August 25, 2014
Osama Al Sharif
Source: Al- Monitor
On Aug. 14, the Jordanian government announced that it would ask parliament to approve two constitutional amendments giving
the king sole authority to appoint the head of the armed forces and
director of the kingdom’s General Intelligence Department (GID). Almost
three years ago, in October 2011, in response to public protests calling
for political reforms, King Abdullah II had approved a number of constitutional amendments that
curtailed some of his powers and allowed for the creation of a
Constitutional Court and an Independent Elections Commission.
These reforms were hailed as a major step toward full constitutional
monarchy. Jordan’s version of the Arab Spring was largely peaceful and
bloodless, and Abdullah was able to project himself as a champion of political reforms that would lead, according to statements made in June 2011, to the formation of parliamentary governments. That promise remains to be fulfilled.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic Action Front (IAF) boycotted the 2013 legislative elections,
and other political parties performed poorly, failing to fill the
vacuum. Weak and unpopular, the parties' presence in the current Lower
House, comprised mostly of independents, is modest. The government of
Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour,
appointed by Abdullah in October 2012, was supposed to include elected
deputies as a precursor to the formation of parliamentary governments.
To date, however, Ensour has failed to fulfill that pledge, probably due
to royal objections.
It is clear that Abdullah instructed Ensour to handle the two
constitutional amendments. Under the current constitution, the
government recommends the appointees for head of the armed forces and
GID director, and the king approves them through royal decree. The
king had asked the prime minister on Aug. 12 to “activate” the Ministry of Defense,
whose portfolio has been handled directly by the prime minister for
decades. In effect, the portfolio will now be managed by a civilian or a
retired army officer. The king said the new ministry will handle
“political, economic, legal and logistical duties related to national
defense … and nonmilitary services … while allowing the armed forces to
dedicate its time to professional military duties.”
The government is rushing the two amendments through parliament,
which has been convened in an extraordinary session. The timing and
reasons for the amendments, described by Ensour as important reforms
that will enhance Jordan’s democratic process, were not made clear.
Pundits rushed to explain the surprise move. Clearly Abdullah is looking
to expand his authority, making sure that the decision to appoint and
fire the heads of two very sensitive institutions remains his alone.
Critics of the move did not waste time making their points. In
general, they saw the move as a violation of the constitution and a
derogation of the general mandate of the government. A number of retired
army officers issued a statement denouncing the action, describing it
as “an attack on the constitution and a challenge to the will of the people, who are the source of all authorities.”
Mohammad al-Hammouri,
a respected constitutional expert and former justice minister, wrote on
Aug. 19, “Giving the king exclusive powers to appoint the heads of the
armed forces and GID constitutes an abrogation of the parliamentary
system and a coup against the constitution, effectively turning Jordan
from a constitutional monarchy to a presidential monarchy.”
He added that the Jordanian system of government is based on the
principle of separation of powers, with the people being the source of
authority. He added that the only exclusive power that the king has is
to prevent amendment of the constitution, while the authority to run the
state’s domestic and foreign affairs is tied directly to the Council of
Ministers.
Showing posts with label neo-colonialism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neo-colonialism. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2014
Monday, October 25, 2010
Will the Federal Reserve Cause a Civil War?
What is the most likely cause today of civil unrest? Immigration. Gay Marriage. Abortion. The Results of Election Day. The Mosque at Ground Zero. Nope.
Try the Federal Reserve. November 3rd is when the Federal Reserve’s next policy committee meeting ends, and if you thought this was just another boring money meeting you would be wrong. It could be the most important meeting in Fed history, maybe. The US central bank is expected to announce its next move to boost the faltering economic recovery. To say there has been considerable debate and anxiety among Fed watchers about what the central bank should do would be an understatement. Chairman Ben Bernanke has indicated in recent speeches that the central bank plans to try to drive down already low-interest rates by buying up long-term bonds. A number of people both inside the Fed and out believe this is the wrong move. But one website seems to believe that Ben’s plan might actually lead to armed conflict. Last week, the blog, Zerohedge wrote, paraphrasing a top economic forecaster David Rosenberg, that it believed the Fed’s plan is not only moronic, but “positions US society one step closer to civil war if not worse.” (See photos inside the world of Ben Bernanke)
I’m not sure what “if not worse,” is supposed to mean. But, with the Tea Party gaining followers, the idea of civil war over economic issues doesn’t seem that far-fetched these days. And Ron Paul definitely thinks the Fed should be ended. In TIME’s recent cover story on the militia movement many said these groups are powder kegs looking for a catalyst. So why not a Fed policy committee meeting. Still, I’m not convinced we are headed for Fedamageddon. That being said, the Fed’s early November meeting is an important one. Here’s why:
Usually, there is generally a consensus about what the Federal Reserve should do. When the economy is weak, the Fed cuts short-term interest rates to spur borrowing and economic activity. When the economy is strong and inflation is rising, it does the opposite. But nearly two years after the Fed cut short-term interest rates to basically zero, more and more economists are questioning whether the US central bank is making the right moves. The economy is still very weak and unemployment seems stubbornly stuck near 10%.
The problem is the Fed only directly sets short-term interest rates. And they are already about as close to zero as you can go. That’s why Ben Bernanke has been recently talking about something called “quantitative easing.” That’s when the Fed basically creates money to buy the long-term bonds that it doesn’t directly control, and drive down those interest rates as well. That should further reduce the cost of borrowing for large companies and homeowners. Some people are calling this “QE2″ because the Fed made a similar move during the height of the financial crisis when it bought mortgage bonds. (See photos of the Tea Party movement)
Not everyone agrees this is a good move. In fact, a number of presidents of regional Fed banks, not all of which get to vote at Fed policy meetings, have recently come out against Bernanke’s plans. Some say it sets bad policy. Others think it will stoke inflation, which might be the point. Few, though, have warned of armed conflict. Here’s how Zerohedge justifies its prediction of why the Fed’s Nov. 3rd meeting will lead to violence:
In a very real sense, Bernanke is throwing Granny and Grandpa down the stairs – on purpose. He is literally threatening those at the lower end of the economic strata, along with all who are retired, with starvation and death, and in a just nation where the rule of law controlled instead of being abused by the kleptocrats he would be facing charges of Seditious Conspiracy, as his policies will inevitably lead to the destruction of our republic.
OK. The idea that Bernanke might kill large swaths of low-income neighborhoods or Florida by his plan to further lower interest rates is a little ridiculous. But there is a point in Zerohedge’s crazy. Lower rates do tend to favor borrowers over savers. And the largest borrowers in the country are banks, speculators and large corporations. The largest spenders in our country though tend to be individuals. Consumer spending makes up 70% of the economy. And the vast majority of consumers are on the low-end of the income scale. So I think it is a valid question to ask whether the Fed’s desire to drive down interest rates at all costs policy is working. Companies are already borrowing at low rates. They are just not spending. (Read a special report on the financial crisis blame game)
That being said, civil war, probably not. “It is a gross exaggeration,” says Allan Meltzer, who is a top Fed historian at Carnegie Mellon. “I cannot recall ever learning about riots or civil war even when the Fed made other mistakes.” When I called, David Rosenberg was traveling and couldn’t talk, but he did send me a quick e-mail to stress that he has never, ever suggested that any moves the Fed makes will lead to a militia uprising.
Some smart people, though, including Meltzer, it appears, and Rosenberg do think the path of quantitative easing that the Fed looks likely to embark on is the wrong move. John Taylor, a top Fed scholar at Stanford, says eventually you will have to pull the support out, and when you do a year from now when the economy is recovering he thinks it could be quite disruptive. So even if you don’t double dip now, you might double dip then. And even if you don’t it would make for a slow recovery. Others, such as Raghuram Rajan, who has became famous for warning about the possibility of a financial crisis back in 2005, believe low-interest rates could be creating new bubbles in say gold or commodities.
So it seems clear what the Fed is likely to do. How the economy, the militias and the rest of us react is up in the air. The count down is on. T minus 15 days to Fedamageddon. See you there, hopefully.
Try the Federal Reserve. November 3rd is when the Federal Reserve’s next policy committee meeting ends, and if you thought this was just another boring money meeting you would be wrong. It could be the most important meeting in Fed history, maybe. The US central bank is expected to announce its next move to boost the faltering economic recovery. To say there has been considerable debate and anxiety among Fed watchers about what the central bank should do would be an understatement. Chairman Ben Bernanke has indicated in recent speeches that the central bank plans to try to drive down already low-interest rates by buying up long-term bonds. A number of people both inside the Fed and out believe this is the wrong move. But one website seems to believe that Ben’s plan might actually lead to armed conflict. Last week, the blog, Zerohedge wrote, paraphrasing a top economic forecaster David Rosenberg, that it believed the Fed’s plan is not only moronic, but “positions US society one step closer to civil war if not worse.” (See photos inside the world of Ben Bernanke)
I’m not sure what “if not worse,” is supposed to mean. But, with the Tea Party gaining followers, the idea of civil war over economic issues doesn’t seem that far-fetched these days. And Ron Paul definitely thinks the Fed should be ended. In TIME’s recent cover story on the militia movement many said these groups are powder kegs looking for a catalyst. So why not a Fed policy committee meeting. Still, I’m not convinced we are headed for Fedamageddon. That being said, the Fed’s early November meeting is an important one. Here’s why:
Usually, there is generally a consensus about what the Federal Reserve should do. When the economy is weak, the Fed cuts short-term interest rates to spur borrowing and economic activity. When the economy is strong and inflation is rising, it does the opposite. But nearly two years after the Fed cut short-term interest rates to basically zero, more and more economists are questioning whether the US central bank is making the right moves. The economy is still very weak and unemployment seems stubbornly stuck near 10%.
The problem is the Fed only directly sets short-term interest rates. And they are already about as close to zero as you can go. That’s why Ben Bernanke has been recently talking about something called “quantitative easing.” That’s when the Fed basically creates money to buy the long-term bonds that it doesn’t directly control, and drive down those interest rates as well. That should further reduce the cost of borrowing for large companies and homeowners. Some people are calling this “QE2″ because the Fed made a similar move during the height of the financial crisis when it bought mortgage bonds. (See photos of the Tea Party movement)
Not everyone agrees this is a good move. In fact, a number of presidents of regional Fed banks, not all of which get to vote at Fed policy meetings, have recently come out against Bernanke’s plans. Some say it sets bad policy. Others think it will stoke inflation, which might be the point. Few, though, have warned of armed conflict. Here’s how Zerohedge justifies its prediction of why the Fed’s Nov. 3rd meeting will lead to violence:
In a very real sense, Bernanke is throwing Granny and Grandpa down the stairs – on purpose. He is literally threatening those at the lower end of the economic strata, along with all who are retired, with starvation and death, and in a just nation where the rule of law controlled instead of being abused by the kleptocrats he would be facing charges of Seditious Conspiracy, as his policies will inevitably lead to the destruction of our republic.
OK. The idea that Bernanke might kill large swaths of low-income neighborhoods or Florida by his plan to further lower interest rates is a little ridiculous. But there is a point in Zerohedge’s crazy. Lower rates do tend to favor borrowers over savers. And the largest borrowers in the country are banks, speculators and large corporations. The largest spenders in our country though tend to be individuals. Consumer spending makes up 70% of the economy. And the vast majority of consumers are on the low-end of the income scale. So I think it is a valid question to ask whether the Fed’s desire to drive down interest rates at all costs policy is working. Companies are already borrowing at low rates. They are just not spending. (Read a special report on the financial crisis blame game)
That being said, civil war, probably not. “It is a gross exaggeration,” says Allan Meltzer, who is a top Fed historian at Carnegie Mellon. “I cannot recall ever learning about riots or civil war even when the Fed made other mistakes.” When I called, David Rosenberg was traveling and couldn’t talk, but he did send me a quick e-mail to stress that he has never, ever suggested that any moves the Fed makes will lead to a militia uprising.
Some smart people, though, including Meltzer, it appears, and Rosenberg do think the path of quantitative easing that the Fed looks likely to embark on is the wrong move. John Taylor, a top Fed scholar at Stanford, says eventually you will have to pull the support out, and when you do a year from now when the economy is recovering he thinks it could be quite disruptive. So even if you don’t double dip now, you might double dip then. And even if you don’t it would make for a slow recovery. Others, such as Raghuram Rajan, who has became famous for warning about the possibility of a financial crisis back in 2005, believe low-interest rates could be creating new bubbles in say gold or commodities.
So it seems clear what the Fed is likely to do. How the economy, the militias and the rest of us react is up in the air. The count down is on. T minus 15 days to Fedamageddon. See you there, hopefully.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Exxon, Shell sign deal for Iraq's W.Qurna Phase One
BAGHDAD, Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) signed a final contract on Monday for the development of Iraq's 8.7-billion-barrel West Qurna Phase One oilfield.
Stocks
The partners, who will work with an Iraqi state-run oil company, won the right to develop the supergiant field in negotiations with the Oil Ministry last year following Iraq's June oilfield auction, the first since the 2003 U.S. invasion. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, editing by Michael Christie and Amanda Cooper)
Stocks
The partners, who will work with an Iraqi state-run oil company, won the right to develop the supergiant field in negotiations with the Oil Ministry last year following Iraq's June oilfield auction, the first since the 2003 U.S. invasion. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, editing by Michael Christie and Amanda Cooper)
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Islamabad under pressure over Blackwater presence
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:11:30 GMT
Islamabad is under pressure to meet a deadline to explain the alleged sanctioning of the presence of a notorious US security contractor, formerly known as Blackwater, on the Pakistani soil.
At the request of the Lahore High Court (LHC), the government is supposed to file an explanation by Friday, November 20, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The court started to press the authorities on the matter, acting on a petition filed by Pakistan's Wattan Party, the Pakistani daily The News International had reported earlier in the month.
Urging the across-the-board disarmament of the Pakistan-based US officials and military personnel as well as prosecution of alleged subversive elements, the party's Punjab President, Hashim Shaukat Khan said the Interior Ministry let 200 Blackwater staffers enter Pakistan without clearing the customs "under American pressure," the newspaper added.
Blackwater, now known as Xe Services LLC, attracted international condemnation for killing 17 civilians in Iraq in 2007. The State Department, however, has refused to waive the company's permission to carry arms there.
It also continues to be extensively involved in Afghanistan where nearly 70,000 US-commissioned contractors almost doubly outnumber the US troops.
Washington has been exceedingly deputizing the companies, which are infamous for misusing their State Department-issued gun licenses. The move has been denounced as an effort at putting a non-military face on the US pursuits overseas.
Islamabad is under pressure to meet a deadline to explain the alleged sanctioning of the presence of a notorious US security contractor, formerly known as Blackwater, on the Pakistani soil.
At the request of the Lahore High Court (LHC), the government is supposed to file an explanation by Friday, November 20, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The court started to press the authorities on the matter, acting on a petition filed by Pakistan's Wattan Party, the Pakistani daily The News International had reported earlier in the month.
Urging the across-the-board disarmament of the Pakistan-based US officials and military personnel as well as prosecution of alleged subversive elements, the party's Punjab President, Hashim Shaukat Khan said the Interior Ministry let 200 Blackwater staffers enter Pakistan without clearing the customs "under American pressure," the newspaper added.
Blackwater, now known as Xe Services LLC, attracted international condemnation for killing 17 civilians in Iraq in 2007. The State Department, however, has refused to waive the company's permission to carry arms there.
It also continues to be extensively involved in Afghanistan where nearly 70,000 US-commissioned contractors almost doubly outnumber the US troops.
Washington has been exceedingly deputizing the companies, which are infamous for misusing their State Department-issued gun licenses. The move has been denounced as an effort at putting a non-military face on the US pursuits overseas.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Hamas says Israel lobbying against Gaza
14:19, November 15, 2009
Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday accused Israel of lobbying against the Gaza Strip to launch a military operation in the Hamas-controlled enclave.
"There are escalating Israeli intentions toward aggressive act against Gaza," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, in a written statement sent to the press.
His remarks were made after an Israeli newspaper on Friday reported that Hamas has test-fired another long-range missile that could fly for 75 kilometers, putting farther Israeli communities at risk.
"These reports come as part of the incitement against Gaza and the searching for pretexts to commit new crimes here and cover the crimes Israel had committed in the past," Barhoum added.
Barhoum called on the Arab and Muslim states "to sever all their ties with Israel in response to its threats against Gaza."
Members of the military wing of Hamas' movement fired the rocket to the sea from northern Gaza Strip Friday afternoon and the test has succeeded, Maariv daily reported on its website.
The rocket is the second one to be tested this month. Earlier, Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin revealed that Hamas had fired what it seemed to be an Iranian-made rocket.
Source: Xinhua
Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday accused Israel of lobbying against the Gaza Strip to launch a military operation in the Hamas-controlled enclave.
"There are escalating Israeli intentions toward aggressive act against Gaza," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, in a written statement sent to the press.
His remarks were made after an Israeli newspaper on Friday reported that Hamas has test-fired another long-range missile that could fly for 75 kilometers, putting farther Israeli communities at risk.
"These reports come as part of the incitement against Gaza and the searching for pretexts to commit new crimes here and cover the crimes Israel had committed in the past," Barhoum added.
Barhoum called on the Arab and Muslim states "to sever all their ties with Israel in response to its threats against Gaza."
Members of the military wing of Hamas' movement fired the rocket to the sea from northern Gaza Strip Friday afternoon and the test has succeeded, Maariv daily reported on its website.
The rocket is the second one to be tested this month. Earlier, Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin revealed that Hamas had fired what it seemed to be an Iranian-made rocket.
Source: Xinhua
Friday, November 13, 2009
A Morally Bankrupt Military: When Soldiers and Their Families Become Expendable
Global Research, November 12, 2009
Truthout - 2009-11-11
The military operates through indoctrination. Soldiers are programmed to develop a mindset that resists any acknowledgment of injury and sickness, be it physical or psychological. As a consequence, tens of thousands of soldiers continue to serve, even being deployed to combat zones like Iraq and/or Afghanistan, despite persistent injuries. According to military records, over 43,000 troops classified as "nondeployable for medical reasons" have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan nevertheless.
The recent atrocity at Fort Hood is an example of this. Maj. Nidal Hasan had worked as a counselor at Walter Reed, hearing countless stories of bloodshed, horror and death from dismembered veterans from the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. While he had not yet served in Iraq or Afghanistan, the major was overloaded with secondary trauma, coupled with ongoing harassment about his being a Muslim. This, along with other factors, contributed towards Hasan falling into a desperation so deep he was willing to slaughter fellow soldiers, and is indicative of fissures running deep into the crumbling edifice upon which the US military stands.
The case of Pvt. Timothy Rich also demonstrates the disastrous implications of the apathetic attitude of the military toward its own. Not dissimilar from Major Hasan, who clearly would have benefited from treatment for the secondary trauma he was experiencing from his work with psychologically wounded veterans, one of the main factors that forced Private Rich to go absent without leave (AWOL) was the failure of the military to treat his mental issues.
Rich told Truthout, "In my unit, to go to sick call for mental health was looked down upon. Our acting 1st Sergeant believed that we shouldn't have mental issues because we were too 'high speed.' So I was afraid to go because I didn't want to be labeled as a weak soldier."
What followed was more harrowing.
