All Muslims Are Not Terrorists, But All Terrorists Are Muslims

[Robert]

Berkeley Backs Off On Banning Marines
Berkeley Mayor Apologizes To Marines Over Recruiting Center Flap

POSTED: 10:08 am PST February 7, 2008
UPDATED: 1:19 pm PST February 7, 2008


BERKELEY, Calif. -- As six Republican senators devised a plan to yank $2.3 million in federal funding for Berkeley programs, the mayor of the famously liberal city apologized Wednesday for his hard stance against a Marine recruiting center.

Two City Council members vowed to soften their stance as well.



Berkeley Backs Off On Banning Marines





At their Tuesday council meeting, leaders will discuss scrapping a letter that might be perceived as targeting the center or the Marines.

The letter said that the recruiting center was not welcome on Shattuck Avenue and that the Marines were uninvited and unwelcome intruders.

"That letter will probably be pulled back and maybe more moderate language will be put in place which is appropriate I think," said Berkeley mayor Tom Bates.

"Subtly stated in the resolution is perhaps an impugning of the soldiers fighting for us in Iraq and other places," Berkeley City Councilman Laurie Capitelli. "And that was never the intention but that really needs to be cleared up. As I walked to my car that night I realized I regretted it and I had made a mistake."


Bates said the city didn't mean to offend anyone in the armed forces and the focus should have been on the war not the troops.

The letter was originally approved in January and has not been sent.

City officials said they got a flood of e-mails, many asking them to reconsider their position.

Councilmembers have said they would replace the "intruder item" with words expressing their support for the troops but not the war in Iraq.

The Republican plan would give the funds, intended for a school lunch program, UC Berkeley and ferry service, to the Marines instead.

"Patriotic American taxpayers won't sit quietly while Berkeley insults our brave Marines," said one of the senators.

The recruiting center opened about a year ago and quickly became a target of anti-war protesters including the group Code Pink.

Last week the council passed resolutions giving Code Pink a place to park out front. Some have said that meant the city giving was giving the group a place to continuously protest the Marines.

Others on the council seemed quite firm on their stance, NBC11's Christie Smith reported.

Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Barbara Lee said they plan to fight the Republican bill.


Code Pink announced they would have what they called a "24-hour peace-in" leading up to Tuesday's city council meeting. They will be camping out but will have a lot of company. A group of pro-troop protesters will also be there.

"I was under the impression that we have the right of free speech," said Xanne Joi of Code Pink. "To me, I thought free speech meant you get to say what you want without recrimination."

An Olive Branch

Berkeley City Councilman Gordon Wozniak extended an olive branch to the Marines. He went to breakfast with a recruiter Thursday morning.

"Berkeley is supposed to celebrate diversity and free speech and we welcome homeless people here. We welcome illegal immigrants. We give them sanctuary. We should welcome the Marines. I mean they're basically dedicating their lives to protect their country."

Wozniak said he does not support the harsh language of the letter to the Marines originally authorized by the city.

Ann Cooper with the Berkeley Unified School District wants both sides to play nice.

"Senators sitting 3,000 miles away are trying to take food away from the children of Berkeley," said Cooper. "Why? Because the Marines and the city aren't playing nice -- and that's just not OK."

[Robert]

Bomb Kills 25 at Pakistan Election Rally
By ROBERT H. REID (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
February 09, 2008 7:15 PM EST
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A suicide bomber blasted a political gathering Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 25 people, wounding dozens and stoking fears about security surrounding this month's parliamentary election.

In the south, an estimated 100,000 supporters of Benazir Bhutto turned out for her party's first major election rally since her assassination on Dec. 27. Bhutto's widowed husband told the crowd he had a responsibility to save the nation from President Pervez Musharraf's rule

[Robert]

If the Koran is inspirational to commit terrorism, why don't "moderate" Muslims speak out?

[Robert]

Norway closes Kabul embassy after threat



STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Norway closed its embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday because of "terror threats," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.




Kristin Melsom said the embassy had been closed until further notice. She would not elaborate on the nature of the threats or how long the embassy would remain closed.

"It is too early to comment on that," she said.

