Patriot Day ceremony in L.A. reminds first-responders of the war on terror

 L.A.P.D. and L.A.F.D. brass participated in the city's
annual Sept 11th/ Patriot Day ceremony in Elysian Park

The Los Angeles Fire Department held its annual Patriot Day ceremony on September 11th, with a gathered audience of police, firefighters, the media, and Fire Cadets. LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas, Police Chief Charlie Beck, and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla addressed the crowd.

Chief Terrazas paid tribute to the New York firefighters who rushed into the burning towers of the World Trade Center to successfully evacuate thousands of people in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Many did not make it out themselves: Of the nearly 3,000 Americans killed that day, more than 400 were first-responders, including 343 New York firefighters.

The total number of rescue and recovery workers to have died since Sept. 11, 2001 exceeded 1,000 as of last year, according to a Newsweek report.

Calif. Secy of State Alex Padilla (right) and former L.A. City

Councilman Tom LaBonge stand before the largest remnant

of NYC's jihadist-collapsed World Trade Center

This year, FDNY Capt. Orio Palmer was honored for his heroism on Sept. 11, 2001. After the second plane hit the South Tower of the WTC, Palmer took an elevator to the 41st floor, then ran up 37 more flights of stairs to reach the impact zone on the 78th floor.

Former L.A. City Councilman Tom LaBonge told DemoCast, all were here today to recognize those who lost their lives ... in the Twin Towers- and well over 300 firefighters, NY Police Department as well as the Port Authority (Police). ... After 16-years, look at the children of this firefighter (referring to Capt. Palmer) - now she's 25 and older and maybe having a family herself, but never to meet her father because that chief gave the ultimate sacrifice."

"Let's honor the fallen not just by remembering but by being active," said L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck. "We remember, but we also come together to commit and to recognize."

L.A.P.D. Chief Charlie Beck addressed 9/11 ceremony

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, like President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, avoided mentioning the Islamist-motivation of terrorists or their agenda- waging jihad to conquer non-Muslims (and their lands) for the Ummah (Muslim communities around the world). Mr. Padilla's attributed why they attacked us as: "...Their (the victims) lives that were cut far too short were lost because of our very way of life. Those freedoms I've talked about. That democracy that we pride ourselves in.  So let's continue to be proud of our values as a nation. We value diversity, we value equality, we value speech, we value freedom of religion, our ability to practice our own faith."

None of the other speakers of this day mentioned who attacked America 16-years ago that day, or who is still waging jihad to conquer non-Muslims (and their lands) for the Ummah. Watch to see what officials claim was the motive- and who they name as the culprit challenging the West, then and now. And how a veteran Fire Captain feels about the cover-up.

 Capt. (ret.) James Finn

Pres., L.A.F.D. Educational Institute

For the past 16-years, Western government officials have avoided educating the public about Islamic imperialist history of terror intimidation and conquering non-Muslim societies under Islam (as two, historic jihads have in the Middle East, north Africa, and Europe). Today, fundamentalists influence politics (and public opinion) through acts of aggression- not only from organizations, such as The Islamic State/ISIS or Al-Qaeda (who conducted the 9/11 attacks), but also by individual, radicalized Muslims.

September 11th is the one day on which people relax society's imposed Islamophobia-filter and are most receptive to being taught not just how we were attacked, but who, why, and what movement has been at war against non-Muslims since the attack on US Marines barracks in Beirut, October 23, 1983.  For the sake of the youthful cadets' as well as public safety, September 11 is a good time to address that jihadists attacked us then, and continue hostility to dominate, convert, and control non-Muslims all around the globe.

We spoke with Islamist political expert, Daniel Greenfield, editor of FrontPage Magazine's "The Point" and the Sultan Knish blog, at Beverly Hills' 9/11 Memorial Garden after the L.A.F.D.'s 9/11/17 Memorial Ceremony.



Mr. Greenfield asked when imperialist Japan and Nazi Germany fought us, what would have been the wisdom towards national security if our officials avoided mentioning their names or goals?

Today, we have a generation of young people too young to have learned the need for our defense against Islamism- political Islam. In his November 2002, letter to the American people, Osama bin-Laden wrote the intention of the Islamist movement, "What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you? The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam. . . . It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah..." (Source: Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America').
                                                                      

September 11 commemorations recognize victims & rescuers- but who's educating about the objectives of Islamic imperialists?