"The other problems arose when I brought my girlfriend down to marry her. My unit believed her to be a problem starter so I was ordered not to marry her, taken to a small finance company by an NCO and forced to draw a loan in order to buy her a plane ticket to return home. They escorted her to the airport and through security to ensure that she left. Once the NCO left she turned around and hitchhiked back to Fort Bragg. Before the unit could discover us, we went to the courthouse and got married. We were then summoned by my Commander, Captain Jones, to his office and reprimanded. He called me a dumb ass soldier and a shit bag for marrying her and told my wife that she was a fool to marry someone as stupid as me. Members of my unit started referring to me as Pvt. Bitch instead of Pvt. Rich. The entire episode caused a lot of strain in our relationship. Unable to cope with all this, I bought two plane tickets and went AWOL with my wife."
Rich was later apprehended when a federal warrant was issued against him. After 11 days in a country jail, he was transported back to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. On August 17, 2008, he was wrongly assigned to Echo Platoon that was part of the 82nd Airborne, whereas his unit was part of the 18th Airborne.
Rich recollects, "I was confused when they assigned me to the 82nd. I was dismissed as a liar when I brought this up with my NCO Sgt Joseph Fulgence and my commander, Captain Thaxton. I ended up spending a year at Echo before being informed that I was never supposed to have been in the 82nd."
At Fort Bragg, he was permitted to seek mental health treatment and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, psychosis, insomnia and a mood disorder. This, however, did not stop his commander from harassing him. His permanent profile from the doctor restricted him from being on duty before 0800 (8 AM) hours, but his commander, Sergeant Fulgence, dismissed the profile as merely a guideline and not a mandatory directive. The soldier was accused of using mental health as a pretext to avoid duty. So, Rich was up every morning for first formation at 0545 (5:45 AM). It wasn't until he refused to take his medication because it made him groggy in the morning that his doctor called his commander and settled the matter. By then, Rich had already been forced to violate his profile for six months.
During this period, his mental health deteriorated rapidly. The combined effect of heavy medication and restrictions on his home visits resulted in his experiencing blackouts that led him to take destructive actions in the barracks. When he was discovered talking about killing the chain of command, he was put on a 24-hour suicide watch that seemed to have served little purpose, because on August 17 he was able to elude his guards and make his way to the roof of his barracks.
"I climbed onto the roof of the building and sat up there thinking about my family and my situation and decided to go ahead and end my suffering by taking a nose dive off the building," Rich explained to Truthout.
His body plummeted through the air, bounced off a tree, and he landed on his back with a cracked spine. The military gave him a back brace, psychotropic drugs and a renewed 24-hour suicide watch, measures as effective in alleviating his pain as his failed suicide attempt.
When Truthout contacted him just days after his failed suicide attempt, a fatigued Rich detailed his hellish year-long plight of awaiting a discharge that never came. "I want to leave here very bad. For four months they have been telling me that I'll get out next week. It got to the point that the NCOs would tell me just to calm me down that I'd be going home the next day. They went as far as to call my wife and requesting her to lie that she was coming to get me the next day. I eventually stopped believing them. I didn't see an end to it, so I figured I'd try and end it myself."
The noncommissioned officers in his barracks thought it was hilarious that Rich had jumped, and he was offered money for an encore that could be videotaped.
At the time he was in a "holdover" unit, comprised mostly of AWOL soldiers who had turned themselves in or had been arrested. Others in his unit had untreated mental health problems like him or were suffering from severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from deployments in Iraq and or Afghanistan.
According to Rich, every soldier in his platoon was subjected to abusive treatment of some kind or the other. "It even got to the point when our 1st Sergeant Cisneros told us that if it were up to him we all would all be taken out back and shot, and that we needed to pray to our gods because we were going to pay (for our actions)."
Tim's wife Megan had to bear his never-ending ordeal in equal measure. She witnessed the military's callousness up close. She informed Truthout, "Since February of this year, Tim's unit had been telling him he would be out in two weeks. After two weeks when he asked, they would repeat the same thing. At times he would get excited and start packing his belongings and I would try to figure out how to get him home to Ohio. He would call me crying in relief because he thought we were going to be together again real soon. The military forced me to lie to him too. When he realized they did not mean to release him he grew very destructive during his black out spells. Eventually he simply gave up on coming home."
Megan first realized there was a problem with the way the military was treating her husband when she noticed him doing and saying things that were out of character for him, like apologizing for not being a good husband and father and being openly suicidal. He had also begun to self-medicate with alcohol, an increasing trend among soldiers not receiving adequate mental-health treatment from the military.
She revealed to Truthout, "He had quit for the girls and me but it seems like he could not handle the stress and needed an escape. This caused a huge problem between us and we began to argue about it. He became severely depressed, pulled away from me, and started to do things he normally doesn't do, such as giving away his money and belongings, and telling the recipients that he wouldn't need those things in hell."
She sensed that her husband would be in trouble if he were to stand up for himself, so she began to advocate on his behalf. Her attempts to do so met with fresh abuse from his commanders. The chain of command banned her from the company barracks and had her escorted off post. The couple was commandeered into Sergeant Fulgence's office where they were chastised. The sergeant referred to Megan as "a bad mother" and "a bitch." When Megan attempted to leave the office in protest, the sergeant ordered her to stay and listen to what he had to say.
This was followed by an encounter with the commander of the platoon, Commander Thaxton. The commander in this case ordered Tim to shut up, and threatened him with confinement. He demanded that Megan explain what kind of mother would bring her child to a new location without a place to live. She tried telling him that the AER loan was for her to come to Fort Bragg since they had lost their house after Tim's arrest and loss of job. Although the paperwork for the loan clearly stated that it was for her travel, food and lodging at Fort Bragg, the commander insisted it was for an apartment. When Tim intervened to say that the $785 would not be sufficient to pay rent and bills, especially since he wasn't being paid his wages and his wife couldn't work because of the baby, and according to Tim, both Sergeant Fulgence and Captain Thaxton "had a nice laugh over that" and dismissed the duo, referring to them as "juvenile dumb-asses."
After Tim returned from being AWOL and was brought up on charges, he went through 706 (a psychology board) that declared him mentally incompetent at the time of his being AWOL. It took a painfully long amount of time for the charges to be dismissed without prejudice. The soldier believes that his superiors deliberately refused to do the requisite paperwork for his clearance and subsequent resumption of his pay.
He told Truthout, "Every time I came on base I got arrested even though I was on active duty again. Then my wife and I got an AER loan for her to come down to Fort Bragg. When she got there and my pay continued to be withheld, the AER money ran out and my wife and child had to sleep in the van we owned. When my unit found out they called the Military Police and ordered me to give custody of my daughter to my father."
When Tim refused to do that, they punished him by confining him to the barracks and barring his wife from entering the base. To add insult, the chain of command took away his van keys and said that neither he nor Megan was allowed use it.
The nightmare ended when the military finally released Pvt. Timothy Rich, and by default, Megan. He was discharged and "allowed" to enter the ranks of US citizens searching for jobs and health care. Their traumatic journey to that starting point is what distinguishes them from their civilian counterparts.
Rich's advice to anyone thinking of joining the military today: "Don't join. Everything they advertise and tell you about how it's a family friendly army is a lie."
Sgt. Heath Carter suffered a similar fate at the hands of an indifferent military command. Upon return from the invasion of Iraq, he discovered that his daughter Sierra was living in an unsafe environment in Arkansas under the care of his first wife, who had full custody of the child. Heath and his new wife, Teresa, started consulting attorneys in order to secure custody of Sierra, who also suffered from a life-threatening medical condition. Precisely during this time, the military chose to keep changing Carter's duty station from Fort Polk, Louisiana, to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, then to Fort Stewart, Georgia. Not only did these constant transfers make it difficult for Carter to see his daughter, they also reduced his chances of gaining custody of Sierra. Convinced that this was a matter of life and death for his daughter, he requested compassionate reassignment to Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, about two hours from his first wife's home in Arkansas.
His appeals to the military command, the legal department, chaplain and even to his congressman failed, and the military insisted that he remain at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Having run out of all available avenues, in May 2007 he went AWOL from Fort Stewart and headed home to Arkansas where he fought for and won custody of Sierra, and was able to literally save her life by obtaining needed medical care for her.
However, on January 25 of this year, Carter was arrested at his home by the military police, who flew him back to Fort Stewart where he has been awaiting charges for the past eight months. Being a sergeant, he is in a regular unit and not in a holdover, but that does not help his cause. Initially, his commander told him it would take a month and a half for him to be sent home. Several months later, it was decided he would receive a court-martial.
Carter feels frustrated, "Now I have to wait for the court martial. It's taken this long for them to decide. If we had known it would take this long, my family could have moved down here. Every time I ask when I'll have a trial, they say it is only going to be another two weeks. I get the feeling they are lying. They have messed with my pay. They're trying to push me to do something wrong."
His ordeal has forced Carter to reflect on the wars. He admits that, although his original reason for going AWOL was personal and he had otherwise been proud of his missions, he sees things in Iraq differently today. "I don't think there is any reason for us to be there except for oil."
Yet, both Private Rich and Sergeant Carter were offered deployments to Afghanistan amid their struggles. It is soldiers like these that the military will use to fill the ranks of the next "surge" of troops into Afghanistan, which at the time of this writing, appears to be as many as 34,000 troops.
The stage is set for more tragic incidents like the recent massacre at Fort Hood.
Sarah Lazare contributed to this report.
Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist, is the author of "The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan," (Haymarket Books, 2009), and "Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq," (Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from occupied Iraq for nine months as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last five years.
Dahr Jamail is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Dahr Jamail
Truthout - 2009-11-11
The military operates through indoctrination. Soldiers are programmed to develop a mindset that resists any acknowledgment of injury and sickness, be it physical or psychological. As a consequence, tens of thousands of soldiers continue to serve, even being deployed to combat zones like Iraq and/or Afghanistan, despite persistent injuries. According to military records, over 43,000 troops classified as "nondeployable for medical reasons" have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan nevertheless.
The recent atrocity at Fort Hood is an example of this. Maj. Nidal Hasan had worked as a counselor at Walter Reed, hearing countless stories of bloodshed, horror and death from dismembered veterans from the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. While he had not yet served in Iraq or Afghanistan, the major was overloaded with secondary trauma, coupled with ongoing harassment about his being a Muslim. This, along with other factors, contributed towards Hasan falling into a desperation so deep he was willing to slaughter fellow soldiers, and is indicative of fissures running deep into the crumbling edifice upon which the US military stands.
The case of Pvt. Timothy Rich also demonstrates the disastrous implications of the apathetic attitude of the military toward its own. Not dissimilar from Major Hasan, who clearly would have benefited from treatment for the secondary trauma he was experiencing from his work with psychologically wounded veterans, one of the main factors that forced Private Rich to go absent without leave (AWOL) was the failure of the military to treat his mental issues.
Rich told Truthout, "In my unit, to go to sick call for mental health was looked down upon. Our acting 1st Sergeant believed that we shouldn't have mental issues because we were too 'high speed.' So I was afraid to go because I didn't want to be labeled as a weak soldier."
What followed was more harrowing.
"The other problems arose when I brought my girlfriend down to marry her. My unit believed her to be a problem starter so I was ordered not to marry her, taken to a small finance company by an NCO and forced to draw a loan in order to buy her a plane ticket to return home. They escorted her to the airport and through security to ensure that she left. Once the NCO left she turned around and hitchhiked back to Fort Bragg. Before the unit could discover us, we went to the courthouse and got married. We were then summoned by my Commander, Captain Jones, to his office and reprimanded. He called me a dumb ass soldier and a shit bag for marrying her and told my wife that she was a fool to marry someone as stupid as me. Members of my unit started referring to me as Pvt. Bitch instead of Pvt. Rich. The entire episode caused a lot of strain in our relationship. Unable to cope with all this, I bought two plane tickets and went AWOL with my wife."
Rich was later apprehended when a federal warrant was issued against him. After 11 days in a country jail, he was transported back to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. On August 17, 2008, he was wrongly assigned to Echo Platoon that was part of the 82nd Airborne, whereas his unit was part of the 18th Airborne.
Rich recollects, "I was confused when they assigned me to the 82nd. I was dismissed as a liar when I brought this up with my NCO Sgt Joseph Fulgence and my commander, Captain Thaxton. I ended up spending a year at Echo before being informed that I was never supposed to have been in the 82nd."
At Fort Bragg, he was permitted to seek mental health treatment and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, psychosis, insomnia and a mood disorder. This, however, did not stop his commander from harassing him. His permanent profile from the doctor restricted him from being on duty before 0800 (8 AM) hours, but his commander, Sergeant Fulgence, dismissed the profile as merely a guideline and not a mandatory directive. The soldier was accused of using mental health as a pretext to avoid duty. So, Rich was up every morning for first formation at 0545 (5:45 AM). It wasn't until he refused to take his medication because it made him groggy in the morning that his doctor called his commander and settled the matter. By then, Rich had already been forced to violate his profile for six months.
During this period, his mental health deteriorated rapidly. The combined effect of heavy medication and restrictions on his home visits resulted in his experiencing blackouts that led him to take destructive actions in the barracks. When he was discovered talking about killing the chain of command, he was put on a 24-hour suicide watch that seemed to have served little purpose, because on August 17 he was able to elude his guards and make his way to the roof of his barracks.
"I climbed onto the roof of the building and sat up there thinking about my family and my situation and decided to go ahead and end my suffering by taking a nose dive off the building," Rich explained to Truthout.
His body plummeted through the air, bounced off a tree, and he landed on his back with a cracked spine. The military gave him a back brace, psychotropic drugs and a renewed 24-hour suicide watch, measures as effective in alleviating his pain as his failed suicide attempt.
When Truthout contacted him just days after his failed suicide attempt, a fatigued Rich detailed his hellish year-long plight of awaiting a discharge that never came. "I want to leave here very bad. For four months they have been telling me that I'll get out next week. It got to the point that the NCOs would tell me just to calm me down that I'd be going home the next day. They went as far as to call my wife and requesting her to lie that she was coming to get me the next day. I eventually stopped believing them. I didn't see an end to it, so I figured I'd try and end it myself."
The noncommissioned officers in his barracks thought it was hilarious that Rich had jumped, and he was offered money for an encore that could be videotaped.
At the time he was in a "holdover" unit, comprised mostly of AWOL soldiers who had turned themselves in or had been arrested. Others in his unit had untreated mental health problems like him or were suffering from severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from deployments in Iraq and or Afghanistan.
According to Rich, every soldier in his platoon was subjected to abusive treatment of some kind or the other. "It even got to the point when our 1st Sergeant Cisneros told us that if it were up to him we all would all be taken out back and shot, and that we needed to pray to our gods because we were going to pay (for our actions)."
Tim's wife Megan had to bear his never-ending ordeal in equal measure. She witnessed the military's callousness up close. She informed Truthout, "Since February of this year, Tim's unit had been telling him he would be out in two weeks. After two weeks when he asked, they would repeat the same thing. At times he would get excited and start packing his belongings and I would try to figure out how to get him home to Ohio. He would call me crying in relief because he thought we were going to be together again real soon. The military forced me to lie to him too. When he realized they did not mean to release him he grew very destructive during his black out spells. Eventually he simply gave up on coming home."
Megan first realized there was a problem with the way the military was treating her husband when she noticed him doing and saying things that were out of character for him, like apologizing for not being a good husband and father and being openly suicidal. He had also begun to self-medicate with alcohol, an increasing trend among soldiers not receiving adequate mental-health treatment from the military.
She revealed to Truthout, "He had quit for the girls and me but it seems like he could not handle the stress and needed an escape. This caused a huge problem between us and we began to argue about it. He became severely depressed, pulled away from me, and started to do things he normally doesn't do, such as giving away his money and belongings, and telling the recipients that he wouldn't need those things in hell."
She sensed that her husband would be in trouble if he were to stand up for himself, so she began to advocate on his behalf. Her attempts to do so met with fresh abuse from his commanders. The chain of command banned her from the company barracks and had her escorted off post. The couple was commandeered into Sergeant Fulgence's office where they were chastised. The sergeant referred to Megan as "a bad mother" and "a bitch." When Megan attempted to leave the office in protest, the sergeant ordered her to stay and listen to what he had to say.
This was followed by an encounter with the commander of the platoon, Commander Thaxton. The commander in this case ordered Tim to shut up, and threatened him with confinement. He demanded that Megan explain what kind of mother would bring her child to a new location without a place to live. She tried telling him that the AER loan was for her to come to Fort Bragg since they had lost their house after Tim's arrest and loss of job. Although the paperwork for the loan clearly stated that it was for her travel, food and lodging at Fort Bragg, the commander insisted it was for an apartment. When Tim intervened to say that the $785 would not be sufficient to pay rent and bills, especially since he wasn't being paid his wages and his wife couldn't work because of the baby, and according to Tim, both Sergeant Fulgence and Captain Thaxton "had a nice laugh over that" and dismissed the duo, referring to them as "juvenile dumb-asses."
After Tim returned from being AWOL and was brought up on charges, he went through 706 (a psychology board) that declared him mentally incompetent at the time of his being AWOL. It took a painfully long amount of time for the charges to be dismissed without prejudice. The soldier believes that his superiors deliberately refused to do the requisite paperwork for his clearance and subsequent resumption of his pay.
He told Truthout, "Every time I came on base I got arrested even though I was on active duty again. Then my wife and I got an AER loan for her to come down to Fort Bragg. When she got there and my pay continued to be withheld, the AER money ran out and my wife and child had to sleep in the van we owned. When my unit found out they called the Military Police and ordered me to give custody of my daughter to my father."
When Tim refused to do that, they punished him by confining him to the barracks and barring his wife from entering the base. To add insult, the chain of command took away his van keys and said that neither he nor Megan was allowed use it.
The nightmare ended when the military finally released Pvt. Timothy Rich, and by default, Megan. He was discharged and "allowed" to enter the ranks of US citizens searching for jobs and health care. Their traumatic journey to that starting point is what distinguishes them from their civilian counterparts.
Rich's advice to anyone thinking of joining the military today: "Don't join. Everything they advertise and tell you about how it's a family friendly army is a lie."
Sgt. Heath Carter suffered a similar fate at the hands of an indifferent military command. Upon return from the invasion of Iraq, he discovered that his daughter Sierra was living in an unsafe environment in Arkansas under the care of his first wife, who had full custody of the child. Heath and his new wife, Teresa, started consulting attorneys in order to secure custody of Sierra, who also suffered from a life-threatening medical condition. Precisely during this time, the military chose to keep changing Carter's duty station from Fort Polk, Louisiana, to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, then to Fort Stewart, Georgia. Not only did these constant transfers make it difficult for Carter to see his daughter, they also reduced his chances of gaining custody of Sierra. Convinced that this was a matter of life and death for his daughter, he requested compassionate reassignment to Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, about two hours from his first wife's home in Arkansas.
His appeals to the military command, the legal department, chaplain and even to his congressman failed, and the military insisted that he remain at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Having run out of all available avenues, in May 2007 he went AWOL from Fort Stewart and headed home to Arkansas where he fought for and won custody of Sierra, and was able to literally save her life by obtaining needed medical care for her.
However, on January 25 of this year, Carter was arrested at his home by the military police, who flew him back to Fort Stewart where he has been awaiting charges for the past eight months. Being a sergeant, he is in a regular unit and not in a holdover, but that does not help his cause. Initially, his commander told him it would take a month and a half for him to be sent home. Several months later, it was decided he would receive a court-martial.
Carter feels frustrated, "Now I have to wait for the court martial. It's taken this long for them to decide. If we had known it would take this long, my family could have moved down here. Every time I ask when I'll have a trial, they say it is only going to be another two weeks. I get the feeling they are lying. They have messed with my pay. They're trying to push me to do something wrong."
