Passport photo of girl, 5, banned 'in case it offends Muslims' | the Daily Mail

This isn't even worth commenting on. Apparently, some Brits are doing the Muslims work for them through political correctness.

A five-year-old girl had her passport form rejected when an official said the bare shoulders on her photograph could offend Muslims.

The post office assistant stunned Hannah Edwards's parents by claiming the skin exposed by her daughter's halter-neck dress would not be accepted by the Passport Office as it might prove unacceptable in a Muslim country.

The incident happened when Jane and Martin Edwards took the picture, which was taken in a photo-booth, to a post office in the Sheffield area along with the completed form for checking ahead of a family holiday in the South of France.

The counter clerk told them she was aware of at least two other cases where applications had been rejected because a person's shoulders were not covered in their photo.

Mrs Edwards, a GP in Sheffield, had to rush around for two hours getting new pictures taken and countersigned.

'I was incensed,' she said yesterday. 'I went back home and checked the form.

'Nowhere did it say anything about covering up shoulders. If it had, I would have done so, but it all seems so unnecessary.

'This is quite ridiculous, I followed the instructions on the passport form to the letter and it was still rejected. It is just officialdom pandering to political correctness.

'It is a total over-reaction. How can the shoulders of a five-year-old girl offend anyone?

Lest anybody think I'm so deluded to consider Europe the only one in a Politcally Correct/Demographic squeeze of nutiness, I present another oldie but a goodie from the irrepressible Mark Steyn, published just over 6 months after 911.

It's a horrendous indictment of the Politically Correct Mindset infecting many of the lefties/Government officials operating all across the West.


Mark Steyn -- Mohammed Atta and his federal loan officer
National Post (Toronto) ^ | June 10, 2002 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 06/11/2002 6:08:11 AM PDT by Clive

Mohammed Atta and his federal loan officer
No matter how dumb he was, officialdom was always dumber

When last in this space, 10 days ago, I was writing about whether political correctness kills. This was apropos the 9/11 nutters: "Everything they did stuck out. But it didn't matter. Because the more they stuck out, the more everyone who mattered was trained to look the other way."

I didn't know the half of it. The other day, Johnelle Bryant, an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, gave an interview to ABC News in which she revealed that Mohammed Atta and three other September 11th terrorists had visited her Florida office seeking government loans.

America, it seems, came this close to having the World Trade Center incinerated at the taxpayers' expense.

Mr. Atta swung by in May, 2000, and Ms. Bryant remembers quite a bit about it. "At first," she says, "he refused to speak with me," on the grounds that she was, in his words, "but a female." After he'd reiterated the point, she pulled rank: "I told him that if he was interested in getting a farm-service agency loan in my servicing area, then he would need to deal with me." Throughout the hour-long interview, he continued to dismiss her as "but a female."

Ms. Bryant says the applicant was asking for $650,000 to start a crop-dusting business. His plan was to buy a six-seater twin-prop and then remove the seats. "He wanted to build a chemical tank that would fit inside the aircraft and take up every available square inch of the aircraft except for where the pilot would be sitting."

Hmm.

When she explained that his application would have to be processed, Mr. Atta became "very agitated." He'd apparently been expecting to leave the office with cash in hand. "He asked me," recalls Ms. Bryant, "what would prevent him from going behind my desk and cutting my throat and making off with the millions of dollars in that safe." Try this with your Royal Bank loan officer -- I find it works every time. But Ms. Bryant replied politely that there was no money in the safe because loans are never given in cash, and also that she was trained in karate.

His fiendish plan stymied at every turn, Mr. Atta then spotted an aerial view of Washington hanging on the wall behind her. He told her he particularly liked the way it got all the famous landmarks of the city in one convenient picture, pointing specifically to the Pentagon and the White House. "He pulled out a wad of cash," says Ms. Bryant, "and started throwing money on my desk. He wanted that picture really bad."

She told him it wasn't for sale, but he only tossed more dough at her. "His look on his face became very bitter at that point," Ms. Bryant remembers. "He said, 'How would America like it if another country destroyed that city and some of the monuments in it,' like the cities in his country had been destroyed?"

Hmm.

Mr. Atta then moved on to other prominent landmarks in other American cities, and enquired about security at the World Trade Center. Ms. Bryant had a Dallas Cowboys souvenir on her desk, and he asked her about their spectacular stadium and, specifically, the "hole in the roof."

