CHRONOLOGY 3 -- SUBMIT TO SELF-APPOINTED LEADERSHIP

ENDS.] [Aug 27, 05]

• [Bronwyn Bishop backs school headscarf ban]

   The Weekend Australian, "Bishop backs school headscarf ban," By Samantha Maiden and Paige Taylor, p 2, August 27-28, 2005
   AUSTRALIA: LIBERAL MP Bronwyn Bishop has backed a push to ban Muslim girls wearing headscarves to school.
   Speaking in support of her like-minded colleague Victorian Liberal MP Sophie Panopoulos, Ms Bishop yesterday warned it was time to debate the issue.
   "When you have a clash of cultures, the dominant culture is the one that you follow and that's ours," she told the Nine Network's A Current Affair.
   "That's the one that makes us free, and I'll fight for it."
   The Australian reported yesterday that Ms Panopoulos was leading the push to debate the issue, warning "politically correct" ideas should not stop debate over girls wearing Muslim headscarves. "For a lot of younger people it seems to be more an act of rebellion than anything," she said.
   "My personal view is I would put a ban on those headscarves, as governments have overseas. That's up to individual schools and state governments but if a school has a uniform that's pretty much it."
   Ms Panopoulos also warned she was concerned about Muslim women not showing their faces when they posed for photographic identification.
   Last year France's parliament voted overwhelmingly to outlaw the wearing of Islamic head-scarves in state schools.
   Education Minister Brendan Nelson said this week he did not support a ban on headscarves.#
   [COMMENT: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." - Old saying. COMMENT ENDS.] [Aug 27-28, 05]

• Sydney on al-Qaida attack list: judge

   The West Australian, p 13, Saturday, August 27, 2005
   CANBERRA: Sydney is one of three financial centres named yesterday as potential targets for an al-Qaida attack.
   France's top anti-terrorist judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, believes the terror organisation is preparing to attack a big financial centre in Asia to undermine investor confidence in the region.
   "We have elements of information that make us think that countries in this region, especially Japan, could have been targeted," he said.
   "Any attack on a financial market like Japan would mechanically have an important economic impact on the confidence of investors," he said. "Other countries in this region, such as Singapore and Australia, are also potential targets."
   Mr Bruguiere, who interrogated terror suspect Willie Brigette, warned of the September 11,2001, attacks on the United States and the London July bombings.
   He said Asian countries were less prepared than Britain or the United States for such an attack.
[Picture] Threat: Sydney has been named as a target for an al-Qaida attack.
   "We are somewhat neglecting the capacity or desire of the al-Qaida organisation to destabilise the region," he said.
   An Australian Federal Police spokesman said it investigated all matters referred to it "and it would be inappropriate to comment on any ongoing investigation that we have".
   Australian Strategic Policy Institute security analyst Aldo Borgu said it was possible terrorists could shift their focus to financial markets but it was more likely they would continue to aim for a big impact by killing people.
   "They've basically been more concerned about getting mass casualties than they have on putting a blip on your trade deficit or balance of accounts or anything like that," he said.
   "It doesn't mean that they won't in the future but so far they're sticking to their current repertoire, which is casualty attacks rather than attacks on economic infrastructure."
   Nicknamed Le Sheriff, Mr Bruguiere has been warning about the threat of Islamic terrorists since a string of bombings rocked Paris in the mid-1980s.
   He heads a specialist team of judges who work alongside anti-terrorist police and intelligence agents who have overseen the arrest of more than 500 terrorism suspects in 20 years.
   He warned of the danger of terrorists hijacking aircraft well before the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, after foiling a 1994 attempt by Algerian radicals to crash an Air France jet into the Eiffel Tower in Paris.# [Aug 27, 05]

 • [Easing animals' suffering makes meat unfit to eat] 

 
   The West Australian, "Malaysia cites halal violation for Aussie beef ban," p 14, Saturday, August 27, 2005
   KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has declared some Australian beef no longer fit for its Muslims to eat, saying slaughtering methods designed to ease an animal's suffering do not comply with Islamic strictures.
   In mainly Muslim Malaysia, animals must die from a single slice to the throat for the meat to be deemed halal, or fit for Muslim consumption, but under Australian animal-welfare rules, cattle are sometimes "stunned" before their throats are cut.
   Another method, in which a separate cut is made to the thoracic artery to speed up death, is also deemed non-halal.
   Malaysia revealed its stance yesterday after bilateral trade talks in Kuala Lumpur, saying it had withdrawn halal certification from 15 Australian abattoirs and processing plants.
   The issue has already riled the New Zealand meat industry, which says some of its abattoirs have also lost Malaysian halal certification despite meeting their own domestic halal rules.
   Australia, a major beef exporter, is estimated to earn about $20 mil- lion a year from halal exports, Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said after the talks with his Malaysian counterpart, Rafidah Aziz.
   "We slaughter and sell an enormous amount of red-meat product under halal certification and supervision in Australia," Mr Vaile said.
   Australian veterinary experts and Malaysia's halal certification body are looking at ways of meeting both Islamic strictures and animal-welfare considerations, he said.
   "I'm quite confident that we will be able to resolve it," Mr Vaile said. [Bolding added]
   [COMMENT: Can't every elector see how ignorant of other cultures were and are the empty-headed people who made propaganda for multiculturalism, and still do? If anyone expects that people of this robust culture will allow the laid-back "Aussie" way of life to continue, read about what a Malaysian state did to the Sky Kingdom religious structures (the "teapot sect"), reported August 3, 2005.
   And, how many so-called leaders and scholars could tell us the origin of the idea that animals should die, painfully bleeding to death, to be "fit" for human consumption? COMMENT ENDS.] [Aug 27, 05]
• Islamic balance rests on old pillars

