Cause for concern.

I make no secret of the fact, that The Gates of Vienna is one of my favourite sites. It heads my blogroll, I encourage others to go there. I go there for inspiration, information and not least , the discussion that goes on. Both the Baron and Dymphna never cease to entertain and occasionally they get us into discussions which others wouldn’t touch with a bargepole. It was therefore a little discouraging to read in a recent post from the Baron that one Danish blogger has been ‘driven away’ after some heated discussion in the comments section. This blogger naturally took offence at being called an antisemite, dhimmi, Bushbasher or whatever, by one or two of our American ‘allies’. I too noted the tone of the discussion, and wondered.
If ‘divide and conquer’ is still the same tactic that it has always been, then this has worked. Is there a hidden agenda here? Or have these people merely been so blinded by their own obsessions that they don’t recognise support even when they see it?
I can’t help but to think of small children having a tantrum, throwing Teddy into the corner, and anything else they get hold of, being thrown at noone in particular and everyone in general. Tantrums , as a rule, go by, but some of these seemed not to. Which is the cause of my suspicions.

Occasionally we get hate-mail. I have not, as yet, received one but I know of others that have. Getting one means you are having an impact, and should be celebrated. I encourage people to publish them and ridicule the sender, thus adding to the original impact that instigated the hate-mail.
But being attacked by one whom one considers an ally in the great cause is not so easily handled. One feels, simply, betrayed.

My fellow blogger, whoever you are, should you read this, then I implore you not to give up. Stick with it. Continue to comment, and write, and to show that you do give a damn. Do not be silenced by the anonymous. We do, after all, support freedom of speech. Even if it is, at times, offensive and unwarranted or unfair.
The infantiles and the obsessed will always be there. They are the ones who have a problem.

Not you.

Trial and execution III. (Retribution.)

The judges have finally handed down sentences in the honour killing case that has sent ripples through Europe.

Ghazala Khan’s father was sentenced to life imprisonment. Her brother, who shot her, and two uncles were sentenced to 16 years imprisonment. The rest of the family, an aunt and a cousin, were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, and eventually expulsion from Denmark for life. The three ‘friends of the family’ were sentenced to eight to ten years imprisonment for their part in the affair.
Many will see this as being lenient, but by Danish standards, this was the maximum we could expect.

The Copenhagen Post reported the findings of the jury like this:

Legal experts predict that Tuesday’s verdict handed down to a family for an honour killing will have far-reaching effects on coming cases.

A Copenhagen court found nine people guilty of murder or being an accessory to murder on Tuesday. The case differed from other murder trials, however, because the guilty parties were family members and friends, implicated in the murder of a 18-year-old woman who broke ranks with her Pakistani family and chose her own husband. The ruling by the Eastern High Court was considered historical not only in Denmark but in Europe because it could set a precedent in honour killings.

The young woman, Ghazala, married Emal Khan in September 2005. Two days later, her brother, Akhtar Abbas, approached her and Khan in front of the train station in Slagelse, 100 km west of Copenhagen, and shot them.

Abbas admitted his guilt to the court, but claimed the shooting came in self-defence.

The court found not only the brother guilty, however. It also laid blame on Ghazala’s father for plotting the shooting, while uncles, aunts and a family friend were found to have acted as accessories.

Sentencing for the nine defendants was expected later in the week.

The ruling is expected to set a precedent in other countries where honour killings have taken place, said Mehmet Ümit Necef, a cultural sociologist at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Southern Denmark.

‘The verdict will have a significant preventive effect. Up until now, the attitude has been that in countries such as Denmark, you could get away rather easily with ‘honour killings’.’

The verdict’s significance was also outlined by Manu Sareen, an integration consultant in Copenhagen.

‘This verdict will send shockwaves through all of Europe, and I’m sure that it will have a preventive effect,’ said Sareen. ‘Crimes such as ‘honour killings’ don’t stop from one day to the next, but this is a clear signal.’

I have not been able to find a comment from The Copenhagen Post on the actual sentencing.

