Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan was recently forced to apologize to the Mullahs before they would let him leave the Islamic Republic. Consider me not shocked. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 03:26 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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That's what some intelligence analysts seem to think may be happening. It should be remembered that the main al Qaeda leadership, Zawahiri, and the Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi have publicly disagreed over whether or not targetting Shiites was acceptable. Perhaps there is a reason Zawahiri and presumably bin Laden have come out against this. And while I'm not 100% convinced that Iran is aiding al Qaeda, mutual enemies have created stranger alliances.

Posted by: Rusty at 10:20 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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An Iranian newspaper has begun to run antisemitic cartoons in response to cartoons which were allegedly blasphemous of Muhammed. What is so disgusting about these cartoons is that they equate Israeli soldiers killing terrorists with Nazis killing women and children. Most of the cartoons seem to be drawn by the Western Left which is also so morally retarded that it cannot differentiate between a Palestinian terrorist intentionally blowing up a bus full of civilians and the Israeli response which is to kill the terrorists responsible.

More cartoons here.

Posted by: Rusty at 02:18 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment
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(Umluj, Saudi Arabia) With the media focused primarily on the international implications of Middle East events, the everyday hum-drum challenges of average citizens are often unreported. Here's an example.

From ArabNews.com:

Imagine the shock when Abdul Rahman Al-Juhani and family members went to a cemetery in this quiet northwest coastal town to bury a loved one only to discover, to their horror, the bones and shrouds of the dead strewn all about. The culprits of this desecration, say residents, are feral dogs.

"Not only that, but there were also children playing inside the cemetery," said Al-Juhani. "I don't blame the kids because they're not responsible for their actions. I put the blame on the municipality for not assigning a guard at the cemetery and leaving the door open for wild animals."

The people of Umluj are calling on municipal authorities to do something about this problem in the town's main cemetery, located near a fish market.

Suleiman Al-Hujori, a resident of Umluj, said that the dignity of the dead is being violated. "These wild dogs prey on dead bodies," he said. "They dig bodies and bones out of graves and eat them. We want the municipality to put an end to this problem."

Of course, then there's the question of whether any Muslim martyrs were buried in the cemetery. Now, I understand the biology when a canine eats. At the end of the day, all that remains is a pile of dog stuff. Is it possible to start as a doggie land mine and finish as a frolicker among a harem of 72 virgins?

From Interested-Participant.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 11:17 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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You know I was always sure that Iran would assist the Taliban and Al-Qaeda as long as we are the target. There was speculation that Iran was behind the bombing of the golden Mosque. It turns out hat may be true in an indirect way. Recent stories of shaped charges at the border coming from Iran help bolster this idea. Since the distraction of the Mohammed cartoons is settling down now attention is turning back toward Iran as it should be. I can understand IranÂ’s interest in screwing up Iraq by supplying fighters there. Of thatÂ’s not participating actively in war against the US and our allies the following surely is.

Weekly Standard : But the recently released transcript corroborates earlier reporting on Iran's cooperation with the Taliban, as well as al Qaeda. Afghani opposition sources reported in early 2002 that the Iranians helped Taliban and al Qaeda members escape approaching U.S. forces through the Herat province. For example, Time Magazine reported:
An adviser to [Herat] warlord Ismail Khan told TIME that shortly before the U.S. bombing campaign began in October, a high-ranking Iranian official connected to the hard-line supreme leader Ayatollah Khameini had been dispatched to Kabul to offer secret sanctuary to Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives. The Iranian official was apparently trapped in Kabul during the bombing, and remained there until the Northern Alliance took control of the city. Although the Iranians despised the Taliban for their persecution of Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan, their hatred for the U.S. may have run deeper.

And, according to sources in Herat, the Taliban and al Qaeda took the Iranians up on their offer. Shortly before Herat's Taliban garrison fled in November, a convoy of 50 off-road vehicles carrying some 250 senior Taliban and al Qaeda members allegedly crossed over into Iran, using a smugglers' route through the hills about 20 miles north of the city. A Western diplomat in Afghanistan claims that groups of Taliban and al Qaeda are still threading their way through the mountains of central Afghanistan and heading for the Iranian border. "The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has an eye on everything that happens along the border," says the diplomat. "Of course they know that Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are getting across."

The importance of this allegation goes beyond understanding Iran's past behavior. Currently, some analysts assume that fear of U.S. retribution limits Iranian interference in Iraq and support for al Qaeda. But if Iran's leadership agreed to set aside its differences with the Taliban in order to stymie American operations against al Qaeda, then such assumptions are clearly no longer valid.

Posted by: Howie at 12:50 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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