FDNY Asst Chief Gerard A. Barbara looks up at
the burning towers of the World Trade Center on
September 11, 2001. Moments later he would go
in, never to return. (Photo by David Handschuh)

Outside the NY/NJ metropolitan area, commemorations of the Islamist attacks against Americans on September 11, 2001 are few and far between. Most focus on the firefighters and first-responders lost in the attacks. But where is the teaching opportunity, 16-years later, of the Islamist imperialism the West must defend itself against?

Trump Makes Proclamations Ahead of 9/11 Anniversary

Declares three days of prayer and remembrance ahead of 16th anniversary

BY: Jack Heretik in Free Beacon, Sept 8th

In observance of the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, President Donald Trump has declared Friday through Sunday of this week to be "Days of Prayer and Remembrance," and Monday to be "Patriot Day."

A revealing conversation with L.A. millenial actress, Grace Bannon, visiting the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center in 2014- about what her generation has been taught about jihadism- and what the 9/11 Memorial Museum teaches (or doesn't) about the threats against democracy from it.

"During National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, our Nation recalls the nearly 3,000 innocent people murdered on September 11, 2001. As we reflect on our sorrow and our grief, we come together to pray for those who lost loved ones," Trump said. "As a Nation, we pray that the love of God and the comfort of knowing that those who perished are forever remembered brings them peace and gives them courage."In Trump's declaration that Friday through Sunday be dedicated to prayer and remembrance of those who died in the attacks, the president referred to the "Survivor Tree" at the World Trade Center site in Manhattan.

The Survivor Tree, November 2001

The Survivor Tree,  a Callery pear tree, was discovered in the days following the attacks with "snapped roots and burned and broken branches," according to the memorial website. The tree was placed in the care of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, rehabilitated, and later returned to the memorial in 2010.

Monday, Sept. 11, in accordance with a 2001 law, will be Patriot Day in tribute to those who died in the attacks, and also to first responders and members of the American armed forces. (source)

New York Daily News staff photographer David Handschuh (who photographed Asst. Chief Barbara above) is carried from World Trade Center site after his leg was shattered by falling debris while he was photographing the terrorist attack. (Photo by Todd Maisel/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

DemoCast reported on Kevin Dornan's documentary, Liberty, Courage and Hope, which explores the life of a NYC fireman killed by the al-Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center - as an example of the many patriots whose lives were taken by Islamic imperialism.

Former Muslim, Nonie Darwish, explains that, contrary to multicultural apologists' claims, Islamic theology Inspires Muslims to terrorize infidels into conversion or subjugation under Muslim socio-political rule.

World War II pilots offer inspiration in defeating tyranny, 70-years after Allied victory

Veteran pilots of the mighty 8th Air Force of World War II, Allied resistance against Axis conquest, gathered on the 70th anniversary of D-Day at Van Nuys Airport.  The Heritage League of the 2nd Air Division organized this gathering where several pilots, both of the European and Pacific theaters of operation, shared their experience and attitudes with us about defending liberty from imperialism. Nazi Germany declared its surrender to the Allies 11- months after D-Day, Japan announced its surrender 13 weeks later on August 15, 1945, commemorated as V-J ("Victory over Japan") Day. The veteran pilots retell their experiences and share perspective on confronting tyranny today.

(Please advance through the playlist using menu controls). Actor and singer, Bill A. Jones, serves as host and introduces guest-speaker, Ms. Marte Cohn, a French nurse, who recalls how she survived the Nazi occupation as a result of kindnesses of French citizens (and her ability to transfer information to the Allies). 

Americans commemorate freedom's sacrifices at Memorial Day ceremony; Attendees applaud Admiral's call to save humanity from Islamism

Memorial Day 2015 ceremony: The National Cemetery in L.A. honors veterans and their families with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service and sacrifice to our nation. 

Although many of the attendees had lost family or colleagues in the military, keynote speaker, retired US Navy Rear Admiral Len Hering, spoke not of pacifism, but of vigilance to defend liberty from Islamism. 

"Today we fight a global war against an enemy that knows no borders, flies no particular flag, that applies no set of rules. They do not value life as we do, and they are willing to target innocent women and children to prove a point and cause us to withdraw. This is a situation that we cannot, for the sake of our future, allow to happen," Hering declared. 