His ordeal has forced Carter to reflect on the wars. He admits that, although his original reason for going AWOL was personal and he had otherwise been proud of his missions, he sees things in Iraq differently today. "I don't think there is any reason for us to be there except for oil."
Yet, both Private Rich and Sergeant Carter were offered deployments to Afghanistan amid their struggles. It is soldiers like these that the military will use to fill the ranks of the next "surge" of troops into Afghanistan, which at the time of this writing, appears to be as many as 34,000 troops.
The stage is set for more tragic incidents like the recent massacre at Fort Hood.
Sarah Lazare contributed to this report.
Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist, is the author of "The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan," (Haymarket Books, 2009), and "Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq," (Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from occupied Iraq for nine months as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last five years.
Dahr Jamail is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Dahr Jamail
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Afghan Resistance Statement Why the UN is so disturbed at the Murder of the Western Nationals?
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
November 5, 2009
A few days ago, a strong reaction came from the United Nations Security Council following the killings of Western nationals whom the United Nations calls its staff members but Mujahideen say, they were organizers of the runoff election. The UN Secretary General said that he would join efforts with other members of the Security Council to find those behind this incident and give them punishment. On the other hand, we have hundreds of examples in which we find the United Nations behaving with the Islamic Ummah unfairly, improperly and pitilessly as far as global and regional issues are concerned.
When it comes to the protection of the rights of the Ummah, this World Body, particularly, the Security Council becomes silent at once. They have chosen the way of suppressing and oppressing the Ummah and supporting the arrogant, the invaders and the brutals.
If we have a glimpse at events in Palestine, Iraq and other issues and the bloodbath now going on at the level of the Ummah, we will readily know that how callously and brutally the invading colonialists kill common Muslims collectively and invade Islamic lands flagrantly. If we look at the horrendous events in our country , Afghanistan during the past eight years, we will see clearly that the Security Council with its full strength is siding with America and the coalition forces. They have their share in the mass murders of the Afghan people and are the cause of the tragedies and sufferings of the Afghans. During the past eight years, never a day has passed without the Americans and Western brutal forces not committing crimes, murder, or torture against our people or not encroaching on our national and religious values. The blind bombardment on civilian targets, night raids on people houses, murders, tortures, bombardments on funeral and wedding ceremonies are some of the crimes, the invaders have perpetrated during the past eight years. But the United Nations has turned a blind eye to these crimes and not acted as per its responsibilities and caliber as a universal body. Throughout this period, they only ratified and approved resolutions allowing prolongation of occupation of Afghanistan and reinforcement there.
Ironically, they have called for more brutality under the leadership of USA. We have not seen any resolution by the Security Council, which speaks of grace, tolerance and altruism. Contrarily, when American and Western targets are attacked, or their interests are targeted or Western nationals are assassinated and similarly, when the interests of the Christian world come under danger, then the Security Council holds emergency meetings and issues serious response and reaction.
The strong reaction shown by the Security Council following the murder of a few Western staff members, portray that this organization has taken upon itself as its only duty to exclusively protect Western nationals and their interests. If hundreds of people other than the Western nationals are killed in the world in a single day, they do not take any notice because in their eyes they are less than human beings and the United Nations does not feel to be morally bound to protect their rights.
:: Article nr. 59757 sent on 05-nov-2009 13:56 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=59757
Link: www.alemarah.info/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=438:why-t
he-un-is-so-disturbed-at-the-murder-of-the-western-nationals&cati
d=1:afghanistan&Itemid=2
November 5, 2009
A few days ago, a strong reaction came from the United Nations Security Council following the killings of Western nationals whom the United Nations calls its staff members but Mujahideen say, they were organizers of the runoff election. The UN Secretary General said that he would join efforts with other members of the Security Council to find those behind this incident and give them punishment. On the other hand, we have hundreds of examples in which we find the United Nations behaving with the Islamic Ummah unfairly, improperly and pitilessly as far as global and regional issues are concerned.
When it comes to the protection of the rights of the Ummah, this World Body, particularly, the Security Council becomes silent at once. They have chosen the way of suppressing and oppressing the Ummah and supporting the arrogant, the invaders and the brutals.
If we have a glimpse at events in Palestine, Iraq and other issues and the bloodbath now going on at the level of the Ummah, we will readily know that how callously and brutally the invading colonialists kill common Muslims collectively and invade Islamic lands flagrantly. If we look at the horrendous events in our country , Afghanistan during the past eight years, we will see clearly that the Security Council with its full strength is siding with America and the coalition forces. They have their share in the mass murders of the Afghan people and are the cause of the tragedies and sufferings of the Afghans. During the past eight years, never a day has passed without the Americans and Western brutal forces not committing crimes, murder, or torture against our people or not encroaching on our national and religious values. The blind bombardment on civilian targets, night raids on people houses, murders, tortures, bombardments on funeral and wedding ceremonies are some of the crimes, the invaders have perpetrated during the past eight years. But the United Nations has turned a blind eye to these crimes and not acted as per its responsibilities and caliber as a universal body. Throughout this period, they only ratified and approved resolutions allowing prolongation of occupation of Afghanistan and reinforcement there.
Ironically, they have called for more brutality under the leadership of USA. We have not seen any resolution by the Security Council, which speaks of grace, tolerance and altruism. Contrarily, when American and Western targets are attacked, or their interests are targeted or Western nationals are assassinated and similarly, when the interests of the Christian world come under danger, then the Security Council holds emergency meetings and issues serious response and reaction.
The strong reaction shown by the Security Council following the murder of a few Western staff members, portray that this organization has taken upon itself as its only duty to exclusively protect Western nationals and their interests. If hundreds of people other than the Western nationals are killed in the world in a single day, they do not take any notice because in their eyes they are less than human beings and the United Nations does not feel to be morally bound to protect their rights.
:: Article nr. 59757 sent on 05-nov-2009 13:56 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=59757
Link: www.alemarah.info/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=438:why-t
he-un-is-so-disturbed-at-the-murder-of-the-western-nationals&cati
d=1:afghanistan&Itemid=2
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Niqab: What is it... is it important,... and the controversy over it
By Sheila Quinn
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Definition: The Niqab is a face cover which sometimes covers the eyes and sometimes doesn't. It is part of The Islamic Faith, but... it is not obligatory! Some Muslims think that it is obligatory, some know that it isn't... while others think that it has nothing to do with The Islamic Faith.
I, myself, wear niqab. I do so not because I think that it is obligatory, but because I feel inside myself that I should wear it. It is from my conscience that I have decided to wear niqab.
I write this post as a response to what is happening in Egypt. I think that it is totally unacceptable for a Muslim country to make rules against Islamic behavior. Muslim women should be commended for wearing the niqab- not harassed for it.
A few weeks ago the Deen of Al-Azhar University (a prominent Islamic University in Egypt) made a point of harassing a teenage girl in high school (secondary school) for wearing niqab. He repeatedly ordered her to take it off. She refused... after repeatedly ordering her to take it off, she finally did. Than he made a insulting remark about how she wasn't beautiful enough to warrant covering her face.
Such behavior is totally unacceptable for any Muslim. A Muslim does not humiliate another Muslim. Yet, this "Islamic Scholar" humiliated a teenage girl in public. Afterward, he misused his position as a "Scholar" to make a fatwa (Islamic ruling). He decided to make an Islamic ruling that the niqab is not part of The Islamic Faith. It is obvious that he is a puppet of The Egyptian Government.
Now,I have read in an article from a Non-Muslim source that the Egyptian Government is not allowing the niqab to be worn in public schools. The Egyptian Government is obviously attempting to corrupt the Islamic practice of Muslim women. Why are they doing this? Because they are not only corrupt themselves,... but also because they are tyrannical as well. They are obviously under the influence of Neo-Colonialists.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Definition: The Niqab is a face cover which sometimes covers the eyes and sometimes doesn't. It is part of The Islamic Faith, but... it is not obligatory! Some Muslims think that it is obligatory, some know that it isn't... while others think that it has nothing to do with The Islamic Faith.
I, myself, wear niqab. I do so not because I think that it is obligatory, but because I feel inside myself that I should wear it. It is from my conscience that I have decided to wear niqab.
I write this post as a response to what is happening in Egypt. I think that it is totally unacceptable for a Muslim country to make rules against Islamic behavior. Muslim women should be commended for wearing the niqab- not harassed for it.
A few weeks ago the Deen of Al-Azhar University (a prominent Islamic University in Egypt) made a point of harassing a teenage girl in high school (secondary school) for wearing niqab. He repeatedly ordered her to take it off. She refused... after repeatedly ordering her to take it off, she finally did. Than he made a insulting remark about how she wasn't beautiful enough to warrant covering her face.
Such behavior is totally unacceptable for any Muslim. A Muslim does not humiliate another Muslim. Yet, this "Islamic Scholar" humiliated a teenage girl in public. Afterward, he misused his position as a "Scholar" to make a fatwa (Islamic ruling). He decided to make an Islamic ruling that the niqab is not part of The Islamic Faith. It is obvious that he is a puppet of The Egyptian Government.
Now,I have read in an article from a Non-Muslim source that the Egyptian Government is not allowing the niqab to be worn in public schools. The Egyptian Government is obviously attempting to corrupt the Islamic practice of Muslim women. Why are they doing this? Because they are not only corrupt themselves,... but also because they are tyrannical as well. They are obviously under the influence of Neo-Colonialists.
MuslimconvertsDotCom-post re halloween is haram
Assalamu Alaykum,
Although the school is private, I would not say it is "elite." There are other schools in Egypt with much higher tuition and larger student populations, etc. While the families are considered "upper class" I don't think it's in any way, shape or form elite. It is not common in Egypt for Muslims to celebrate Halloween; even my own (Egyptian) husband did not know the history of the day or what it is all about. The populations that participate are predominately in International schools where the western culture is (in my opinion) being promoted. Seems even after leaving America behind, I still can't escape the madness!!!!
Salaam,
Debi
Assalmu alaikum
Sister we live in a world which went through western christian colonisation. Many brave Muslim brothers and sisters lost their lives fighting the invading western armies of europe. Only Allah knows how many millionsof Muslims died during western invasions of Muslim lands and then during the decades and even centuries resistance.
I often used to imagine what it the area of Afghanistan and Muslim India (Pkaistan, India and bangladesh) would have been like during the 100-200 years of Westren rule. How did the Muslims resist. How did they feel when they found 1000's of their best people hanged onto tries inorder to put terror in their hearts. The other massacres and torture that was done by the west to the Muslims and non Muslims of that part of the world which comprismises of 40 percent of the whole Muslim world. Then I turned my mind to the otehr Muslim countries the west had invaded. From north africa all the way to indonesia.
I also thought how can some of my own relatives have joined the westren armies to fight western wars. That made me disgusted at some of my own relatives whom we had thought so highly of when we were young.
We see christian westren culture in most countries that were invaded and then colonised by western countries. Especially in the upper class socities of these Muslim countries.
The reason being is that these invaders started a educational process to brain wash a certain percentage of the Muslim those countries to think like them. To look down upon their own Islamic culture and the Muslim masses and to look up to the Kaffirs of the west.
Then during 1940's Allah causes them to fight amongst themselves in what they call world war 2. Their lands were devastated and many millions of their people and soldiers killed, The Muslim resistance had also become stronger and the mass's of poeple had woken up and brave enough to force them to leave.
Eventually they did leave but they left behind their brain washed immitators. Who would make the look down on the masses and lopok upo to the non Muslims of the west. One British guy in Muslim India said we are going to produce a class of people who are brown yet inside they are English (ie that they have English values and culture and have left Muslim values and culture)
I herd one such Pakistani immitator on Pakistani TV saying that Paksitanis are sub human and that the western people are human. And inorder for us to become human we must become like west. He cleverly tried to prove this and many believed him that brown, black and yellow races were sub human. He thinks he is human because he thinks like a western man. Most likely , if he was in england the non Muslim English would make fun of his accent.
From what I heard of him, he is either a very poor anylst who arrogently thinks he is a superb anylst. Yet does not know what kind of things Muslims invented or he is just a lier.
Most likely he is a lier as he lied about Islam.
So alough we got rid of the westren non Muslim, Islam hating babaric invaders who ravaged the Muslim lands . We failed to get rid of their influence.
Infact we just ended up replacing the westren non Muslims by westren minded Dumb Muslim or westren minded Munafics.
Today we see what you have mentioned. Muslims celbrating kaffir festivals which can take them out of Islam as they are not only Bidda (made up) but many of them are also shirk (polothiestic). Thus such festivals and even thinking is leading maybe Muslims to loose their Islam.
Secoundly we no longer have to imagine what the world was like when the non Muslim westren nations invaded teh Muslim countries. We see before our eyes the murder of men, women and children, torture, rape of Muslim females. In Afghanistan and Iraq, Then we see what happens when they buy of Muslim or what their Brainwshed Munafics are orderded to attack the Muslims. We just have to look at Pakistan. The Brain washed and bought of Pakistiani Generals and Politicians are slaughtering Muslims in western Pakistan. The have told each other that they are Modern (ie westren) and educated and the Pathan of Westren Pakistan are inferior human beings because their are not westren and do not have westren education (because they have Local or Islamic culture and they read quran rather than books glorfying fornication and that they always wear Islamic clothing rather than Suits and ties). So these Pakistani Munafic Military thinks that these poeple are sub human and their houses can be bombed with Artillary and their markets bombed with helicopter gunships.
This is exactly what they are doing. A Pakistani Pathan was saying that they herd a Pakistani helicopter so they all got out of their cars and raised their hands up in a surrender style. This is what teh Pakistani Army has told the residents of westren part of Pakistan to do when they see military in their area. So they obeyed the instrution and they all got out fo their vehicles. The Pakistani helicipter gunship came. Looked at them and started to fly away. Some poeple said to this health worker, lets get in teh car now. The helicopters gone. He said no. It may come back. I am not taking the chance of geting killed. So they decided to stay out of their vehicles so that they could be safe. A short while latter. The Pakistani Army helicopter came and fired missles at them killing or wonding 40 of the 41 defensless Muslim Pathans. He said I loved Pakistan and i would strange anyone who talks bad about Pakistan but how do I get my self to love Pakistan when my 6 year old sons has lost both his legs. Was he a terrorist.
This is the mentality of people who have been brain washed into thinking that one has to be westerenised/ Modernised to be human. Otherise the person is a vermin and needs to be erradicated.
This is the how far a persons can go against his own people when he is brain is westrenised. He will think that a Muslim who sticks to Islam should not be alive. He should be dead. This is soemthing thats happening right now. Something we could not ahve imagined.
The torture and killing of religious Muslim by these westrenised Muslims is happening in so many Muslim countries. They want to toture and terrorise them to become westerenised and leave more and more of their Islam.
So this isnt a light issue as many of us thought previously. We are now seeing the fruits of this so called modernity in some Muslim countries and in future in many others.
What you should do is make leaflets and explain clearly what the origins of holloween are and how it can lead a person out of Islam. Then hand them to the parrents. It is best to try to get firstly some of the parents to your side and soem teachers whom you think will not mind your dawah. After that the parrenst may themslves complain about this to the school and have them abandon such kufr practise in a Muslim school.
Alos you must understand in this world there is a lot to learn. There are things which you know from your past culture that a Muslim form a born Muslim fmaily may not know. We cannot get angry at people who do not know, A sister told me that she started practsing Islam and was never taught much Islam by her parents. All she knew was that Muslim girls wore a hijab on their head. So thats what she did. Rest was jeans and so on. How can we go to a Arab or Pakistani sister whom we have never known and who is wearing sexy jeans and sexy t shirts and a hijab on her head and start saying to her your doing haram you shamless woman?
The fact is that there are some sisters who need help learning that this is not Islamic hijab because they may not have been taught at home.
If we have Muslims who do not even know the history of Islamic events and rulings, then how can we expect them to know the history of things that are foreign. Such as Halloween. So as Muslim we are helpers of each other, If one of us knows in a community that Halloween is haram we must produce as much evidance as possible to prove that it is Haram especially for those who are reluctant to leave bad things. Some after just being given small bits of daleel, will leave the haram, Others will require attacking the same topic from multiple angles and a few stubern minority will never believe no matter what daleel (evidance) you present to them.
Even many of us who have been born or brought up in the west did not know about the origins of halloween and other non Muslim festivals untill recently because we just thought the kaffirs do certain things during november time and thought no more of it.
In dawah we should not feel disheartned because people may not listen to us. Our job is to tell in the best manner possible. We cant force people to change. The Prophet Noah did dawah for Many hundreds of years and in that time maybe only 1 person listened to him.
It is the effort that we make that is counted.
the following link explain why we cannot celebrate non Muslim festivals
http://muslimconverts.com/christmas/index.htm
InshaAllah in the future i will try and make a detailed article on halloween and add it to the website.
Take care
walaikum salam
AbuUbaida
For More Information on Islam please visit http://www.muslimconverts.com
*********
comment: This is from an e-mail that I got from: "MuslimconvertsDotCom".
It is from a Pakistani brother who is living in England. He makes some excellent comments about colonialism and how it is effecting the Islamic practice of many Muslims.
Although the school is private, I would not say it is "elite." There are other schools in Egypt with much higher tuition and larger student populations, etc. While the families are considered "upper class" I don't think it's in any way, shape or form elite. It is not common in Egypt for Muslims to celebrate Halloween; even my own (Egyptian) husband did not know the history of the day or what it is all about. The populations that participate are predominately in International schools where the western culture is (in my opinion) being promoted. Seems even after leaving America behind, I still can't escape the madness!!!!
Salaam,
Debi
Assalmu alaikum
Sister we live in a world which went through western christian colonisation. Many brave Muslim brothers and sisters lost their lives fighting the invading western armies of europe. Only Allah knows how many millionsof Muslims died during western invasions of Muslim lands and then during the decades and even centuries resistance.
I often used to imagine what it the area of Afghanistan and Muslim India (Pkaistan, India and bangladesh) would have been like during the 100-200 years of Westren rule. How did the Muslims resist. How did they feel when they found 1000's of their best people hanged onto tries inorder to put terror in their hearts. The other massacres and torture that was done by the west to the Muslims and non Muslims of that part of the world which comprismises of 40 percent of the whole Muslim world. Then I turned my mind to the otehr Muslim countries the west had invaded. From north africa all the way to indonesia.
I also thought how can some of my own relatives have joined the westren armies to fight western wars. That made me disgusted at some of my own relatives whom we had thought so highly of when we were young.
We see christian westren culture in most countries that were invaded and then colonised by western countries. Especially in the upper class socities of these Muslim countries.
The reason being is that these invaders started a educational process to brain wash a certain percentage of the Muslim those countries to think like them. To look down upon their own Islamic culture and the Muslim masses and to look up to the Kaffirs of the west.
Then during 1940's Allah causes them to fight amongst themselves in what they call world war 2. Their lands were devastated and many millions of their people and soldiers killed, The Muslim resistance had also become stronger and the mass's of poeple had woken up and brave enough to force them to leave.
Eventually they did leave but they left behind their brain washed immitators. Who would make the look down on the masses and lopok upo to the non Muslims of the west. One British guy in Muslim India said we are going to produce a class of people who are brown yet inside they are English (ie that they have English values and culture and have left Muslim values and culture)
I herd one such Pakistani immitator on Pakistani TV saying that Paksitanis are sub human and that the western people are human. And inorder for us to become human we must become like west. He cleverly tried to prove this and many believed him that brown, black and yellow races were sub human. He thinks he is human because he thinks like a western man. Most likely , if he was in england the non Muslim English would make fun of his accent.
