month aerial bombing of Libya, which killed over 50,000 pro-regime Libyans (themselves Muslims). He calls for armed imperial intervention in Syria to overthrow the secular Assad regime, a position he shares comfortably with the state of Israel. He urges the "moderate Islamists" in Egypt and Tunisia to cease any criticism of the existing economic order, ( see "Spiritual guide steers Arabs to moderation", Financial Times, December 9, 2011 - p5). In a word, this respectable Muslim cleric is NATO's perfect Koran-quoting "moderate Islamist" partner - a dream come true.

The Strategic Utility of "Moderate" Islamist Parties

Islamist parties are approached by the Empire's policy elites only when they have a mass following and can therefore weaken any popular, nationalist insurgency. Mass-based Islamist parties serve the empire by providing "legitimacy", by winning elections and by giving a veneer of respectability to the pro-imperial military and police apparatus retained in place from the overthrown client state dictatorships.

The Islamist parties compete at the "grass roots" with the leftists. They build up a clientele of supporters among the poor in the countryside and urban slums through organized charity and basic social services administered at the mosques and humanitarian religious foundations. Because they reject class struggle and are intensely hostile to the left (with its secular, pro-feminist and working-class agenda), they have been 'half-tolerated' by the dictatorship, while the leftist activists are routinely murdered. Subsequently, with the overthrow of the dictatorship, the Islamists emerge intact with the strongest national organizational network as the country's 'natural leaders' from the religious-bazaar merchant political elite. Their leaders offer to serve the empire and its traditional native military collaborators in exchange for a 'slice of power', especially over morality, culture, religion and households (women), in other words, the "micro-society".

For their part, they offer to marginalize and undermine the left, anti-imperialist secular democrats in the streets. In the face of mass popular rebellion calling into question the imperial order, a 'moderate' Islamist-imperial partnership is a 'heavenly deal' praised in Washington, Paris or London (as well as Riyadh and Tel Aviv).

Conclusion: How Viable is the Imperial-Islamic Coalition?

Those who thought that the spontaneous pro-democracy movements spelled the end of the imperial order left out the role of organized "moderate" Islamist electoral parties as able collaborators of Empire. The brutally repressed mass mobilization of unemployed youth was no match for the well-funded grass roots community organization of the moderate Islamists. This is especially true when politics shifted from the street to the ballot box, a process that the Islamist parties facilitated. In the absence of a mass revolutionary party, seeking state power, the existing military-police state was able to work around the mass protesters and put together a power sharing agreement at least in the short-run.

In the November 2011 elections, the radical Egyptian Islamist party, Nour, gathered one-quarter of the vote in Cairo and Alexandria. Their showing was even higher among the urban poor districts, which promises even greater support among poor rural constituencies in the coming elections. Essentially a Salafist Islamist party, Nour, unlike the Muslim Brotherhood, combined denunciations of class abuses and elite corruption with mass appeals to a return to a mythic harmonious life. They used effective grass roots organizing around basic services in order to gain a greater proportion of the working class vote than all the leftist parties combined. Nour's message of "class retribution against the ...abuses of Egypt's elite fueled Nour's new found popularity", (Financial Times December 10, 2011 p6).

Despite the successes of the Islamist-Imperial partnership, the world economic crises and especially the growing unemployment and misery in the Arab countries will make it difficult for the 'respectable moderate' Islamists to stabilize their societies. They are inextricably constrained by their alliances to function within the confines of the 'orthodox neo-liberal framework' imposed by the Empire. For that reason, the "moderate" Islamists will try to co-opt some secular liberals, social democrats and even a few leftists as 'minority partners', so that they won't be held solely responsible for dashing the expectations of the poor in their countries.

The fact of the matter is that the pro-imperial Islamist parties have absolutely no answer to the current crises: Charities delivered from the mosque during the dictatorship won them mass support; now more austerity programs imposed from their ministerial posts will certainly alienate and infuriate their mass base. What will follow depends on who is best organized: Liberals are limited to media campaigns and tied to economic orthodoxy; the leftists have to advance from protest movements in the downtown squares to organized political units operating in popular neighborhoods, workplaces, markets, villages and slums. Otherwise radical fundamentalist, like the Salafists, will exploit the people's outrage with moderate Islamist betrayals and promote their own version of a closed clerical society, opposing the West while repressing the Left.

The US and EU may have 'temporarily' avoided revolution by accommodating electoral reforms and adapting to alliances with "moderate" Islamists, but their ongoing military interventions and their own growing economic crisis will simply postpone a more decisive conflict in the near future.

* James Petras is the author of more than 62 books published in 29 languages, and over 600 articles in professional journals. Petras' latest books, Global Depression and Regional Wars (Atlanta, Clarity Press, 2009) is the third in a series, including Zionism, Militarism and the Decline of US Power (Atlanta, Clarity Press 2008) and The Power of Israel in the United States (Atlanta, Clarity Press 2006), analyzing the influence of militarism and Zionism in American foreign policy.

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE

1. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. . . . America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world." ~ George W. Bush, address to the nation, September 11, 2001

"They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other." ~ George W. Bush, address to Congress, September 20, 2001

In context, all Americans assumed that Bush was talking about Moooooooooslims. Maybe he was really talking about somebody else but just couldn't say so? Let's see who hates our freedoms.

Where to begin? It seems the US has so many enemies these days. We could start with Pakistan, they hate our elections don't they? Oh, but they have elections too. Hell they even elected a woman as president. I know, they hate us because we have the right in the United States to keep and bear arms. Pakistanis don't have that right, right? Well, not quite. The gun situation in Pakistan would be the envy of everyone living in Bumfuck, Idaho. But I digress.

Oh, maybe they hate us because we bomb the shit out of them with drones? Damn, I bet killing lots of women and children probably does piss them off quite a bit, them being Moooooslims and all. Ungrateful bastards.

Maybe if we stopped killing them they might like us more. Naah.

Hmmmm, I went over a whole bunch of people who don't like us these days in a council with all the tuyuur here at Mantiq al-Tayr and we had to rule out places like Iran, North Korea, the Palestinians, damn near all Arabs everywhere, the Russians, the Chinese, the Central Americans, Newfoundland, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Yahweh knows who else. None of them, as far as we could determine, hates our freedoms, even our freedom to not have universal health care.

Hmmm, maybe Bush meant something else. Maybe he was being subtle, trying to get a secret message across to us. Maybe he was trying to say "Look, I'm a dumb-shit born to a rich family and I did too many drugs as a kid. But now I'm surrounded by absolute Zionist crazies and we're fucked. Help!"

Wouldn't that be cool?

Wow. So where should I look to find those who hate our freedoms?

A little birdie told me to start with the US Senate. It seems that there is some brouhahahahahaha going on about new legislation that might allow the military to arrest American citizens and put them in detention forever with no habeas corpus. The entire patriot-minded internet has written about it, so if this is a first for you then you have got to be a Shas Party member, but I digress. The US military could become the only nuclear police force on earth. Who on earth would come up with an idea as anti-American as that?

Israel.

Carl Levin

Well, for thing he is right at the top of Senate recipients of Jewish Lobby money. (Note to Shas Party Members and Republicans, the red highlights were done by Hassan Nasrallah, standing in for Haifa Wehbe who had a previous commitment editing Mark Dankof's work.)

"For the past three re-election cycles, Levin has been the top recipient in the Senate of pro-Israel contributions – receiving $573,773 in 1990, $371,157 in 1996 and $331,304 in 2002. In this election cycle of 2008, Levin is also leading all Senate candidates in donations from pro-Israeli groups with $84,910 in contributions, which is more than double the amount of all other Senate candidates."

The pro-Israel pacs just love this guy and he gets contributions from a whole bunch of them. Here are three examples:

One of those groups is the Center for Middle East Peace & Economic Cooperation, which was established in 1989 by Slim Fast Foods Chairman S. Daniel Abraham and Utah Congressman Wayne Owens. This pro-Israeli group makes campaign contributions and takes members of Congress to the Middle East on fact-finding missions. In the 2002 election cycle, they were the number one pro-Israeli campaign contributor giving nearly $1.5 million to candidates.

And:

Then there is the Washington PAC, which was founded by Morrie Amitay. Amitay was Executive Director of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) from 1974 to 1980 and speaks highly of Levin on his website. Washington PAC contributed $10,000 to Levin in 2002 and has already given $9,000 for his re-election campaign this year.

And:

NorPAC has contributed $5,000 to Senator Levin for his 2008 re-election campaign. NorPAC is a non-partisan political action committee whose primary purpose is to support candidates and sitting members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives "who demonstrate a genuine commitment to the strength, security, and survival of Israel." Their website also claims that their lobbying efforts, "Successfully helped pass the Syria Accountability Act, Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act, Iran Freedom and Support Act, and gain Israel's entry into the UN's Western European and Others (WEOG) Group."

Levin of course does Israel's bidding on every conceivable issue with the exception of the Iraq war. He is a huge fan of the war on terror, arguing that the Iraq war was a distraction from it, and he is viciously anti-Palestinian.

He co-sponsored the senate resolution supporting Israel's invasion of Gaza in 2009.

Occupy Wall Street even calls him a "dual national." I'm not sure why though. Seems he is just loyal to one country. The same country that his co-sponsor John McCain is loyal to.

Not only does Levin hate your freedoms, he doesn't want the Egyptians to have theirs either. (And, btw, the Egyptians are fucked.) Last February Levin made it clear that all he cares about with respect to what some call the Egyptian "revolution" (which it was not) is that Egypt continue to kiss Israel's ass.

This guy is bought and paid for by Israel and he wants the military to be an internal police force against terrorism. All you all who like to do things like write columns for Hizbullah's al-Manar website and appear on Press TV had better fucking look out.

In Part II we will look at the drones. But I also really want to get to Alan Derwoshitz. Damn, but that one will have to wait till part 3 or 4.

Some much Zionist Bullshit, so little time. So little time not just for Mantiq al-Tayr, but for you.

2. The Republican Jewish Coalition also hates your freedoms. Remember, Israel is "the nation-state" of the Jewish people, so these Republicans, like their "Democratic" counterparts in the "National Jewish Democratic Council" have one priority – and guess what goys and girls – you ain't it.

Again, as anyone with the state of awareness of a Penn State football coach knows, Ron Paul, about the only non-fascist running for the Republican nomination, was excluded from their debate on Dec. 7 – a day that will "live in infamy" for sure.

The RJC, on it's website runs a piece by Jonathan Tobin who says:

"But just as no one would consider a demand the GOP group provide a platform for a Democrat, there is no reason for it to allow Paul to pretend he is anything but an extremist who is far outside of the mainstream, especially when it comes to issues concerning the U.S.-Israel alliance."

Paul also believes in individual liberties and freedom from a crushing militarized police state that is engaged is endless wars all over the globe. The RJC stands for exactly the opposite. They hate your freedoms.

Here's Newt Gringrich (by the way, there is some controversy about how you pronounce his last name – it is pronounced "GingdieforIsraelrich", but I digress)showing that he works for Israel at the RJC "debate".

"In a Gingrich administration, the opening day, there will be an executive order about two hours after the inaugural address. We will send the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as of that day."

So, an inauguration day, immediately after taking the Oath of Office as required by article six of the US Constitution, GringdieforIsraelrich will make serving our Israeli masters his first priority.

If you assholes vote for this guy you richly deserve to go straight to hell. And you will because he will create it here on earth for you, though I have to admit we're well on the way there already.

Here's what the RJC had to say on its very own website about the great "debate". Hasan-jan did the highlights again.

"What a tremendous day! The RJC's 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates Forum was an outstanding success. Six top presidential candidates took the time to come to Washington, D.C. just to speak to our audience. Each gave an impressive, thoughtful, and exciting speech and took questions from the audience."

"Impressive" and "thoughtful" mean subverting your country to Israeli interests.

Here's proof from the Haaretz blog of the event.

Matthew Brooks

"The Jewish community has a role to play in these elections and we'll win," Brooks says.

Uh, Matt, who is "we" in that sentence? Oh, and btw goys and girls, Matt isn't just the CEO of the RJC, he is also the head of the Jewish Policy Center, a pro Israeli think tank, one of about 6 million in the US. The Center "strongly supports the global war against Islamic extremism". This guy is all Israel all the time.

Here's Michelle Bachmann speaking at Matt's "debate".

Michele Bachmann

"I will move the Embassy to Jerusalem. Recognize annexation of the Golan Heights or any settlements Israel would chose to annex."

Here's Rick "Die for Israel" Perry saying the US must support Israel's wars.

"But Israel needs our vocal moral support, because there will be inevitable international condemnation if Israel decides to strike. What Israel does not need is President Obama demanding eternal gratitude for being its best friend."

The Zionist Jews are really after Romney, who also kissed Israel's ass at the "debate" but didn't kiss it enough. It's clear they have decided he's on his way out. They are the one's who decide who you'll get to vote for.