In this DemoCast exclusive video, encounter veterans of World War II and all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Benediction was delivered by Rabbi Mindie Snyder. Meet and learn about the Buffalo Soldiers who march annually in the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses parade. Music was provided by the 300th Army Band and Hollywood vocalist Elaine Dupont, recognized from her role as Ricky Nelson's girlfriend, Sandy, on TV's "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet." 

Sept.11th +13 years: Should we be able to publicly discuss what's at war with us and why ?

Los Angeles commemorates the tragedy of September 11th at the 9/11 Memorial Fountain, situated in front of Los Angeles Fire Department Fire Station 88 in Sherman Oaks.

LAFD Fire Station 88 is home to California Task Force 1, the premier 70-member Urban Search and Rescue Team that was the first U.S.and R Team called to Ground Zero on 9/11/2001. CA-TF-1 has responded to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike, as well as many local disasters.

New "9/11 The Heartland Tapes" depicts America's realization of Jihadist war inside heartland. Airs Sept 8th-11th on the Smithsonian Channel

Across America, the morning of September 11, 2001 began routinely, with news and radio broadcasts sharing local human interest stories and traffic reports. But by 9:00 AM, the day's narrative had taken a tragic turn. Most of us are familiar with the national news coverage of 9/11, but the local reporting from TV and radio affiliates across the nation was no less important and no less compelling. "9/11- The Heartland Tapes" is an account of the tragedy as it unfolded, and as it aired in American cities large and small, told without narration or interviews.

DemoCast caught-up with Executive Producer Tom Jennings following his panel at the Society for Professional Journalists conference in Anaheim in August.



Consulting producer, Liza Maddrey, discusses the need for this documentary, a dozen years after the event.


The Smithsonian Channel will air the documentary on (all times ET / PT): SUNDAY 09/08 8:00pm; MONDAY 9/09 12:00am; and WEDNESDAY 09/11 7:00am.

Please donate to continue Democracy Broadcasting's efforts to enlighten the public to these matters.  Click "Donate" link in the right margin of the website or this link . 

How Obama's soft-on-Islamism policies undermine liberty in Middle-East & America- Prof Barry Rubin

Prof. Barry Rubin, known for his Middle East strategies work at the GLORIA Center at the IDC in Herzliya, Israel, is also Middle East Editor for PJ Media.

What to Say When You’re Handed the Obama-Is-Good-for-Israel Talking Points
[Jews for Obama boast that] "Obama just gave Israeli President Shimon Peres a presidential medal
of freedom."  Well, he also has just helped give Israel a second Muslim Brotherhood-dominated regime next door and insists that this is a good thing.



Question: [Jews for Obama claim that] U.S.-Israel bilateral relations are good especially with regard to military aid.

Rubin:  That’s true, but only a small part of that relates to Obama’s benevolence. Why?

a.  Congress supports Israel. There was more pushback against Obama from Democratic members on this issue than on any other, foreign or domestic. Thus, Israel is the only “target” of Obama whose constituency has vocal defenders within his own party that raise the cost of his actions against it, at least during his first term. (Note that last phrase.)

b. The same applies to public opinion, which is strongly pro-Israel. This factor also inhibits Obama, at least during his first term. (Note that last phrase.)

c. Regarding military relations, the U.S. armed forces are generally quite pro-Israel and want these programs. Many of them are based on previous commitments, which Obama merely continues.

An especially important reason why Obama’s administration hasn’t been far more hostile to Israel in practice is that the Arabs and Iran shafted his policy. Remember that Obama offered to support the
Palestinians, pressure Israel, and accelerate talks if only the Arab states and Palestinian Authority showed some flexibility. They repeatedly rejected his efforts—refusing even to talk–giving him no
opportunity or incentive to press Israel for concessions. Note too, though, that the repeated humiliations handed him by the Arabs never made him criticize them publicly, change his general line, or back Israel more enthusiastically.

The same point applies to Iran. While Obama has intensified sanctions on Iran, he:

• Did so only after a long delay.

• Did less than Congress wanted/

• Exempted in effect China, Russia, and Turkey from observing the sanctions.

Obama has been visibly eager to make a deal with Tehran, even on bad terms. Only Iran’s hard line has prevented some kind of arrangement that favored Iran. Instead, though, Tehran has used Obama’s slowness and desire for some compromise in order to buy time for its nuclear program to progress.

Finally, there’s the most important factor of all. The main damage Obama has done to Israeli security is neither so much in the area of bilateral relations nor regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict but
as a result of his regional policy in the Middle East. This includes his:

• Soft line toward antisemitic, anti-Israel, and also anti-American Islamism.