Norway has been singled out at least twice by al-Qaida as a nation that should be targeted because of its deployment in Afghanistan and a previous deployment in Iraq.

Norwegian Defense Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen on Friday confirmed that Norway will add 200 extra troops to its 500 soldiers in Afghanistan with the deployment of special forces and helicopters in March.

In a security document dated Jan. 20, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry listed 15 locations — including Norway's embassy — that could be targeted by militants.

"According to detective reports, the enemies plan to launch a series of suicide attacks, explosions and harmful activities in Kabul city," said the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press in Kabul. "(F)or this purpose, the enemies' first plan is to target some more vulnerable infrastructures of Kabul city."

The embassies of Sweden, Belgium, India, Turkey, Finland and Indonesia were also listed. Government offices and three well known Kabul hotels were also said to be possible targets.

The luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul, which was attacked by Taliban militants in January, was among those listed. A Norwegian journalist who was there to cover a visit by the country's foreign minister was killed in that attack.

[Robert]

Thirteen bodies found in Iraqi mass grave: police - Yahoo! News

[Car Prep 57]

More from that loving, peaceful religion.

Police foil plot to kill Muhammad cartoonist - Europe - MSNBC.com

[Robert]

Originally Posted by Car Prep 57

More from that loving, peaceful religion.

Police foil plot to kill Muhammad cartoonist - Europe - MSNBC.com

CP 57--- This is why radical Islam is dangerous. Alot of pacifist leftists, some good some bad, are trying to push this agenda about how peaceful Islam is, all the while I could fill this thread up with thousands of posts of examples why it is a complete fraud.

[Robert]

Hezbollah chief threatens Israel By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer




BEIRUT, Lebanon - The chief of Hezbollah told throngs of supporters at a funeral for slain commander Imad Mughniyeh his group would retaliate against Israeli targets anywhere in the world after accusing the Jewish state of killing the militant.



Israel ordered its military, embassies and Jewish institutions overseas to go on alert earlier in the day, fearing revenge attacks for the car bomb that killed Mughniyeh Tuesday night in Damascus. The former Hezbollah security chief was one of world's most wanted fugitives, accused of masterminding attacks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s.

While Hezbollah supporters bid farewell to Mughniyeh, tens of thousands of their pro-Western political opponents filled a downtown Beirut square to mark former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's 2005 assassination. The opposing gatherings reflected Lebanon's divided soul and fearing clashes, authorities deployed thousands of troops. But by early evening, there were no reports of violence.

Hezbollah and its Iranian backers blamed Israel for killing Mughniyeh but Israel denied involvement. In a videotaped eulogy broadcast on a giant screen to thousands attending the south Beirut funeral, Nasrallah said Israel had taken the fight outside the "natural battlefield" of Israel and Lebanon.

"You have crossed the borders," he said. "With this murder, its timing, location and method — Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open."

Thousands gathered in a hall in the Roueiss neighborhood of Beirut where Mughniyeh's coffin lay draped in a Hezbollah flag. A band played Lebanon's national anthem and the guerrilla group's anthem. Outside in the rain, tens of thousands more stood in silence.

Nasrallah — himself in hiding because of fears of assassination since the 2006 summer war with Israel — warned Israel that its alleged killing of Mughniyeh was a "very big folly" which will be avenged.

"Mughniyeh's blood will lead to the elimination of Israel. These words are not an emotional reaction," he said, drawing roars from the crowd which raised fists into the air.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a war in the summer of 2006 and Nasrallah maintained that the war has not ended.

He said the killing of Mughniyeh did not weaken his organization, but rather provided an incentive for "tens of thousands" of guerrillas ready to fight Israel.

Soon after he finished speaking, volleys of celebratory gunfire echoed around the city's southern suburbs.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who came to the funeral in Lebanon, offered condolences to the family and Mughniyeh's associates, before accepting condolences himself. Underlining Iran's close ties to Hezbollah, he sat between Mughniyeh's father and Hezbollah's deputy leader.

"He's not the first martyr, nor will he be the last on this path," Mottaki said, reading a statement of condolences from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with an interpreter translating into Arabic. "There will be hundreds and millions more" like him.