At that point, the chit-chat turned to Mr. Atta's own country, which he claimed was Afghanistan. "He mentioned Osama bin Laden," she says. "He could have been a character on Star Wars for all I knew." So Mr. Atta helpfully explained that this bin Laden guy "would someday be known as the world's greatest leader."

Alas, the interview ended badly from the terrorists' point of view when Ms. Bryant informed her visitor that the loan program is for farm-based projects and a crop-dusting business did not qualify.

A few weeks later, another September 11th killer showed up, Marwan al- Shehhi, seeking half-a-million bucks supposedly to buy a sugar-cane farm. Accompanying him was Mr. Atta, but he was cunningly disguised with a pair of glasses and claiming to be someone else entirely, attending in his capacity as Mr. al-Shehhi's accountant. Sportingly, Ms. Bryant went along with the wheeze. I'm reminded of the time my sister tried to wangle her boyfriend a day off work. She called up the receptionist and, adopting a fake accent, told her that she was the dentist's secretary and he needed to come in immediately for critical dental work. "My God, that's terrible," said the receptionist. "I'll tell him at once." She then buzzed through to the boyfriend: "Stewart, Karen just called pretending to be the dentist's secretary. Do you think she needs to see a doctor?"

But Ms. Bryant didn't think Mr. Atta was sick. The safe-breaking, the throat- slitting, the fake specs ... why, he was just being charmingly multicultural! "I felt that he was trying to make the cultural leap from the country that he came from," she says. "I was attempting, in every manner I could, to help him make his relocation into our country as easy for him as I could." Unfortunately, his imaginative business plan for a crop-duster capable of crop-dusting Texas was frustrated by the unduly onerous restrictions and bureaucratic torpor of the USDA program. By late summer, Mr. Atta and his chums had concluded the government was never going to buy them their own twin-props and they'd have to make do with the aircraft that were already up there. So they switched their flight training courses from small planes to large jet simulators, and told their instructors to skip all that takeoff and landing stuff.

Ms. Bryant has come forward now because she thinks "it's very vital that the Americans realize that when these people come to the United States, they don't have a big 'T' on their forehead." No, indeed. In some cases, they have a big "T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T" flashing in neon off the end of their nose. Ten days ago, I pointed out that these fellows made virtually no effort to blend in. They weren't in "deep cover," they were barely covered at all. Atta was the brains of the operation, and he did a marginally better job of it than Leslie Nielsen would have. His one great insight into Western culture was his assumption that he could get a government grant to take out the Pentagon. Yet no matter how dumb he was, officialdom was always dumber

"If they watch this interview and they see the type of questions that Atta asked me," Ms. Bryant told ABC News, "then perhaps they will recognize a terrorist, and make the call that I didn't make." Meanwhile, here are some signs to look for:

1) He threatens to cut your throat.

2) He talks about the destruction of prominent landmarks.

3) He enquires about security at said landmarks.

4) He hails Osama bin Laden as a great leader.

There'll be more of these stories, tales of men virtually screaming their intentions but up against a culture sensitivity-trained into a coma. A stump- toothed Appalachian mountain man would get slung out on his ear if he was that misogynist and abusive in a government office. In a Hollywood movie, the guy refusing to deal with the little lady and demanding to see the real boss would be a sexist Republican Congressman. In the new motion-picture blockbuster The Sum Of All Fears, the Islamic terrorists of Tom Clancy's novel have been replaced with neo-Nazis -- a safe villain that won't offend our delicate multicultural sensibilities.

The good news is we're up against idiots. The bad news is we're also up against the suppler idiocies of current Western orthodoxy. Thus, the U.S. government's new plans to photograph and fingerprint visitors from countries "believed to harbour terrorists" have already been attacked by Mary Robinson, the UN Human Rights honcho who's never met an Arab dictator she didn't like. Islamists want to kill us in the name of Islam. Regrettable, but there it is. If we pretend otherwise, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Canadian Islamic Congress and the Islamic Society of Britain might be nice to us. But, speaking personally, I can't say I care. If Islamic lobby groups throughout the Western world really want to hitch their star to a bunch of psychopathic morons, good luck to them. It's a free country. Hey, we'll even give you a government grant to tell us how racist we are.

Focus: How liberal Britain let hate flourish - Sunday Times - Times Online

Here's an oldie but a goodie from February of this year, six months ago. One line sort of leaped out at me:

“Then I discovered how my brothers passed the day. Many were on benefits or living off charity so they could hang about discussing jihad all day. Whenever we were not praying, we were taken to watch TV. There were endless videos of mujaheddin activity around the globe."