• Support for overturning the Mubarak regime and encouragement for a
  Muslim Brotherhood takeover there. During the 2011 crisis, Obama never
  even consulted Israel. The outspoken antisemitism, calls for genocide
  against Israel’s citizens, and support for anti-Israel terrorism by the
  Muslim Brotherhood have had no effect on Obama’s policy and brought no
  criticism by the U.S. government of that movement.

This point must be underlined. Do not forget for one moment that the Brotherhood is an explicitly antisemitic movement that calls for genocide against Jews in and often outside of Israel. It has never to the tiniest degree criticized or repented for its strong support for Nazi Germany. It is in fact the most important antisemitic movement in the world today. Anyone who claims that this movement is in fact moderate (denying its antisemitism and genocidal intentions) and helps it to achieve power, is acting profoundly against the interests of Israel and of the Jewish people. Period.
Read Prof. Rubin's full points

9/11 first-responder's awe - and shock upon return to Ground Zero site

9/11 first-responder to the World Trade Center, Jim LaPenna, returns to Ground Zero 10-years after he participated in rescue & recovery of WTC victims. He was one of the 5 people who rescued the two Port Authority Policemen who were trapped in the South Tower.

Mr. LaPenna has endured health impairments to his capacities as a result of exposure to the 9/11 ruins. He is welcomed by US Marine Corporal Sam Dillon, who came to dedicate his Purple Heart to 9/11 victims & first-responders. He takes us on a quick walk to the site of the proposed mosque at Ground Zero- and discovers that it has been approved and is functioning daily (and Mr. LaPenna explains his reaction to learning that).

Obama advertises his country’s tendency toward subjugating its own best interests to appease its enemies in the jihadi world

Obama bungles his Osama opportunity by Kevin Libin in Canada's National Post

There’s no way around it: Barack Obama has taken the greatest public relations triumph of his presidency and ruined it. Not completely ruined it, no: the take-out of Osama bin Laden, America’s public enemy number one is too big an achievement to be completely undone by the president’s ham-handed handling of the aftermath. But he’s done an admirable job of taking the shine off of one of his nation’s most gloried moments by turning Americans’ attention from celebrating together to arguing over a couple of photographs and whether or not a crack team of Navy SEALs were merciful enough in their treatment of one of history’s most notorious mass murderers.

It’s worse than that, actually. He’s also advertised his country’s tendency toward subjugating its own best interests to appease its enemies in the jihadi world. . . .

Washington isn’t trying to sap the morale of North Americans; it’s trying to undermine the allure of jihad for those who might be tempted by it. Were America interested in showing its strength, it would not worry whether bin Laden was armed or not. It would insist that he was a marked man, a monstrous butcher, and deserved to die.

Were America interested in showing strength, it would release the photographs of Osama’s bullet-riddled corpse to advertise to his followers and sympathizers that he was nothing but a mortal, like the rest of us, who paid for his atrocities in blood, spilled unforgivingly by the greatest military power in history. It isn’t about jingoism. It’s about propaganda. It’s about psy-ops. These are standard devices of warfare.

Instead, the president has made the worst of a tremendous achievement. He has insisted that releasing the photographs, showing a bloody wound over bin Laden’s eye, would be too “gruesome” for Americans to stomach—the same people, as Jon Stewart pointed out, who “from 8pm on, every show on television we watch begins with an internal tracking shot of a gaping wound above someone’s left eye, pulling out only to reveal half a hooker in a dumpster, discovered by a child on a bicycle”—and too “inflammatory” to the Muslim world.

Had Barack Obama, say, come out on May 1st and announced that Osama bin Laden had been found, and shot down like a dog by a heroic team of highly trained U.S. troops, Americans would have cheered just as loudly. Had he released the photos, the world would know for certain that this once-mythic jihadi had died an ignominious and brutal death at the hands of a most fearsome adversary. Instead, the White House looks timid and unsure, while whatever credibility it retained after admitting it peddled false information, gets steadily eroded by a flood of fake death photographs hitting the Internet that will only confuse and sow doubt among anyone who might not implicitly trust America’s reputability—which is to say, about a billion Muslims worldwide.