For example:

"Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) issued the following statement in response to Romney's speech: "Throughout my career in Congress, Democrats and Republicans have stood side-by-side in support of Israel's security and the U.S.-Israel relationship because they are bipartisan, national security priorities. It is highly irresponsible for a presidential candidate to spread reckless accusations about our foreign policy that could lead anyone to question the United States' commitment to Israel's security."

Not sure what got her so riled up, Romney totally sucked up to Israel and engaged in the mandatory war mongering against Iran. She's not the only Jew in Congress who was pissed off as you'll see if you read the whole blog – it's so revealing you might just want to pack up your bags and move somewhere else after you read it.

For example, Nit Mitt said:

"My policy couldn't be more different – I'll travel to Israel on my first trip, reaffirm Israel's existence as a Jewish state. And I want the world to know that the bonds between the U.S. and Israel are unshakable. I wouldn't meet with Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. He should be excluded from the diplomatic community and indicted for incitement of genocide. And on my watch, Iran's Ayatollahs won't be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons. Our friends should never doubt we'll stand by them in their hour of need; our enemies should never question our resolve."

Huntsman also left the "debate" with a brown nose.

"It's time for the world to understand who our friends and allies are, that we stand with Israel." That's pretty much what Herman Cain used to say.

And the ridiculous Rick Santorum also wants you involved in more wars for Israel too.

"Look at the situation developing in Iran. It's time the Oval office has courage and convictions and so something that is right, to challenge the radical theocracy. It will change the world. There is no greater threat to the existence to Israel than Iran."

Go here on the RJC site for links to videos of the speeches on CSPAN as well as transcripts of many of the presentations. You must be over 18 – old enough to kill people for Israel – to view that material.

3. Okay, for video time, let's go to the other side of Zionist-permitted opinion on all things political, the so-called Democratic Party. And who would be a better representative of that party than the chair of the DNC, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. The video is so revealing of how fucked we are. . .

Note that in her criticism of the RJC's "debate" she says that the RJC is "an organization that puts its partisanship and its party in front of its love of Israel." That's a criticism?

But as you watch the video it only gets worse. With Zionism, it always does.

Video link: http://youtu.be/ztz6OCoM_Ho

As I wrote above:

Some much Zionist Bullshit, so little time. So little time not just for Mantiq al-Tayr, but for you.

(to be continued, time permitting)

* Mantiq al-Tayr is a blogger who is attempting to wake up other American citizens to the true dangers and challenges which face their country and is devoted to justice for the Palestinian people. Truth is his objective, satire is his tool. He also enjoys reading the Qur'an from time to time. See his website.

They are part of the national fabric that holds our country together. They contribute to America in many ways, and deserve the same respect as any of us. My Fellow American pledge to spread this message, and affirm the country's principles of liberty and justice for all.

Take the pledge: http://myfellowamerican.us/pledge

Video link: http://youtu.be/cjm0uk2JO58

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE

By Mantiq al-Tayr * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

1. As is usually the case all of the experts on terrorism and all the Islam-hating bigots were wrong. Sometimes I am not even sure which group is the more loathsome and of course there is considerable overlap between the two. And even though Will McCants actually seems okay, he is only an expert on "terrorism" if the term is only used to refer to Muslims.

According to the this link his areas of expertise are: "Early Islamic History & Exegesis; Babi/Baha'i Scripture & History; Jihadi Movement; Empire & Historiography"

2. As I am sure many of you are aware by now, the latest hero of the Zionist-inspired international club of Muslim haters, Anders Behring Breivik, has left us with at least two moronic anti-Muslim diatribes. One is a short video and the other (if he is actually the author) is a huge anti-Islamic tract. I've watched the video and have scanned the tract and both could just as easily been created by the CI Centre or any of the other good-for nothing Islam-bashing contractors who train US government and law-enforcement personnel around the country. In fact, the written document even quotes some of those cretins. Here is a picture of part of his asanine video.

The two themes above are always misrepresented and then harped on by these scoundrels. And here is Breivik quoting Shoebat and Spencer in his tome:

Readers of this website will recall that I have in the past talked about an 80-page expose of these groups called "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace" which expose groups like the CI Centre and total fakes like Walid Shoebat. Also, you know that I often link to Loonwatch, a site dedicated to exposing these assxxxxx. And as Loonwatch says in this article, these promoters of hatred have created an atmosphere in which all sorts of horrible things are taking place. The blood of these innocent Norwegians is not just on Breivik's hands.

3. One day I am thinking of having a contest or putting up a poll in which people can vote for the US state that is the most Zionist controlled. I used to think that New York would be the hands-down winner followed by New Jersey and then Canada. But my research keeps leading me back to the Cardin State, the state of so many traitors. Again, as readers of this site know, there is a multi-faceted tax-payer supported long-term Zionist radicalization program in the US whose primary target is American Jews and the goal of which is to make sure they are loyal to Israel. The Cardin State seems to bend over backwards in this regard as the readers here know. Well, there's even more. Take a look:

While each of the above noble efforts deserves serious attention, I'd like to draw your attention to the one on the bottom left.

This progam is not aimed at Jewish kids, its aimed at the goyim. According to Rep. Elijah Cummings (Likud, Maryland), "Our broad goal is to promote inter-ethnic understanding, as well as racial and religious tolerance. The process toward achieving that goal includes hands-on, personalized engagement designed to help the ECYP scholars become the core of our region's future leaders."

So, in order to promote "inter-ethnic understanding" you send kids to Israel? You send them to one of the most racist places on the planet? "But Mantiq" (I can hear it now) "these kids are sent to the 'Yemin Orde Youth Village' which is for poor children with no place to go except to Palestine to be used as excuses in the future to steal more Arab land. Oh, and also Mantiq, the place is subsidized by the US taxpayer. Isn't that cool.?"

Sigh: I wonder if the American kids Cummings is sending to this "youth village" will learn that it is named after General Orde Wingate, a Christian Zionist fanatic who trained Haganah terrorists in Palestine in th 1930′s.

Wingate also hated Arabs, I guess he would have made a fine Congressman.

"In June 1938 the new British commander, Gen. Haining, gave his permission to create the Special Night Squads, armed groups formed of British and Haganah volunteers. The Jewish Agency helped pay salaries and other costs of the Haganah personnel.

"Wingate trained, commanded and accompanied them in their patrols. The units frequently ambushed Arab saboteurs who attacked oil pipelines of the Iraq Petroleum Company, raiding border villages the attackers had used as bases. In these raids Wingate's men sometimes imposed severe collective punishmentson the village inhabitants that were criticized by Zionist leaders as well as Wingate's British superiors. Wingate disliked Arabs, once shouting at Hagana fighters after a June 1938 attack on a village on the border between Mandatory Palestine and Lebanon, "I think you are all totally ignorant in your Ramat Yochanan [the training base for the Hagana] since you do not even know the elementary use of bayonets when attacking dirty Arabs: how can you put your left foot in front?" But the brutal tactics proved effective in quelling the uprising, and Wingate was awarded the DSO in 1938."

But I guess since they'll all be there on Mt. Carmel which is where the Baha'i headquarters is and overlooking Haifa which was ethnically cleansed by Israel it's all perfectly okay.

"Based on declassified Israeli documents, the Israeli historian Benny Morris concluded that the Jewish civilian population (especially Haifa's Jewish mayor Shabtai Levy) was at peace with their Palestinian neighbors, but the Haganah and the IZL leadership had a different agenda to ethnically cleanse the city from its Palestinian Arab population. "

Yeah, the Haganah, the outfit whose members Orde Wingate trained, got rid of the majority of the city's Arab population.

"Out of the 61,000 Palestinian Arabs who used to call Haifa home, only 3,566 Palestinians were allowed to stay. The remaining population were in constant fear on their lives and properties, and many of them witnessed the looting of their homes and possessions by the Zionists."

4. Now in case you have not had your full quota today of Zionist Bulllxxxx, let's look at this AP article published not just in the Jerusalem Washington New York Times Post but damn near everywhere else too about a wonderful cuddly miracle-working Rabbi. He is just such a sweet heart. I bet Monica Lewinsky wishes she could give him a blow job.

"Pinto began amassing followers as a young man in the Mediterranean port city of Ashdod, helped by his family heritage and reputation for uncanny insight into human behavior. Some of those followers saw him simply as an unusually wise man. Others believed his wisdom was supernatural, that his blessings had power and that he could see the future and heal the sick."

Getting warm and fuzzy? I hope so.

"Unlike most ultra-Orthodox rabbis, Pinto does not press his secular adherents to observe Jewish law and rejects the mixing of religion and government, he said. Pinto has also spoken out to condemn racism against Arabs."

Well that is nice. May Elijah Cummings ought to do the same. But I digress.

He also works miracles.

"Pinto came to his hospital room when he was comatose, said Ben-Eliezer, who is 74. "I didn't see this, because I was almost in the next world. He sat next to me for between four and five hours, crying. Then he stood up and said to the people in the room - he'll wake up tomorrow morning."

"And so it was."

"He has not only his own life experience, but that of all of the generations that went before him," Ben-Dov said. "Any attempt to describe him falls short of the reality."

How about "con-artist"? Though it too no doubt falls short of the reality. I've reported on this guy before. He lives in a 6.5 million dollar house in Manhatten which is actually owned by his very own charity to which you can make tax-deductable contributions. His number one right hand man is a porn distributor.

Oh, and you'll love this:

"The New York Daily News is reporting that Weiner "regularly" stopped by the classes and holiday gatherings of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto for spiritual advice and counseling. In return, the good rabbi instructed his followers to contribute to Weiner's campaigns, raising over $300,000 for his 2009 abortive run for mayor, and for other elections, the Daily News said."

This from a guy who says he has nothing to do with politics.

Recently that 6.5 million dollar house that Pinto lives in but which is owned by his very own charity was subject to foreclosure. But an unusual white knight appeared:

"[Lebron] James apparently gave Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto a six-figure check to stop the foreclosure."

Oh, and his alleged pro Arabness. Can't find much on it. In this article he refuses to even answer a question posed to him about Israel's treatment of Arabs.

And in a whole host of other articles he criticizes Rabbis in Israel who don't want Jews to rent to Arabs but only because their racism might backfire on Jews in the US.

"New York Jews come to me frightened, saying the newspapers are full of stories on what is going on in Israel. This letter is founded in stupidity. There's great racism against Jews in America today. What does this letter mean? It means that Jews won't be able to live in New York or anywhere else in the world."

5. I want to switch gears for a moment. I am quoting below, with permission, parts of an email I recently received from a Mexican journalist. This person makes some good points. The journalist asked to remain anonymous. I do not agree with all of it, but this person is far more right than wrong.

"Just one favor I'd like to ask: As you well point out, part of the liberal / Zionist agenda is to sort of promote hispanic immigrant sympathy in the U.S., surely for not the right reasons, but anyway they do. And the fact that they do, generates the opposite effect on the groups who try to break free from the Zionist agendas. It causes a lot of un-sympathy for the immigrant causes. It creates an "anti-Mexican" feeling, which is completely unfair.

Let me tell you: the reason the people are migrating, not only the Mexicans but most people in the whole world, are the unfair economic conditions caused by all forms of imperialism, old and new. In Latin America, natives were not "poor" or "needy", until we were invaded. So first it was European imperialism, and more recently North American imperialism. Unfair trade, explotation and currency slavery, cause people to become "poor" in their own land. Mexicans, and any sort of illegal immigrants coming to the U.S., is the direct result of years of the U.S. exploiting the continent. Migration is now just an inevitable, natural reaction; a sort of payback.

Besides, immigrants do not migrate out of evil intentions; on the contrary, they go dreaming of giving an extra to their families. Actually, they love their lands and families more than anything.

And, the hispanic influence on the U.S. will not be a bad thing in the short and long term. Far from that, it will make the U.S. a nicer, warmer, less meaner place. Mexicans are family oriented, and keep strong values like the Muslims or like most of the rest of the people on the planet. The "mexicanization" of the U.S. will bring a lot of relief not only to the world, but also to the U.S. It may be the only chance to save the nation from an absolute economic collapse, because it will inject younger blood, values and hard working people to the heart of the nation.

So, my request is: let's separate the Zionist problem from the Mexican / illegal immigrants problem. The Mexican people need the support from the open-minded, lucid, consciouss people like yourself. The Mexicans who travel are suffering all sorts of hardships for being illegal. They should be legalized, because they are already working there, living there, and helping the nation to survive.

We in Mexico are also victims of the Zionist powers. Many people believe they are fuelling today's drug wars because they sell the weapons. They want the war to continue. They are also terrible exploiters of people in Mexico."

6. Okay, it's video time.

I need to buy that pork spray.

Video link: http://youtu.be/y5GHHbIUxZY

Why You Should Hate Islam:

Video link: http://youtu.be/l0fxGEmym9g

Somehow this song seems fitting here. I still can’t believe he’s gone.