Muhniyeh's killing was "another shameful spot in the history of Zionism and their protectors in the world," Mottaki said, adding: "These crimes will shorten the lifespan of those criminals."

Mughniyeh's killing exacerbated tensions at a time when Lebanon is already entrenched in a long-running political crisis that has left it without a president and with its parliament paralyzed.

As the funeral proceeded in south Beirut, across the city tens of thousands gathered in the main Martyrs' Square to commemorate the third anniversary of Hariri's assassination. The anti-Syrian rally appeared larger than the crowds at Mughniyeh's funeral, but it had been planned weeks in advance.

They braved rain and the cold, waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain Hariri and party banners.

Crowds also paid respects at Hariri's gravesite next to the downtown square as his brother, Shafik, unveiled a statue of the slain leader at the spot where he was killed, a few hundred yards away on a seaside boulevard. A flame was lit and a taped message broadcast from Hariri's widow, Nazek, who lives in Paris, urging against "falling into hatred" and calling on "unity to save the country."

In the square, the sound of beating drums mixed with cheers from the crowd as speakers lashed out at the opposition.

Saad Hariri, leader of the parliamentary majority and the late premier's son, launched a scathing attack against the Syrian government. But he spared Hezbollah and its opposition allies, apparently in deference to the funeral. He even reached out to the opposition, saying: "Our hand will remain extended no matter what difficulties and conspiracies there are."

He also called for the election of a president in parliament, accusing Syria of obstructing it since November through its Lebanese allies.

When Hariri alluded to Mughniyeh's funeral on the other side of the city, the crowd booed.

"He fell under the eyes of the Syrian regime," he said of the slain Hezbollah commander, adding sarcastically: "God knows better."

Druse leader Walid Jumblatt, a sharp critic of Hezbollah, said the government will not succumb to opposition efforts to deliver Lebanon "to the Iranian-Syrian black evil world." Jumblatt accused Syria and the "treacherous regime" of President Bashar Assad of killing Mughniyeh.

Suleiman Abu Ezzedine, 35, holding an umbrella against the rain, said he left work to come to "remind that we are the majority. We want justice, truth and peace."

Hariri's supporters blame Syria for killing the prominent politician in a massive suicide truck bombing in Beirut and for a series of bombings and assassinations since. Hariri's assassination ignited mass protests and international pressure that forced Syria to withdraw its army from Lebanon after 29 years of control.

Authorities deployed some 8,000 troops and policemen to protect the Hariri rally. Armored vehicles took up positions on major intersections, and additional razor wire was brought in to separate the two sides on rain-drenched streets. But there was no sign of violence by early evening.

Amid fears of street violence, the U.S. Embassy encouraged Americans in Lebanon to limit all but essential travel Thursday. Across Beirut, businesses and shops put off popular Valentine's Day celebrations for later in the week.

Mughniyeh was on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists, and the U.S. had offered a $5 million bounty for information leading to his arrest or conviction. He was indicted in the U.S. for his role in planning the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a U.S. Navy diver was killed.

He was also accused of carrying out or directing a series of spectacular attacks, including engineering the suicide bombings of the U.S. Marines barracks and two embassy compounds in Beirut in 1983-84.

A total of about 260 Americans were killed in those attacks. Mughniyeh was also believed to be the mastermind behind the kidnappings of Americans and other Westerners in Beirut in the 1980s. Israel and Argentine prosecutors accused Mughniyeh of involvement in the 1992 and 1994 bombings of the Israeli embassy and a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, attacks that killed more than 100 people.

He vanished in the early 1990s, reportedly undergoing plastic surgery and moving between Lebanon, Syria and Iran on fake passports.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by Car Prep 57

So now they're down to using mentally handicapped bomb mules.

Can someone please point out which passage in the Koran sanctifies this?

. (Koran 2:216) "Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that you hate a thing which is good for you and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, you knew not."

[Robert]

Suicide bomber kills 80 in Afghanistan By ALLAUDDIN KHAN, Associated Press Writer




KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bombing at an outdoor dog fighting competition killed 80 people and wounded scores more Sunday, a governor said, in what appeared to be the deadliest terror attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.



Officials said the attack apparently targeted a prominent militia commander who had stood up against the Taliban. He died in the attack.