Justice for Osama bin Laden - new Pat Condell video

When leaders neglect 9/11, patriotic citizens pony-up to fill public demand, staging 9/11 Memorial Tribute; Accuse gov't leaders of neglecting civic responsibility over paralyzing stigma of 'Islamophobia'

Los Angeles' primary 9/11 memorial of 2010 was organized not by the county or city, but by San Fernando Valley Patriots' coordinator, Karen Kenney, at the Van Nuys Fire Station. She presented a memorial for the victims of the World Trade Center attacks of 2001 at the fire station which, as the first Californian responders to travel to join the NYC rescue effort, was rewarded with a remnant of the fallen towers, which is displayed in a memorial statue in front of the Sepulveda Boulevard station-house. Batallion Chief Jerry Mallay offers a special, "10-bells" tribute to the intrepid, fallen firefighters. Letters from the victims families were read in a dramatic reminder of the West's obligation to oppose and defeat the Islamist revolution.



Ms. Kenney calls for federal state, and city leaders to commemorate the events of 9/11 by declaring it an official day of mourning - and to assume responsibility to provide memorial activities for the public.

(If you'd donate a token of appreciation, you could help sustain the Democracy Broadcasting media resource. Thank you).

What Palestinian behavior has revealed to Israelis - and what the West might learn from it. Jerusalem Post diplomatic columnist in exclusive 2010 DemoCast video interview

Palestinian responses to Israeli acts of peace and negotiation (e.g. withdrawal from Gaza, direct peace negotiations) expose true Islamist crusade to conquer lands to be placed under Islam - which Obama strives to whitewash from Western understanding.

Herb Keinon, columnist and formerly diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, has been at the eye of the Arab-Israeli hurricane for the past 20-years.

In this exclusive interview with DemoCast, Mr. Keinon sheds light on the revelations that peace-seeking Israelis have gleaned from Palestinian immoderation in response to Israeli concessions.




Mr. Keinon has spent years reporting with Israeli prime ministers and foreign ministers. As such, Mr. Keinon has up-close knowledge and an intimate perspective of the current confrontation and the various diplomatic attempts at solving it.

Mr. Keinon feels that the one-time Oslo Accord-embracing Israelis, who sacrificed Jewish Gaza for evidence of Palestinian intentions towards peace, have been "mugged by the reality" of emboldened Muslim aggression towards conquering all of Israel- that ceding a Palestinian state will not necessarily result in safety for Israelis.

Most Israelis know personally a victim of terror from years of terrorist attacks (from Muslims inside and outside of Israel). Being confronted by emboldened Palestinian irredentist (i.e. movement to reconquer Israel for Islamic rule) incitement has shaped the collective consciousnesses of the Israeli people. Keinon, who lives in Ma'ale Adumim (the 3rd largest city on the West Bank) believes Israelis now recognize all too well the very real dangers posed by Obama shepherding Israel to cede territory to the Palestinian front for global Islamists, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Many Israelis have evolved to recognize that they are just the preliminary targets of the Jihadist politico-cultural crusade to dominate all of the West under Islam. Will the rest of the West be willing to learn from their example and adapt to confront and defeat the Islamist 'evolutionary' crusade?

Former CIA-Director, James Woolsey explains Islamic imperialism's threat to the free world - over the Obama administration's spin

Former CIA Director, James Woolsey, gives informed insights into threats which challenge Western stablity - and coping strategies. He is candid about Iran's President Ahmadinejad implementing the apocalyptic, Hojattieh worldview. Presented by Iranian-American cultural group, 30 Years After, in Los Angeles on Wednesday 28 July.

Online "Troop-athon" aims to send the largest ever number of care packages to our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq

Your favorite radio-talk celebrities will be at the July 1st care-package fund-raiser Troopathon from the Nixon Library, plus Andrew Breitbart hosting an all-star cast including Jon Voight, Kelsey Grammar, and Gary Sinese. Watch it live here from 1-9pm Pacific/4 - midnight Eastern.

Christopher Hitchens delivers 8th Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture: "Antisemitism is the common enemy of humanity, and has to be fought against tenaciously - most especially in its current, most virulent form of Islamic jihad"

Christopher Hitchens decries anti-Semitism in lecture at UCLA  
by Cynthia Lee March 04, 2010 in UCLA Newsroom

Christopher Hitchens appeared Wednesday, March 3rd, before a packed audience at UCLA to portray anti-Semitism as "the godfather of (all other forms of) racism" and "the gateway to tyranny and fascism and war."