Video link: http://youtu.be/5xB2m2id0q4

* Mantiq al-Tayr is a blogger who is attempting to wake up other American citizens to the true dangers and challenges which face their country and is devoted to justice for the Palestinian people. Truth is his objective, satire is his tool. He also enjoys reading the Qur'an from time to time. See his website.

By Paul J. Balles * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

In an earlier article I noted that evangelic preacher Pat Robertson, David Gaubatz, Paul Sperry and Daniel Pipes are Islamophobic cult leaders who take every opportunity they can to vilify Islam and Muslims.

They were all particularly vindictive following the shooting at Fort Hood by the psychopath Nidal Malik Hassan who also happened to be Muslim.

The fact that he was Muslim had nothing to do with his maniacal action. It was no more related to the teachings of Islam than the paedophilia of a few priests is connected with Catholicism or the acts committed by Rabbi Meir Kahane of the Anti-Defamation League were related to Judaism.

Reports of a number of incidents in the past year or so strongly reveal a spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes.

In May 2010, for instance, a bomb exploded at an Islamic centre in Jacksonville, Florida. In August, a man slashed the neck and face of a New York taxi driver after finding out he was Muslim.

Four days later, someone set fire to construction equipment at the future site of an Islamic centre in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This March, a radical Christian pastor burned a Quran in Gainesville, Florida, leading to deadly riots in Afghanistan that left at least 20 people dead.

A few days ago, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) published a benchmark report on Islamophobia in America.

Islamophobia is close-minded prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims. An Islamophobe is an individual who holds a closed-minded view of Islam and promotes prejudice against or hatred of Muslims.

CAIR identifies a number of individuals and groups who have rallied against Islamophobia as well as a number who can be identified as Islamophobes.

Those who CAIR says

deserve recognition for their outstanding contributions to pushing back against Islamophobic trends during the period include: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Loonwatch.com; Congressional Tri-Caucus; Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN); Jon Stewart, Aasif Mandvi and "The Daily Show"; Keith Olbermann and Countdown; Stephen Colbert and "The Colbert Report"; Media Matters for America; interfaith leaders; and Rachel Maddow and "The Rachel Maddow Show."

Many are available on TV in Bahrain.

Some individuals, institutions and groups were at the centre of pushing Islamophobia in America during the period covered by the report:

Pamela Geller and Stop the Islamization of America; Robert Spencer and Jihad Watch; Brigitte Gabriel and Act! for America; Frank Gaffney and the Centre for Security Policy; Steven Emerson and the Investigative Project on Terrorism; Newt Gingrich; the four members of Congress who called for an investigation of Muslim Capitol Hill interns; Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and other violent extremists; and Daniel Pipes.

According to those interviewed for the CAIR report, on a scale from 1 (best situation for Muslims) to 10 (worst possible situation for Muslims) Islamophobia in America stands at 6.4. Interviews were conducted in September and October of 2010.

The public's favourable rating of Islam sank from 40 per cent in November 2001 to 30 per cent in August 2010, according to the Pew Research Centre. In late November 2010, the Public Research Institute found that 45 per cent of Americans agree that Islam is at odds with American values.

"Sources of Islamophobia are those individuals and institutions that produce and package materials, ideas or rhetoric about Islam in order to promote a skewed view of the faith and to induce fear, hate or prejudice in those who receive the materials," says CAIR.

Islamophobic behaviour is being repeated in Europe and elsewhere. The much-needed CAIR report details its nature. The report can be accessed and downloaded [.PDF] from the internet.

CAIR's work on Islamophobia has been a long time coming; too long, as the disease grows and spreads. Zionists scream "anti-Semitism" to silence critics of Israel. Long overdue has been the more honest label "Islamophobia" for those who wrongly vilify Islam and Muslims.

* Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. He's a weekly Op-Ed columnist for the Gulf Daily News. Dr. Balles is also Editorial Consultant for Red House Marketing and a regular contributor to Bahrain This Month.

By Tim Murphy * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

American TV personality and evangelical Christian leader Pat Robertson, backed by an Israeli flag, delivers a speech on a pilgrimage to Israel. AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

Robertson: I was thinking, you know, if you oppose Muslims, what is said? Well, you're a bigot, right? Terrible bigotry. I wonder what were people who opposed the Nazis. Were they bigots?

Co-host: Well, in that day I think they were looked down upon and frowned upon.

Robertson: Why can't we speak out against an institution that is intent on dominating us and imposing Sharia law and making us all part of a universal caliphate? That's the goal of some of these people. Why is that bigoted? Why is it bigoted to resist Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and to say we don't want to live under Nazi Germany?

Watch:

Video link: http://youtu.be/mQOujxM585w

Not to nitpick here, but people who opposed the Nazis were not "looked down upon and frowned upon" as bigots. This was a few decades ago, so it's understandably a little obscure, but the United States actually went to war with Nazi Germany. There was a movie about it and everything.

As you'd probably guess, this is hardly the first time Robertson has compared a large and diverse group of people to Nazis:

Here's Robertson in 1995:

"Since the advent of the head of the Justice Department, Janet Reno, things have gotten out of control. Something is going on that is just very unwholesome in this nation....this is a shocking abuse of federal power. It is reminiscent of the Nazis. Something has got to be done."

And in 1993:

"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians."

Also in 1993:

"When lawlessness is abroad in the land, the same thing will happen here that happened in Nazi Germany. Many of those people involved in Adolph Hitler were Satanists. Many of them were homosexuals. The two things seem to go together."

And in 1990:

"[T]he liberal media and the screenwriters...are the spiritual descendants of Goebbels and the Nazis. They're not just talking about kikes and Jews; they're not talking about, quote, 'n-----s.' They're talking about Christians now."

And in 1984:

"The state is steadily attempting to do something that a few states other than the Soviets and the Nazis have attempted to do, namely, to take the children away from the parents and educate them in a philosophy that is amoral, anti-Christian and humanistic and to show them a collectivist philosophy that will ultimately lead to Marxism, socialism, and a communistic type of ideology."

So as you can see, Muslims are the new gays are the new Clinton Justice Department are the new gays (again) are the new screenwriters are the new public schools are the new Nazis; it's worse than we thought.

* Tim Murphy is a reporter at Mother Jones. Email him with tips and insights at tmurphy [at] motherjones [dot] com.

Source: Mother Jones

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE

By Mantiq al-Tayr * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

1. Something else bothered Orlich. Yee mentioned he had studied in Damascus. Orlich wondered about a man who would go to Syria - a state sponsor of terrorism - to find God.

Maj. Jason Orlich

Why not put together a huge bullshit-filled KKK-like anti-Muslim briefing up on the internet? Oh, and make sure to put your name and military rank on it so that the whole world will know, as I demonstrated last week in my most recent post, that the US government is rife with anti-Muslim bigots. (Go here for the downloadable power point presentation and go here to see it in html format.)

You can read about this guy's antics in the links below, but for your amusement, I have also drawn a few quotes from the relevant articles:

Of course the quality of language work at Guantamo was always superb as we can see from this article on how totally fucked up the government's case was:

Another accusation, that he distributed radical literature to the detainees, was based on an erroneous translation of an Islamic symbol in Ottoman-style calligraphy.

Later on in the same expose of government malfeasance we read of more great language work being done:

Airman Al Halabi's lawyers also made a charge of misconduct after a government translator contacted them to say that one of the prosecutors, Capt. Dennis Kaw, had discouraged her from alerting the court when she found a mistake in her translation of the Syrian government's letter. Captain Kaw had insisted, rather improbably, that the Syrian government had given Airman Al Halabi permission in the letter to travel not only to Syria but also to Qatar; instead, the relevant word meant "the homeland."

And read this:

As recently as a week ago, reports suggested that at least 17 prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have been subjected to the program. But Maj. Jason Orlich, a creator of Guantánamo Bay's "incentives" program that uses long-term sleep deprivation as a punishment for those who misbehave or fail to cooperate, testified that nearly all of the 350 to 400 prisoners held in two Guantánamo Bay prison camps were subject to the program, which entails waking the prisoners, shackling them, and moving them to a different cell along with all their belongings. Maj. Orlich was reluctant to specify the frequency of the moves, but testified that three-hour intervals "would not be abnormal."

Maj. Orlich also revealed that the Frequent Flyer Program was Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), although it did not appear in writing in the SOPs of that time-begging the question of what other detainee treatment policies were omitted from the written records. According to Maj. Orlich, Guantánamo Bay leadership was aware that the Frequent Flyer Program was in use, and the program was a routine included in what the military calls its "daily synchronization matrix." Maj. Orlich also said that the Frequent Flyer Program was ongoing at the time of his departure from Guantánamo Bay in April 2005, and he had never heard of any order to stop the program. This is despite previous government claims that the program had been discontinued in March 2004.

And here are some excerpts from the extremely bigoted and ignorant slide show this guy has put up on the web apparently subsequent to his tour in Guantanomo. I wonder if he gives this briefing to other people in the military and the US government. On the first slide of his presentation he mentions his PACOM affiliation. Maybe you all investigative journalists out there could ask PACOM if this means that they endorse his presentation.

You know it's gonna be good when it starts off with a quote from the fraud Walid Shoebat which I will spare you. Note to Shas Party members: the headlines in bold are mine, not from the presentation by Maj. Jason Orlich – though I can understand why people could get that confused. The quotes from the slide show are in italics.

Also, the author of the presentation states:

This brief is based upon Extensive Research, Islamic texts, history, and lessons learned at JTF GTMO

So let's take a look at some of the fruits of this extensive foray into Islamic texts.

Yahweh be good, Allah be bad:

Yahweh = Allah

* Yahweh is a loving Father, who, along with the Son and the Holy Spirit, is One God.

* To Muslims, the concept of a triune God is a blasphemy.

"They do blaspheme who say God is one of three...,for there is no God except one God." Surah 5:73

. . .

God." Surah 8:30 * Allah of Islam is frightening.

"It is God whom ye should more justly fear, if you believe." Surah 9:13

Muslims are Moonies:

2 Different Spiritual Worlds

Yahweh and Allah

* Before Islam came into existence, the Sabbeans in Arabia worshipped the moon-god Allah who was married to the sun-goddess.

* Common practice to use the name of the moon-god in personal names in Muhammad's tribe.

* Allah was a pagan deity in pre-Islamic times.

* An Allah idol was set up at the Kabah along with all the other idols of the time.

* The pagans prayed towards Mecca and the Kabah because that is where their gods were stationed.

* The idol of their moon god, Allah, was at Mecca, they prayed towards Mecca.

* The worship of the moon-god extended far beyond Allah-worship in Arabia. The entire fertile crescent was involved in moon-worship.

* The early success Islam had amongst Arab groups that had traditionally worshipped Allah, the moon-god.

* The use of the crescent moon as the symbol of Islam, and which appears on dozens of flags of Islamic nations in Asia and Africa, and surmounts minerets and mosque roofs, is a throwback to the days when Allah was worshipped as the moon-god in Mecca.

Moohammad he a bad man and Khadijah, she be a bad girl getting her daddy drunk and all.

Genesis of the Islamic Faith

570 C.E. Muhammad born in Mecca

– Both parents died before Muhammad was 6

Abandoned by Mother, Amina, and passed around, rejected and possibly abused by 2 men (Ishaq 71, 72)

– Muhammad was raised by his Grandfather Abd al-Muttalib who almost

Sacrificed Muhammad's Father Abd-Allah in the Ka'aba while praying to Allah and

Practicing divination. (Tab VI 2,5)

– He also liked to constantly stroke/pet Muhammad. After his Grandfather's death, his Uncle Abu Talib raised him. (Ishaq 73)

-Muhammad became a trade agent for a rich female merchant named Khadijah who was 40 years old.

Khadijah who was 15 years his senior invited Muhammad and his uncles to her home. She got her father so drunk that he married them. Her Father later regretted marrying them. His sons, Al-Qasim, Al-Tayyib and Al-Tahir died in infancy; He had Fatima (wife of Ali) and 2 other daughters. (Tab VI 49)

Mongol invaders good, resistance to them very very bad and Ibn Taymiyya is a hadith.

Ibn Taymiya and NO TOLERANCE

PRINCIPLE: MUSLIMS SHOULD RESIST, FIGHT AND OVERTURN ANY ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT THAT DOESN'T GOVERN THE LAND ACCORDING TO THE ISLAMIC LAW ONLY!

PRINCIPLE: MUSLIMS SHOULD ENFORCE JIHAD ON ANYBODY WHOSE BELIEFS DIFFER FROM ISLAM, ESPECIALLY JEWS AND CHRISTIANS.

1263 A.D. – Born in Syrian town of Haran

Fought Mongolian invaders of Syria (1299-1303) and taught that Mongolians

were not true Muslims and that fellow countrymen should not submit to their authority.

Declared that anyone who submitted to Mongolians, helped them or dealt with
them was an infidel.

Taymiya acted as if he were a military leader, declaring the Muslims to be
infidels and attacking them.