From what I heard of him, he is either a very poor anylst who arrogently thinks he is a superb anylst. Yet does not know what kind of things Muslims invented or he is just a lier.
Most likely he is a lier as he lied about Islam.
So alough we got rid of the westren non Muslim, Islam hating babaric invaders who ravaged the Muslim lands . We failed to get rid of their influence.
Infact we just ended up replacing the westren non Muslims by westren minded Dumb Muslim or westren minded Munafics.
Today we see what you have mentioned. Muslims celbrating kaffir festivals which can take them out of Islam as they are not only Bidda (made up) but many of them are also shirk (polothiestic). Thus such festivals and even thinking is leading maybe Muslims to loose their Islam.
Secoundly we no longer have to imagine what the world was like when the non Muslim westren nations invaded teh Muslim countries. We see before our eyes the murder of men, women and children, torture, rape of Muslim females. In Afghanistan and Iraq, Then we see what happens when they buy of Muslim or what their Brainwshed Munafics are orderded to attack the Muslims. We just have to look at Pakistan. The Brain washed and bought of Pakistiani Generals and Politicians are slaughtering Muslims in western Pakistan. The have told each other that they are Modern (ie westren) and educated and the Pathan of Westren Pakistan are inferior human beings because their are not westren and do not have westren education (because they have Local or Islamic culture and they read quran rather than books glorfying fornication and that they always wear Islamic clothing rather than Suits and ties). So these Pakistani Munafic Military thinks that these poeple are sub human and their houses can be bombed with Artillary and their markets bombed with helicopter gunships.
This is exactly what they are doing. A Pakistani Pathan was saying that they herd a Pakistani helicopter so they all got out of their cars and raised their hands up in a surrender style. This is what teh Pakistani Army has told the residents of westren part of Pakistan to do when they see military in their area. So they obeyed the instrution and they all got out fo their vehicles. The Pakistani helicipter gunship came. Looked at them and started to fly away. Some poeple said to this health worker, lets get in teh car now. The helicopters gone. He said no. It may come back. I am not taking the chance of geting killed. So they decided to stay out of their vehicles so that they could be safe. A short while latter. The Pakistani Army helicopter came and fired missles at them killing or wonding 40 of the 41 defensless Muslim Pathans. He said I loved Pakistan and i would strange anyone who talks bad about Pakistan but how do I get my self to love Pakistan when my 6 year old sons has lost both his legs. Was he a terrorist.
This is the mentality of people who have been brain washed into thinking that one has to be westerenised/ Modernised to be human. Otherise the person is a vermin and needs to be erradicated.
This is the how far a persons can go against his own people when he is brain is westrenised. He will think that a Muslim who sticks to Islam should not be alive. He should be dead. This is soemthing thats happening right now. Something we could not ahve imagined.
The torture and killing of religious Muslim by these westrenised Muslims is happening in so many Muslim countries. They want to toture and terrorise them to become westerenised and leave more and more of their Islam.
So this isnt a light issue as many of us thought previously. We are now seeing the fruits of this so called modernity in some Muslim countries and in future in many others.
What you should do is make leaflets and explain clearly what the origins of holloween are and how it can lead a person out of Islam. Then hand them to the parrents. It is best to try to get firstly some of the parents to your side and soem teachers whom you think will not mind your dawah. After that the parrenst may themslves complain about this to the school and have them abandon such kufr practise in a Muslim school.
Alos you must understand in this world there is a lot to learn. There are things which you know from your past culture that a Muslim form a born Muslim fmaily may not know. We cannot get angry at people who do not know, A sister told me that she started practsing Islam and was never taught much Islam by her parents. All she knew was that Muslim girls wore a hijab on their head. So thats what she did. Rest was jeans and so on. How can we go to a Arab or Pakistani sister whom we have never known and who is wearing sexy jeans and sexy t shirts and a hijab on her head and start saying to her your doing haram you shamless woman?
The fact is that there are some sisters who need help learning that this is not Islamic hijab because they may not have been taught at home.
If we have Muslims who do not even know the history of Islamic events and rulings, then how can we expect them to know the history of things that are foreign. Such as Halloween. So as Muslim we are helpers of each other, If one of us knows in a community that Halloween is haram we must produce as much evidance as possible to prove that it is Haram especially for those who are reluctant to leave bad things. Some after just being given small bits of daleel, will leave the haram, Others will require attacking the same topic from multiple angles and a few stubern minority will never believe no matter what daleel (evidance) you present to them.
Even many of us who have been born or brought up in the west did not know about the origins of halloween and other non Muslim festivals untill recently because we just thought the kaffirs do certain things during november time and thought no more of it.
In dawah we should not feel disheartned because people may not listen to us. Our job is to tell in the best manner possible. We cant force people to change. The Prophet Noah did dawah for Many hundreds of years and in that time maybe only 1 person listened to him.
It is the effort that we make that is counted.
the following link explain why we cannot celebrate non Muslim festivals
http://muslimconverts.com/christmas/index.htm
InshaAllah in the future i will try and make a detailed article on halloween and add it to the website.
Take care
walaikum salam
AbuUbaida
For More Information on Islam please visit http://www.muslimconverts.com
*********
comment: This is from an e-mail that I got from: "MuslimconvertsDotCom".
It is from a Pakistani brother who is living in England. He makes some excellent comments about colonialism and how it is effecting the Islamic practice of many Muslims.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Afghan Resistance Statement Who are Behind the Chaos in Afghanistan?
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Monday, 02 November 2009
The Americans follow contradicting programs in Afghanistan. These contradictions have greatly contributed to the chaos and corruption now rampant in the country. After invasion in 2001, Americans announced the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reconstruction (DDR) program which was aimed at encouraging former warlords and gunmen to surrender their arms for cash incentives, employment opportunities and vocational training. After a time, they left the program uncompleted, and opted to raise their own militias under the name of Campaign and Security Guards. These so-called security guards escort American and other NATO member countries military and logistical convoys from one province to another, particularly to Urozgan, Helmand, Farah and other provinces in the south. Some militias are used to detain suspected Afghans. Recently, New York Times disclosed that following the American invasion of Afghanistan, Wali Karzai created the Kandahar Task Force which is involved in various human rights violations. According to the Times Weekly, Wali Karzai frequently used the Kandahar Task Force against his opponents and on one occasion, they killed police chief of Kandahar province. Similarly, Americans pay tens of millions of dollars to private militia annually for escorting their convoys.
The private militias extort money from common people and levy agricultural tax on farmers named Ushar. They are involved in burglary, kidnapping and other unscrupulous activities. All these are overlooked by the invaders as the militia support them in their fight against so-called terrorism.
Applying The Sons of Iraq replica to Afghanistan, the invading Americans have created militia from among the Afghan minorities in the north of the country. Recently, they created such militia in Qazal Qila and appointed a Turkmen as commander. The Turkmen and Uzbek are ethnical minorities and their militias are notoriously known for human rights violations during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
To many observers who closely monitor developments in Afghanistan, these moves by the invading Americans can be part of plan dubbed as Chaostan, which was unveiled by Mc Crystal, American top commander in Afghanistan during his recent speech in London. According to this plan, the Americans want to create chaos in Afghanistan by plunging the country into geographical, racial and religious fighting once again.
Mullah Brader Akhund, Deputy-Amir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in one of his interviews said that Mujahideen had captured several groups of armed men who were involved in destroying schools and bridges. They admitted that they were paid by foreign intelligence agencies to do so. In this year Eid ul Fitre message, the Amir ul Momineen, Mullah Omar Mujahid instructed all Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate to disarm armed groups who are involved in encroachment on people’s life, property and honor on the provocation of the enemy.
Similarly, the bomb blasts in congested places, which have killed hundreds of innocent civilians, is of great concern to the Mujahideen and the Afghan people. This year in the holy month of Ramadan, a bomb went off in Kandahar just at the time when people were to break their fast. More than 50 people were killed in the explosion. The Islamic Emirate denied having hand in the explosion and condemned it as a horrendous and despicable event. Later Dawa Khan Mina pal, a Radio Liberty reporter was detained by police of the Kabul puppet regime when he was trying to investigate the blast to find out who were behind this gruesome event.
Many observers agree that foreign intelligence agencies are involved in anti-human activities to malign the good name of the armed Mujahideen who are fighting Americans and other forces of the NATO member countries. Recently, the Afghan surrogate president Karzai complained in a press conference that unknown helicopters were airdropping armed men in the north. According to him, these armed men disturb peace and security there. But Mujahideen in the area say, the foreign invaders airdrop the militia there to target Mujahideen hide-outs during the night and they also attack ethnically sensitive areas in order to provoke racial fighting.
The Americans think, by doing so, they can justify the presence of their troops and enlist supporters from among Afghan minorities against Taliban. These hidden agendas are driving our country into an unknown direction. Unequivocally, the foreign military presence in Afghanistan is part of the Afghan problem. The more they stay in our country, the more, they will plunge our country into chaos and uncertainly. The only solution is that the invaders leave Afghanistan and let the Afghans to form an Islamic government where people from all ethnicities can participate in the government making on the basis of their talent and services to the people. This will vault out the country from the current vortex of conspiracies and ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan and the whole region.
:: Article nr. 59639 sent on 02-nov-2009 17:29 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=59639
Link: www.alemarah.info/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=393:who-a
re-behind-the-chaos-in-afghanistan&catid=2:articles&Itemid=3
Monday, 02 November 2009
The Americans follow contradicting programs in Afghanistan. These contradictions have greatly contributed to the chaos and corruption now rampant in the country. After invasion in 2001, Americans announced the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reconstruction (DDR) program which was aimed at encouraging former warlords and gunmen to surrender their arms for cash incentives, employment opportunities and vocational training. After a time, they left the program uncompleted, and opted to raise their own militias under the name of Campaign and Security Guards. These so-called security guards escort American and other NATO member countries military and logistical convoys from one province to another, particularly to Urozgan, Helmand, Farah and other provinces in the south. Some militias are used to detain suspected Afghans. Recently, New York Times disclosed that following the American invasion of Afghanistan, Wali Karzai created the Kandahar Task Force which is involved in various human rights violations. According to the Times Weekly, Wali Karzai frequently used the Kandahar Task Force against his opponents and on one occasion, they killed police chief of Kandahar province. Similarly, Americans pay tens of millions of dollars to private militia annually for escorting their convoys.
The private militias extort money from common people and levy agricultural tax on farmers named Ushar. They are involved in burglary, kidnapping and other unscrupulous activities. All these are overlooked by the invaders as the militia support them in their fight against so-called terrorism.
Applying The Sons of Iraq replica to Afghanistan, the invading Americans have created militia from among the Afghan minorities in the north of the country. Recently, they created such militia in Qazal Qila and appointed a Turkmen as commander. The Turkmen and Uzbek are ethnical minorities and their militias are notoriously known for human rights violations during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
To many observers who closely monitor developments in Afghanistan, these moves by the invading Americans can be part of plan dubbed as Chaostan, which was unveiled by Mc Crystal, American top commander in Afghanistan during his recent speech in London. According to this plan, the Americans want to create chaos in Afghanistan by plunging the country into geographical, racial and religious fighting once again.
Mullah Brader Akhund, Deputy-Amir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in one of his interviews said that Mujahideen had captured several groups of armed men who were involved in destroying schools and bridges. They admitted that they were paid by foreign intelligence agencies to do so. In this year Eid ul Fitre message, the Amir ul Momineen, Mullah Omar Mujahid instructed all Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate to disarm armed groups who are involved in encroachment on people’s life, property and honor on the provocation of the enemy.
Similarly, the bomb blasts in congested places, which have killed hundreds of innocent civilians, is of great concern to the Mujahideen and the Afghan people. This year in the holy month of Ramadan, a bomb went off in Kandahar just at the time when people were to break their fast. More than 50 people were killed in the explosion. The Islamic Emirate denied having hand in the explosion and condemned it as a horrendous and despicable event. Later Dawa Khan Mina pal, a Radio Liberty reporter was detained by police of the Kabul puppet regime when he was trying to investigate the blast to find out who were behind this gruesome event.
Many observers agree that foreign intelligence agencies are involved in anti-human activities to malign the good name of the armed Mujahideen who are fighting Americans and other forces of the NATO member countries. Recently, the Afghan surrogate president Karzai complained in a press conference that unknown helicopters were airdropping armed men in the north. According to him, these armed men disturb peace and security there. But Mujahideen in the area say, the foreign invaders airdrop the militia there to target Mujahideen hide-outs during the night and they also attack ethnically sensitive areas in order to provoke racial fighting.
The Americans think, by doing so, they can justify the presence of their troops and enlist supporters from among Afghan minorities against Taliban. These hidden agendas are driving our country into an unknown direction. Unequivocally, the foreign military presence in Afghanistan is part of the Afghan problem. The more they stay in our country, the more, they will plunge our country into chaos and uncertainly. The only solution is that the invaders leave Afghanistan and let the Afghans to form an Islamic government where people from all ethnicities can participate in the government making on the basis of their talent and services to the people. This will vault out the country from the current vortex of conspiracies and ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan and the whole region.
:: Article nr. 59639 sent on 02-nov-2009 17:29 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=59639
Link: www.alemarah.info/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=393:who-a
re-behind-the-chaos-in-afghanistan&catid=2:articles&Itemid=3
Monday, November 2, 2009
House to Vote on Resolution to Reject Goldstone Report Findings and Recommendations
Jeremy R. Hammond
Foreign Policy Journal, November 1, 2009
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday on a resolution calling on President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the 'Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ in multilateral fora."
Headed by Justice Richard Goldstone, a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the U.N. report found that evidence indicates both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during Israel’s 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip, dubbed "Operation Cast Lead", which began on December 27, 2008.
The report recommended that allegations of war crimes by both parties be investigated.
The current text of the proposed Congressional resolution, H. Res. 867, contains numerous factual inaccuracies, beginning with the assertion that the U.N. inquiry had "pre-judged" its findings and was "one-sidedly" mandated to "investigate all violations of international human rights law and International Humanitarian Law by . . . Israel, against the Palestinian people . . . particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression".
The actual mandate adopted on April 3 was "to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, whether before, during or after."
The quoted text is not from the April 3 mandate, but from U.N. General Assembly resolution S-9/1 on January 12, 2009, which resulted in the later appointment of the mission by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Also, omitted in the draft resolution’s reproduction of the text are the words "occupying Power" before "Israel". Under international law, the occupying power is in fact obligated to investigate allegations of war crimes and violations of human rights.
The draft U.S. resolution states that the Goldstone report "makes no mention of the relentless rocket and mortar attacks, which numbered in the thousands and spanned a period of eight years, by Hamas and other violent militant groups in Gaza against civilian targets in Israel, that necessitated Israel’s defensive measures".
But this criticism itself ignores the fact that even if Israel’s military operations were justifiable as "defensive measures", Israel would still be legally obligated to conduct its operations in accordance with international law, and to conduct investigations into alleged war crimes conducted by its own forces.
The draft resolution also makes no mention of the relentless siege of Gaza by Israel, or the fact that Hamas had been strictly observing a cease-fire agreed to in June, only firing rockets after Israel had first violated that truce with repeated attacks against Gazans, a continuation of the crippling siege, and an airstrike and invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces on November 4 that ultimately resulted in the complete breakdown of the truce.
It also makes no mention of the fact that the Goldstone report contains a section dedicated to examining the impact of rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants on southern Israel, or that mission’s efforts to do so were impeded by Israel’s refusal to cooperate.
The draft resolution states that the U.N. mission "included a member who, before joining the mission, had already declared Israel guilty of committing atrocities in Operation Cast Lead by signing a public letter on January 11, 2009, published in the Sunday Times, that called Israel’s actions 'war crimes’".
That letter to the Sunday Times also stated, "We condemn the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel and suicide bombings which are also contrary to international humanitarian law and are war crimes."
But criticism of the Goldstone report on the similar basis that one of its members had beforehand declared Hamas guilty of war crimes is lacking in the draft resolution.
It calls the Goldstone report’s findings "that the Israeli military had deliberately attacked civilians during Operation Cast Lead" "unsubstantiated". In fact, the 575 page report provides extensive documentation for its findings.
The draft resolution states that "the authors of the report, in the body of the report itself, admit that 'we did not deal with the issues . . . regarding the problems of conducting military operations in civilian areas and second-guessing decisions made by soldiers and their commanding officers ' in the fog of war.’"
This is an outright fabrication. Those words do not in fact appear in the body of the actual report.
Those words actually come from an alleged e-mail from Richard Goldstone in which he explained why the U.N. report did not rely on a Colonel Kemp for its inquiry. The full text of the statement from that e-mail, replacing the part omitted in the draft resolution, reads "we did not deal with the issues he raised regarding the problems of conducting military operations in civilian areas…" (emphasis added).
The draft resolution states that Richard Goldstone had been quoted in the October 16 edition of the Jewish daily Forward as saying, "If this was a court of law, there would have been nothing proven".
But omitted is the further context of that remark in the same article, which added, "He recalled his work as chief prosecutor for the international war crimes tribunal in Yugoslavia in 1994. When he began working, Goldstone was presented with a report commissioned by the U.N. Security Council based on what he said was a fact-finding mission similar to his own in Gaza.
"’We couldn’t use that report as evidence at all,’ Goldstone said. 'But it was a useful roadmap for our investigators, for me as chief prosecutor, to decide where we should investigate. And that’s the purpose of this sort of report."
The draft resolution asserts that the Goldstone report "in effect, denied the State of Israel the right to self-defense", but offers no supporting evidence for this.
The Goldstone report found that "While the Israeli Government has sought to portray its operations as essentially a response to rocket attacks in the exercise of its right to self-defence, the Mission considers the plan to have been directed, at least in part, at a different target: the people of Gaza as a whole."
The draft resolution states that "the report usually considered public statements made by Israeli officials not to be credible, while frequently giving uncritical credence to statements taken from what it called the 'Gaza authorities’, i.e. the Gaza leadership of Hamas", but offers no examples from the report.
The report does, in fact, question the credibility of Israeli officials. It notes in one instance that "it considers the credibility of Israel’s position damaged by the series of inconsistencies, contradictions and factual inaccuracies in the statements justifying the attack."
In another example illustrating Israel’s lack of credibility, it "acknowledges that significant efforts [were] made by Israel to issue warnings", but that "The credibility of instructions to move to city centres for safety was also diminished by the fact that the city centres themselves had been the subject of intense attacks".
The Goldstone report also observed that "By refusing to cooperate with the Mission, the Government of Israel prevented it from meeting Israeli Government officials, but also from travelling to Israel to meet Israeli victims and to the West Bank to meet Palestinian Authority representatives and Palestinian victims."
The U.N. report also noted that "In establishing its findings, the Mission sought to rely primarily and whenever possible on information it gathered first-hand. Information produced by others, including reports, affidavits and media reports, was used primarily as corroboration."
The draft resolution asserts that "notwithstanding a great body of evidence that Hamas and other violent Islamist groups committed war crimes by using civilians and civilian institutions, such as mosques, schools, and hospitals, as shields, the report repeatedly downplayed or cast doubt upon that claim".
The "great body of evidence" is an apparent reference to remarks from Israeli officials found to be demonstrably lacking in credibility, which were commonly simply repeated by U.S. officials and the mainstream media.
The U.N. mission did examine "whether and to what extent the Palestinian armed groups violated their obligation to exercise care and take all feasible precaution to protect the civilian population in Gaza" and found that "Palestinian armed groups were present in urban areas during the military operations and launched rockets from urban areas".