Alternating between black humor, biting sarcasm and insightful analysis, Hitchens assumed the podium at Korn Convocation Hall to deliver the eighth annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture at UCLA to an audience of more than 400 people, including Pearl's father, Prof. Judea Pearl, an emeritus professor of computer science at UCLA and president of a foundation formed to continue his son's mission of promoting cross-cultural understanding through journalism and music.

Daniel Pearl, a prominent Wall Street Journal reporter and the paper's South Asia bureau chief, was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. ...

Before Hitchens began his remarks, Judea Pearl explained that in the initial years following his son's death, the family had not wanted to dwell on the "negative, deranged mindset behind the ideology of his murderers," but instead had concentrated on the positive aspects of Daniel's legacy.

"But recently, we came to recognize that if we want to be true to our mission of rolling back the tsunami of hatred that is currently sweeping our planet, we must first map its undercurrents, analyze its anatomy and understand its circuitry in full scientific detail," Prof. Pearl said.

Prof. Pearl's Op/Ed at the time of last year's memorial was published in the Wall Street Journal:

This week marks the seventh anniversary of the murder of our son, former Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. My wife Ruth and I wonder: Would Danny have believed that today's world emerged after his tragedy? ...

The media have played a major role in handing terrorism this victory of acceptability. Qatari-based Al Jazeera television, for example, is still providing Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi hours of free air time each week to spew his hateful interpretation of the Koran, authorize suicide bombing, and call for jihad against Jews and Americans.

Then came the August 2008 birthday of Samir Kuntar, the unrepentant killer who, in 1979, smashed the head of a four-year-old Israeli girl with his rifle after killing her father before her eyes. Al Jazeera elevated Kuntar to heroic heights with orchestras, fireworks and sword dances, presenting him to 50 million viewers as Arab society's role model. No mainstream Western media outlet dared to expose Al Jazeera efforts to warp its young viewers into the likes of Kuntar. Al Jazeera's management continues to receive royal treatment in all major press clubs. ...

Danny's picture is hanging just in front of me, his warm smile as reassuring as ever. But I find it hard to look him straight in the eyes and say: "You did not die in vain."

Arkansas recruitment shooter confesses motivation Pentagon report omits: killing U.S. servicemembers domestically is a 'Muslim obligation for Jihad'

The Pentagon's report about the motivations of Ft. Hood shooter, Palestinian-American Army Major Dr. Nidal Hasan, omit reference to  Islamic religious dogma for Muslims killing of American service-members. 

But Carlos Bledsoe, (pictured right) who attacked an Arkansas, Army-recruitment store, answered for the public what the Pentagon report refused to acknowledge.  His motivation for shooting to kill white 23-year old Army Private William Long and wounding an 18-year old African-American Army recruiter private wasn't racial. It wasn't political opposition to the war, it was his Islamic religious beliefs.  He confessed to the judge in his case that he is commanded, as an American Muslim, to fight those who wage war on Muslims.

(CNN - Jan 22)  A Tennessee man -- accused in a fatal attack at a military recruiting center in Arkansas in June -- wants to plead guilty and claims to have ties to al Qaeda in Yemen in a letter he wrote to the judge presiding over his case.


In the handwritten letter dated January 12, Abdul Hakim Muhammad said he did not want a trial and insisted the shooting was "justified" under jihad.

"This was a jihadi attack on infidel forces that didn't go as plan," he wrote. "Flat out truth."

Mr. Muhammad, formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe,(pictured left) is charged with killing Pvt. William Long, 23 (photos left, and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18 (photo right). The attack happened on June 1 at a recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas.  In his letter to the judge, Muhammad claimed he had links to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, a group that has claimed responsibility for the attempting bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

"My lawyer has no defense," he wrote. "I wasn't insane or post traumatic nor was I forced to do this act. Which I believe and it is justified according to Islamic laws and the Islamic religion jihad -- to fight those who wage war on Islam and Muslims."

(End CNN article) (Photo right) Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula

To what degree do Muslims living in the West (especially as citizens) have dual-allegiance?  Where Islamic law contradicts Western law, how often will Muslims prioritize Islamic law (shariah)? And to what extent should Western society involve itself to insure allegiance to its laws among those with a propensity to subvert its laws, or with an allegiance to promoting a conflicting political system?

A report delivered to the French parliament recommends restrictions on the use of the full face veil for Muslim women in public. It suggests banning the veil in public facilities including hospitals, universities and mass transit. (AP, Jan 26)




Time Magazine publishes: "Face Veils: Bans in Europe Fail to Take Hold in U.S."