This is, as they say, the root of the problem of jihadism in Britain. I'm an American, not a Brit of course, but one has to wonder exactly what kind of benefits this kind of monster (Abu Hamza) draws from the British government and how long it's been going on and how many families he's supporting on it? I think I heard that he's drawing like 4500 pounds every month, plus a housing allowance? For how long? Who knows, but like the jihadi's above, he has nothing to do all day but sit around and talk jihad to the other jihadi's.

Is it any wonder that London earned the sobriquet "Londonistan"?

Telegraph | News | University students at centre of terror plots

It looks like all western countries need to rethink their wide open admittance policies to their universities. Apparently 5 of the 24 in the airplane mass-murder plot as well as 2 of the 7/7 atrocity were connected to universities. We sponsor these murderers, educate them in the latest technologies while they're educating themselves in the oldest technologies of violent jihad.

Many of the terrorists who have caused so much murder in the past, have graduated with advanced degrees from American and European universities and colleges; educations they could never have even dreamed of in their native countries.

This group is no different; University Students at center of terror plots

A dossier of extremist Islamic literature has been uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph on the campus of a north London university, one of whose students has suspected links to the alleged terrorist attack.

-- Snip --

Extremist Muslim groups had been detected at more than 20 institutions, both former polytechnics and long-established universities, over the past 15 years, Prof Glees said.

Cassette tapes produced by al-Muhajiroun, the disbanded militant organisation that praised the "Magnificent 19" who carried out the September 11 2001 attacks, were also discovered at the university's portable buildings used as a prayer room and library.

Al-Muhajiroun was headed by Omar Bakri Mohammed, the radical London cleric

forced into exile in Lebanon last year. The portable buildings are on land owned by the university, which also part-funds the Islamic Society. According to security sources, "several" of the 23 people still in custody over the alleged plot last week are suspected of links to universities, appearing to confirm growing fears that campuses are providing Britain's biggest security threat.

Telegraph | News | Terror police target 70 'plots'

Terror police target 70 'plots'
By John Steele, Toby Helm and David Derbyshire

(Filed: 14/08/2006)

More than 70 anti-terrorist investigations involving over 100 suspected Islamic extremists are under way in Britain in an operation unmatched even at the height of the IRA's mainland campaign.

Wish we weren't here: Air travellers wait in the rain at Heathrow after being prevented from checking in

John Reid, the Home Secretary, confirmed yesterday that police and security services were aware of about 24 "major conspiracies".

They are believed to be "multi-handed" terrorist plots, such as the alleged plan to blow up transatlantic airliners that led to the arrest of 24 people last Thursday.

Sources say that, on top of the inquiries confirmed by Mr Reid, up to 50 more are being conducted by anti-terrorist police, most of them involving Scotland Yard and MI5.

Some relate to fund-raising activity - aimed at Iraq or other foreign hot spots, as well as the UK - and intelligence-gathering, such as details of potential targets.

A significant amount of the activity involves internet communication between groups, often young Muslim men at college or university.

The total number of suspects in Britain has not been disclosed and security sources say it is often fluid.

Individuals sometimes drop in and out of suspect groups and, at times, obvious overlaps emerge between terrorist gangs.

"The numbers are very difficult," a source said. "Some may not be about to launch a bomb attack but may be suspected of background help."

Mr Reid told BBC News 24: "There would be more [plots] which are not at the centre of our considerations and there may be more that we don't know about at all."

He said that four major plots had been thwarted since the July 7 bombings in London last year in which 56 people died.

Mr Reid also disclosed that the al-Qa'eda threat to Britain dated from a planned attack on Birmingham which was thwarted in 2000.

For the fourth day, tightened security caused queues and chaos at airports.

A third of scheduled flights from Heathrow were cancelled and a fifth of flights are expected not to take off from the airport today. Some flights that escaped cancellation left virtually empty.

An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 passengers were prevented from checking in at Heathrow, although their planes were leaving on schedule, because the queues at security were too long. Delays at other airports were less severe.

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Wilfully blind to terror's source

Wilfully blind to terror's source

National Post
Mon 14 Aug 2006
Page: A11
Section: Issues & Ideas
Byline: Lorne Gunter

In light of Thursday's thwarted terror plot to explode Transatlantic airliners, outbound from Britain to the United States, can we all now please stop pretending that the problem isn't the present state of Islamic culture?