But it "found no evidence, however, to suggest that Palestinian armed groups either directed civilians to areas where attacks were being launched or that they forced civilians to remain within the vicinity of the attacks."
While there is no evidence that Hamas deliberately used civilians as human shields, the Goldstone report "investigated four incidents in which the Israeli armed forces coerced Palestinian civilian men at gunpoint to take part in house searches during the military operations" and concluded "that this practice amounts to the Use of Palestinian civilians as human shields and is therefore prohibited by international humanitarian law."
The draft resolution, besides calling upon the White House and State Department to reject the Goldstone report and its recommendations, also "reaffirms its support for the democratic, Jewish State of Israel, for Israel’s security and right to self-defense, and, specifically for Israel’s right to defend its citizens from violent militant groups and their state sponsors."
It makes no similar mention of the right of Palestinians to security and self-defense from Israel and its U.S. sponsor.
Human rights groups, including the Israeli organization B’Tselem, have called upon the international community to implement its recommendation that suspected violations of international law be investigated.
Foreign Policy Journal, November 1, 2009
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday on a resolution calling on President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the 'Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ in multilateral fora."
Headed by Justice Richard Goldstone, a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the U.N. report found that evidence indicates both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during Israel’s 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip, dubbed "Operation Cast Lead", which began on December 27, 2008.
The report recommended that allegations of war crimes by both parties be investigated.
The current text of the proposed Congressional resolution, H. Res. 867, contains numerous factual inaccuracies, beginning with the assertion that the U.N. inquiry had "pre-judged" its findings and was "one-sidedly" mandated to "investigate all violations of international human rights law and International Humanitarian Law by . . . Israel, against the Palestinian people . . . particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression".
The actual mandate adopted on April 3 was "to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, whether before, during or after."
The quoted text is not from the April 3 mandate, but from U.N. General Assembly resolution S-9/1 on January 12, 2009, which resulted in the later appointment of the mission by the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Also, omitted in the draft resolution’s reproduction of the text are the words "occupying Power" before "Israel". Under international law, the occupying power is in fact obligated to investigate allegations of war crimes and violations of human rights.
The draft U.S. resolution states that the Goldstone report "makes no mention of the relentless rocket and mortar attacks, which numbered in the thousands and spanned a period of eight years, by Hamas and other violent militant groups in Gaza against civilian targets in Israel, that necessitated Israel’s defensive measures".
But this criticism itself ignores the fact that even if Israel’s military operations were justifiable as "defensive measures", Israel would still be legally obligated to conduct its operations in accordance with international law, and to conduct investigations into alleged war crimes conducted by its own forces.
The draft resolution also makes no mention of the relentless siege of Gaza by Israel, or the fact that Hamas had been strictly observing a cease-fire agreed to in June, only firing rockets after Israel had first violated that truce with repeated attacks against Gazans, a continuation of the crippling siege, and an airstrike and invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces on November 4 that ultimately resulted in the complete breakdown of the truce.
It also makes no mention of the fact that the Goldstone report contains a section dedicated to examining the impact of rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants on southern Israel, or that mission’s efforts to do so were impeded by Israel’s refusal to cooperate.
The draft resolution states that the U.N. mission "included a member who, before joining the mission, had already declared Israel guilty of committing atrocities in Operation Cast Lead by signing a public letter on January 11, 2009, published in the Sunday Times, that called Israel’s actions 'war crimes’".
That letter to the Sunday Times also stated, "We condemn the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel and suicide bombings which are also contrary to international humanitarian law and are war crimes."
But criticism of the Goldstone report on the similar basis that one of its members had beforehand declared Hamas guilty of war crimes is lacking in the draft resolution.
It calls the Goldstone report’s findings "that the Israeli military had deliberately attacked civilians during Operation Cast Lead" "unsubstantiated". In fact, the 575 page report provides extensive documentation for its findings.
The draft resolution states that "the authors of the report, in the body of the report itself, admit that 'we did not deal with the issues . . . regarding the problems of conducting military operations in civilian areas and second-guessing decisions made by soldiers and their commanding officers ' in the fog of war.’"
This is an outright fabrication. Those words do not in fact appear in the body of the actual report.
Those words actually come from an alleged e-mail from Richard Goldstone in which he explained why the U.N. report did not rely on a Colonel Kemp for its inquiry. The full text of the statement from that e-mail, replacing the part omitted in the draft resolution, reads "we did not deal with the issues he raised regarding the problems of conducting military operations in civilian areas…" (emphasis added).
The draft resolution states that Richard Goldstone had been quoted in the October 16 edition of the Jewish daily Forward as saying, "If this was a court of law, there would have been nothing proven".
But omitted is the further context of that remark in the same article, which added, "He recalled his work as chief prosecutor for the international war crimes tribunal in Yugoslavia in 1994. When he began working, Goldstone was presented with a report commissioned by the U.N. Security Council based on what he said was a fact-finding mission similar to his own in Gaza.
"’We couldn’t use that report as evidence at all,’ Goldstone said. 'But it was a useful roadmap for our investigators, for me as chief prosecutor, to decide where we should investigate. And that’s the purpose of this sort of report."
The draft resolution asserts that the Goldstone report "in effect, denied the State of Israel the right to self-defense", but offers no supporting evidence for this.
The Goldstone report found that "While the Israeli Government has sought to portray its operations as essentially a response to rocket attacks in the exercise of its right to self-defence, the Mission considers the plan to have been directed, at least in part, at a different target: the people of Gaza as a whole."
The draft resolution states that "the report usually considered public statements made by Israeli officials not to be credible, while frequently giving uncritical credence to statements taken from what it called the 'Gaza authorities’, i.e. the Gaza leadership of Hamas", but offers no examples from the report.
The report does, in fact, question the credibility of Israeli officials. It notes in one instance that "it considers the credibility of Israel’s position damaged by the series of inconsistencies, contradictions and factual inaccuracies in the statements justifying the attack."
In another example illustrating Israel’s lack of credibility, it "acknowledges that significant efforts [were] made by Israel to issue warnings", but that "The credibility of instructions to move to city centres for safety was also diminished by the fact that the city centres themselves had been the subject of intense attacks".
The Goldstone report also observed that "By refusing to cooperate with the Mission, the Government of Israel prevented it from meeting Israeli Government officials, but also from travelling to Israel to meet Israeli victims and to the West Bank to meet Palestinian Authority representatives and Palestinian victims."
The U.N. report also noted that "In establishing its findings, the Mission sought to rely primarily and whenever possible on information it gathered first-hand. Information produced by others, including reports, affidavits and media reports, was used primarily as corroboration."
The draft resolution asserts that "notwithstanding a great body of evidence that Hamas and other violent Islamist groups committed war crimes by using civilians and civilian institutions, such as mosques, schools, and hospitals, as shields, the report repeatedly downplayed or cast doubt upon that claim".
The "great body of evidence" is an apparent reference to remarks from Israeli officials found to be demonstrably lacking in credibility, which were commonly simply repeated by U.S. officials and the mainstream media.
The U.N. mission did examine "whether and to what extent the Palestinian armed groups violated their obligation to exercise care and take all feasible precaution to protect the civilian population in Gaza" and found that "Palestinian armed groups were present in urban areas during the military operations and launched rockets from urban areas".
But it "found no evidence, however, to suggest that Palestinian armed groups either directed civilians to areas where attacks were being launched or that they forced civilians to remain within the vicinity of the attacks."
While there is no evidence that Hamas deliberately used civilians as human shields, the Goldstone report "investigated four incidents in which the Israeli armed forces coerced Palestinian civilian men at gunpoint to take part in house searches during the military operations" and concluded "that this practice amounts to the Use of Palestinian civilians as human shields and is therefore prohibited by international humanitarian law."
The draft resolution, besides calling upon the White House and State Department to reject the Goldstone report and its recommendations, also "reaffirms its support for the democratic, Jewish State of Israel, for Israel’s security and right to self-defense, and, specifically for Israel’s right to defend its citizens from violent militant groups and their state sponsors."
It makes no similar mention of the right of Palestinians to security and self-defense from Israel and its U.S. sponsor.
Human rights groups, including the Israeli organization B’Tselem, have called upon the international community to implement its recommendation that suspected violations of international law be investigated.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Squalene: The Swine Flu Vaccine’s Dirty Little Secret Exposed
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
August 04 2009
By Dr. Mercola
Squalene Update as of October 2009:
According to Barbara Loe Fisher, founder of the NVIC, none of the H1N1 vaccines being distributed in the United States contain squalene or other oil in water adjuvants.
We successfully made enough fuss about the potential danger of fast tracking licensure of squalene adjuvants into US H1N1 vaccines under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) that can be invoked during a declared public health emergency that the FDA has NOT licensed these adjuvants for the U.S.
There is squalene in H1N1 vaccines licensed in Europe but not yet in the U.S. That is not to say the vaccine manufacturers will not try to get the adjuvants inserted into vaccines in the future, but for now we have won on this point.
According to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, your children should be the first target for mass swine flu vaccinations when school starts this fall.[i]
This is a ridiculous assumption for many reasons, not to mention extremely high risk.
In Australia, where the winter season has begun, Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon is reassuring parents the swine flu is no more dangerous than regular seasonal flu. "Most people, including children, will experience very mild symptoms and recover without any medical intervention," she said.[ii]
Sydney-based immunization specialist Robert Booy predicts swine flu might be fatal to about twice as many children in the coming year as regular influenza. Booy estimates 10-12 children could die from the H1N1 virus, compared with the five or six regular flu deaths seen among children in an average year in Australia.[iii]
“Cure the Disease, Kill the Patient”
Less than 100 children in the U.S. die each year from seasonal flu viruses.[iv] If we use Australia’s math, a very rough estimate would be another 100 children could potentially die of swine flu in the United States in the coming year.
If children are the first target group in the U.S. per Sebelius, that means we’re about to inject around 75 million children with a fast tracked vaccine containing novel adjuvants, including dangerous squalene, to prevent perhaps 100 deaths.
I’m not overlooking the tragedy of the loss of even one child to an illness like the H1N1 flu virus. But there can be no argument that unnecessary mass injection of millions of children with a vaccine containing an adjuvant known to cause a host of debilitating autoimmune diseases is a reckless, dangerous plan.
Why are Vaccinations Dangerous?
The presumed intent of a vaccination is to help you build immunity to potentially harmful organisms that cause illness and disease. However, your body’s immune system is already designed to do this in response to organisms which invade your body naturally.
Most disease-causing organisms enter your body through the mucous membranes of your nose, mouth, pulmonary system or your digestive tract – not through an injection.
These mucous membranes have their own immune system, called the IgA immune system. It is a different system from the one activated when a vaccine is injected into your body.
Your IgA immune system is your body’s first line of defense. Its job is to fight off invading organisms at their entry points, reducing or even eliminating the need for activation of your body’s immune system.
When a virus is injected into your body in a vaccine, and especially when combined with an immune adjuvant like squalene, your IgA immune system is bypassed and your body’s immune system kicks into high gear in response to the vaccination.
Injecting organisms into your body to provoke immunity is contrary to nature, and vaccination carries enormous potential to do serious damage to your health.
And as if Vaccines Weren’t Dangerous Enough on Their Own …
… imagine them turbocharged.
The main ingredient in a vaccine is either killed viruses or live ones that have been attenuated (weakened and made less harmful).
Flu vaccines can also contain a number of chemical toxins, including ethylene glycol (antifreeze), formaldehyde, phenol (carbolic acid) and even antibiotics like Neomycin and streptomycin.
In addition to the viruses and other additives, many vaccines also contain immune adjuvants like aluminum and squalene.
The purpose of an immune adjuvant added to a vaccine is to enhance (turbo charge) your immune response to the vaccination. Adjuvants cause your immune system to overreact to the introduction of the organism you’re being vaccinated against.
Adjuvants are supposed to get the job done faster (but certainly not more safely), which reduces the amount of vaccine required per dose, and the number of doses given per individual.
Less vaccine required per person means more individual doses available for mass vaccination campaigns. Coincidentally, this is exactly the goal of government and the pharmaceutical companies who stand to make millions from their vaccines.
Will There Be Immune Adjuvants in Swine Flu Vaccines?
The U.S. government has contracts with several drug companies to develop and produce swine flu vaccines. At least two of those companies, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, are using an adjuvant in their H1N1 vaccines.
The adjuvant? Squalene.
According to Meryl Nass, M.D., an authority on the anthrax vaccine,
“A novel feature of the two H1N1 vaccines being developed by companies Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline is the addition of squalene-containing adjuvants to boost immunogenicity and dramatically reduce the amount of viral antigen needed. This translates to much faster production of desired vaccine quantities.”[v]
Novartis’s proprietary squalene adjuvant for their H1N1 vaccine is MF59. Glaxo’s is ASO3. MF59 has yet to be approved by the FDA for use in any U.S. vaccine, despite its history of use in other countries.
Per Dr. Nass, there are only three vaccines in existence using an approved squalene adjuvant. None of the three are approved for use in the U.S.
What Squalene Does to Rats
Oil-based vaccination adjuvants like squalene have been proved to generate concentrated, unremitting immune responses over long periods of time.[vi]
A 2000 study published in the American Journal of Pathology demonstrated a single injection of the adjuvant squalene into rats triggered “chronic, immune-mediated joint-specific inflammation,” also known as rheumatoid arthritis.[vii]
The researchers concluded the study raised questions about the role of adjuvants in chronic inflammatory diseases.
What Squalene Does to Humans
Your immune system recognizes squalene as an oil molecule native to your body. It is found throughout your nervous system and brain. In fact, you can consume squalene in olive oil and not only will your immune system recognize it, you will also reap the benefits of its antioxidant properties.
The difference between “good” and “bad” squalene is the route by which it enters your body. Injection is an abnormal route of entry which incites your immune system to attack all the squalene in your body, not just the vaccine adjuvant.
Your immune system will attempt to destroy the molecule wherever it finds it, including in places where it occurs naturally, and where it is vital to the health of your nervous system.[viii]
Gulf War veterans with Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) received anthrax vaccines which contained squalene.[ix] MF59 (the Novartis squalene adjuvant) was an unapproved ingredient in experimental anthrax vaccines and has since been linked to the devastating autoimmune diseases suffered by countless Gulf War vets.[x]
The Department of Defense made every attempt to deny that squalene was indeed an added contaminant in the anthrax vaccine administered to Persian Gulf war military personnel – deployed and non-deployed – as well as participants in the more recent Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP).
However, the FDA discovered the presence of squalene in certain lots of AVIP product. A test was developed to detect anti-squalene antibodies in GWS patients, and a clear link was established between the contaminated product and all the GWS sufferers who had been injected with the vaccine containing squalene.
A study conducted at Tulane Medical School and published in the February 2000 issue of Experimental Molecular Pathology included these stunning statistics:
“ … the substantial majority (95%) of overtly ill deployed GWS patients had antibodies to squalene. All (100%) GWS patients immunized for service in Desert Shield/Desert Storm who did not deploy, but had the same signs and symptoms as those who did deploy, had antibodies to squalene.
In contrast, none (0%) of the deployed Persian Gulf veterans not showing signs and symptoms of GWS have antibodies to squalene. Neither patients with idiopathic autoimmune disease nor healthy controls had detectable serum antibodies to squalene. The majority of symptomatic GWS patients had serum antibodies to squalene.”[xi]
According to Dr. Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., a former principle research scientist for the government of Australia:
“… this adjuvant [squalene] contributed to the cascade of reactions called "Gulf War Syndrome," documented in the soldiers involved in the Gulf War.
The symptoms they developed included arthritis, fibromyalgia, lymphadenopathy, rashes, photosensitive rashes, malar rashes, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, abnormal body hair loss, non-healing skin lesions, aphthous ulcers, dizziness, weakness, memory loss, seizures, mood changes, neuropsychiatric problems, anti-thyroid effects, anaemia, elevated ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Raynaud’s phenomenon, Sjorgren’s syndrome, chronic diarrhoea, night sweats and low-grade fevers.”[xii]
Post Vaccination Follow-Up Might as Well Be Non-Existent
There is virtually no science to support the safety of vaccine injections on your long-term health or the health of your children. Follow-up studies last on average about two weeks, and look only for glaring injuries and illnesses.
Autoimmune disorders like those seen in Gulf War Syndrome frequently take years to diagnose due to the vagueness of early symptoms. Complaints like headaches, fatigue and chronic aches and pains are symptoms of many different illnesses and diseases.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for vaccine purveyors and proponents to look seriously at the long-term health consequences of their vaccination campaigns.
What You Can Do Right Now
Visit the National Vaccination Information Center (NVIC) site and join in the fight against mandatory swine flu vaccinations.
Educate yourself about influenza strains, vaccination risks, and the public health laws in your state that may require you or your children to undergo either mandatory vaccination or quarantine.
Take care of your health to reduce or eliminate your risk of contracting the flu. The key is to keep your immune system strong by following these guidelines:
* Eliminate sugar and processed foods from your diet. Sugar consumption has an immediate, debilitating effect on your immune system.
* Take a high quality source of animal-based omega 3 fats like Krill Oil.
* Exercise. Your immune system needs good circulation in order to perform at its best for you.
* Optimize your vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency is the likely cause of seasonal flu viruses. Getting an optimal level of vitamin D will help you fight infections of all kinds.
* Get plenty of good quality sleep.
* Deal with stress effectively. If you feel overwhelmed by stress, your body will not have the reserves it needs to fight infection.
* Wash your hands. But not with an antibacterial soap. Use a pure, chemical-free soap.
[i] USAToday.com, Swine flu shots may go to kids first, Sebelius says, June 16, 2009
[ii] ABC.net.au, Health minister reassures parents over swine flu, July 2, 2009
[iii] Google News, AFP, Australia urges calm after child flu death, July 2, 2009,
[iv] Meryl Nass, M.D., July 4, 2009
[v] Meryl Nass, M.D., July 3, 2009
[vi] Rense.com, Vaccines, Autism, and Gulf War Syndrome, August 15, 2005
[vii] The American Journal of Pathology, The Endogenous Adjuvant Squalene Can Induce a Chronic T-Cell-Mediated Arthritis in Rats, 2000
[viii] Vaccination Liberation, Adjuvant Index Page
[ix] Autoimmune Technologies, News Release: SQUALENE FOUND IN ANTHRAX VACCINE,
[x] Autoimmune Technologies, Gulf War Syndrome: ANTI-SQUALENE ANTIBODIES LINK GULF WAR SYNDROME TO ANTHRAX VACCINE
[xi] ScienceDirect.com, Experimental and Molecular Pathology, Volume 68, Issue 1, February 2000, Pages 55-64
[xii] Adverse Effects of Adjuvants in Vaccines, by Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., 2000
Related Links:
Adverse Effects Of Adjuvants In Vaccines
Mercury In Vaccines Was Replaced With Something Even MORE Toxic
Study Suggests Link Between Vaccines, Gulf War Illnesses
August 04 2009
By Dr. Mercola
Squalene Update as of October 2009:
According to Barbara Loe Fisher, founder of the NVIC, none of the H1N1 vaccines being distributed in the United States contain squalene or other oil in water adjuvants.
We successfully made enough fuss about the potential danger of fast tracking licensure of squalene adjuvants into US H1N1 vaccines under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) that can be invoked during a declared public health emergency that the FDA has NOT licensed these adjuvants for the U.S.
There is squalene in H1N1 vaccines licensed in Europe but not yet in the U.S. That is not to say the vaccine manufacturers will not try to get the adjuvants inserted into vaccines in the future, but for now we have won on this point.