Taymiya established the mind-set of NO TOLERANCE and refinforced principles that were practiced centuries earlier in the times of Muhammad.

REMEMBER: Today's terrorism is a result of this mindset and Taymiya is one of most widely read Hadiths.

2. Yes, it's already video time. Now the first video below is one that I found on Rick B's site http://ww3zionism.blogspot.com/ Check his site out.

And no doubt many of you have seen it. But I'm linking to it because:

A. It is very well done. I take my hat off to the people at the Onion. They are superb.

B. Listen to the little girl's Arabic at near the end of the video. Shows you what happens when David Gaubatz types are teaching people Arabic.

C. It is short, so Shas Party and Tea Party members can follow it.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CqpEacxdS0

And now for some serious study of the gifts that Yahweh er, Allah, has bestowed upon us. Kind of makes you all want to shout out in unison الحمد لله doesn’t it?

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mezDRxqI7x0

As we all know from Peter King’s (Asshole, New York) inquisition, Shakira law made it to Nashville. Maybe that’s not so bad after all.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTdV6dn_3_0

نشكر الله

* Mantiq al-Tayr is a blogger who is attempting to wake up other American citizens to the true dangers and challenges which face their country and is devoted to justice for the Palestinian people. Truth is his objective, satire is his tool. He also enjoys reading the Qur'an from time to time. See his website.

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE

By Mantiq al-Tayr * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

1. Today I just want to do a couple of things quickly. First of all, Skulz Fontaine has been sending me some great stuff and I've been a bit remiss in not sharing some of these with you. I like this one.

But of course the land theft continues, as does the killing – killing Palestinians being the Israeli national pass time. Plus it just seems that attacking, harrasing and shooting at Palestinians is as Israeli as assaulting the USS Liberty.

2. But I want to address something else as the main topic today. What some people like to call Islamophobia – I call it what it is – Anti-Muslim Bigotry – in the United States is getting out of hand. Our country is sick and we need to understand the source of this sickness and do something about it. One good place for you to go as you begin searching for the source is an article I've linked to before by Max Blumenthal. It is here. And here's another real interesting one. And you should read all about David Horowitz – who pays Robert Spencer something like 132k a year to write his bullshit. I strongly recommend you go to Loonwatch and do a search on David Horowitz. Oh hell, I'll do it for you.

And this brings me to:

3. But I also want to draw your attention to something else. Islamphobia is being actively supported by local, state and federal governments and law enforcement. Anti-Muslim hatemongers routinely train local, state and federal officials to hate Islam and Muslims and it looks like they get good money for it. I tell you, I am in the wrong business, but I digress.

It is very possible that these hate mongers have trained people in your community and your state and for sure some of them have been saying some real interesting bullshit to people in the federal government. I mean real wackos like Nonie Darwish and Walid Phares and Steve Coughlin.

I can hear you know, "Okay, Mantiq, prove this. How come you haven't provided one single link under this topic whereas you are always linking everything to everything else and we can't even finish your goddamn posts because we are running of all over hell's half acre reading your links?

Never, fear. Your link is here. It is to a new 80-page study of this phenomenon done by Thomas Cincotta of Political Research Associates. It is entitled:

Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants and the Threat to Rights and Security. It's a nice PDF file and you can download the whole thing for free.

Here is an excerpt from the preface to the report about how effectively your public officials are being trained:

"Kill them, including the children."

That's how to solve the threat of violent militant Muslims?

The above quote is from what one official involved in homeland security said was how she understood the underlying theme of a speech by Walid Shoebat at an anti-terrorism training in Las Vegas in October 2010. Our investigator had turned around after Shoebat's speech and asked the woman seated one row back what she thought was the solution offered by Shoebat.

The report focuses on three private training outfits and the loons who work for them. They are:

A. the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association (ICTOA)
B. Security Solutions International, LLC (SSI)
C. The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Centre)

I like how the CI Centre (where Walid Phares plies his trade) spells centre the British way. Makes them look cool.

And the report has a section on each of the following people who work for one of the three firms mentioned above:

Mark A. Gabriel – ICTOA guest speaker
David Gaubatz – SSI guest speaker
Walid Phares – CI Centre Faculty
Clare M. Lopez – CI Centre Faculty
Tawfik Hamid – CI Centre Faculty
Stephen Coughlin – CI Centre Faculty
Nonie Darwish – CI Centre Faculty
Detective Ebrahim Ashabi – SSI Expert
Walid Shoebat – ICTOA Guest Speaker

This report is a must read and it is free. Send it to your congressmen and your state representatives and demand that your state, local and federal governments stop funding these modern-day equivalents of the Ku Klux Klan.

4. There are five million decoy Muslims in the US. They are here to trick you and then to kill you.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drQETQ2iprU
(I bet Shas Party members won't get this.)

5. Shakira law spreads to MUST (Missouri University for Science and Technology)

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=626Z2wmieUo

* Mantiq al-Tayr is a blogger who is attempting to wake up other American citizens to the true dangers and challenges which face their country and is devoted to justice for the Palestinian people. Truth is his objective, satire is his tool. He also enjoys reading the Qur'an from time to time. See his website.

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts * | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Does anyone remember the "cakewalk war" that would last six weeks, cost $50-$60 billion, and be paid for out of Iraqi oil revenues?

Does anyone remember that White House economist Lawrence Lindsey was fired by Dubya because Lindsey estimated that the Iraq war could cost as much as $200 billion?

Lindsey was fired for over-estimating the cost of a war that, according to Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, has cost 15 times more than Lindsey estimated. And the US still has 50,000 troops in Iraq.

Does anyone remember that just prior to the US invasion of Iraq, the US government declared victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan?

Does anyone remember that the reason Dubya gave for invading Iraq was Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, weapons that the US government knew did not exist?

Are Americans aware that the same neoconservarives who made these fantastic mistakes, or told these fabulous lies, are still in control of the government in Washington?

The "war on terror" is now in its tenth year. What is it really all about?

The bottom line answer is that the "war on terror" is about creating real terrorists. The US government desperately needs real terrorists in order to justify its expansion of its wars against Muslim countries and to keep the American people sufficiently fearful that they continue to accept the police state that provides "security from terrorists," but not from the government that has discarded civil liberties.

The US government creates terrorists by invading Muslim countries, wrecking infrastructure and killing vast numbers of civilians. The US also creates terrorists by installing puppet governments to rule over Muslims and by using the puppet governments to murder and persecute citizens as is occurring on a vast scale in Pakistan today.

Neoconservatives used 9/11 to launch their plan for US world hegemony. Their plan fit with the interests of America's ruling oligarchies. Wars are good for the profits of the military/security complex, about which President Eisenhower warned us in vain a half century ago. American hegemony is good for the oil industry's control over resources and resource flows. The transformation of the Middle East into a vast American puppet state serves well the Israel Lobby's Zionist aspirations for Israeli territorial expansion.

Most Americans cannot see what is happening because of their conditioning. Most Americans believe that their government is the best on earth, that it is morally motivated to help others and to do good, that it rushes aid to countries where there is famine and natural catastrophes. Most believe that their presidents tell the truth, except about their sexual affairs.

The persistence of these delusions is extraordinary in the face of daily headlines that report US government bullying of, and interference with, virtually every country on earth. The US policy is to buy off, overthrow, or make war on leaders of other countries who represent their peoples' interests instead of American interests. A recent victim was the president of Honduras who had the wild idea that the Honduran government should serve the Honduran people.

The American government was able to have the Honduran president discarded, because the Honduran military is trained and supplied by the US military. It is the same case in Pakistan, where the US government has the Pakistani government making war on its own people by invading tribal areas that the Americans consider to be friendly to the Taliban, al Qaeda, "militants" and "terrorists."

Earlier this year a deputy US Treasury secretary ordered Pakistan to raise taxes so that the Pakistani government could more effectively make war on its own citizens for the Americans. On October 14 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered Pakistan to again raise taxes or the US would withhold flood aid. Clinton pressured America's European puppet states to do the same, expressing in the same breath that the US government was worried by British cuts in the military budget. God forbid that the hard-pressed British, still reeling from American financial fraud, don't allocate enough money to fight America's wars.

On Washington's orders, the Pakistani government launched a military offensive against Pakistani citizens in the Swat Valley that killed large numbers of Pakistanis and drove millions of civilians from their homes. Last July the US instructed Pakistan to send its troops against the Pakistani residents of North Waziristan. On July 6 Jason Ditz reported on antiwar.com that "at America's behest, Pakistan has launched offensives against [the Pakistani provinces of] Swat Valley, Bajaur, South Waziristan, Orakzai,and Khyber."

A week later Israel's US Senator Carl Levin (D,MI) called for escalating the Obama Administration's policies of US airstrikes against Pakistan's tribal areas. On September 30, the Pakistani newspaper, The Frontier Post, wrote that the American air strikes "are, plain and simple, a naked aggression against Pakistan."

The US claims that its forces in Afghanistan have the right to cross into Pakistan in pursuit of "militants." Recently US helicopter gunships killed three Pakistani soldiers who they mistook for Taliban. Pakistan closed the main US supply route to Afghanistan until the Americans apologized.

Pakistan warned Washington against future attacks. However, US military officials, under pressure from Obama to show progress in the endless Afghan war, responded to Pakistan's warning by calling for expanding the Afghan war into Pakistan. On October 5 the Canadian journalist Eric Margolis wrote that "the US edges closer to invading Pakistan."

In his book, Obama's Wars, Bob Woodward reports that America's puppet president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, believes that terrorist bombing attacks inside Pakistan for which the Taliban are blamed are in fact CIA operations designed to destabilize Pakistan and allow Washington to seize Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

To keep Pakistan in line, the US government changed its position that the "Times Square Bombing" was the work of a "lone wolf." Attorney General Eric Holder switched the blame to the "Pakistani Taliban," and Secretary of State Clinton threatened Pakistan with "very serious consequences" for the unsuccessful Times Square bombing, which likely was a false flag operation aimed at Pakistan.

To further heighten tensions, on September 1 the eight members of a high-ranking Pakistani military delegation in route to a meeting in Tampa, Florida, with US Central Command, were rudely treated and detained as terrorist suspects at Washington DC's Dulles Airport.

For decades the US government has enabled repeated Israeli military aggression against Lebanon and now appears to be getting into gear for another Israeli assault on the former American protectorate of Lebanon. On October 14 the US government expressed its "outrage" that the Lebanese government had permitted a visit by Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who is the focus of Washington's intense demonization efforts. Israel's representatives in the US Congress threatened to stop US military aid to Lebanon, forgetting that US Rep. Howard Berman (D,CA) has had aid to Lebanon blocked since last August to punish Lebanon for a border clash with Israel.

Perhaps the most telling headline of all is the October 14 report, "Somalia's New American Primer Minister." An American has been installed as the Prime Minister of Somalia, an American puppet government in Mogadishu backed up by thousands of Ugandan troops paid by Washington.

This barely scratches the surface of Washington's benevolence toward other countries and respect for their rights, borders, and lives of their citizens.

Meanwhile, to silence Wikileaks and to prevent any more revelations of American war crimes, the "freedom and democracy" government in DC has closed down Wikileaks' donations by placing the organization on its "watch list" and by having the Australian puppet government blacklist Wikileaks.

Wikileaks is now akin to a terrorist organization. The American government's practice of silencing critics will spread across the Internet.

Remember, "they hate" us because we have "freedom and democracy", First Amendment rights, habeas corpus, respect for human rights, and show justice and mercy to all.

* Paul Craig Roberts was an editor of the Wall Street Journal and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. His latest book, How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds . He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com

THE PHONY PRESS, SEX, SIN AND WAR

By Gordon Duff* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

President Ahmadinejad of Iran has asked for a UN investigation of 9/11. For this, he has been branded a "wingnut" and "evildoer" by the American press. However, the 9/11 Commission itself asked for a criminal investigation, saying it uncovered a conspiracy and was prevented from getting the truth. They were quickly silenced. 9 years later, top scientists from around the world, supported by engineers, architects, military and intelligence officials agree on one thing. What thing is that? We will never know. Reporting that "one thing" would be the last thing any member of the press would ever do. A day later, they would become unpaid bloggers and have their name on the "no fly" list. Do things like this happen? How long did CNN's Rick Sanchez last after pointing out that Jon Stewart's fanatic pro-Israel bias is a form of "bigotry?"

Let's take a second to look at Ahmadinejad. Nearly daily stories hit newspapers around the world, "Iran is 15 minutes from being a nuclear power." Ahmadinejad threatens to "wipe Israel off the map." "Ahmadinejad supports a new holocaust."

The press, of course, continually reviles Ahmadinejad as a terrorist and mass murderer. What he isn't, however, is a liar. Every time it comes down to checking on who is telling the truth, Ahmadinejad or the press, it turns out Ahmadinejad is telling the truth. How can this be possible?