I can only feel a certain satisfaction with this. We have turned a half-blind eye to this sort of crime for too long and the time had finally come to put the brakes on this most heinous of actions. Honouring your father and mother is one thing, but to plot the death of, and then kill, your grown-up children for not doing something that you have unilaterally decreed is quite another.
Murder is still murder and that is dishonourable in any man’s language.

Trial and execution II. (The verdict).

This is the article published on the Copenhagen Post’s English pages today. I can only applaud the jury for their appraisal of the case.

Court finds family guilty of honour killing.

By The Copenhagen Post

A landmark verdict finds nine people guilty for conspiring to kill a young Pakistani woman and her husband in the largest honour killing case ever tried in Europe

The High Court of Eastern Denmark delivered a ‘guilty’ verdict on Tuesday to all nine defendants in the most far-reaching honour killing ever tried in Europe.
The verdict is considered a landmark finding, since not only the brother who fired the gun that killed Ghazala Khan was found guilty.

The court also found Ghazala’s father and seven others guilty of conspiring to murder the young Pakistani woman and her husband for disobeying orders not to marry last September. Jurors determined that a group of uncles, aunts and acquaintances apparently plotted to lure the couple to the train station of Slagelse in western Zealand, where the brother waited with a loaded gun.

Ghazala suffered fatal wounds while her newly wed husband narrowly escaped death.

Although lawyers of seven of the defendants sought a reduced sentence for their clients, jurors rejected their plea that mitigating circumstances should release a milder sentence.

The verdict came as no surprise to Vagn Greve, a law professor at Copenhagen University. Jurors merely made use of Danish law’s broad guidelines in defining who acts as an accomplice in a crime, he said.

‘From what I have heard and read, I cannot see that we have done anything new. The jurors found that existing rules should be put to use.’

Legal experts in Germany, Sweden and other countries have followed the case closely, since it marks the first time accomplices have been found guilty in an honour killing.

Well, now that we have set the precedent, let us see what the others do.

Trial and execution.

Those of us in Denmark that have been following the tragic story of a young woman who became the victim of an “honour killing” are now awaiting the return of the jury.
There are nine people in the dock, all accused of killing, or aiding and abetting the killing, of a young woman, Ghazala Abbas, who dared to run off with someone other than the chosen groom.
From the Danish newspaper, Politiken:

In an unusually clear lesson in the law in this honour killing case, the court foreman has said that all nine can be found guilty.
[...]
“It is so clearly proven, that there can only be answered yes to the question (of guilt), but it is up to the jury to decide.”

This was how the court foreman’s closing comments sounded after he had gone through the most important points of the case.
This is the biggest trial concerning honour killings the western world has ever seen. In the dock are six family members and three ‘friends’ of the family. During this case we have heard of witnesses and jurors being threatened, stories changed and other irregularities in the normal prosecution of these nine pakistani muslims.

I have been following the trial, as have others. I await the outcome with a certain trepidation. The Danish courts are not too good at calling a spade a spade. Sentences are never severe. Jurors are not always unbiased. Maybe this is why the court foreman was so forthright and outspoken in his summing up. These people should not be allowed to go unpunished. The time has come to set the example, to show that our law is to be obeyed in our country, and that no-one is to be exempted from it or feel themselves above it. No matter where they come from or what they believe.

Legless in Belgium.

In the closing moments of the battle of Waterloo, a cannon ball struck the Earl of Uxbridge as he rode with the Duke of Wellington.

The Duke said “By God, you’ve lost your leg.”

The Earl said “By God, so I have.”

The remains of the leg were amputated in a house nearby and the owner buried the leg in his garden where it was a place of interest for some years.

Polling for dummies.

I´ve read a few pointless things in my time, but this takes the biscuit.

A recent poll shows that anti-Jewish sentiment remains overwhelmingly high in Muslim countries, and that solid majorities in Egypt and Jordan said that they do not believe that groups of Arabs carried out the September 11 terror attacks.

Now, isn’t that surprising? I mean, isn’t that just flabbergasting?