For there to be enough Muslims terrorists to feed the manpower needs of the London plots (last week's, and last summer's 7/7 attack on the Underground and buses), the Toronto 17, the Miami 7, the Mumbai train explosions last month, the Afghan insurgency, the Iraq insurgency, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Islamic Jihadi, Madrid, Bali, Mogadishu, Chechnya, LAX, the Danish cartoon riots and so on, there must be literally millions of Muslims vehemently hateful of Western culture and democracy. Not every fanatic is capable of martyrdom, nor do martyrs operate alone ---there must be a vast network to produce and feed them.

To produce the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Muslims fighters and terrorists that exist worldwide, there must be millions more funnelling support and money, hateful preaching, deadly training, poisonous school lessons and so on into the tip who are the actual plotters and bombers.

Yet even as they announced the arrests of 24 middle-class British Muslims late this week, representatives of the British government and Scotland Yard assiduously avoided saying that any of the arrestees were followers of Islam, even though all were. Officials steadfastly referred to them as "British Asians," as if either their British-ness or Asian-ness was the cause of their desire to sneak explosives aboard 10 aircraft filled with civilian travellers and detonate them mid-flight.

They were not prepared to blow themselves up and take 200 or 300 innocent flyers with them because they were fanatical devotees of cricket, nor because they were worshippers of Vishnu, the Hindu god of creation.

Being British and Asian had almost nothing to do with their being suspected conspirators in the largest terror plot since 9/11.

It was the same in June when Canadian security forces arrested 17 Muslims plotting to attack targets in this country using fertilizer bombs and perhaps even kidnap the Prime Minister and saw off his head.

When announcing those arrests, Mike McDonell, an assistant commissioner of the RCMP, insisted -- in what may be the most politically correct whitewash in the history of Canadian policing -- that those in custody represented "the broad strata of our society. Some are students, some are employed, some are unemployed."

Yeah, sure. But all of them were Muslims, right?

And it was not their scholastic careers nor their employment status that compelled them to scheme to bring down the Peace Tower and CSIS's offices in Toronto.

For his part, too, Bill Blair, Toronto's police chief, boasted that "there was not one single reference made by law enforcement to 'Muslim' or 'Muslim community.'"

As if it were a good thing; as if it would help end terror for police to be wilfully blind to the source of the threat.

A story on British Muslims in Sunday's New York Times reported that 81% identify themselves as Muslims first and British second, with similar levels among Muslims in other Western nations. Even among Muslims not radical enough to be either bombers or their supporters -- among moderate Muslims -- Muslim-ness was more important than British-ness.

They would not identify themselves are "British Asians," so why should police and government ministers?

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Yes, the problem is 'Islamic fascism' | Jerusalem Post

Aug. 13, 2006 22:35
Yes, the problem is 'Islamic fascism'
By WILLIAM SHAWCROSS

It took President George W. Bush to tell the truth to Britain about the massive plot to blow US-bound airliners out of the sky. In his first comment on the apparently foiled attempt to explode airliners flying from Britain to the US, Bush put it simply: "This was a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists."

He is right. But in the early news reports in Britain the words "Islamist" or "Muslim" were hardly emphasized. Let alone "extremist" or the dread word "fascist." Instead the common code words on television were that the 24 men arrested were "British-born" and "of Pakistani origin."

No mention of their Islamist ideology. Did the BBC think they might turn out to be from Pakistan's embattled Christian minority? I don't think so.

In Europe the truth is so terrible that we are in denial. Perhaps it is understandable. We simply do not wish to face the fact that we really are threatened by a vast fifth column - that there are thousands of European-born people, in Britain, in France, in Holland, in Denmark, everywhere - who wish to destroy us. They are part of a wider war, what Tony Blair rightly calls an "arc of extremism" - Islamist extremism.

YOU SEE this denial in the coverage of Israel's war against Hizbullah.

Civilian deaths in Lebanon are utterly tragic. But if you watched only British television, particularly the BBC, you would be hard-pressed to understand that Israel has been forced into a war for its survival, one in which Iran has empowered its proxy, Hizbullah, to undertake the final solution of "the Zionist entity."

The fact that since Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon six years ago Hizbullah has been allowed to hijack the whole area to create a vast attack station whose purpose is only to destroy Israel, is taken for granted and certainly not shown to be a cause for opprobrium.