Politics Daily publishes this op-ed by Bonnie Erbe: "France's Proposed Burqa Ban: Why Americans Might Want to Consider It Too"

"War in the Post Modern World - a review of new laws of conflict (and why they are surreal when seen in a classical context)" speech by Prof. Victor Davis Hanson at UCLA

Using ancient Greece and military history as commentary, Professor Victor Davis Hanson analyzes the legal dilemmas faced by democracies when defending themselves against terrorist entities. From a speech presented to the California Association of Scholars at U.C.L.A. on 12 October 2009.

Victor Davis Hanson is a Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor Emeritus of Classics at the California State University at Fresno, noted historian of ancient Greece and preeminent military historian. He is author of more than 170 articles, 16 books, and recipient of many awards, including the National Humanities Medal.  Visit Calif Assoc of Scholars website.

What lessons will voters integrate from today's 25th Anniversary of radical Islam's attack on US Marine Peacekeepers in Beirut?

23 October 2008 NEW YORK- Robert C. McFarlane, the national security adviser from 1983 to 1985 under President Ronald Reagan, wrote this Op-Ed, published today in the N.Y. Times.

Today is the 25th anniversary of that bombing, which killed 241 Americans who were part of a multinational peacekeeping force (a simultaneous attack on the French base killed 58 paratroopers).

The attack was planned over several months at Hezbollah’s training camp in the Bekaa Valley in central Lebanon. Once American intelligence confirmed who was responsible and where the attack had been planned, President Reagan approved a joint French-American air assault on the camp — only to have the mission aborted just before launching by the secretary of defense, Caspar Weinberger. Four months later, all the marines were withdrawn, capping one of the most tragic and costly policy defeats in the brief modern history of American counterterrorism operations.

One could draw several conclusions from this episode. To me the most telling was the one reached by Middle Eastern terrorists, that the United States had neither the will nor the means to respond effectively to a terrorist attack, a conclusion seemingly borne out by our fecklessness toward terrorist attacks in the 1990s: in 1993 on the World Trade Center; on Air Force troops at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996; on our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998; on the destroyer Cole in 2000.

There was no effective response from the United States to any of these. It was not until the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that our country decided to go to war against radical Islam.

A second conclusion concerns the age-old maxim never to deploy a force without giving it a clear military mission. In 1983, the Marine battalion positioned at the Beirut Airport was assigned the mission of “presence”; that is, to lend moral support to the fragile Lebanese government. Secretary of State Shultz and I urged the president to give the marines their traditional role — to deploy, at the invitation of the Lebanese government, into the mountains alongside the newly established Lebanese Army in an effort to secure the evacuation of Syrian and Israeli forces from Lebanon.

Secretary Weinberger disagreed. He felt strongly that American interests in the Middle East lay primarily in the region’s oil, and that to assure access to that oil we ought never to undertake military operations that might result in Muslim casualties and put at risk Muslim goodwill.

Cabinet officers often disagree, and rigorous debate and refinement often lead to better policy. What is intolerable, however, is irresolution. In this case the president allowed the refusal by his secretary of defense to carry out a direct order to go by without comment — an event which could have seemed to Mr. Weinberger only a vindication of his judgment.

Faced with the persistent refusal of his secretary of defense to countenance a more active role for the marines, The President withdrew the marines, sending the terrorists a powerful signal of paralysis within our government and missing an early opportunity to counter the Islamist terrorist threat in its infancy.

Since 9/11 we have learned a lot about the threat from radical Islam and how to defeat it. Our commitment to Iraq is now being vindicated and, if sustained, will enable us to establish an example of pluralism in a Muslim state with a flourishing economy.

First, however, we must win in Afghanistan — truly the decisive battleground in this global struggle. Never has there been a greater need for experience and judgment in the White House. Unless our next president understands the complexity of the challenge as well as what it will take to succeed, and can lead his cabinet and our country in resolute execution of that strategy, we will lose this war.

Saturday, September 08, 2007 (AP) WASHINGTON via FoxNews.com — Iran must pay $2.65 billion to the families of the 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, a federal judge declared Friday in a ruling that left survivors and families shedding tears of joy.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth described his ruling as the largest-ever such judgment by an American court against another country. "These individuals, whose hearts and souls were forever broken, waited patiently for nearly a quarter century for justice to be done," he said.