The source of this devastating piece of news, showing a deep divide between Muslims and the West, is a new 15-country poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Muslims view people from the West, especially the United States and Europe, as selfish, immoral and greedy. People from the U.S. and Europe view Muslims as arrogant, violent and intolerant, the poll showed.

Well duh. And if we are so greedy , immoral and selfish, then why are we supporting thousands, if not millions of them by welfare payments and foreign aid? And they also forgot to mention that amongst being arrogant, violent and intolerant, I find most Muslims to be self-centered, dishonest, corrupt and ignorant.
Another astounding observation:

A solid majority in most of the 15 countries polled, both in Europe and in the Mideast, said relations between Muslims and Westerners are generally bad. And each side blames the other.

I wouldn’t have believed it had I not read it here. I am both shocked and amazed. It goes on to astonish me even further:

One of the more surprising findings in the poll was that solid majorities in Indonesia (65 percent), Turkey (59 percent), Egypt (59 percent) and Jordan (53 percent) said they do not believe the 9/11 attacks on the United States were carried out by groups of Arabs.

Well, blow me down. Then who did it? Who were those men that hijacked the aircraft and flew them into those buildings? Did it ever really happen? I am confused. Perhaps it was all a Hollywood stunt. A clever piece of filming by the infidels? Or was it done by, wait for it now, THE JEWS? It ain’t too far from “Hassidin” to “assassin” now is it. Good Lord help us. Mad killer jews amongst us. What shall become of us? We’re doomed.
Here’s another pearl:

But Muslim support for terrorism is dropping in some countries. In Indonesia, Pakistan and especially in Jordan, there have been declines in the number of people who say suicide bombings can be justified.

How could anyone say that suicide bombing is justifiable? It does not mention by how much there has been a decline. 1 maybe?

Among the other findings:

* Majorities in the Muslim countries polled say the victory of Hamas in Palestinian elections will be helpful to a fair settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. That position is solidly rejected in the non-Muslim countries.

* Overwhelming majorities in Muslim countries blame the controversy over cartoons depicting Mohammed on Western disrespect for the Muslim religion.

* Majorities in Western countries tend to blame Muslim intolerance.

The polling in 15 countries of samples ranging from about 900 to 2,000 adults was conducted in April and May and has a margin of error ranging from 2 to 6 percentage points. The polling included Muslim oversamples in the European countries. In China, India and Pakistan, the polling was based on urban samples.

The nations in which polling was conducted were China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States.

What really gets my craw is this. How can it be necessary to poll 15 countries on this and not expect those answers? Is the whole world that uninformed that Pew feels it necessary to go out and ask such ridiculous questions and the come up with what is presented as a revelation to the peoples of the world? What purpose can it possibly fulfill? Unless it was carried out to show that the vast right wing conspiracy has been right all along? In which case the world is uninformed, and I applaud this poll.

Polls, schmolls. Here´s a poll question for all my readers:

Do you think it is OK to let rabid rottweilers wander freely in the streets?
Yes or No.

I’m really curious as to the outcome of this one.

The new world order.

I got myself into a rather heated discussion on the “Gates of Vienna” blogsite the other day. What dragged me into this discussion was a post from a blogger who is obviously upset at the brutal murder of two american soldiers in Iraq and he believes the time has maybe come for the US to turn a blind eye to the rest of the world, withdraw from world politics and recall it’s troops from just about everywhere. He is also upset at the lack of support from our press and he genuinely believes that we europeans do not have any sympathy for the americans as a whole. I disagreed and the fur started flying.
Putting that aside, I started thinking about the political implications of an american withdrawal and the military aspect of all this. War, I said, is an extension of politics. If the americans withdraw militarily from the rest of the world, then it will also be a political withdrawal, and I must therefore discount them from my ranting here.
Our view of the world is encumbent on the map we drew as we explored out from Europe. We placed ourselves in the middle and then moved out, east and west, north and south and men drew maps with that one anchor spot, Europe, as the benchmark.
We are all familiar with this map, America in the extreme west, Mongolia or wherever in the extreme east. This wiew was further strengthened after the second world war, when the continent was divided into East and West by the Berlin wall and the internal German border. Germany is now reunited, the cold war is over, East and West are now unified again. So, I thought it may be time to redraw the map. And here it is.