Protesters in London have been marching through the streets carrying banners proclaiming "We Are All Hizbullah Now."

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News of the World - Online Edition

Personally, I found this article very scary. 30 "Priority" plots under investigation. This is above and beyond the little stuff. Heavens only knows how many are ongoing that the authorities have no idea of.

And in this airline plot, they got lucky and a British muslim came forward and reported it. Without that tip, they'd have no idea that this was happening.

Also, consider that the airplane mass-murder plot alone took 1500 people investigating it. This is a massive undertaking.

What follows are some selected snippets from the article.

BRITAIN is facing a horrifying Summer of War blitz from Muslim terrorists—and police fear last week's foiled airline plot was just the beginning.

The News of the World can reveal that security services are also secretly battling ANOTHER 30 Islamist murder plots.

Some are simple single-cell operations planning relatively small-scale atrocities.

But others are multi-cell groups plotting attacks of incredible complexity to rival or even surpass last week's 9/11-style operation to blast multiple airliners out of the air.

Last night one Whitehall source said: 'It will be impossible to stop them all. There WILL be another 7/7 style spectacular and there WILL be terrible loss of life.

'This is at nightmarish proportions. All we can do is our best and we'll stop most of them. But its impossible to believe we'll get them all.'

-- SNIP --

The sheer scale of what Britain faces has shocked officials made privy to intelligence reports. One Whitehall insider said: "It is dreadful. There are at least 30 PRIORITY cases being investigated as we speak quite apart from the airline plot.

"They range in size from single cells operating alone—perhaps three or four fanatics with their own plan.

"Elsewhere is what they call multi-cells which is whole groups of people, perhaps 20 or 30 strong, who are planning simply massive attacks."

"ALL those 30 are seen as serious, determined attacks by fanatics that will happen unless we stop them."

One Washington official said: "What's plain is the level of threat is absolutely dreadful."

Alton Towers calls off "Muslim Fun Day" - Yahoo! News

This is a followup to an older story. A couple planned to have their wedding reception at Alton Towers, then the park hit on the (bizarre) concept of "Muslim Fun Day". Suddenly, the bride and all of the females would have to wear chadors and all were to follow muslim laws for the wedding, even though the wedding had nothing at all to do with the muslim "celebration".

But obviously, fun has nothing to do with Islam since they couldn't sign up enough muslims to have any fun as follows.

Alton Towers calls off "Muslim Fun Day"

Wed Aug 2, 12:42 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest theme park has called off the country's first "National Muslim Fun Day" because of lack of interest, the park said on Wednesday.

Alton Towers in Staffordshire was to open on September 17 for Muslims -- with halal food, a strict dress code and prayer areas.

Music, gambling and alcohol were to be banned for the day and theme park rides such as "Ripsaw", "Corkscrew" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" all segregated by sex.

But the park said the event's organisers, Islamic Leisure, who rented the park for the day and were marketing the event, had called it off due to "insufficient ticket sales".

BBC NEWS | Europe | EU to hold talks on UK jet 'plot'

EU to hold talks on UK jet 'plot'

The European Union will hold a meeting of aviation and security experts next week on the suspected plot to blow up planes that was uncovered in the UK.

Finland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said the meeting was needed to discuss anti-terrorism measures.

The UK says 23 people are being held over the alleged plot to blow up several planes with liquid explosives.

France on Friday announced a temporary ban on liquids in hand luggage on flights to the US, UK and Israel.

'Mass murder'

Finnish State Secretary Kari Salmi said the meeting would be in Brussels although the exact date has not yet been set.

Mr Salmi said: 'The aim is that experts will go through the situation in aviation security. Are the regulations in place? Are communications, both on EU and national level synchronised?'

A statement from the Finnish presidency said another 'restricted' meeting was being considered of ministers responsible for internal security."

BBC NEWS | Europe | EU to hold talks on UK jet 'plot'

Homegrown terrorists puzzle Britain - Yahoo! News

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writers Fri Aug 11, 5:33 PM ET

LONDON - One was an athletic teenager who had grown into a devout young man, another a soccer-loving convert to Islam. The youngest was 17, the oldest 35. Many were born in Britain and all were reared here.

As police held 23 young British Muslims accused of plotting devastating airline bombings, both the authorities and their neighbors sought Friday to understand how ordinary communities spawned a terrifying plot.

Police had arrested 24 people but late Friday Scotland Yard said one person was released without charge. It did not identify the person released.