According to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, your children should be the first target for mass swine flu vaccinations when school starts this fall.[i]
This is a ridiculous assumption for many reasons, not to mention extremely high risk.
In Australia, where the winter season has begun, Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon is reassuring parents the swine flu is no more dangerous than regular seasonal flu. "Most people, including children, will experience very mild symptoms and recover without any medical intervention," she said.[ii]
Sydney-based immunization specialist Robert Booy predicts swine flu might be fatal to about twice as many children in the coming year as regular influenza. Booy estimates 10-12 children could die from the H1N1 virus, compared with the five or six regular flu deaths seen among children in an average year in Australia.[iii]
“Cure the Disease, Kill the Patient”
Less than 100 children in the U.S. die each year from seasonal flu viruses.[iv] If we use Australia’s math, a very rough estimate would be another 100 children could potentially die of swine flu in the United States in the coming year.
If children are the first target group in the U.S. per Sebelius, that means we’re about to inject around 75 million children with a fast tracked vaccine containing novel adjuvants, including dangerous squalene, to prevent perhaps 100 deaths.
I’m not overlooking the tragedy of the loss of even one child to an illness like the H1N1 flu virus. But there can be no argument that unnecessary mass injection of millions of children with a vaccine containing an adjuvant known to cause a host of debilitating autoimmune diseases is a reckless, dangerous plan.
Why are Vaccinations Dangerous?
The presumed intent of a vaccination is to help you build immunity to potentially harmful organisms that cause illness and disease. However, your body’s immune system is already designed to do this in response to organisms which invade your body naturally.
Most disease-causing organisms enter your body through the mucous membranes of your nose, mouth, pulmonary system or your digestive tract – not through an injection.
These mucous membranes have their own immune system, called the IgA immune system. It is a different system from the one activated when a vaccine is injected into your body.
Your IgA immune system is your body’s first line of defense. Its job is to fight off invading organisms at their entry points, reducing or even eliminating the need for activation of your body’s immune system.
When a virus is injected into your body in a vaccine, and especially when combined with an immune adjuvant like squalene, your IgA immune system is bypassed and your body’s immune system kicks into high gear in response to the vaccination.
Injecting organisms into your body to provoke immunity is contrary to nature, and vaccination carries enormous potential to do serious damage to your health.
And as if Vaccines Weren’t Dangerous Enough on Their Own …
… imagine them turbocharged.
The main ingredient in a vaccine is either killed viruses or live ones that have been attenuated (weakened and made less harmful).
Flu vaccines can also contain a number of chemical toxins, including ethylene glycol (antifreeze), formaldehyde, phenol (carbolic acid) and even antibiotics like Neomycin and streptomycin.
In addition to the viruses and other additives, many vaccines also contain immune adjuvants like aluminum and squalene.
The purpose of an immune adjuvant added to a vaccine is to enhance (turbo charge) your immune response to the vaccination. Adjuvants cause your immune system to overreact to the introduction of the organism you’re being vaccinated against.
Adjuvants are supposed to get the job done faster (but certainly not more safely), which reduces the amount of vaccine required per dose, and the number of doses given per individual.
Less vaccine required per person means more individual doses available for mass vaccination campaigns. Coincidentally, this is exactly the goal of government and the pharmaceutical companies who stand to make millions from their vaccines.
Will There Be Immune Adjuvants in Swine Flu Vaccines?
The U.S. government has contracts with several drug companies to develop and produce swine flu vaccines. At least two of those companies, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, are using an adjuvant in their H1N1 vaccines.
The adjuvant? Squalene.
According to Meryl Nass, M.D., an authority on the anthrax vaccine,
“A novel feature of the two H1N1 vaccines being developed by companies Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline is the addition of squalene-containing adjuvants to boost immunogenicity and dramatically reduce the amount of viral antigen needed. This translates to much faster production of desired vaccine quantities.”[v]
Novartis’s proprietary squalene adjuvant for their H1N1 vaccine is MF59. Glaxo’s is ASO3. MF59 has yet to be approved by the FDA for use in any U.S. vaccine, despite its history of use in other countries.
Per Dr. Nass, there are only three vaccines in existence using an approved squalene adjuvant. None of the three are approved for use in the U.S.
What Squalene Does to Rats
Oil-based vaccination adjuvants like squalene have been proved to generate concentrated, unremitting immune responses over long periods of time.[vi]
A 2000 study published in the American Journal of Pathology demonstrated a single injection of the adjuvant squalene into rats triggered “chronic, immune-mediated joint-specific inflammation,” also known as rheumatoid arthritis.[vii]
The researchers concluded the study raised questions about the role of adjuvants in chronic inflammatory diseases.
What Squalene Does to Humans
Your immune system recognizes squalene as an oil molecule native to your body. It is found throughout your nervous system and brain. In fact, you can consume squalene in olive oil and not only will your immune system recognize it, you will also reap the benefits of its antioxidant properties.
The difference between “good” and “bad” squalene is the route by which it enters your body. Injection is an abnormal route of entry which incites your immune system to attack all the squalene in your body, not just the vaccine adjuvant.
Your immune system will attempt to destroy the molecule wherever it finds it, including in places where it occurs naturally, and where it is vital to the health of your nervous system.[viii]
Gulf War veterans with Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) received anthrax vaccines which contained squalene.[ix] MF59 (the Novartis squalene adjuvant) was an unapproved ingredient in experimental anthrax vaccines and has since been linked to the devastating autoimmune diseases suffered by countless Gulf War vets.[x]
The Department of Defense made every attempt to deny that squalene was indeed an added contaminant in the anthrax vaccine administered to Persian Gulf war military personnel – deployed and non-deployed – as well as participants in the more recent Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP).
However, the FDA discovered the presence of squalene in certain lots of AVIP product. A test was developed to detect anti-squalene antibodies in GWS patients, and a clear link was established between the contaminated product and all the GWS sufferers who had been injected with the vaccine containing squalene.
A study conducted at Tulane Medical School and published in the February 2000 issue of Experimental Molecular Pathology included these stunning statistics:
“ … the substantial majority (95%) of overtly ill deployed GWS patients had antibodies to squalene. All (100%) GWS patients immunized for service in Desert Shield/Desert Storm who did not deploy, but had the same signs and symptoms as those who did deploy, had antibodies to squalene.
In contrast, none (0%) of the deployed Persian Gulf veterans not showing signs and symptoms of GWS have antibodies to squalene. Neither patients with idiopathic autoimmune disease nor healthy controls had detectable serum antibodies to squalene. The majority of symptomatic GWS patients had serum antibodies to squalene.”[xi]
According to Dr. Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., a former principle research scientist for the government of Australia:
“… this adjuvant [squalene] contributed to the cascade of reactions called "Gulf War Syndrome," documented in the soldiers involved in the Gulf War.
The symptoms they developed included arthritis, fibromyalgia, lymphadenopathy, rashes, photosensitive rashes, malar rashes, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, abnormal body hair loss, non-healing skin lesions, aphthous ulcers, dizziness, weakness, memory loss, seizures, mood changes, neuropsychiatric problems, anti-thyroid effects, anaemia, elevated ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Raynaud’s phenomenon, Sjorgren’s syndrome, chronic diarrhoea, night sweats and low-grade fevers.”[xii]
Post Vaccination Follow-Up Might as Well Be Non-Existent
There is virtually no science to support the safety of vaccine injections on your long-term health or the health of your children. Follow-up studies last on average about two weeks, and look only for glaring injuries and illnesses.
Autoimmune disorders like those seen in Gulf War Syndrome frequently take years to diagnose due to the vagueness of early symptoms. Complaints like headaches, fatigue and chronic aches and pains are symptoms of many different illnesses and diseases.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for vaccine purveyors and proponents to look seriously at the long-term health consequences of their vaccination campaigns.
What You Can Do Right Now
Visit the National Vaccination Information Center (NVIC) site and join in the fight against mandatory swine flu vaccinations.
Educate yourself about influenza strains, vaccination risks, and the public health laws in your state that may require you or your children to undergo either mandatory vaccination or quarantine.
Take care of your health to reduce or eliminate your risk of contracting the flu. The key is to keep your immune system strong by following these guidelines:
* Eliminate sugar and processed foods from your diet. Sugar consumption has an immediate, debilitating effect on your immune system.
* Take a high quality source of animal-based omega 3 fats like Krill Oil.
* Exercise. Your immune system needs good circulation in order to perform at its best for you.
* Optimize your vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency is the likely cause of seasonal flu viruses. Getting an optimal level of vitamin D will help you fight infections of all kinds.
* Get plenty of good quality sleep.
* Deal with stress effectively. If you feel overwhelmed by stress, your body will not have the reserves it needs to fight infection.
* Wash your hands. But not with an antibacterial soap. Use a pure, chemical-free soap.
[i] USAToday.com, Swine flu shots may go to kids first, Sebelius says, June 16, 2009
[ii] ABC.net.au, Health minister reassures parents over swine flu, July 2, 2009
[iii] Google News, AFP, Australia urges calm after child flu death, July 2, 2009,
[iv] Meryl Nass, M.D., July 4, 2009
[v] Meryl Nass, M.D., July 3, 2009
[vi] Rense.com, Vaccines, Autism, and Gulf War Syndrome, August 15, 2005
[vii] The American Journal of Pathology, The Endogenous Adjuvant Squalene Can Induce a Chronic T-Cell-Mediated Arthritis in Rats, 2000
[viii] Vaccination Liberation, Adjuvant Index Page
[ix] Autoimmune Technologies, News Release: SQUALENE FOUND IN ANTHRAX VACCINE,
[x] Autoimmune Technologies, Gulf War Syndrome: ANTI-SQUALENE ANTIBODIES LINK GULF WAR SYNDROME TO ANTHRAX VACCINE
[xi] ScienceDirect.com, Experimental and Molecular Pathology, Volume 68, Issue 1, February 2000, Pages 55-64
[xii] Adverse Effects of Adjuvants in Vaccines, by Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., 2000
Related Links:
Adverse Effects Of Adjuvants In Vaccines
Mercury In Vaccines Was Replaced With Something Even MORE Toxic
Study Suggests Link Between Vaccines, Gulf War Illnesses
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Justice subverted: 7th session of MB leaders before military courts
Sunday, October 25,2009 22:46
Arab Commission for Human Rights
ARAB COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSION ARABE DES DROITS HUMAINS
Justice subverted: 7th session of MB leaders before military courts
Arab Commission has followed with grave concern the obstacles concerning the military tribunal of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood leaders in the renowned case known as No. 963 of 2006 Criminal Court registered at the Military Prosecutor General’s Office file No. 2 of 2007 in which 18 Egyptians are still serving harsh prison sentences.
The military tribunal is the first of its kind after the constitutional amendments of the Arab Commission for Human Rights were made. Nongovernmental organizations monitoring human rights abuses around the world, have regarded the tribunal as a serious setback to the constitution which stipulates in its charter the principle and guarantees of democratic rights and fundamental freedoms in Egypt.
Important international organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and regional organizations including the Arab Commission for Human Rights, Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, and Arabic Network for Human Rights Information) and Egyptian organizations such as the Hisham Mubarak Center, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights have all unanimously condemned the ruling of the Egyptian military court case No. 2 of 2007 against 40 Muslim Brotherhood leaders in which the ruling was issued on April 15, 2008. The court ruling is a breach of natural justice and the devoting of special courts for political issues reveal the absence of constitutional guarantees for defense in addition to the prevention of human International, Regional & National Human Rights to monitor the proceedings.
All human International, Regional & National Human Rights have stated that the absence of minimum guarantees defies international standards for fair trials where they emphasized that non-compliance with Article (68) of the provisions of the Egyptian Constitution in particular, is a flagrant violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as recognized by its article 14, which was ratified by Egypt in January 1982 and published in the Official Gazette in April 15, 1982, which states that “All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.” The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (the body created to monitor the implementation of the ACHPR), elaborated on these rights in its principles and guidelines on the right to a fair trial. “The only purpose of military courts shall be to determine offenses of a purely military nature committed by military personnel,” the African Commission wrote. “Military courts should not, in any circumstances whatsoever, have jurisdiction over civilians.” The Egyptian Constitution reveals in article 169, that “Sessions of courts shall be made in public, unless a court decides to hold them on camera, in consideration of public order or morality.”
Egypt’s Military tribunals are under the supervision of the administration of military justice as a part of the command structure of the armed forces by the law in which the military judges shall be appointed by a decree from the Minister of Defense, which means the absence of an independent judiciary. Moreover they are subject to the regulations laid down in the Military Service Act where military discipline and obedience to orders are the most important characteristics designed only for the armed forces officers only; stressing that such a blatant contradiction is not compatible with the requirements of judicial action.
The Military tribunals of opposition political activists and protesters are a powerful message from the authorities to the judicial power in Egypt at a time when judges are engaged in epic battles to prevent the political and security interference in the core of their work. The authority attempts to remind the judges, civil and political societies that it is the absolute master in all political trials. The authorities only are entitled to deciding whether the accused remains in custody or is granted. Furthermore, judges have been appointed by the ruling regime and the authority will then decide whether the prisoner will serve a long or short term sentence.
On December 14, 2006, pre-dawn raids were carried out by the SSI against prominent Muslim Brotherhood members. They were subsequently charged with belonging to a banned organization. With the purpose as stated at the time, was to disrupt the Constitution and attack personal freedoms of citizens. They were accused of using terrorism as a means to achieve their purposes. A host of fabricated accusations and charges of money laundering were brought by the Prosecution against MB leaders two weeks after the detentions as their houses were raided, businesses stalled and employees displaced.
On January 28, 2007, the Attorney General issued a decision ordering the confiscation of the finances of the defendants, spouses, and children preventing wives and children from having access to any of their finances including real estate, cash or assets. On January 29, 2007, the Cairo criminal Court (Circuit 16th, North Cairo) overruled the provisional detention of the State Security prosecution against the defendants and ordered their immediate release without bail. However, The Interior Minister did not comply with the decision where he issued a detention and under the Emergency Law pretext. President Mubarak, used his authority as military governor, ordering their referral to a military tribunal as he issued a Presidential Decree No. 40 of February 5, 2007 which was exploited well by the Interior Minister.
Despite this three different Criminal courts have issued decisions to release the defendants. However, court’s rulings were not complied with by the executive authority and the interior minister's decision was more powerful in this regard.
On April 26, 2007, the military tribunal was convened without the presence of the Brotherhood defense lawyers where many procedural errors were made before and during the court hearing. Court of Administrative Justice, led by Judge Mohammed al-Husseini on May 8, 2007 session ordered to
The discontinuance of the implementation of the Presidential Decree No. 40/ 2007 designed to refer civilians to military courts including (MB defendants in the renowned case known as No. 963/2006 against Eng. al-Shatir and his co-defendants) where there is a continuation of the civil court epic battle against the blatant executive interference.
Egypt’s court of appeals chaired by the late Sayed Nofal (who served as adviser to the President, has rejected the demands and refused to step down from looking into the appeal submitted by the defendants. Furthermore, he upheld the government’s appeal and neglected the Administrative Court’s ruling designed to halt the President's decree No. 40. These unprecedented and shameful acts aimed to demolish legal proceedings have not occurred in the history of contemporary Egyptian judiciary since Egypt’s independence. The continuation of the military tribunals despite the existence of litigation requires us to stop examining proceedings until the Supreme Constitutional Court judges offer a verdict in regards to the conflict. Consequently, the military tribunal on April 15, 2008 issued sentences against 25 detainees to jail terms ranging from three to ten years while acquitted 15 others.
The Military Court also sentenced five MB leaders to 10 years where six of the defendants are residing outside Egypt and have been sentenced in absentia; namely Youssef Nada, Ali Ghaleb Mahmoud, Fathi Al-Kholi, Youssef Tawfik, and Ibrahim Mohamed El Zayat. The military court hearings resulted in the sentencing of El-Shater and businessman Hasan Malik to a 7-year prison term and five other MB leaders namely Ahmed Shousha, Ahmed Abdel-Ati, Saber El-Sharkawi, Assaad Mohamed and Ahmed Abdul Warith while 13 others were sentenced to 3-year prison term namely they are Essam Hashish, Farid Galabat, Midhat al-Haddad, Dhia al-Din Farahat, Mustafa Salem, Ayman Abd al-Ghani, Mohammed Ali Bishr, Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, Essam Afifi, Mamdouh El-Husseini, Fathy Baghdadi, Salah Al- Desouki and Sayyed Maroof. In addition to these unjust and harsh sentences all their belongings and assets were confiscated.
How and when will the State Council’s enforce and implement provisions?
First: The decisions by the Supreme Administrative Court on January December 27, 2008, under which the Executive power refused to release 18 citizens placed in detention, pending investigation by police.
Second: The decision by Supreme Administrative Court on July 7, 2008, in which they refused to release 13 MB members who spent three quarters of their sentence.
The Arab Commission for Human Rights has long demanded that the Egyptian authorities stop illegal military tribunals and continued escalations and violations of the constitution against the military tribunal detainees, in which Egypt is obligated under international and African law. The ACHR has stated that political and security authorities must respect the Administrative Courts' Decisions. ACHR also demands the ending of injustices committed against the detainees by respecting the parole rule where 13 prisoners’ have served three quarters of their sentence rule where they are allowed the immediate release if behaviour is suitable. All Arab organizations and associations defending human rights view the detention of the MB leaders in Case No. 963/2006 Supreme State Security as a crime against freedom and demand their immediate release.
Arab Commission for Human Rights
ARAB COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSION ARABE DES DROITS HUMAINS
Justice subverted: 7th session of MB leaders before military courts
Arab Commission has followed with grave concern the obstacles concerning the military tribunal of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood leaders in the renowned case known as No. 963 of 2006 Criminal Court registered at the Military Prosecutor General’s Office file No. 2 of 2007 in which 18 Egyptians are still serving harsh prison sentences.
The military tribunal is the first of its kind after the constitutional amendments of the Arab Commission for Human Rights were made. Nongovernmental organizations monitoring human rights abuses around the world, have regarded the tribunal as a serious setback to the constitution which stipulates in its charter the principle and guarantees of democratic rights and fundamental freedoms in Egypt.
Important international organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and regional organizations including the Arab Commission for Human Rights, Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, and Arabic Network for Human Rights Information) and Egyptian organizations such as the Hisham Mubarak Center, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights have all unanimously condemned the ruling of the Egyptian military court case No. 2 of 2007 against 40 Muslim Brotherhood leaders in which the ruling was issued on April 15, 2008. The court ruling is a breach of natural justice and the devoting of special courts for political issues reveal the absence of constitutional guarantees for defense in addition to the prevention of human International, Regional & National Human Rights to monitor the proceedings.
All human International, Regional & National Human Rights have stated that the absence of minimum guarantees defies international standards for fair trials where they emphasized that non-compliance with Article (68) of the provisions of the Egyptian Constitution in particular, is a flagrant violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as recognized by its article 14, which was ratified by Egypt in January 1982 and published in the Official Gazette in April 15, 1982, which states that “All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.” The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (the body created to monitor the implementation of the ACHPR), elaborated on these rights in its principles and guidelines on the right to a fair trial. “The only purpose of military courts shall be to determine offenses of a purely military nature committed by military personnel,” the African Commission wrote. “Military courts should not, in any circumstances whatsoever, have jurisdiction over civilians.” The Egyptian Constitution reveals in article 169, that “Sessions of courts shall be made in public, unless a court decides to hold them on camera, in consideration of public order or morality.”