Well, a couple of things come into play. First of all, the press purposefully distorts what is said. The press lies, lies consistently. There is no nuclear program in Iran, not a weapons program. There is no credible information that varies from this fact, yet the press continually takes a line here and a statement there, out of context, and tries to build a case for war. Why is the press doing this? The answer is simply, Israelis control the American press and want the United States to destroy Iran, not because it is a military threat. It is technically impossible for Iran to attack Israel, every military expert in the world knows that and all have said it.

That will never be reported either.

Why is Ahmadinejad reviled with such venom? The answer is simple. He is being made an example. Anyone who speaks up, disagrees with reality as defined by the media, not any government, mind you, but the media that tells those in every government what they can and can't say or think, risks destruction. There is a clear methodology here. Let's look at some issues the press doesn't like very much, starting with our favorite, the villain of all time, Mr. Adolf Hitler.

Hitler got his start, speaking up much like Ahmadinejad. After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles opened up Germany for abuse by financial criminals. However, it even started before that. Germany tried to quit the war in 1916 when it was winning. Britain and France refused, not on their own, but because the Rothschilds cut financial deals with them and promised to bring the United States into the war. 5 million more Europeans died along with nearly 200,000 Americans.

The Rothschilds got the Balfour Declaration, giving them a base to control Middle East oil, the Suez Canal and India, the things that the wars nearly a century later are being manipulated to bring about.

Communism took over Russia. Nearly every communist leader was Jewish and Zionist. Even today, every Russian "oligarch" is a Jew and Zionist. Hitler said that "communism' was the real Jewish religion. He believes he saved Germany from communism when he was elected chancellor. The country he took over had been economically destroyed through currency manipulation. A loaf of bread cost billions of Marks at one point. The currency was devalued by the Rothschilds supported by France and Britain, by force. Cash smuggled out of the country by the ton and reimbursed at full value, at gunpoint, stripping Germany clean, starvation, humiliation and, eventually, that nasty "right wing" government the world had so much trouble with, the Third Reich.

During the 1920s, when the French and British, really the Rothschilds, were destroying Germany, 80% of the property was foreclosed on and bought by, well, do we say it? Jews? Bought for pennies. This is the "billions" in property the Nazi's seized. Not a simple story when you get to hear all of it. An excuse, Auschwitz, Gaza, are there excuses for inhumanity?

This is all true. This is history. This will never be reported. Not only will this be kept secret but the fact that the Zionist groups that wanted Palestine settled by Jews supported Hitler and worked closely with him, not just in 1927 but as late as 1945. This is also historical fact, not conjecture.

So, lets go back to Ahmadinejad. Why would he have a "Holocaust Conference" in Tehran? Serious students of history that don't have to live off a university paycheck, telling the same myths and lies term after term all know what Ahmadinejad knows. They also know that there are some nasty secrets about the holocaust. The real reason, however, is to anger Israel. Why? Israel pretty much hates everyone, is arrogant, obnoxious and predatory.

Since Israel controls, not only the press but the world banking system, all major banks being "children" of the original Rothschilds banks, including and especially the Federal Reserve which controls the American economy, the idea that Israel may have "fictionalized" the holocaust in collusion with Josef Stalin of Russia, a mass murderer well beyond anything Hitler ever imagined, interested Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad never said there wasn't a holocaust. He simply asked for an honest and accurate historical assessment of the facts.

Israel went into a total panic. Israel was hiding a terrible secret about the holocaust. They still are. We don't know what it is, I won't even hazard a guess. We do know that millions were spent, tens of millions in bribe money to have laws passed suppressing any study of the holocaust. In 11 western nations, questioning the Israeli version, one that changes hourly it seems, is a crime.

So, what was Ahmadinejad's game? He was simply telling Israel that "he knew." Knew "what?" We don't know and may never find out but it is something horribly discrediting to Israel, so threatening that they would stage a nuclear attack to keep it secret. We all agree there were camps. We all agree the Nazis were bad. What could it be? It is something that Iran uses to blackmail Israel, that and the fact that China, a major military power, a massive nuclear power, quietly stands behind Iran. Nobody is supposed to know it. We all know it.

WHY SOME REALLY NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT WWJD, WHAT JESUS WOULD REALLY DO...

Let's broaden things a bit. How do you tell if a Christian is a total phony or not? There is a standard question:

"Who was Mary Magdalene?"

If the answer you get uses the word "whore," you know you are dealing with someone whose religious education came from urban legends and comic books. If you are told she was an associate of Jesus cured of "demons" you have a student of the canon gospels. If you get a complex story of priest schools, a possible marriage of Jesus and Magdalene, Magdalene's own gospel, her sainthood and death in France, you may have a religious scholar on your hands.

Yet today, you can turn on your radio and hear dozens if not hundreds of radio stations, all blaring the same tune, "nuclear Armageddon...Obama the Muslim....Ground Zero Mosque.......family values....and how Magdalene was the "whore of Babylon."

The experts are all the same. Their name starts with Doctor." They have a degree in "Divinity Studies" from a college that can't be found on a satellite survey. What their 8 years of religious education and decades of bible study, some claim over 12 hours a day, they continue to harp on about Magdalene and her sins. Where did they get their ideas? From a Mel Gibson movie perhaps? Perhaps we could refer to the King James Version of the Bible as a reference:

Mt 27:56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.
Mt 27:61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.
Mt 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Mr 15:40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
Mr 15:47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
Mr 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
Mr 16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
Lu 8:2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
Lu 24:10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
Joh 19:25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
Joh 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Joh 20:18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

This is every biblical reference to Mary Magdalene, quoting the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. What do we prove? Do we prove that the religious education of most Americans is based on Hollywood films? Dozens of films have depicted Mary Magdalene as a whore. Why would the film industry do this? Who runs the film industry? If I answer my own question, will I lose my job?

Christian Zionism: The Tragedy & The Turning, Part 1 from WHTT on Vimeo.

This week, dozens of stories of 9 year old brides in Yemen hit the papers. In fact, stories of the sexual abuses of Islam fill the papers in Western Europe and America. Sex sells papers and there is nothing that the same ethnic group that owns both Hollywood and America's newspapers loves more than sex and that's money. Are we being unfair, perhaps even bigoted? Yes, perhaps we might be with some exceptions. One of these is that the other group constantly attacked is Christians. Hardly a day goes by without the poor old German pope's photo next to a headline describing child rape.

Do we see those same headlines in the same papers as stories about Israeli organ theft rings? Oh, you mean you don't know that Israel has a huge industry tied to the theft and trade of human organs? Perhaps you might think this was an urban legend, you might think that, had you ever seen it reported.

Has anyone ever seen a news story about Jewish law and how it applies to pedophiles? Nothing? Curious. One of the few to speak up is Reverend Ted Pike. Here is some of what he has to say:

This year, top Israeli Rabbi Moti Elon was indicted by police for sex crimes against minors. "Far from being the rabbi of an obscure Hasidic sect, the charismatic Elon is a high-profile leader, educator and media personality, representing the more mainstream religious Zionists and former head of the renowned HaKotel (Western Wall) Yeshiva. He comes from a family of high achievers in law, politics and academia that has drawn comparisons with the Kennedy clan."

In 2006, Elon was restricted by an organization of rabbis in his contact with students, after confessing to sexual relationships with male students. Yet he continued to act as the president of a Talmudic academy in Jerusalem and did not fully honor the agreement. One Ha'aretz commentary says Elon "managed to turn himself into almost a kind of saint" –a fate certainly to be envied by American religious figures turned pedophiles.

Dr. Aviad Hacohen, dean of the Sha'arei Mishpat College, in 2007 reported that "95% of sexual offenses in Jerusalem were performed by the religious and haredi." "Several years ago, I began looking into the issue on a data-based level," said Hacohen. "It turned out that the law enforcement authorities, both the police and the prosecutor's office, were aware of the data but refused to expose it based on sectorial affiliation in order to avoid branding a certain group in the population..."

Since the following article was written in 2006, cases of Jewish leadership figures in Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Judaism being involved in homosexuality or pedophilia scandals continue to mount not only in Israel, but in New York, where Ultra-Orthodox are strongest. The reason is simple: some of the very greatest rabbis who wrote the Talmud were pedophiles.

So, after a busy day reading the news, 9 year old brides in Yemen, women being stoned in Iran or the unending perfidies of the Catholic Church with its list of priest rape victims at 2 million and counting, reported much as though it were a sign counting "burgers sold" at a fast food restaurant, I find nothing in the "news" about such problems in the Jewish community, even though, as we read above, the scandals are real, pervasive and very noteworthy. I would think the arrest of Israel's top Rabbi for sex crimes would be reported.

It wasn't.

We are told daily, nearly hourly, the the Koran supports sex crimes and is unique among religious works for its "impurity." News networks in America actually encourage Koran burning, networks owned by Israeli's we admit, but American in some ways, at least some of the personnel are American citizens, still, at least. So, is there a problem in the Talmud that is being covered up, a problem that has driven the media to continually attack Islam while failing to look closer to home? Let's take a look:

R. Joseph said: Come and hear! A maiden aged three years and a day may be acquired in marriage by coition and if her deceased husband's brother cohabits with her, she becomes his. (Sanh. 55b)

A girl who is three years of age and one day may be betrothed by cohabitation. . . .(Yeb. 57b)

A maiden aged three years and a day may be acquired in marriage by coition, and if her deceased husband's brother cohabited with her she becomes his. (Sanh. 69a, 69b, also discussed in Yeb. 60b)

It was taught: R. Simeon b. Yohai stated: A proselyte who is under the age of three years and one day is permitted to marry a priest, for it is said, But all the women children that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves, and Phineas (who was priest, the footnote says) surely was with them. (Yeb. 60b)

[The Talmud says such three year and a day old girls are] . . . fit for cohabitation. . . But all women children, that have not known man by lying with him, it must be concluded that Scripture speaks of one who is fit for cohabitation. (Footnote to Yeb. 60b)

Where, in our news, do we read that a 9 year old girl would be considered an "old maid" in the Talmud? Have we proven bias and bigotry? When is the last time Jon Stewart talked about sex with three year olds? His audience would love hearing about it and I am sure he has some good "one liners" he could use. Can you see his smirk as he describes the physiological aspects alone? You are saying it would be in bad taste, something he would never do. Have you really seen his show?

Let's imagine Jon Stewart, "How about those rabbi's, can't you just picture it? A 3 year old? Like King Kong with a yamaka putting a move on Barbie."

How about Howard Stern? He has hour after hour attacking the sexual ills of Islam. Can you imagine how popular he will be when he starts pulling in callers screaming about the Talmud and sex with three year olds or the sex crimes of the rabbis, even higher by percentage than priests.

Imagine where Howard Stern would go with this. I'd rather not. "What did the rabbi say to the kindergartener?"

Is an Islamophobe a bigot? Is a Jew who rants about the sins of sex and Islam not only a bigot but a hypocrite as well? Am I going to be fired for saying this?

It isn't just that members of the press, our congress and 95% of our military are corrupt, moderate to severe, along with being functionally delusional. They believe everyone else is even dumber. When 300 billion goes missing in Iraq, they don't think we know who got it and that they all got a piece of the action? How could this much money disappear, news stories covering it, GAO accounting docs proving it but nobody notices that there are no hearings, no grand jury, no indictments.

The new rule in Washington, "if you steal it, you keep it."

Years ago, congress was attacked for passing the Patriot Acts, laws filled with unconstitutional provisions, some already overturned even by our Hitleresque Supreme Court. Here we sit, a new broom in the White House, freedoms restored, or are they? Government police from unspecified agencies whose powers and mandates are clearly outside the scope of any law, can arrest and detain anyone and do, not only disregarding color, race or ethnicity but guilt or innocence also. Anyone can be arrested, detained, shipped anywhere in the world, tortured, raped, murdered. It is done every day.

Ask the press. You say they don't care?

Remember when we learned that Stan McChrystal and Dick Cheney were running death squads under something called the JSOC? Now, years later, we find that our death squads are still out there, some official, some simply making it up as they go along. If you want to throw a hand grenade under a school bus, go ahead. If you want to open fire on civilians from your helicopter, simply mouth a few military sounding phrases, hit the button and sent a few hundred pounds of depleted uranium into a residential neighborhood.

Then again, you can fly into Pakistan and kill a few of their troops at a border checkpoint like was done last week, seemingly on a whim. Who needs Pakistan anyway? Isn't Peru still with us, part of the remains of the old Bush/Cheney coalition of the willing, the blackmailed, the bought and paid for?

Now no more gasoline for trucking the opium crop to the heroin processing facilities south of Kandahar or to the airfields in Balochistan for shipment to Western Europe or North America. As the press about this? Oh, you are saying they know, have written stories about this but were told they won't be "embedded" anymore unless they tone down the "self righteousness."