Authorities have not identified suspects, but 19 names were made public Friday by the Treasury after the government froze their bank accounts. They have names of Muslim origin, including many that are common in Pakistan. At least 14 live in London, four in leafy High Wycombe, 30 miles away, and two in the central city of Birmingham.

It is unclear how the men met or who the ringleader is, although suspicion has fallen on the only one identified who is over 30 — Shamin Mohammed Uddin, 35, of east London.

The father of three of the arrested men, Faisal Hussain, collapsed into tears, telling Britain's ITV News that his sons — Nabeel, Umair and Mehran — weren't involved any plot.

"They went to prayer and they were Muslims, that is the only thing they were guilty of," he said through an interpreter in an interview broadcast Friday.

At least nine of the suspects lived in Walthamstow, a typically polyglot London neighborhood of modest brick houses and small apartment blocks, halal butchers, pubs and fast-food restaurants. It is an ethnically mixed community with a smattering of affluent professionals and a large Muslim population served by several mosques.

"Walthamstow's a happy, chilled-out community," said resident Hajra Mir. "We weren't expecting this."

That sense of shock was repeated across the neighborhood. Residents said it is a friendly, quiet area where people respect their neighbors. Several of the suspects had lived there for many years and attended local schools.

But several men from the neighborhood have been linked to the Saviour Sect — an offshoot of a disbanded radical Islamist group, al-Muhajiroun, which was based in nearby Tottenham and gained notoriety for praising the Sept. 11 hijackers.

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Investigators Tracing Terror Plot Money Trail

Investigators Tracing Terror Plot Money Trail
Friday, August 11, 2006

LONDON — Investigators on three continents worked to fill in the full, frightening picture Friday of a plot to blow U.S. jetliners out of the Atlantic skies, tracking the money trail and seizing more alleged conspirators in the teeming towns of eastern Pakistan.

One arrested there, a Briton named Rashid Rauf, is believed to have been the operational planner and to have connections with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistani and U.S. officials said.

British and Pakistani authorities have arrested as many as 41 people in the two countries in connection with the alleged suicidal plan, broken up by British police this week, to detonate disguised liquid explosives aboard as many as 10 planes bound from Britain to the United States.

"The terrorists intended a second Sept. 11," said Frances Fragos Townsend, White House homeland security adviser.

New information underlined how close they were to mounting attacks.

After the first arrests in Pakistan some days ago, word went from Pakistan to the London plotters to move ahead quickly, a message intercepted by an intelligence agency, a U.S. official disclosed on condition of anonymity. That prompted British police to move in on the conspirators, long under watch.

British Home Secretary John Reid told reporters officials were confident the main suspects in the plot were in custody. But authorities "would go where any further evidence takes us," he said.

"I think it's pretty clear that in this case, we don't have everybody," Townsend told The Associated Press in Washington.

The British government released the names of 19 of the 24 arrested in Britain — many apparently British Muslims of Pakistani ancestry — and froze their assets. One of the 24 detainees later was freed.

The record of financial transactions, along with telephone and computer records, may help investigators trace more people in the alleged plot.

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The Blotter

The Blotter: "British Penetrate Terror Cell

August 10, 2006 9:06 PM

Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:

"Overt, the British called it, though they cracked it using covert means.

They had an undercover operative deep inside the group of at least 30 terrorists who had developed a simple, effective and potentially devastating plan to close the world's busiest airport, Heathrow, by carrying on small but deadly bombs concealed in sports drink containers and detonated by the flash of a disposable camera, intelligence and law enforcement officials told ABC News.

Even with an undercover operative on the inside, the British may not have known the full scope of the plot until it grew close to fruition, and authorities learned that the terrorists intended to assemble their bombs onboard at least six and as many as nine or 10 passenger jets that would depart from that airport. The goal was to deal out mass death and destruction and a crippling blow to Heathrow, a top al Qaeda target since September 11th.

The airlines targeted included United, Continental and American, and the cities to which flights would have headed included New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and Miami -- all spots popular with British tourists as well as with Americans returning from trips abroad, sources said.

The planes were not to be blown up as they arrived at the cities, but in mid flight."

ClickOnDetroit.com - Local News - Officials: Martyrdom Tape Found In Terror Plot

This mass-murder plot was where it all started. 24 people planning to bring down up to 10 planes. 10 still on the loose. 40 arrested in Italy and 7 in Pakistan. Gatorade sports drink bottles modified to hold a peroxide based liquid bomb that would be set off by a camera flash or mp3 player.