Egypt’s Military tribunals are under the supervision of the administration of military justice as a part of the command structure of the armed forces by the law in which the military judges shall be appointed by a decree from the Minister of Defense, which means the absence of an independent judiciary. Moreover they are subject to the regulations laid down in the Military Service Act where military discipline and obedience to orders are the most important characteristics designed only for the armed forces officers only; stressing that such a blatant contradiction is not compatible with the requirements of judicial action.
The Military tribunals of opposition political activists and protesters are a powerful message from the authorities to the judicial power in Egypt at a time when judges are engaged in epic battles to prevent the political and security interference in the core of their work. The authority attempts to remind the judges, civil and political societies that it is the absolute master in all political trials. The authorities only are entitled to deciding whether the accused remains in custody or is granted. Furthermore, judges have been appointed by the ruling regime and the authority will then decide whether the prisoner will serve a long or short term sentence.
On December 14, 2006, pre-dawn raids were carried out by the SSI against prominent Muslim Brotherhood members. They were subsequently charged with belonging to a banned organization. With the purpose as stated at the time, was to disrupt the Constitution and attack personal freedoms of citizens. They were accused of using terrorism as a means to achieve their purposes. A host of fabricated accusations and charges of money laundering were brought by the Prosecution against MB leaders two weeks after the detentions as their houses were raided, businesses stalled and employees displaced.
On January 28, 2007, the Attorney General issued a decision ordering the confiscation of the finances of the defendants, spouses, and children preventing wives and children from having access to any of their finances including real estate, cash or assets. On January 29, 2007, the Cairo criminal Court (Circuit 16th, North Cairo) overruled the provisional detention of the State Security prosecution against the defendants and ordered their immediate release without bail. However, The Interior Minister did not comply with the decision where he issued a detention and under the Emergency Law pretext. President Mubarak, used his authority as military governor, ordering their referral to a military tribunal as he issued a Presidential Decree No. 40 of February 5, 2007 which was exploited well by the Interior Minister.
Despite this three different Criminal courts have issued decisions to release the defendants. However, court’s rulings were not complied with by the executive authority and the interior minister's decision was more powerful in this regard.
On April 26, 2007, the military tribunal was convened without the presence of the Brotherhood defense lawyers where many procedural errors were made before and during the court hearing. Court of Administrative Justice, led by Judge Mohammed al-Husseini on May 8, 2007 session ordered to
The discontinuance of the implementation of the Presidential Decree No. 40/ 2007 designed to refer civilians to military courts including (MB defendants in the renowned case known as No. 963/2006 against Eng. al-Shatir and his co-defendants) where there is a continuation of the civil court epic battle against the blatant executive interference.
Egypt’s court of appeals chaired by the late Sayed Nofal (who served as adviser to the President, has rejected the demands and refused to step down from looking into the appeal submitted by the defendants. Furthermore, he upheld the government’s appeal and neglected the Administrative Court’s ruling designed to halt the President's decree No. 40. These unprecedented and shameful acts aimed to demolish legal proceedings have not occurred in the history of contemporary Egyptian judiciary since Egypt’s independence. The continuation of the military tribunals despite the existence of litigation requires us to stop examining proceedings until the Supreme Constitutional Court judges offer a verdict in regards to the conflict. Consequently, the military tribunal on April 15, 2008 issued sentences against 25 detainees to jail terms ranging from three to ten years while acquitted 15 others.
The Military Court also sentenced five MB leaders to 10 years where six of the defendants are residing outside Egypt and have been sentenced in absentia; namely Youssef Nada, Ali Ghaleb Mahmoud, Fathi Al-Kholi, Youssef Tawfik, and Ibrahim Mohamed El Zayat. The military court hearings resulted in the sentencing of El-Shater and businessman Hasan Malik to a 7-year prison term and five other MB leaders namely Ahmed Shousha, Ahmed Abdel-Ati, Saber El-Sharkawi, Assaad Mohamed and Ahmed Abdul Warith while 13 others were sentenced to 3-year prison term namely they are Essam Hashish, Farid Galabat, Midhat al-Haddad, Dhia al-Din Farahat, Mustafa Salem, Ayman Abd al-Ghani, Mohammed Ali Bishr, Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, Essam Afifi, Mamdouh El-Husseini, Fathy Baghdadi, Salah Al- Desouki and Sayyed Maroof. In addition to these unjust and harsh sentences all their belongings and assets were confiscated.
How and when will the State Council’s enforce and implement provisions?
First: The decisions by the Supreme Administrative Court on January December 27, 2008, under which the Executive power refused to release 18 citizens placed in detention, pending investigation by police.
Second: The decision by Supreme Administrative Court on July 7, 2008, in which they refused to release 13 MB members who spent three quarters of their sentence.
The Arab Commission for Human Rights has long demanded that the Egyptian authorities stop illegal military tribunals and continued escalations and violations of the constitution against the military tribunal detainees, in which Egypt is obligated under international and African law. The ACHR has stated that political and security authorities must respect the Administrative Courts' Decisions. ACHR also demands the ending of injustices committed against the detainees by respecting the parole rule where 13 prisoners’ have served three quarters of their sentence rule where they are allowed the immediate release if behaviour is suitable. All Arab organizations and associations defending human rights view the detention of the MB leaders in Case No. 963/2006 Supreme State Security as a crime against freedom and demand their immediate release.
Taliban Chief Blames Blackwater for Peshawar Blast
OutlookIndia
October 29, 2009
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has claimed that the controversial American security firm Blackwater was behind the deadly bomb attack on a market in Peshawar that killed over 100 people.
Hakimullah questioned why the Taliban should target the public when it was capable of carrying out attacks in Islamabad and targeting the army's General Headquarters.
In an interview with BBC Urdu, he claimed Blackwater and "Pakistani agencies" were involved in attacks in public places to discredit the militants.
A powerful car bomb exploded at a crowded market in Peshawar yesterday, killing more than 100 and injuring 200 more. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had earlier said it was behind an attack on the army's headquarters earlier this month.
About 15 people were killed during that attack. A group of militants took nearly 50 people hostage before they were gunned down or blew themselves up.
Reports in the Pakistani media have claimed that Blackwater has established a presence in the country by tying up with local security firms but these allegations have been rejected by the US administration.
When Hakimullah was asked about the perception among people that militants are involved in attacks on public places, he said: "Our war is against the government and the security forces and not against the people. We are not involved in blasts."
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, who was present along with Hakimullah, warned that the militants could target media organisations that are "defaming" the Taliban.
North West Frontier Province Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas have blamed militants for the blast in Peshawar.
They said militants are targeting the people because they are facing defeat in South Waziristan tribal region, where the army has launched a major ground offensive.
October 29, 2009
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has claimed that the controversial American security firm Blackwater was behind the deadly bomb attack on a market in Peshawar that killed over 100 people.
Hakimullah questioned why the Taliban should target the public when it was capable of carrying out attacks in Islamabad and targeting the army's General Headquarters.
In an interview with BBC Urdu, he claimed Blackwater and "Pakistani agencies" were involved in attacks in public places to discredit the militants.
A powerful car bomb exploded at a crowded market in Peshawar yesterday, killing more than 100 and injuring 200 more. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had earlier said it was behind an attack on the army's headquarters earlier this month.
About 15 people were killed during that attack. A group of militants took nearly 50 people hostage before they were gunned down or blew themselves up.
Reports in the Pakistani media have claimed that Blackwater has established a presence in the country by tying up with local security firms but these allegations have been rejected by the US administration.
When Hakimullah was asked about the perception among people that militants are involved in attacks on public places, he said: "Our war is against the government and the security forces and not against the people. We are not involved in blasts."
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, who was present along with Hakimullah, warned that the militants could target media organisations that are "defaming" the Taliban.
North West Frontier Province Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas have blamed militants for the blast in Peshawar.
They said militants are targeting the people because they are facing defeat in South Waziristan tribal region, where the army has launched a major ground offensive.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Arrogant US Misses the Message From Pakistan’s People
William Pfaff
October 29, 2009
There has always been in American foreign policy circles a virus called arrogance, caused by the hereditary assumption that Americans know better than others. Surprisingly, this does not always prove the case, but the condition seems highly resistant to treatment, even by experience.
There seems a high probability that the disease has struck Obama administration policy circles dealing with Pakistan. (We will leave aside the case of American relations with Afghanistan.) This administration came to office with a conviction that the Afghanistan problem is a problem because it actually is a Pakistan problem, Pakistan being a large country possessing nuclear weapons and a great many Pashtuns, who are the people from whom Taliban are recruited.
Afghanistan is a country with one-sixth Pakistan’s population, with a great many Pashtuns, too, harboring only a 100 or so members of al-Qaeda (if we are to believe the American national security adviser, Gen. James Jones), whereas popular opinion in Washington is that Pakistan is rife with them, and the country is on its way to becoming a "breeding ground" for terrorists who wish to invade the West, blow it up with nuclear weapons obtained from Pakistani stocks, and establish a new global terrorist caliphate amidst the ruins.
It is unknown whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, visiting Pakistan this week, shares so alarmed a view, but she will hear a lot about the damage American pressures are doing to Pakistan and how fearful the Pakistani populace is, not of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but of the United States.
According to a New York Times article this week, from Jane Perlez in Islamabad, the new fighting there against Islamists "has pleased the Americans, but it left large parts of Pakistan under siege, as militants once sequestered in the country’s tribal areas take their war to Pakistan’s cities. Many Pakistanis blame the United States for the country’s rising instability."
A recent and serious poll found that 11 percent of the Pakistani respondents said that al-Qaeda is the greatest threat to Pakistan today, 18 percent said India, and 59 percent said the United States. This was in August, before the most recent offensives of the Pakistani army against the Islamists in Waziristan and the Swat Valley, and the retaliatory city bombings that subsequently have taken place.
A vocal part of the Pakistani population clearly doesn’t want the United States in their country, and it doesn’t even want the aid the United States is sending. A notorious fact in the past has been that civilian and popular opposition to the U.S. was based on the assumption that American aid was meant to keep military governments in place and buy military cooperation with American policy.
This time, it’s the army that doesn’t want the $7.5 billion aid package that the Obama administration has put together; the aid is denounced as meant to interfere in the country’s internal affairs – as indeed it is.
The civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari, generally thought put in place by Washington, "is seen as slavishly pro-American [as well] as unable to cope" with the current situation (I am again quoting Jane Perlez). The country’s interior minister was hit with stones by students when he visited the International Islamic University last week, and in retaliation the government closed all the schools and universities in Punjab, the most populous province (supposed to reopen Monday, Oct. 26), "a move that affected Pakistani families like never before."
To judge from the public statements of Obama counselors, Pakistan is seen as the great danger in the region, with erratic politics and nuclear weapons – and an active Islamist revolt thereby having the potential to create (according to Obama’s adviser Bruce Riedel) "the most serious threat to the United States since the end of the Cold War."
This would seem why the U.S. wants a government under its thumb to compel the army to fight the Islamists on their home territory even if this alienates the army and sows hatred of America. Is it not possible to allow Pakistan, which has a solid civil service and an excellent army, to act in defense of its own security rather than let the U.S. impose its own ideas?
Is it not imaginable that they know better than the Americans? Would Americans appreciate a Pakistani army installed in Washington, instructing the United States in how to conduct its own foreign policy in ways that suit Pakistan’s national interests?
October 29, 2009
There has always been in American foreign policy circles a virus called arrogance, caused by the hereditary assumption that Americans know better than others. Surprisingly, this does not always prove the case, but the condition seems highly resistant to treatment, even by experience.
There seems a high probability that the disease has struck Obama administration policy circles dealing with Pakistan. (We will leave aside the case of American relations with Afghanistan.) This administration came to office with a conviction that the Afghanistan problem is a problem because it actually is a Pakistan problem, Pakistan being a large country possessing nuclear weapons and a great many Pashtuns, who are the people from whom Taliban are recruited.
Afghanistan is a country with one-sixth Pakistan’s population, with a great many Pashtuns, too, harboring only a 100 or so members of al-Qaeda (if we are to believe the American national security adviser, Gen. James Jones), whereas popular opinion in Washington is that Pakistan is rife with them, and the country is on its way to becoming a "breeding ground" for terrorists who wish to invade the West, blow it up with nuclear weapons obtained from Pakistani stocks, and establish a new global terrorist caliphate amidst the ruins.
It is unknown whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, visiting Pakistan this week, shares so alarmed a view, but she will hear a lot about the damage American pressures are doing to Pakistan and how fearful the Pakistani populace is, not of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but of the United States.
According to a New York Times article this week, from Jane Perlez in Islamabad, the new fighting there against Islamists "has pleased the Americans, but it left large parts of Pakistan under siege, as militants once sequestered in the country’s tribal areas take their war to Pakistan’s cities. Many Pakistanis blame the United States for the country’s rising instability."
A recent and serious poll found that 11 percent of the Pakistani respondents said that al-Qaeda is the greatest threat to Pakistan today, 18 percent said India, and 59 percent said the United States. This was in August, before the most recent offensives of the Pakistani army against the Islamists in Waziristan and the Swat Valley, and the retaliatory city bombings that subsequently have taken place.
A vocal part of the Pakistani population clearly doesn’t want the United States in their country, and it doesn’t even want the aid the United States is sending. A notorious fact in the past has been that civilian and popular opposition to the U.S. was based on the assumption that American aid was meant to keep military governments in place and buy military cooperation with American policy.
This time, it’s the army that doesn’t want the $7.5 billion aid package that the Obama administration has put together; the aid is denounced as meant to interfere in the country’s internal affairs – as indeed it is.
The civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari, generally thought put in place by Washington, "is seen as slavishly pro-American [as well] as unable to cope" with the current situation (I am again quoting Jane Perlez). The country’s interior minister was hit with stones by students when he visited the International Islamic University last week, and in retaliation the government closed all the schools and universities in Punjab, the most populous province (supposed to reopen Monday, Oct. 26), "a move that affected Pakistani families like never before."
To judge from the public statements of Obama counselors, Pakistan is seen as the great danger in the region, with erratic politics and nuclear weapons – and an active Islamist revolt thereby having the potential to create (according to Obama’s adviser Bruce Riedel) "the most serious threat to the United States since the end of the Cold War."
This would seem why the U.S. wants a government under its thumb to compel the army to fight the Islamists on their home territory even if this alienates the army and sows hatred of America. Is it not possible to allow Pakistan, which has a solid civil service and an excellent army, to act in defense of its own security rather than let the U.S. impose its own ideas?
Is it not imaginable that they know better than the Americans? Would Americans appreciate a Pakistani army installed in Washington, instructing the United States in how to conduct its own foreign policy in ways that suit Pakistan’s national interests?
Taliban denies Peshawar blast role
Aljazeera.net
October 29, 2009
The Taliban and al-Qaeda have distanced themselves from Wednesday's deadly market blast in Peshawar that claimed 105 lives, saying "their main targets are the security forces, and not innocent civilians".
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in a statement sent to the media on Thursday, condemned the car bomb attack that tore through a crowded market and denied any involvement in the explosion.
However, Pakistani government officials have said the attack was in revenge for the army's offensive against Taliban fighters in South Waziristan, and that the military campaign would go on.
The attack on the busy Mina Bazaar, which also injured more than 200 people, was the deadliest to hit Pakistan this year.
Many of those killed were women and children and on Thursday, residents of the troubled city began burying the dead.
'Rogue elements'
Lieutenant-General Asad Durrani, the former head of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI), told Al Jazeera the current situation in the country was grim and that it could take years for the situation to be brought under control.
Durrani said that rising civilian casualties were also eroding the support for the anti-government groups.
"The most dangerous category of groups are the so-called rogue elements, their agenda is neither Afghanistan-oriented nor Pakistan. They carry out certain acts and atrocities which makes the situation even more complex," he said.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's high commissioner to the UK, told Al Jazeera: "The Taliban are losing the war, losing history. And while doing that they will kill as many as they would like to.
"But I can tell you, as our foreign minister said, we'll not buckle down. We fight them and we'll destroy them."
Clinton visit
The attack came as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, touched down in Islamabad for talks with government officials.
Speaking in the Pakistani capital, she expressed her support for the military's offensive against the Taliban and pledging continued US assistance.
The blast hit a crowded market in the
old part of the city [AFP]
"These extremists are committed to destroying that which is dear to us, as much as they are committed to destroying that which is dear to you, and to all people," Clinton said.
"So this is our struggle as well, and we commend the Pakistani military for their courageous fight, and we commit to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani people in your fight for peace and security."
Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad, said officials had told him that a car drove into a narrow and packed market place before exploding.
"The bomb disposal squad are at the location and are looking for clues as to what type of explosive was used," he said.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, condemned the "appalling bomb attack".
"I want to express my outrage at the loss of so many innocent lives," he told a news conference in New York.
The blast comes as Pakistan's military is fighting members of the TTP in the country's semi-autonomous tribal region of South Waziristan.
The military launched its offensive nearly two weeks ago, pitting about 30,000 Pakistani troops against an estimated 10 to 12,000 Taliban fighters in South Waziristan.
'Reckless acts'
Tariq Azeem Khan, a Pakistani senator and a former minister of state for information, told Al Jazeera that the attack showed the Taliban were becoming "reckless" in their choice of targets.
"There's very little the government can do to try to protect every single shopping mall. It's a difficult task, but they are doing their best. Pakistan is paying a very high price at the moment.
Since the South Waziristan assault began, the military says it has killed at least 231 fighters, and lost 29 soldiers.
However, independent figures are impossible to come by as journalists and aid agencies are barred from the conflict zone.
More than 125,000 people have been registered as displaced by Pakistan's offensive since October 13, United Nations officials have said.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has said that humanitarian access to people in need remains the key challenge for agencies, given the volatile security environment in the displacement areas.
The military has given no figures for civilian casualties, but those fleeing say many people caught in the crossfire have been killed.
October 29, 2009
The Taliban and al-Qaeda have distanced themselves from Wednesday's deadly market blast in Peshawar that claimed 105 lives, saying "their main targets are the security forces, and not innocent civilians".
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in a statement sent to the media on Thursday, condemned the car bomb attack that tore through a crowded market and denied any involvement in the explosion.
However, Pakistani government officials have said the attack was in revenge for the army's offensive against Taliban fighters in South Waziristan, and that the military campaign would go on.
The attack on the busy Mina Bazaar, which also injured more than 200 people, was the deadliest to hit Pakistan this year.
Many of those killed were women and children and on Thursday, residents of the troubled city began burying the dead.
'Rogue elements'
Lieutenant-General Asad Durrani, the former head of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI), told Al Jazeera the current situation in the country was grim and that it could take years for the situation to be brought under control.
Durrani said that rising civilian casualties were also eroding the support for the anti-government groups.
"The most dangerous category of groups are the so-called rogue elements, their agenda is neither Afghanistan-oriented nor Pakistan. They carry out certain acts and atrocities which makes the situation even more complex," he said.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's high commissioner to the UK, told Al Jazeera: "The Taliban are losing the war, losing history. And while doing that they will kill as many as they would like to.
"But I can tell you, as our foreign minister said, we'll not buckle down. We fight them and we'll destroy them."
Clinton visit
The attack came as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, touched down in Islamabad for talks with government officials.
Speaking in the Pakistani capital, she expressed her support for the military's offensive against the Taliban and pledging continued US assistance.
The blast hit a crowded market in the
old part of the city [AFP]
"These extremists are committed to destroying that which is dear to us, as much as they are committed to destroying that which is dear to you, and to all people," Clinton said.