We now have the americas in the east, far removed from Europe, and Europe on the western edge. Having now decided that the US is in withdrawal and that as a resut of this , Nato is inevitably disbanded, where does that leave us?
Our main threat is now more obviously from the South in the form of Africa and from the South-East in the form of Persia, to give it a name we can all relate to.
We are back in the classic european quandry faced by the Greeeks and Romans. Our nearest ally is Russia. Not yet in the EU, but if america has withdrawn, we are going to hurry up and invite them. With american withdrawal from the now defunct Nato, it would be a good move for Russia to join too. It would expand their sphere of influence and would ensure them military security. They are equally as theatened from their southern regions as we are. It would also give us a guarantee of the vast natural resources available to us there, and the development that came with membership would accelerate Russia on its road back to world power status.
In the absence of the USA, Europe would be forced to combine its forces into a common European Defense Force. This would also be a good thing. France, for example, could no longer stand on the sidelines as it does today, only supporting NATO, not actually contributing. The member states would be accountable, jointly, for our defense. Countries that fight together, stick together.
This is, of course, pure conjecture. It is merely my simple appraisal under the conditions of “what if”.
But what if the USA did decide to back into itself and opt out of its role of world leader? Would either of us survive? The answer is of course yes. The americas would become more involved with each other, Europe would continue to evolve. There would at some point be war between Europe and the Arab world as oil ran out and we lost patience with the threats and constant terrorism. We would still call it North and South america, but after the war over there between Mexico and the US, and the subsequent annexation or subjugation of more of south america, Columbia, for example, then the world would continue on its way.
And who knows? Eventually there would be a new world order. Based on trade and not military expertise, on money and not human life. Both sides equally dependant on each other for their well being and for their common future.

Did I go “full circle” there?

Oh, Gates of Vienna? See my Blogroll.

The support wing speaks.

One Danish blogger, whom I have been reading, has found some interesting stuff in an article in the Danish paper, Berlingske Tidende. It, in turn, comments an article in the (British) Financial times. My blogging colleague then goes on to make some interesting, if not amusing, comments to the article:
All that follows between the lines below is my translation:
____________________________

Of the 500 individuals in 5 countries – Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – who were asked which country poses the greatest threat to world peace, 36 percent answered, The United States.

This is disturbing, but perhaps, not surprising. (A wild guess: France pulled the percentage up!)

The USA has doubtless many faults – what country doesn’t – but it wouldn’t drag 56 of it’s mayors through the courts as Turkey now plans to do, because they (the mayors) sent an appeal to Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen to not stop the Kurdish TV station ROJ, that sends from Denmark.
[....]
But the USA is seen to be a greater threat to world peace than Iran, which is in full swing, developing nuclear weapons while flying the bird at the rest of the world? I wonder what people will do when Iran’s theocrats annonce that they have (nuclear) missiles pointing at France, Germany and Denmark?
Probably the same as was done in the 1980′s: Demand that we sit down to constructive dialogue with these people, demonstrate for our own disarmament so as not to provoke them and then hope for the best. And, oh yes, give George Bush the blame for all of the above. Naturally.
[...]
One must not forget, the situation now is fundamentally different than during the cold war. One can say a lot about the Soviet’s leaders but they were, at least, not insane.On the other hand, Iran’s theological psycopaths are, and therefore it is imperative that they under no circumstances be allowed access to atomic weapons. That would be unacceptable and any other alternative is to be preferred.

But it is still the USA that poses the greatest threat to world peace?
Jeez!
__________________________

Those that were looking for a little support for the US, need look no further.
My sincere thanks to the Turbanbomb.
Those who read Danish can see the blog here.
Perhaps, with a little collaboration, I can get this witty fellow to blog in English once in a while, thereby adding another voice to the Danish Infidel Resistance!