British police allegedly found the tape during raids that netted 24 people. More arrests are expected.

The terrorist attack foiled by British authorities on Thursday was aimed at blowing up as many as 10 airplanes on trans-Atlantic flights, and plotters had hoped to stage a dry run within two days, U.S. intelligence officials said. The actual attack, they said, was expected just days after that.

The officials said the test run was designed to see whether the plotters would be able to smuggle the needed materials aboard the planes. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject matter.

American law enforcement sources said terrorists planned to use a peroxide-based explosive that would have been detonated by power from a camera, a digital music player or other electronic device.

The plane bombings could have come just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaida.

The details of the alleged plot surfaced as the administration posted a maximum code-red alert for passenger flights from England to the United States and banned liquids from all carry-on bags.

The security upgrade triggered long lines at airports across the country, and governors in at least two states activated National Guard troops to help provide protection.

"This was a well-advanced plan," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters as British authorities announced the arrests of 24 alleged plotters. "In some respects suggestive of an al-Qaida plot."

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said as many as 10 flights had been targeted.

Other officials said they were United, American and Continental Airlines routes from Britain to the major U.S. summer tourist destinations of New York, California and Washington, D.C. These officials declined to provide details on when the plotters intended to strike.

Virginia's deputy homeland security director, Steven Mondul, said that in a morning conference call, federal officials pointed to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, Los Angeles International and Dulles Airport outside Washington as "major destinations for flights originating from the United Kingdom." No specific warnings were issued for these facilities, he added.

The red alert for flights from Britain was the first since the color-coded warning system was developed in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks. The decision to ban nearly all liquids from passenger cabins was reminiscent of the stringent rules imposed when planes were allowed back in the skies for the first time afterward the Sept. 11 attacks.

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Been away, BUT BACK NOW!

Well folks, I've been away for about 6 months now keeping busy with a new job as an application developer. It was time out well needed and now I'm back and we can all watch Europe fall apart together due to their ill-advised unrestricted immigration from various Islamic countries.

I'll work on catching up on some news from the past few weeks at least over the next week or so. A lot of things are popping, VERY FAST so it's going to take some time to catch up.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Infidel Bloggers Alliance: The Infidel Bloggers Alliance Mohammed Cartoon Contest

Infidel Bloggers Alliance: The Infidel Bloggers Alliance Mohammed Cartoon Contest

Let's all show our support for our rights of Free Speech and Freedom of the Press. Draw a cartoon of Big Mo and enter it into the Infidel Bloggers Alliance Mohammed Cartoon Contest!

Protests Over Muhammad Cartoon Grow - Yahoo! News

Protests Over Muhammad Cartoon Grow - Yahoo! News: "Protests Over Muhammad Cartoon Grow

By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer Mon Jan 30, 1:26 PM ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The controversy over Danish caricatures of Prophet Muhammad escalated Monday as gunmen seized an EU office in Gaza and Muslims appealed for a trade boycott of Danish products. Denmark called for its citizens in the Middle East to exercise vigilance.
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Denmark-based Arla Foods, which has been the target of a widespread boycott in the Middle East, reported that two of its employees in Saudi Arabia were beaten by angry customers. Aid groups, meanwhile, pulled workers out of Gaza, citing the threat of hostilities.

The 12 drawings — published in a Danish paper in September and in a Norwegian paper this month — included an image of the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry.

Danish government officials have expressed regret over the furor but have refused to get involved, citing freedom of expression. The Jyllands-Posten newspaper has refused to apologize for publishing the drawings and has said it did not mean to insult Islam."

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The Sun Online - News: Hate demo over cartoon

The Sun Online - News: Hate demo over cartoon:


By PAUL THOMPSON
THEIR eyes are full of hate and their banners call for a new 7/7 terror attack.

This is the way a baying Muslim mob reacted to the row over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons on the streets of London yesterday.

More than 400 protesters — including small children — carried placards scrawled with messages of hate. A baby girl even had “I Love al-Qaeda” on her bonnet.

The parents of pretty Farisa Jihad, 20 months, proudly proclaimed she is the youngest member of the terror group.

She was brought to the protest by her father Abu, 38. Next to her was a huge poster exclaiming: “Whoever insults a prophet, kill him.”

Another placard nearby said: “Britain you will pay — 7/7 is on its way.”