"So this is our struggle as well, and we commend the Pakistani military for their courageous fight, and we commit to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani people in your fight for peace and security."
Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad, said officials had told him that a car drove into a narrow and packed market place before exploding.
"The bomb disposal squad are at the location and are looking for clues as to what type of explosive was used," he said.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, condemned the "appalling bomb attack".
"I want to express my outrage at the loss of so many innocent lives," he told a news conference in New York.
The blast comes as Pakistan's military is fighting members of the TTP in the country's semi-autonomous tribal region of South Waziristan.
The military launched its offensive nearly two weeks ago, pitting about 30,000 Pakistani troops against an estimated 10 to 12,000 Taliban fighters in South Waziristan.
'Reckless acts'
Tariq Azeem Khan, a Pakistani senator and a former minister of state for information, told Al Jazeera that the attack showed the Taliban were becoming "reckless" in their choice of targets.
"There's very little the government can do to try to protect every single shopping mall. It's a difficult task, but they are doing their best. Pakistan is paying a very high price at the moment.
Since the South Waziristan assault began, the military says it has killed at least 231 fighters, and lost 29 soldiers.
However, independent figures are impossible to come by as journalists and aid agencies are barred from the conflict zone.
More than 125,000 people have been registered as displaced by Pakistan's offensive since October 13, United Nations officials have said.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has said that humanitarian access to people in need remains the key challenge for agencies, given the volatile security environment in the displacement areas.
The military has given no figures for civilian casualties, but those fleeing say many people caught in the crossfire have been killed.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sufism and the Revival of the Ummah
Monday, 15 June 2009 19:04
Hassan Abdullah
Zardari's regime, announced on 7th June 2009 that it was setting up a 7-member ‘Sufi Advisory Council' (SAC) with the aim of combating extremism and fanaticism by spreading Sufism in the country. Many in the west have made it no secret that they see Sufism as a way to promote western interests and values within the Muslim world. In the 2005 RAND Report - Civil Democratic Islam, it states as a part of the west's strategy to ‘Assertively Promote the Values of Western Democratic Modernity: ‘Build up the stature of Sufism. Encourage countries with strong Sufi traditions to focus on that part of their history and to include it in their school curricula. Pay more attention to Sufi Islam.'
In Uzbekistan where the oppression and torture of Muslims tops the charts, the government is also encouraging Sufism. The Keston News Service reported back in 2002 that the Uzbek regime is: ‘using Sufism as a distinctive counterweight to those Muslims who are independent of the authorities, the so-called Wahhabis (the name given in Central Asia to Islamic fundamentalist groups, which often have little in common with the Islam that predominates in Saudi Arabia) and the international Islamic party Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which campaigns for the unification of Muslims throughout the world into a single caliphate.'
It should come as no surprise then that whilst NATO which is currently occupying Afghanistan should invite the Sufi Muslim Council based in the UK to its headquarters to "have a look around," and the Pakistan government should establish a Sufi Advisory Council in the midst of its war in Swat.
Although the west sees Sufism as a partner in their attempts to suppress and reform Islam, if we look back to Islamic history we see a very different picture of Sufism to that being painted by the west and its allies in the Muslim regimes.
What is Sufism?
Imam Abu Hanifa (85 H. - 150 H) said: "If it were not for two years, I would have perished." He said, "for two years I accompanied Sayyidina Ja'far as-Sadiq and I acquired the spiritual knowledge that made me a Sufi in the Way." [Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, vol 1. p. 43]
Imam Malik (95 H. - 179 H.) said: "Whoever studies Jurisprudence / Fiqh [tafaqaha] and didn't study Sufism [tasawwaf] will be corrupted; and whoever studied Sufism and didn't study Jurisprudence will become a heretic; and whoever combined both will reach the Truth." ['Ali al-Adawi , vol. 2, p 195]
Imam Shafi'i (150 - 205 AH.) said: "I accompanied the Sufi people and I received from them three strands of knowledge: ...how to speak; how to treat people with leniency and a soft heart... and they... guided me in the ways of Sufism." [Kashf al-Khafa, 'Ajluni, vol. 1, p 341.]
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (164 - 241 AH.) the said: "O my son, you have to sit with the People of Sufism, because they are like a fountain of knowledge and they keep the Remembrance of Allah in their hearts. they are the ascetics and they have the most spiritual power." [Tanwir al-Qulub p. 405]
The above four Imams are the founders of the four universally accepted schools of law (mazhabs, or maslaqs).
Imam Nawawi, the famous Shafi'i scholar states in his al-Maqasid:
"The way of Sufism is based on five principles:
1. having godfearingness privately and publicly,
2. living according to the sunna in word and deed,
3. indifference to whether others accept or reject one,
4. satisfaction with Allah Most High when in scarcity and when you have plenty
5. and returning to Allah in happiness or affliction.
The principles of treating the illnesses of the soul are also five:
1. lightening the stomach by diminishing one's (excessiveness) in food and drink,
2. taking refuge in Allah Most High from the unforeseen when it befalls,
3. shunning situations that involve what one fears to fall victim to,
4. continually asking for Allah's forgiveness and His blessings upon the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم night and day with full presence of mind,
5. and keeping the company of him who guides one to Allah."
These principles outlined by Imam Nawawi do not in any way lead themselves to supporting and aiding western foreign policy interests. Moreover having godfearingness privately and publicly, and living according to the sunna in word and deed means that Muslims cannot remain silent against the oppressive regimes ruling over Muslims today such as in Uzbekistan, or supporting western foreign policy.
Sufism in Islamic History
Looking back to some of the famous Sufi scholars in Islamic history we see they were are at the forefront of enjoining good and forbidding evil, jihad and working against oppression.
Imam Ghazali is renowned for his works on refuting the incorrect philosophical thoughts that had penetrated the Muslim Ummah in his time. He also differentiated between the legitimate and illegitimate Sufi practices and worked to cleanse the Ummah of those incorrect Sufi practices that existed.
Throughout history Sufi's have been pivotal in Islamic reform and Jihad. It was Yusuf bin Tashfin the Berber and his Murabiteen Sufi movements of North West Africa in the name of the Khaleefah in Baghdad that launched the Jihad against the crusaders in Spain, and defeated them. When the Muslim rulers in Spain divided themselves and effectively split from the Khilafah, dividing the Ummah again it was Yusuf bin Tashfin under guidance from the great Sufi Imam Ghazali, with his Sufi Murabiteen movements, that dethroned these corrupt rulers by war in 1094, asserting the need for the rule of the Shariah and unity with the Khilafah.
In an almost identical fashion to the initial Murabiteen movement, inspired by great Sufi jurists and Faqihs like Imam Ghazali, the al-Muwahhidun Sufi movements came a couple of centuries later in North Africa, dethroning the by now declined namesake Murabiteen family, and again calling for the stricter application of Shariah.
Shah Wali Allah (1703-1762), a well-known Sufi scholar, and political activist in India is known to have written letters to Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani, as well as prominent local Muslim rulers urging them to cooperate with Durrani in undertaking a jihad against the (Hindu) Marathas and Jats, to establish the Shariah in India. Shah Wali Allah was thus not only an inspiration for Durrani's invasions of 1756-57 and 1760-61, he was also responsible for helping to organize a unity of Muslim powers against the (Hindu) Marathas in Northern India.
Also famous is the anti-Russian jihad of the Naqshbandi Sufi Sheikh Mansur Ushurma. Following his destruction of an entire Russian brigade during the battle of the Sunzha River in 1785, Sheikh Mansur: "...called the mountaineers to holy war against the encroaching infidels and for some years unified practically the whole of North Caucasus, from the Chechen territory in the west to the Kumyk steppes in the east. His appeal-at least what we know of it-sounds very much like the appeals to jihad by Naqshbandi murshids [masters; leaders of Sufi Brotherhoods] of later date..."
From this watershed late 18th century jihad, through to the present era, the Naqshbandi tariqah [Brotherhood] has played a critical role defending Muslims, in the face of encroachments by both Czarist and Soviet Russia. It can said that the nearly fifty-year-long [19th century] Caucasian wars made an important contribution to the material and moral ruin of the Tsarist empire and hastened the downfall of the Romanov monarchy. During the violence of the communist revolutionary years of 1917-1921, the Sufi brotherhoods, especially the Naqshbandiya, once again played a pivotal role. Their ultimate goals in resisting the Communists were to establish the Shariah.
Naqshbandi Sheikh, Uzun Haji, one of the leaders of the brotherhood said: "If so God wills, we shall construct a Shari'ah government, for in a Muslim land there can be no republic. Were we to accept a republic, we would thereby renounce the Khilafah, which would be paramount of renouncing the Prophet and finally God himself" [Excerpts from: "Mystics and Commmissars: Sufism in the Soviet Union" X, Alexandre Bennigsen and S. Enders Wimbush,C. Hurst and Company, London, 1985]
The Ottomans were also heavily influenced by the Sufi Mawlawīyah order established by followers of the famous Sufi scholar Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī in the 13th century. Many members of this order served in various official positions of the Ottoman State.
Conclusion
Western foreign policy pundits are desperately employing various styles and means in their strategy to reform Islam and create a ‘new' secular Islam similar to what happened to Christianity during the ‘Reformation' period. Much of this campaign is aimed at rewriting Muslim history and attempting to portray modernist interpretations of Islam as well-established Islamic traditions. Those Muslims working to revive Islam according to an independent Islamic agenda what the west calls ‘extremists' or ‘Islamists' are portrayed as innovators whose ideas have no basis in Islamic tradition and history. Rewriting Sufism is one example of this.
The way to determine the correct Islamic position on any topic is to always keep in mind two things. Firstly, the attitude of the leaders of the kuffar (disbelievers) towards Islam, and secondly what the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم told us would keep us safe from going astray.
The attitude of the leaders of the kuffar towards Islam is very clear. They have one objective in attempting to reform Islam which is to extinguish the light of Allah.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:
يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِؤُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ
"They wish to put Allah's light out with their mouths. But He will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers hate it." [As-Saff, 61:8]
On the authority of Abu Najih Al-Erbadh bin Sariah, who said: The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم gave us a sermon by which our hearts were filled with fear and tears came to our eyes. We said: "O Messenger of Allah, it is as though this is a farewell sermon, so counsel us." He صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "I counsel you to fear Allah and to give absolute obedience even if a slave becomes your leader. Verily he among you who lives [long] will see great controversy, so you must keep to my sunnah and to the sunnah of the rightly-guided Khalifahs - cling to them stubbornly. Beware of newly invented matters, for every invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is a going astray, and every going astray is in Hell-fire." [Abu Dawud and Al-Tirmidhi]
Hassan Abdullah
Zardari's regime, announced on 7th June 2009 that it was setting up a 7-member ‘Sufi Advisory Council' (SAC) with the aim of combating extremism and fanaticism by spreading Sufism in the country. Many in the west have made it no secret that they see Sufism as a way to promote western interests and values within the Muslim world. In the 2005 RAND Report - Civil Democratic Islam, it states as a part of the west's strategy to ‘Assertively Promote the Values of Western Democratic Modernity: ‘Build up the stature of Sufism. Encourage countries with strong Sufi traditions to focus on that part of their history and to include it in their school curricula. Pay more attention to Sufi Islam.'
In Uzbekistan where the oppression and torture of Muslims tops the charts, the government is also encouraging Sufism. The Keston News Service reported back in 2002 that the Uzbek regime is: ‘using Sufism as a distinctive counterweight to those Muslims who are independent of the authorities, the so-called Wahhabis (the name given in Central Asia to Islamic fundamentalist groups, which often have little in common with the Islam that predominates in Saudi Arabia) and the international Islamic party Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which campaigns for the unification of Muslims throughout the world into a single caliphate.'
It should come as no surprise then that whilst NATO which is currently occupying Afghanistan should invite the Sufi Muslim Council based in the UK to its headquarters to "have a look around," and the Pakistan government should establish a Sufi Advisory Council in the midst of its war in Swat.
Although the west sees Sufism as a partner in their attempts to suppress and reform Islam, if we look back to Islamic history we see a very different picture of Sufism to that being painted by the west and its allies in the Muslim regimes.
What is Sufism?
Imam Abu Hanifa (85 H. - 150 H) said: "If it were not for two years, I would have perished." He said, "for two years I accompanied Sayyidina Ja'far as-Sadiq and I acquired the spiritual knowledge that made me a Sufi in the Way." [Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, vol 1. p. 43]
Imam Malik (95 H. - 179 H.) said: "Whoever studies Jurisprudence / Fiqh [tafaqaha] and didn't study Sufism [tasawwaf] will be corrupted; and whoever studied Sufism and didn't study Jurisprudence will become a heretic; and whoever combined both will reach the Truth." ['Ali al-Adawi , vol. 2, p 195]
Imam Shafi'i (150 - 205 AH.) said: "I accompanied the Sufi people and I received from them three strands of knowledge: ...how to speak; how to treat people with leniency and a soft heart... and they... guided me in the ways of Sufism." [Kashf al-Khafa, 'Ajluni, vol. 1, p 341.]
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (164 - 241 AH.) the said: "O my son, you have to sit with the People of Sufism, because they are like a fountain of knowledge and they keep the Remembrance of Allah in their hearts. they are the ascetics and they have the most spiritual power." [Tanwir al-Qulub p. 405]
The above four Imams are the founders of the four universally accepted schools of law (mazhabs, or maslaqs).
Imam Nawawi, the famous Shafi'i scholar states in his al-Maqasid:
"The way of Sufism is based on five principles:
1. having godfearingness privately and publicly,
2. living according to the sunna in word and deed,
3. indifference to whether others accept or reject one,
4. satisfaction with Allah Most High when in scarcity and when you have plenty
5. and returning to Allah in happiness or affliction.
The principles of treating the illnesses of the soul are also five:
1. lightening the stomach by diminishing one's (excessiveness) in food and drink,
2. taking refuge in Allah Most High from the unforeseen when it befalls,
3. shunning situations that involve what one fears to fall victim to,
4. continually asking for Allah's forgiveness and His blessings upon the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم night and day with full presence of mind,
5. and keeping the company of him who guides one to Allah."
These principles outlined by Imam Nawawi do not in any way lead themselves to supporting and aiding western foreign policy interests. Moreover having godfearingness privately and publicly, and living according to the sunna in word and deed means that Muslims cannot remain silent against the oppressive regimes ruling over Muslims today such as in Uzbekistan, or supporting western foreign policy.
Sufism in Islamic History
Looking back to some of the famous Sufi scholars in Islamic history we see they were are at the forefront of enjoining good and forbidding evil, jihad and working against oppression.
Imam Ghazali is renowned for his works on refuting the incorrect philosophical thoughts that had penetrated the Muslim Ummah in his time. He also differentiated between the legitimate and illegitimate Sufi practices and worked to cleanse the Ummah of those incorrect Sufi practices that existed.
Throughout history Sufi's have been pivotal in Islamic reform and Jihad. It was Yusuf bin Tashfin the Berber and his Murabiteen Sufi movements of North West Africa in the name of the Khaleefah in Baghdad that launched the Jihad against the crusaders in Spain, and defeated them. When the Muslim rulers in Spain divided themselves and effectively split from the Khilafah, dividing the Ummah again it was Yusuf bin Tashfin under guidance from the great Sufi Imam Ghazali, with his Sufi Murabiteen movements, that dethroned these corrupt rulers by war in 1094, asserting the need for the rule of the Shariah and unity with the Khilafah.
In an almost identical fashion to the initial Murabiteen movement, inspired by great Sufi jurists and Faqihs like Imam Ghazali, the al-Muwahhidun Sufi movements came a couple of centuries later in North Africa, dethroning the by now declined namesake Murabiteen family, and again calling for the stricter application of Shariah.
Shah Wali Allah (1703-1762), a well-known Sufi scholar, and political activist in India is known to have written letters to Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani, as well as prominent local Muslim rulers urging them to cooperate with Durrani in undertaking a jihad against the (Hindu) Marathas and Jats, to establish the Shariah in India. Shah Wali Allah was thus not only an inspiration for Durrani's invasions of 1756-57 and 1760-61, he was also responsible for helping to organize a unity of Muslim powers against the (Hindu) Marathas in Northern India.
Also famous is the anti-Russian jihad of the Naqshbandi Sufi Sheikh Mansur Ushurma. Following his destruction of an entire Russian brigade during the battle of the Sunzha River in 1785, Sheikh Mansur: "...called the mountaineers to holy war against the encroaching infidels and for some years unified practically the whole of North Caucasus, from the Chechen territory in the west to the Kumyk steppes in the east. His appeal-at least what we know of it-sounds very much like the appeals to jihad by Naqshbandi murshids [masters; leaders of Sufi Brotherhoods] of later date..."
From this watershed late 18th century jihad, through to the present era, the Naqshbandi tariqah [Brotherhood] has played a critical role defending Muslims, in the face of encroachments by both Czarist and Soviet Russia. It can said that the nearly fifty-year-long [19th century] Caucasian wars made an important contribution to the material and moral ruin of the Tsarist empire and hastened the downfall of the Romanov monarchy. During the violence of the communist revolutionary years of 1917-1921, the Sufi brotherhoods, especially the Naqshbandiya, once again played a pivotal role. Their ultimate goals in resisting the Communists were to establish the Shariah.
Naqshbandi Sheikh, Uzun Haji, one of the leaders of the brotherhood said: "If so God wills, we shall construct a Shari'ah government, for in a Muslim land there can be no republic. Were we to accept a republic, we would thereby renounce the Khilafah, which would be paramount of renouncing the Prophet and finally God himself" [Excerpts from: "Mystics and Commmissars: Sufism in the Soviet Union" X, Alexandre Bennigsen and S. Enders Wimbush,C. Hurst and Company, London, 1985]
The Ottomans were also heavily influenced by the Sufi Mawlawīyah order established by followers of the famous Sufi scholar Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī in the 13th century. Many members of this order served in various official positions of the Ottoman State.
Conclusion
Western foreign policy pundits are desperately employing various styles and means in their strategy to reform Islam and create a ‘new' secular Islam similar to what happened to Christianity during the ‘Reformation' period. Much of this campaign is aimed at rewriting Muslim history and attempting to portray modernist interpretations of Islam as well-established Islamic traditions. Those Muslims working to revive Islam according to an independent Islamic agenda what the west calls ‘extremists' or ‘Islamists' are portrayed as innovators whose ideas have no basis in Islamic tradition and history. Rewriting Sufism is one example of this.
The way to determine the correct Islamic position on any topic is to always keep in mind two things. Firstly, the attitude of the leaders of the kuffar (disbelievers) towards Islam, and secondly what the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم told us would keep us safe from going astray.
The attitude of the leaders of the kuffar towards Islam is very clear. They have one objective in attempting to reform Islam which is to extinguish the light of Allah.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:
يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِؤُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ
"They wish to put Allah's light out with their mouths. But He will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers hate it." [As-Saff, 61:8]
On the authority of Abu Najih Al-Erbadh bin Sariah, who said: The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم gave us a sermon by which our hearts were filled with fear and tears came to our eyes. We said: "O Messenger of Allah, it is as though this is a farewell sermon, so counsel us." He صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "I counsel you to fear Allah and to give absolute obedience even if a slave becomes your leader. Verily he among you who lives [long] will see great controversy, so you must keep to my sunnah and to the sunnah of the rightly-guided Khalifahs - cling to them stubbornly. Beware of newly invented matters, for every invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is a going astray, and every going astray is in Hell-fire." [Abu Dawud and Al-Tirmidhi]
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