Iran has been blamed for supporting the militant group Hezbollah, which carried out the homicide bombing in Beirut. It was the worst terrorist act against U.S. targets until the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Hundreds of people crowded into a federal courtroom to hear Friday's ruling. Parents have grown old since their children were killed. Siblings have grown into middle-age. Children have married and started families of their own.

Weeping spectators stood and erupted in applause and hugs as Lamberth left the bench.

The ruling allows nearly 1,000 family members and a handful of survivors to try to collect Iranian assets from various sources around the world. Finding and seizing that money will be difficult, however, and the families are backing a law in Congress that would make it easier for terrorism victims and their families to do so.

Britain blames the CIA for 'airplane-liquids' terrorism dismissals

British officials blame the CIA for blowing an investigation they say would have convicted a terror team plotting to take down planes headed to the U.S. Charlie D'Agata reports.


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God's Muslim Warriors - "freedom" fighters. Lacking reformation, politically-motivated Islamism targets free-thinkers everywhere

Political leaders hold-back Muslim societies' overdue Enlightenment; promote Islamism to increase own political power.

Islamic fundamentalist militantism is widely misconstrued as being socio-economic in cause, and therefore solvable socio-economically. This theory is undermined by evidence of the alleged Mata-Hari of al-Qaeda, Aafia Siddique, the MIT-undergraduate, Brandeis University Ph.D neuro-scientist. Did economic underprivilege radicalize her to pursue organized terrorist sedition through a network of American Muslim sleeper-cells? Does she intended to reduce discrimination against Muslim-Americans by unleashing an outbreak of bio-terror genocide in New York City? Is the intent of her radicalization to fight for more- or less freedom for Muslims and Americans?

Prof. Barry Rubin (director of Global Research in International Affairs Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs Journal and Turkish Studies) writes "Crusades long-gone, but Jihad lingers on," publishes in The Jerusalem Post. Prof. Rubin clarifies a primary distinction between Middle-Eastern and Western societies - Islamic society is being denied a Reformation to modernity. Many societal leaders of Muslims (both in governments or in social / community organizations throughout the West and the rest of the world) advocate Islamism to demonize the West (similarly to Communism, Nazism, and Fascism) in order to limit the appeal of subversive ideas.

The English, Dutch, American and French revolutions were not triumphs of traditionalism, as in Iran, but of greater democracy.

Many Westerners continued (as they do today) to be religious, but more open and tolerant.

This struggle between the old and new societies characterized much of the 19th and 20th centuries, yet the trend was steady. Perhaps fascism - and arguably communism - were the final reactionary movements, and World War II was the last struggle. Yet victory required 500 years of rethinking and education.

There's no such history in the Middle East, while several additional problems block movement toward moderation and democracy here. Whatever one thinks of specific Islamic doctrine as generally interpreted, the big problem is that it remains so powerful and hegemonic. Arab nationalism is anti-democratic, repressive and statist. Islamists seek a somewhat revised version of the eighth century, albeit with rockets and mass communication.

IT IS also worse because Middle East regimes and revolutionaries know Western history. They are aware of the fact that while pious Western philosophers and scientists sincerely believed open inquiry and democracy didn't threaten traditional religion and the status quo, they were wrong.

Openness led to revolution and to modern secular-dominated society - a West with all the ills decried by those in religious, ideological and political power in the Middle East. They also know what happened to Soviet-bloc dictatorships that experimented with more freedom. And they know that accepting Western ideas makes people want to change their own societies.

On top of that knowledge, they have weapons, technology, new means of organization and communication to block any change that tries to make its way through persuasion or threat. This point applies as much to Iran's Islamist rulers as to Syria's pretend-pious ones or Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi monarchs.

FINALLY, it is worse because there's a powerful, growing movement - radical Islamism - posing an alternative to modernism. The question is not merely of tiny, marginalized al-Qaida but also the governments of Iran, Syria and Sudan; the Saudi regime; powerful mainstream societal influences, Hamas and Hizbullah; the Muslim Brotherhood, and many others...

Read "Crusades long gone, but Jihad lingers on.".

Sen. Hillary Clinton Addresses American Supporters of Israel at AIPAC Policy Conference

Sen. Hillary Clinton asserts how it is in America's own best interest to maintain strong, favorable support for Israel - and in helping to assure her security against those who seek her harm.
(Courtesies to AIPAC, ShalomTV and Leon and Karen Sutton).