Threat ... demonstrators warn of a 9/11 style response to newspaper cartoon insults


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Opinion: Democracy in a Cartoon - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Opinion: Democracy in a Cartoon - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News: "

By Ibn Warraq

Best-selling author and Muslim dissident Ibn Warraq argues that freedom of expression is our western heritage and we must defend it against attacks from totalitarian societies. If the west does not stand in solidarity with the Danish, he argues, then the Islamization of Europe will have begun in earnest.

Ibn Warraq: 'How can we expect immigrants to integrate into western society when they are at the same time being taught that the west is decadent, a den of iniquity, the source of all evil, racist, imperialist and to be despised?'
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Ibn Warraq: 'How can we expect immigrants to integrate into western society when they are at the same time being taught that the west is decadent, a den of iniquity, the source of all evil, racist, imperialist and to be despised?'
The great British philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty, 'Strange it is, that men should admit the validity of the arguments for free discussion, but object to their being 'pushed to an extreme'; not seeing that unless the reasons are good for an extreme case, they are not good for any case.'

The cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten raise the most important question of our times: freedom of expression. Are we in the west going to cave into pressure from societies with a medieval mindset, or are we going to defend our most precious freedom -- freedom of expression, a freedom for which thousands of people sacrificed their lives?

A democracy cannot survive long without freedom of expression, the freedom to argue, to dissent, even to insult and offend. It is a freedom sorely lacking in the Islamic world, and without it Islam will remain unassailed in its dogmatic, fanatical, medieval fortress; ossified, totalitarian and intolerant. Without this fundamental freedom, Islam will continue to stifle thought, human rights, individuality; originality and truth.

Unless, we show some solidarity, unashamed, noisy, public solidarity with the Danish cartoonists, then the forces that are trying to impose on the Free West a totalitarian ideology will have won; the Islamization of Europe will have begun in earnest. Do not apologize.


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How cartoons fanned flames of Muslim rage

While I HATE the Guardian and regret giving them the hits, here's a pretty good background on the cartoon controversy.

How cartoons fanned flames of Muslim rage

Embassies burning. Riots and demonstrations across the globe. Journalists in hiding. Presidents and preachers joining the furious debate. But just how did a series of second-rate cartoons buried deep inside the pages of a small Danish newspaper produce such an incendiary dispute?

Jason Burke in Paris, Luke Harding in Berlin, Alex Duval Smith in Copenhagen and Peter Beaumont in Ramallah
Sunday February 5, 2006
The Observer

If the consequences are global, the source is almost farcically local. You reach number 3 Grondals Street by taking the number 9 bus to the outskirts of the Danish city of Aarhus and getting off by the red post box half way up the hill. The modest single-story yellow brick building is the head office of Jyllands-Posten, a national newspaper with a circulation of 150,000. It is where Flemming Rose, the arts editor, decided that publishing a page of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad would provoke a debate on multiculturalism and spice up a paper whose daily highlight for many readers is the diamond wedding listing on page 18.

This weekend, the fallout from that editorial whim six months ago has left half the globe reeling. A week of violent rhetoric and action, of statements by scores of heads of states, of commercial boycotts and diplomatic intervention, of strife and anguish and emotion, has exposed deep tensions and fissures at the heart of the modern world, tensions between the Islamic world and the West, between religion and secular society, between journalists and politicians, between different conceptions of the role of faith and a free press in society, tensions that look unlikely to disappear soon.

Jan Lund, the Jyllands-Posten's foreign editor, said there was little discussion when the decision to run the cartoons was taken. 'I don't remember anyone raising any objections. The idea seemed good. The intention was to provoke a debate about the extent to which we self-censor in our coverage of Muslim issues.'.

Rose said the exercise had been inspired by a conversation with Danish comedian Frank Hvam, who said he did not dare make fun of the Koran. Rose added that children's writer Bent Blüdnikow, who had written a book about the Prophet Muhammad, had lamented the fact that all the illustrators he approached wanted to work anonymously.

Rose said that last autumn's Danish theatre season included three productions in which President George W Bush was either criticised or ridiculed, but not one featuring Osama bin Laden.

The result was 12 cartoons published on 30 September on page 3 of the second section of the paper. One showed the prophet with a bomb as a head, another with either horns or half a halo growing out of his head, a third showed a ragged line of suicide bombers arriving in heaven to be greeted by an anxious-looking prophet telling them: 'Stop stop, we ran out of virgins!'.

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