Al-Zawahiri’s latest home video

Every now and then, when I need a good giggle, I go over to Al-jazeera to see what is upsetting the Umma now. They are so sensitive over there, that the least little thing can do it. However, today there isn’t much going on except the article released concerning Al-Zawahiri’s latest outpouring of islamic rhetoric and hate. Same old same old, you might think, but for once I have something in common with old Al-Z. I finally understand him. He says that Afghans should rise up and throw all the foreigners out of Afghanistgan. I agree. At the same time, I believe that all us westerners should rise up and expell all the muslims from our lands. I am sure, that we are better off without them, than they are without us. But that’s just me and my humble country-boy attitude.

On to the main event: Al-Z’s home movie:

The three-minute internet video, which was posted on Thursday on a website often used by pro-al-Qaeda groups, showed Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man speaking directly to the camera with an automatic rifle propped up behind him. This is a trademark thing done by all the idiot mouthpieces. There was no indication when the video was made, but its posting coincides with some of the deadliest fighting in Afghanistan since US-led forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001, with about 1,000 violent deaths this year, including 47 American troops and 18 other foreign soldiers. Which, if my scorecard is correct means, Islamists 65, us 935. Hardly a reason to celebrate unless the idea was to create martyrs. In which case, bravo, and may you continue to do so well.

Al-Zawahiri said:

“Muslim brothers in Afghanistan, and especially in Kabul, stand as one with the mujahidin (Muslim fighters) so that the invading forces might be expelled. Do not trust these infidel invaders or their agents who want to transform you into oppressed, enslaved people.”

Which is, of course, not the same as being governed by an oppressive, religion crazed bunch of murdering assholes with medieval mindsets.

In the video, al-Zawahiri cited unspecified US “aggressions” in Afghan cities as examples of foreign “crimes against Islam” and mentioned what he called the “ridiculing of our holy prophet by the Italian, Danish and French, … [yada, yada, yada .. nothing new].”, referring to the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad which caused an uproar earlier this year.

As to the timing of this video? Well I reckon he’s a bit miffed because Iran was knocked out of the world cup by the infidels, and now he needs to get back into the headlines.

Not really your best performance Al, I thought OBL’s last effort with the handycam was better.

Hamid Karzai saw the video and told Al Jazeera what he thought of it all:

Afghanistan’s president called al-Zawahiri “the enemy of the Afghan people” and blamed him for his country’s massive suffering.
“He is first the enemy of the Afghan people, and then the enemy of the rest of the world,” said Hamid Karzai on Thursday.
“He killed Afghans for years, thousands, and then he went to America and destroyed the twin towers,” Karzai said. “We in Afghanistan want him arrested and put before justice.”
Karzai said the Egyptian-born al-Zawahiri “is the one who destroyed our mosques and schools, vineyards and orchards.”

Condemnation indeed Mr. Karzai.

Oh well. Back to the football.

Oh, brave Taleban fighters… my ass.

This report from the Times of London:

TALEBAN fighters used women and children as human shields as they tried to escape into the mountains of Afghanistan, British troops claimed yesterday.
The tactics were revealed in the first account by those who fought in one of the main battles faced by the men of 3 Para and the Royal Gurkha Rifles in Helmand province, where 3,300 British troops are stationed. The Taleban’s use of human shields happened during a six-hour battle that began when British troops arrived in a remote area to flush out a suspected Taleban hideout.
They came under attack seven times and fired 2,000 rounds as the rebels set ambushes and opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades. About 21 Taleban were killed.
“It happened twice where they pushed women and children in front of them. The first time they ran into a compound and pushed them out the front to stop the assault,” said Corporal Quintin Poll, 29, from Norfolk.
“The second time they were firing through a building with women and children inside. My guys had to go around the left and right to get them.”
Details of the battle, which happened to the west of the town of Nauzad on June 4, were given by troops at the British base of Camp Bastion.

Which says a lot for the respect they have for our troops. They are too afraid to face us in open battle. Raghead cowards. Chickens. Despicable bunch of yellow bastards.
What else can we expect from them.

More from The Times, where you can read the whole article, here.