Remember the torture controversy? How about this one, did you know that 95% of the "terrorists" arrested during the Bush administration were found "innocent?" How about Pat Tillman, the former football player who joined the Army but became disenchanted with what he was seeing in Afghanistan. The press said nothing when he died a "war hero." Then he suddenly became a victim of an innocent and childish accident, not at all dissimilar to the accidents the Kennedy brothers suffered back in the 1960s.

The press is still buying the "accident' story even though the closely grouped head shots that killed Tillman were a "one in 10 billion" accident.

Before the Army is done, Tillman will have shot himself in the head 4 times and then, as usual, disposed of the weapon. You don't want to know how many accidents like this the Army has. You don't have to worry, you'll never find out about it anyway.

The press is still falling all over themselves for eventually figuring out that Tillman wasn't killed by the Taliban. All they had to do was read the coroners report, you know the one, it said "murder" on it.

What is the news? Anymore, we might as well get press releases sent directly to our I-Phones and cut out the jokers in the middle. Can you imagine, millions of Americans have Islam explained to them by a former Mossad public relations officer named Wolf Blitzer. (Jerusalem Press/CNN)

I wouldn't trust Blitzer doing a weather report, certainly not sports scores.

Remember a week ago, Benjamin Netanyahu, former furniture salesman now running Israel, the "American hating" extremist, demanded that we release spy Jonathan Pollard?

Remember that Congressman Barney Frank immediately ran to his side?

The press reports that Pollard was jailed for life because he "gave Israel information on PLO locations, information America failed to share."

Not one word of this is true. OK, one word, there is a person named Jonathan Pollard. Thus far, this is the only thing the press reported properly.

Pollard never gave anyone anything, he sold it. Nothing went TO Israel, Pollard and the State of Israel were spying FOR the Soviet Union AGAINST the United States.

The information was: (this has been confirmed)

• The identities of all CIA agents and the full NOC list, agents of "non official cover" (A movie was made about this, Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible)
• Full NATO defense plans in case of Soviet Attack
• Full information including strategic vulnerability assessments on what would be needed to defeat the United States in a nuclear war
• Design specifics on all American nuclear weapons and delivery systems
• America's military and diplomatic codes

This information was sold by Pollard to controllers in Israel who then sold it to the Soviet Union. We have learned that because of this information a couple of things happened:

• The Soviet Union came close to a nuclear "first strike" on the United States
• Over 100 CIA agents were executed after extensive torture
• Over 1500 "intelligence assets" were rounded up, tortured and interrogated, then killed behind the Iron Curtain
• America lost all ability to use intelligence to defend itself from the Soviet Union
• America's strategic capabilities were diminished by over 50%, with many ‘capabilities' totally unviable
• 15 years of weapons research was lost
• Several weapons systems were totally compromised including our stealth aircraft and nuclear submarines

However, when Barney Frank and his furniture salesman buddy, the one who continually brags about how stupid Americans are and how he can get them to do anything he wants, publicly demanded this monster, Pollard, be set free, the press was silent. The furniture salesman was right, about the press anyway, he can get them to do anything he wants.

Netanyahu wasn't serious about Pollard, he simply brings it up, from time to time, when he has a need to humiliate the United States, reminding them how naive and gullible they are as a people and how corrupt their military and government are.

There are no worries about the press. In fact, even though military and intelligence sources have leaked, for years, how serious the Pollard disaster really was for America, the press loves telling the same old Israeli yarn, the poor country of holocaust victims trying to protect themselves from uncaring America, their "bestest friend" and ally that they have to keep on a "short leash."

Can we think of something else the press has overlooked? Back in 2007, the American economy imploded. Prior to that, America ran up trillions of dollars of secret debt. We call it secret because no news ever reported it or its consequences. Debt is the clearest indicator of economic health. The levels of debt during the Bush years, a president who took office with a budget surplus, reached beyond epidemic proportions yet nothing was ever reported, not in such a way as to make the public aware the nation was going bankrupt.

In 2007, America hit full default, totally broke, dead, gone, bankrupt. Savings disappeared, retirement systems collapsed, markets plummeted and "blue chip" stocks became worthless. How did the news respond? They claimed that a small non-profit called ACORN, a group that worked registering voters, had caused the collapse. Proving this, we were told, a Republican party operative trained at an Israeli intelligence school, had "debunked" the entire crisis.

ACORN did it. According to America's right wing, fronting for the pan-Israeli banking cartel, a few dozen $30,000 dollar home loans managed to run up $3,000,000,000,000 in debt. Maybe it was extra fees or ‘handling charges?'

Then we learned that none of this happened and that trillions of dollars were stolen by a series of "banks" tied to the Rothschilds, run by Israeli Americans and long involved in massive criminal fraud in full collusion with the Bush administration, coordinating wars, defense fraud, bilking the economy and suspending constitutional rights, in a concerted effort, Bush, Cheney, Israel, the Rothschilds and their creature, the Federal Reserve System, permanently sinking America in a "Pearl Harbor" that made 9/11 tame in comparison.

So, where are these people, the "coalition of corruption," the "banksters" and the corrupt politicians? How many are in jail? Thousands? Bernie Madoff only?

What did the American press have to say? Anything? A story here, one there.

* Gordon Duff is senior editor of Veterans Today.

These are the words that we wish all non-Muslims brothers and sister to hear and learn about Islam.

First Community Church, Columbus, OH
Preaching on Sunday, August 29, worship service with Rev Deborah C Lindsay:

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxMdhLBTxLE

By Paul J. Balles* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Cartoon by Steve Sack

"To generalize is to be an idiot." – William Blake

Xenophobia is a fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign people. It includes hatred of persons belonging to a different race, or different ethnic or national origin.

The fear or hatred that makes up xenophobia involves a great deal of generalizing about "others".

Unfortunately, if you develop a mindset about large numbers of people based on the actions of a few, you can treat whole populations badly.

British historian Thomas Macaulay said: "In proportion as men know more and think more they look less at individuals and more at classes."

Generalizations involving xenophobia include thoughts like "immigrants are not as worthy as natives", and "women are not as capable as men".

There are those in America who consider Barak Obama unworthy of being its president because of his colour, because his father was not American by birth or because Obama's middle name is Hussain.

The mental degradation as part of this generalizing applies to any and all who don't belong to the tribe or group of the xenophobes.

Philosopher and author Eric Hoffer observed that "We are more prone to generalize the bad than the good. We assume that the bad is more potent and contagious."

Thus, by faulty reasoning, if there is one bad black, all blacks are bad; and if one Muslim has committed a crime, therefore all Muslims must be criminals.

A special name – Islamophobia – applies to xenophobia involving Muslims; and Islamophobia has been growing alarmingly in America recently.

A knife-wielding lunatic attacked a Muslim taxi driver in New York City. Why? The driver admitted to a drunk lunatic that he (the taxi driver) was a Muslim.

The attacker reasoned from the specific (an attack attributed to Muslims on 9/11) to the general (all Muslims were responsible).

A mosque under construction in Tennessee suffered an arson attack. Why? Comments by Islamophobes like Newt Gingrich have incited a general hatred of Muslims.

Newt Gingrich, once the speaker of the US House of Representatives, would naturally have others attaching greater credence to what he says.

How many people has Gingrich fed anti-Muslim thinking with his inflammatory public remarks about Islam? The false generalization: if one Muslim is bad, all Muslims must be bad.

Florida Pastor Terry Jones planned to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11. Why? He generalized from Muslims alleged to have been responsible for 9/11 to all of Islam.

Documentary film-maker Michael Moore pointed out: "Blaming a whole group for the actions of just one of that group is anti-American. Timothy McVeigh was Catholic. Should Oklahoma City prohibit the building of a Catholic Church near the site of the former federal building that McVeigh blew up?"

Protesters have been assailing the building of an Islamic cultural centre – including a mosque – near Ground Zero in New York. The protestors disregard the fact that before Ground Zero became Ground Zero, it had two mosques.

The problem: general and increasing Islamophobia. According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, 49 per cent of all Americans say they have generally unfavourable opinions of Islam. A larger percentage opposes the cultural centre.

Poet Ezra Pound wrote: "Any general statement is like a cheque drawn on a bank. Its value depends on what is there to meet it." In other words, if the money isn't in the bank the cheque is worthless.

Applied to the generalizations about Islam, if they don't fit Muslims generally, they are worthless expressions of xenophobia and the ignorant fear called Islamophobia.

* Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. For more information, see http://www.pballes.com.

By Anait Brutian* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Daniel Pipes' 2005 article on terrorism starts with the following statement "What do Islamist terrorists want? The answer should be obvious, but it is not." After a tortuous description of so many cases of terrorism, Daniel Pipes finally pronounces the verdict: "In nearly all cases, the jihadi terrorists have a patently self-evident ambition: to establish a world dominated by Muslims, Islam, and Islamic law, the Shari'a. ... Their 'real project is the extension of the Islamic territory across the globe, and the establishment of a worldwide 'caliphate' founded on Shari'a law'."

Pipes' conclusions draw on an earlier article on Jihad: "Jihad in the sense of territorial expansion has always been a central aspect of Muslim life. That's how Muslims came to rule much of the Arabian Peninsula by the time of the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632. It's how, a century later, Muslims had conquered a region from Afghanistan to Spain. Subsequently, jihad spurred and justified Muslim conquests of such territories as India, Sudan, Anatolia, and the Balkans." Vehemently dismissing the opposing authoritative opinions of three American professors of Islamic studies, Pipes concludes that "jihad is the world's foremost source of terrorism" that inspires "a worldwide campaign of violence by self-proclaimed jihadist groups."

Pipes' opinions cannot be justified by scholarly standards. A modicum familiarity with history would have prevented such sweeping generalizations, let alone the assumption that imperial conquests spurred into existence with the advent of Islam - neither Alexander the Great, the Roman Emperors nor the British that conquered half the know world were Muslims. Pipes' claims fit the Zionist program of demonizing Islam in the eyes of the West: "Although terrorists state their jihadi motives loudly and clearly," Westerners refuse to hear them. It takes a Zionist psychic like Pipes to interpret this message and push it down the Western throat: "What the terrorists want is abundantly clear. It requires monumental denial not to acknowledge it, but we Westerners have risen to the challenge."

Indeed, it does require "monumental denial" to dismiss the fact that the Zionist program of targeting Islam worked marvellously. Faisal Shahzad's May 1, 2010 "attempt" to detonate a crude car bomb in Times Square - called a "terrorist plot aimed at murdering Americans" by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. - was designed to perpetuate the notion that all Muslims are Jihadists. Few pondered upon the fact that the naturalized American citizen from Pakistan, who stemmed from a secular family, despite his supposed Pakistani Taliban training had used the "the wrong kind of fertilizer for his bomb.

Frank Doyle, a bomb expert and a 33-year veteran of the FBI questioned Shahzad's training and "a series of really serious mistakes he made." This was besides the fact that Mr. Shahzad left "clues at every turn" and obviously expected to be caught. Shahzad's "failed attempt" hammered a few key phrases in the Zionist-controlled media - "weapons of mass destruction," "terrorism," "Taliban," "Al-Qaeda" - that justified the new reality of a police state with depleting individual rights, and promoted the sale of new security measures, including Full Body Scanners, designed to make a few Zionist executives wealthier.

A private security company called ICTS-International (International Consultants on Targeted Security), owned by an Israeli, Ezra Harel and registered in the Netherlands, was in charge of security at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam where the "alleged would be bomber" Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab boarded an airplane headed for the USA "without a passport." Mr. Mutallab claimed he "received orders from Al-Qaeda operatives" to blow up the Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members. The father of the terror suspect, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former minister and a Nigerian banker had alerted the U.S. authorities of his son's "extreme religious views" and was "shocked that his son was even allowed to fly to the U.S."

In his January 1, 2010 article former Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff argued that instead of focusing on why Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab "was not placed on a watch list that would have prevented him from flying, even though the government had received information that he was a potential extremist," it was better to focus on a "more fundamental question: How can we keep explosive materials off planes?" Endorsing the need for buying more Full Body Scanners for airports, the former Secretary of Homeland Security wrote: "Most airport security checkpoints use metal detectors. Al-Qaeda has shown that it knows how to avoid detection by using an explosive device that contains little or no metal, such as PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, used by Abdulmutallab and 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid in 2001."

Chertoff's mention of Richard Reid, the British citizen accused of trying to blow up an American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami "with explosives hidden in his shoes" was a convenient way of linking Abdul Mutallab's failed attempt to another abortive effort by a so called Muslim fanatic -Reid had "converted to Islam while in Feltham Young Offenders' Institute" and had "left prison with radical leanings which were further developed by extremists who targeted him at the Brixton Mosque." Even though he wasn't officially tied to any terrorist organization - the FBI believed "he was acting alone and not as part of a terrorist cell" - Reid's conversion to Islam and subsequent ties to Brixton Mosque were trumpeted around the Zionist-controlled media.

The crucial fact that Reid had flown to Israel aboard El Al, prior to his attempt to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 was dismissed as "a dry run for his planned attack." No one doubted the validity of this claim. No one raised the pertinent question as to "why fly to Israel?" Consequently, no one suspected that perhaps the explosives he carried to Flight 63 were supplied in Israel. Reid's admission that "El Al had failed to detect the explosives in his shoes on the flight to Tel Aviv" - an incredible disclosure that helped redirect attention from El Al security's close ties to Mossad - helped avert questions relating to the crucial fact that the security company at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris was ICTS International whose senior management are all Israeli security officials, "many of whom worked for El Al security."

As expected, Michael Chertoff's January 1, 2010 article circumvented all of these issues by focusing on Abdul Mutallab's use of PETN and the need to buy more Full Body Scanners: "During my time as secretary of homeland security, the Transportation Security Administration began working to replace the 1970s-era metal detectors used at airports across America with modern technology able to detect non-metal weapons concealed by terrorists on their bodies - even in their underwear, where Abdulmutallab allegedly hid his bomb. The latest versions of these machines - sometimes called whole-body imagers - are deployed at 19 airports, and the TSA is attempting to place them throughout the nation."

In his bid to promote Full Body Scanners, Mr. Chertoff, whose Israeli citizenship is kept out of public scrutiny by the Zionist Media, conveniently forgot to mention that one of the clients of the Chertoff Group, a security consulting firm he co-founded, was the manufacturer of the Full Body Scanners. Abdul Mutallab's "extreme religious views" and his ties to Al-Qaeda were hammered in the media. Few questioned the unlike scenario of a wealthy school boy's membership in a terrorist organization - Mr. Mutallab's last residence near the University College in London was a $4 million apartment - and still fewer wondered the coincidence that the same Israeli private security company (ICTS-International) "was in charge of security at all American airports where the alleged hijackers had boarded the airplanes" on September 11, 2001.

A few hours before the "House version of the first Patriot Act" went to a vote, "technical corrections" were incorporated into the body of the text that allowed foreign security companies such as ICTS-International to enjoy the benefits of immunity from lawsuits related to the events of September 11. The person that introduced the Patriot Act and made sure that the Israeli security firm ICTS-International was protected under the new law was Michael Chertoff. Manufacturing a new terrorist plot allowed Chertoff and Company to reinforce the belief of the so called Islamic threat and to get around a prior opposition by the House of Representatives that had voted to prevent the use of Full Body Scanners.

After the alleged terrorist plot "the mainstream media ... bombarded the world for the requirement of new security measures." Meanwhile, referring to Abdul Mutallab's failed attempt, on January 2, 2010, military analyst and counterinsurgency specialist Gordon Duff said: "His explosives [80 grams of PETN] couldn't have blown up his own seat. Even if full power, it wouldn't have worked." Mr. Duff further explained how Abdul Mutallab's "country of origin, Nigeria, is clandestinely controlled by the Israeli army and Mossad." "These entities train the military, sell weapons, run the airports, and wield power over DICON (Defence Industries Corporation). Furthermore, Mutallab's father is a Mossad partner and Israel's No. 1 contact in Nigeria. As the former CEO of his country's most influential bank and the man who ran their national arms industry, Mr. Mutallab also harbours extremely close relationships with the U.S. ambassador and CIA chief in Nigeria."

The elder Mutallab, "one of the richest people in the world, head of a major bank, head of the national armaments industry and close associate of the U.S. ambassador" and "a Mossad asset" warned the CIA station chief in Nigeria, and surprisingly no one did anything about it - "his Yemeni-influenced 'terrorist' son" was assisted to board a Detroit bound flight without a passport. Kurt Haskell, a passenger on Flight 253 described an Indian-looking, middle-aged man who assisted Abdul Mutallab to walk around the post-9/11 security measures without a passport. The only people that "could have permitted this security breach" were people within the system that were implicated in the plot - "the 'Indian' obviously had a high-level pass (CIA, Mossad, or high-level security clout)."

Gordon Duff explained the Indian connection: "Israel and India are very close business partners, especially via their military contracts. Also, the Indian intelligence agency (Research and Analysis Wing) works hand-in-hand with Israel. Essentially, the two governments are one." As for the "Yemeni-influenced" terrorist connection, on October 7, 2008, BBC News reported that "Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said that security forces have arrested a group of alleged Islamist militants linked to Israeli intelligence." Thus Abdul Mutallab received his "Islamist militant" training through Mossad operatives in Yemen as well as in his home country of Nigeria, where according to a September 5, 2008 article: "Nigeria: Lawmakers Divided over Mossad," there was high-level support for Mossad's presence.

As for Mr. Mutallab's claims that he "received orders from Al-Qaeda operatives" to blow up the Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Gordon Duff's explanation helps clarify a crucial fact - "There is no Al-Qaeda in Yemen. George Bush released a couple of phony operatives from Guantanamo, and after traveling to the Middle East, they hooked up with the Mossad. The only reason Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez released them is because they're assets." As expected, the public was fed the usual lies - "Al-Qaeda operatives" give orders to detonate bombs on planes flying over U.S. soil, Muslim terrorists hold "extreme religious views," "they hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other."

George W. Bush's address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, September 20, 2001 employed all the tricks of Classical Rhetoric to convince Americans that Al-Qaeda was their enemy: "Americans have known surprise attacks, but never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day, and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack." Bush did not acknowledge the five dancing Israelis arrested on September 11. He did not mention that these Mossad agents "had set up video cameras aimed at the Twin Towers prior to the attack on Tuesday, and were seen congratulating one another afterwards."

Instead of acknowledging the truth, Bush said: "The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as Al-Qaeda. ... The terrorists' directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans and make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children. This group and its leader, a person named Osama bin Laden, are linked to many other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan." While officially adopting a milder form of Islamophobia - "The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics; a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam" - Bush made sure that expressions like "Islamic Jihad" and "Islamic Movement" are prominently featured in his address.

As for Bush's claims that Osama bin Laden commanded "a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as Al-Qaeda" and was behind the 9/11 attacks, a September 28, 2001 interview with bin Laden, published in a Karachi-based Pakistani daily newspaper Ummat, exposed the lie: "I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other humans as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people. Such a practice is forbidden even in the course of a battle. It is the United States, which is perpetrating ... maltreatment of women, children and common people of other faiths, particularly the followers of Islam. All that is going on in Palestine for the last 11 months is sufficient to call the wrath of God upon the United States and Israel. ... What had earlier been done to the innocent people of Iraq, Chechnya and Bosnia? Only one conclusion could be derived from the indifference of the United States and the West to these acts of terror and the patronage of the tyrants by these powers that America is an anti-Islamic power and it is patronizing the anti-Islamic forces."

As much as Bush attempted to demonize Al-Qaeda - "On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country" - Osama bin Laden's interview proved that neither he nor Al-Qaeda hated Americans: "Whoever committed the act of 11 September are not the friends of the American people. I have already said that we are against the American system, not against its people, whereas in these attacks, the common American people have been killed. ... The United States should try to trace the perpetrators of these attacks within itself; the people who are a part of the U.S. system, but are dissenting against it. Or those who are working for some other system; persons who want to make the present century as a century of conflict between Islam and Christianity so that their own civilization, nation, country, or ideology could survive. ... In the U.S. itself, there are dozens of well-organized and well-equipped groups, which are capable of causing a large-scale destruction."

Bin Laden's evaluation of the post-Cold War political reality in the U.S. was perceptive if not very accurate. He, for example, did not mention the role of FBI's informant Abdussattar Shaikh, who housed two hijackers without telling the FBI. Listed "as a retired Professor of English at San Diego State" and "the Vice-President of International Projects at the American Common Wealth University," "Shaikh never taught at San Diego State. He never taught English at all." Shaikh possessed "a phony Ph. D. from a bogus diploma mill with U.S. Military and Intelligence connections" in Florida. "American Common Wealth University doesn't exist. ... It's merely a mail-drop which was previously named William Lyon University. And William Lyon University was founded by the retired Air Force General William Lyon." Lyon was the chairman of the Republican Team victory in 2004 and played a crucial role in the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The question is: What was Abdussattar Shaikh - an FBI informant linked to the GOP (Grand Old Party) through his bogus diplomas provided by top level Republican government officials - doing with future hijackers?

Neither did bin Laden mention Omar Al Bouhami, the Saudi intelligence officer of the GID (General Intelligence Directorate) - the Saudi version of the CIA - working at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Los Angeles that picked the potential hijackers and sent them to an FBI informant at San Diego. Instead, bin Laden identified "intelligence agencies in the U.S." that required billions of dollars of funding from Congress. "This [funding ...] was not a big problem till the ... [collapse] of the former Soviet Union but after that the budget of these agencies has been in danger. They needed an enemy. So, they first started propaganda against Osama and Taliban and then this incident happened. You see, the Bush Administration approved a budget of 40 billion dollars. Where will this huge amount go? It will be provided to the same agencies, which need huge funds and want to exert their importance. Now they will spend the money for their expansion and for increasing their importance."

Bin Laden's clarification seems to explain the treatment Pentagon gave to one of its own. Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer of U.S. Army was "gagged," "punished" and his security clearance revoked because he dared to speak about the findings of Able Danger that had successfully identified the plan one year prior to September 11, 2001. Out of the massive amounts of documents, the 9/11 Commission received only two briefcase-size containers that represented 1/20 of the total amount of information contained in the Able Danger files that were conveniently deleted at the request of people higher-up. When Able Danger was called to a Senate Investigation, the Pentagon attempted to prevent the sharing of information by asking for "secret closed-door hearings," without the presence of the media.

At the morning of September 11, 2001, Senior Bush was at the White House closely watching the events of 9/11. Osama bin Laden's father and brother - both members of the Carlyle Group - were in Washington at the time to discuss the coming year's financial ventures with Senior Bush, also a member of the Carlyle Group. Considering that Senior Bush and the bin Laden family had a lot to gain from the events of 9/11 - the company's investments were primarily in defence, aerospace, automotive industries - both parties had a financial stake in the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001. Senior Bush's Carlyle partners did not suffer the fate of most Americans that were stranded in airports around the country - the bin Ladens were conveniently flown out of the United States in a plane chartered either by Osama bin Laden or the Saudi Arabian Royal Family. The U.S. government provided a military escort for their protection.

George W. Bush's address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, September 20, 2001 did not mention that a single day before the address, on September 19, 2001 his administration had ordered escorted safe passage to the bin Laden family. Instead, the TV stations of the nation exploited images of Osama bin Laden, in his white garb, surrounded by armed commandos in military outfits. At the time, no one knew that the "fighters" in the video "had been hired for the day and told to bring their own weapons." Beyond his own small group, bin Laden had no formal organization till the Americans invented one for him. In January 2001 a trial began in a Manhattan Courtroom of four men accused of embassy bombings in East Africa. But the Americans had also decided to prosecute bin Laden "in his absence." In order to do this, under American law, the prosecutors needed "evidence of a criminal organization." "As with the Mafia, that would allow them to prosecute the head of the organization, even if he could not be linked directly to the crime." The evidence for that organization was provided for them by an ex-associate of bin Laden, Jamal Ahmed Mohamed al-Fadl.

According to Jason Burke, the author of Al Qaeda, al-Fadl became "a key prosecution witness" and was "given huge amounts of American tax-payers' money." His testimony helped draw a picture of Al-Qaeda that would fit the existing laws. Those laws were designed to combat "the Mafia," "organized crime," "membership in organized crime" - all of which required a pre-existing organization to start with. Al-Fadl and a number of other witnesses helped create "the first bin Laden myth," "the first Al-Qaeda myth." Influential as these were, both drew upon Ali Baba-style Hollywood fantasies that portrayed bin Laden as an all-powerful head of a hierarchical organization in control of a vast terrorist empire. The reality, however, was different. There were a few disillusioned militants who looked at bin Laden for "funding and assistance" but did not consider him their "commander." There was no organization called Al-Qaeda - bin Laden adopted the name only after the Americans christened him as the leader of Al-Qaeda.

Jamal al-Fadl, who had stolen over a $100,000 from bin Laden and was asked for a reimbursement, became a star witness at the trial and was given "witness protection" in the U.S. for his lies concerning Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. Sam Schmidt, a Defence Lawyer at Embassy Bombings Trial, said that Jamal al-Fadl's lies helped create an "identifiable" organization that didn't exist in reality - "it made Al-Qaeda the new Mafia or the new Communists." Ever since the invasion of Afghanistan, the Americans have been led to believe that bin Laden was hiding in the mountainous regions using caves to conduct his operations. The images of these caves draw a picture of a "fortress" with "bedrooms and offices," "secret exits," "cut deep to avoid thermal detection," "ventilation system," "valleys guarded," "arms and ammunition," "main entrance," "hydroelectric power" - caves large enough to accommodate cars, trucks and even tanks.

Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006, described it as "serious business" and said that the cave under discussion was not the only one, "there were many of those." The Americans bombed the Tora Bora region in the hopes of destroying Al-Qaeda hideouts with the most sophisticated weapons they had. The Northern Alliance was paid over $1,000,000 for their help in locating Al-Qaeda. Donald Rumsfeld had his Ali Baba wish fulfilled - Sesame opened, but there was no treasure. All they found were a number of small empty caves used primarily to store ammunition. There were "no underground bunker systems," "no secret tunnels." "The fortress didn't exist." As for Al-Qaeda fighters, the Northern Alliance produced "some prisoners," they claimed were Al-Qaeda fighters. The truth was that the Northern Alliance was in the business of kidnapping villagers that bore a slight resemblance to Arabs and then selling them to the Americans as Al-Qaeda fighters.

When the British arrived in Afghanistan, confident that their unique experience of fighting terrorists in Northern Ireland would make them worthy allies with the United States "in the global war on terrorism," they were sure to succeed where others had failed. Yet, the scenario repeated itself with more punch. "Ten Thousand pieces of gold for the body of Ali Baba and the destruction of the band of thieves" yielded nothing. Five weeks after their arrival, the British admitted that they had neither captured nor killed an Al-Qaeda member. The truth was "Al-Qaeda, as an organization did not exist." The Americans and the British were "chasing a phantom enemy" and deliberately misleading the public into believing that the "global war on terror" was real.

Osama bin Laden too helped sustain the "phantom enemy" of the "global war on terror." His interview published in a Karachi-based Pakistani daily newspaper Ummat on Friday, September 28, 2001, helped perpetuate the myth that Al-Qaeda was in the business of waging a war against infidels: "Al-Qaeda was set up to wage a Jihad against infidelity, particularly to counter the onslaught of the infidel countries against the Islamic states. ... We are in favour of armed jihad only against those infidel governments, which are killing innocent Muslim men, women and children just because they are Muslims." However, bin Laden failed to mention that the "global war on terror" was the most profitable business that benefited his father and brother, Senior Bush, and other partners of the Carlyle Group.

George W. Bush too was careful about keeping the truth well beyond the reach of public scrutiny. On August 22, 2001, John O'Neill, the head of the FBI's National Security Division for Counterterrorism, resigned "citing repeated obstruction of his investigations into Al-Qaeda." Counterterrorism expert John O'Neill was prevented from investigating Al-Qaida by the President of the United States himself. George W. Bush signed a Presidential Directive W199I "making it a crime to investigate or hinder the operations of one Abdullah bin Laden in any way." According to BBC Investigative Journalist Greg Palast, Bush stopped the investigation of "the money behind the terrorists." Saudi Arabia was the source of most of the funding, and the FBI knew about it. Yet, no one was allowed to question Omar and Abdullah bin Laden. "What makes this family so special that they're protected from investigation?"

The same question could be asked about Pakistani sources that were known to have funded the attacks. Mohammed Atta was financed by Pakistani Ahmad Umar Sheikh that wired the funds under orders from ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) chief, General Mahmoud Ahmad. One week before the attacks, General Ahmad was in the U.S., "meeting with Pentagon, White House, National Security Council and CIA officials." On the "very morning" of the attack, the General, one of the financiers of the attacks, was having "a breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill" hosted by Sen. Bob Graham and Representative Porter Guss, the chairman of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. Two days after the attack, on September 13, 2001 the ISI chief, General Mahmoud Ahmad also met with Joseph Biden, the Vice President of the United States who was the chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee at the time. When asked about the ISI funding of the 9/11 attacks, Mr. Biden answered that it was "classified" information.

"Classified" information indeed! John O'Neill's briefcase was stolen and all his files had fallen into the hands of those that wanted to keep the real story a secret. Shortly after his resignation, John O'Neill was hired by Larry Silverstein as Deputy of Security at the World Trade Center. Silverstein did not have a security company; he had people that worked as security, and John O'Neill, whose stolen briefcase contained sensitive information, was conveniently placed at the mercy of a man, who would profit mightily by the events of 9/11. A few weeks before September 11, 2001 Silverstein had become the lease-holder of the WTC complex. He faced the "daunting task" of removing the "illegal asbestos" that covered every steel beam of the Twin Towers - a "job that would have cost $1,000,000,000." When Larry Silverstein took possession of the buildings, he reworked the insurance policy to cover "terrorist attacks." After 9/11 he received $7,000,000,000 as compensation from his insurance. The murder of one FBI whistleblower John O'Neill was well worth it - O'Neill's first day at the new job, September 11, 2001, also became the last day of his life.

What was the connection between Larry Silverstein and the powerful cabal that wanted to terminate counterterrorism expert John O'Neill? Osama bin Laden's interview, published on Friday, September 28, 2001, holds the clue: "I have already said that we are not hostile to the United States. We are against the [U.S. Government] system, which makes other nations slaves of the United States, or forces them to mortgage their political and economic freedom. This system is totally ... control[ed] ... [by] the American Jews, whose first priority is Israel, not the United States. It is clear that the American people are themselves the slaves of the Jews and are forced to live according to the principles and laws laid by them. So, the punishment should reach Israel. In fact, it is Israel, which is giving a blood bath to innocent Muslims and the U.S. is not uttering a single word."

Ironically, the comments of the most wanted outlaw coincide with those made by someone at the opposite end of the spectrum -Tzipora Menache, an Israeli spokeswoman, who proudly bragged of the Zionist control of the United States. "You know very well, and the stupid Americans know equally well, that we control their government, irrespective of who sits in the White House. You see, I know it and you know it that no American president can be in a position to challenge us even if we do the unthinkable. What can they (Americans) do to us? We control Congress, we control the media, we control show biz, and we control everything in America. In America you can criticize God, but you can't criticize Israel." Tzipora Menache's arrogance could not be matched by any one, not even by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who conveniently believed in Ali Baba's cave-fortress when bombing Tora Bora.

John O'Neill's briefcase "contained classified documents." The stolen Top Secret FBI Documents included e-mails, annual field reports and one "very sensitive investigation" conducted by another New York counterintelligence FBI special agent Michael Dick. "After the incident, whoever stole O'Neill's briefcase, had found out what O'Neill knew about both Al-Qaeda and their Israeli shadows." John O'Neill's FBI colleague "aggressively investigated the Israeli ring before and after 9/11." The removal of the American-Israeli Zim shipping company from the seventeenth floor of the North Tower, one week before the attacks seemed suspicious to Michael Dick. Similarly, evidence that other Israelis had been forewarned several hours before the attacks surfaced on an "Israeli instant messaging service, known as Odigo." Odigo that was owned and managed by Comverse, an Israeli telecommunications firm specializing in wire-tap computer programs, widely used by the U.S. government for electronic eavesdropping, had its headquarters two blocks from the World Trade Center. Yet, Odigo employees failed to notify New York authorities of an imminent danger.

As for Comverse Infosys, Fox News presented a four-part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) on Israel Spying on the USA through telecommunication products it sold and through systems it operated as well as wire-taps it provided to the FBI. Shortly after, the series was withdrawn by Fox News without explanation. But the information it provided was invaluable for assessing the extent of Israeli infiltration inside the most sensitive government departments, including Organized Crime Intelligence Division, the FBI and the Secret Service. Organized Crime in Israel had obtained private, often sensitive information on U.S. government officials, working in various Law Enforcement departments, through Amdocs, a publicly traded firm based in Israel. Israelis detained for "organized intelligence gathering operations, designed to penetrate government facilities," had served in the IDF and had wire-tap expertise coming from their affiliation with Amdocs and other Israeli companies.

As expected, the Bush Administration dismissed allegations that the Israeli infiltration "compromised" the work of detectives assigned to various cases. But the fact remains that "Israel's booming High-Tech Industry is a branch of Mossad" that successfully spied on Americans long before 9/11. Agencies involved in the investigation included "the CIA, the FBI, the Secret Service, the DOD, the DEA, the INS, the ATF, the U-SSS, the U.S. Customs, the State Department, the IRS," while the "Penetrated Targets" of the Israeli espionage included "Military Bases/DOD, the DEA, the FBI, the Secret Service, the ATF, the U.S. Customs, the IRS, the INS, the EPA, the Interior Department, the U.S. Marshal's Service, Various U.S. Attorneys' Offices, Secret Government Offices" and "unlisted private homes of law enforcement and intelligence personnel."

On March 22 and 27 of 2002 DEA agents arrested five Israelis in Irving, Texas. A $10,000 bond was placed by an employee of the Israeli Telecommunications firm, Amdocs, the company that had "operational access to the telephones being used by FBI agents John O'Neill, Michael Dick and the DEA agents involved in tracking the Saudi Mafia drug shipments ... used to support various terrorist cells in the U.S. and abroad." Like O'Neill, Michael Dick "soon found himself removed from his duties on the orders of the then Head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Michael Chertoff." Michael Chertoff's later activities, discussed earlier, included another false-flag operation related to the incident of Abdul Mutallab that endorsed the sale of Full Body Scanners for airports. It is no wonder that Chertoff took the trouble of removing Michael Dick. Similar to Larry Silverstein, who assisted in the demise of FBI agent John O'Neill, Michael Chertoff expected long-range benefits from the elimination of FBI special agent Michael Dick.

After the attacks of September 11, thoughts and sentiments similar to those expressed by Osama bin Laden in the interview, published on Friday, September 28, 2001, were on most people's mind: "Whether it is President Bush or any other U.S. president, they cannot bring Israel to justice for its human rights abuses or to hold it accountable for such crimes. What is this? Is it not that there exists a government within the government in the United Sates? That secret government must be asked as to who carried out the attacks." Indeed, Bin Laden's question seems relevant, especially when one considers the coincidence of Larry Silverstein's new insurance policy with the circumstances of John O'Neill's demise, or the particulars of the removal of Michael Dick by Michael Chertoff, the Head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

Another question - although never asked by Osama bin Laden, yet equally important for the clarification of the issues bin Laden addressed in the original question - should read: "Who benefited the most from the events of September 11?" The answer is not hard to guess. Larry Silverstein and Michael Chertoff benefited immensely from the events of 9/11. The Carlyle Group with all its members, including the Bush family and the bin Laden family, benefited from the company's manufacture of weapons. The unending "global war on terror" will contribute even more to their wealth. The Arms Industry got its biggest boost in the arm since the end of the Cold War. Vice President Dick Cheney, the former CEO of Halliburton, whose stock "increased since the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq," was another beneficiary of the bogus "war on terror." U.S. Oil Companies too benefited from the "global war on terror."

The Neo-Conservative PNAC (Project for the New American Century) group that included the names of Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney and the Ali-Baba-Defence-Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, among others, not only benefited but also helped create "the phantom enemy." Page 51of the September 2000 Report of The Project for the New American Century contained the following statement: "... the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbour." A year later the events of 9/11 - the "New Pearl Harbour" - took place and the PNAC group got what it wanted: The Abandonment of Antiballistic Missile Treaty, Permanent Military Bases in the Middle East that gave added security to Israel, the establishment of a Global "Constabulary" unchallenged by the UN and the rest of the world, Regime Change in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The lion's portion of the benefits fell to the U.S. government, or to use Osama bin Laden's definition "the government within the government in the United Sates." This "secret government" pursues a goal of establishing a New World Order (NWO) by means of real war - the most profitable business for the Arms Industry and the Israeli cabal, closely associated with it. Apart from huge financial benefits, Israel's share in the profits included an opportunity to demonise Islam - an opportunity that carried the added benefits of covering up the atrocities committed against the Palestinians. On the day of the 9/11 attacks, Benjamin Netanyahu was asked what the attacks would mean for U.S.-Israeli relations. Netanyahu answered that "September 11, 2001 terror attacks had been beneficial for Israel." "We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq. ... These events 'swung American public opinion in our favour'."

The 9/11 puzzle, with so many movers and shakers needs one more piece to complete the picture. The missing piece comes to us in the form of yet another question: Who lost everything as a result of the events of September 11? The answer is not hard to guess - The American People, the ordinary tax-payers, whose hard-earned money is used to sustain the bogus "global war on terror." While the real war keeps on claiming American lives, the Ali Baba "war on terror" - a mockery of people's loyalty and sacrifice - is pushed on American public through the Zionist Media. The Patriot Act that stripped the American People of its most cherished civil liberties allows the "secret government" to spy on the communications of every citizen, to conduct a sampling of DNA of every person convicted of any crime of violence, to "arrest on suspicion" without a warrant, in secret, without notifying anybody, without the right to see a lawyer. It's time to change the game. It's time to make the criminals answer for 9/11. It's time to expose the "secret government" for what it is: power-hungry, greedy warmongers.

* Anait Brutian (B. Mus. with Honours in Theory, McGill University; M. A. in Music Theory, McGill University) is a student in the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill. Her previous research includes a self-published book entitled: Reconciling Geometry, Rhetoric and Harmony: A Fresh Look at C. P. E. Bach. She is currently working on another book on mathematical paradigms in literature (Old and New Testaments), art, architecture, and music. She can be contacted at anaitbrutian@videotron.ca