Islamic balance rests on old pillars

   The West Australian, "The Human Spirit" segment, by Keith McDonald, page 7 of "Weekend Extra" section, Saturday, August 27, 2005
   PERTH (W. Australia): Religion's struggle with modernity is a challenge for all major faiths, but none more so than Islam. With 1.3 billion followers, including up to 8 per cent of some Western countries' populations, it is the world's second biggest religion. Yet the average Australian probably knows very little about it.
   "Understanding" doesn't extend much beyond media images of suicide bombings and the idea that this is all Islam's fault.
   So, as distinguished Islamic scholar Akbar Ahmed asked at a University of WA symposium this month: "How are we to live together as a multicultural, multireligious society in the 21st century?"
   Dr Ahmed, chair of Islamic studies and professor of international relations at American University, was speaking via digital video conferencing from his office in Washington DC. He gave a stark reminder of how far Islam has gone astray by describing the initial impact of the Prophet Mohammed.
   "Islam came to the world in the 7th century with its idea of how to live as a world society," he said. "It rested on the notion of justice. This is central to Islam.
   "The second feature is the notion of compassion or balance. Society can't be a just society without balance or compassion. You must feel for your neighbours. The third important pillar is the notion of ilm - knowledge. Ilm is the second most used word in the Koran after the word for God.
   "Add these three up and you will see that you have a classic Islamic civilisation which was able to produce a sophisticated idea of human rights and ways of living with non-Muslims. We saw a human rights system that was the best in the world."
   Islam then was an egalitarian society. "There was no hierarchy, no priesthood so you spoke directly to God, and there were no kings or dynasties," Dr Ahmed said.
[Picture of woman, wearing blue headscarf, carrying a sign "I am a Muslim for Peace".] Dialogue vital if we are to avoid the abyss of despair, says Akbar Ahmed.
   Women were given unprecedented rights over property, they could divorce, lead armies and be writers. "Women were given a very high status in Islam, which is not to say they have that status today," he said. "The struggle to reclaim the rights of women is on and needs to be fought and won."
   He saw the past 200 years as a time of "great crisis and uncertainty" for the Islamic world, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, European colonisation of Muslim lands and the failings of independent Muslim states.
   In a Washington Times article a few days earlier, Dr Ahmed and Susan Bradford wrote that Islamic societies had suffered from tyrannical leadership and chaos, illiteracy, self-mutilation and violence. "The Muslim world has fallen hopelessly behind as the rest of the world races ahead towards globalisation," they said.

THE HUMAN SPIRIT KEITH McDONALD

   "Unsettled by changes and not perceiving many options, Muslims are desperately holding on to obsolete traditions which no longer serve them and view Islam as a cultural, political identity as opposed to faith to draw one closer to God, to lead a righteous life."
   Dr Ahmed told his Perth audience the Muslim world urgently has to start a "dialogue of civilisations". "Events are overtaking the Muslim world," he said. "Bombings will happen in future and make things worse for Muslims. They have to begin to respond to the challenges they are facing."
   Dr Ahmed said interfaith dialogue was needed: "It can sound like a cliche, an empty word, but it does have an impact," he said.
   People also needed to read for themselves about each others' cultures: "You will be amazed how little we know. There are so many stereotypes in the media."
   Above all, friendships had to be created: "It's absolutely crucial in any dialogue. Often you go home or back to the office and nothing much changes, but with friendship things do change."
   Dr Ahmed felt that the voice of moderation needed to be heard. He regretted that often Muslims appearing in the media were not scholars, had agendas and spread misinformation.
   Also, as he wrote in the Washington Times: "Often the rhetoric of radical imams, which is highly politicised and deeply rooted in prejudice, is cited as the true face of Islam."
   But he also criticised Christian evangelists like Franklin Graham. "Prominent figures have attacked the God of Islam," he said. "(Their comments) are not based on scholarship but are more based on prejudice or ignorance.
   "To call them (Muslims) Satan worshippers or idol worshippers leaves me astounded. These people should do a little bit of reading; discover for themselves that Islam is not a religion of idol worshippers or Satan worshippers."
   He appealed for moderates to make sacrifices and build bridges of understanding. "We mustn't allow people of violence from whatever civilisation to set the agenda," he said. "It is crucial we don't allow societies to sink into a hopeless abyss of despair."
   The symposium was organised to celebrate the launch of UWA's Centre for Muslim States and Societies. The centre aims to increase understanding of the beliefs and practices of our Muslim neighbours as well as the identities, cultures and values of Muslim communities in liberal democracies such as Australia.
   Samina Yasmeen, director of the centre, said that most moderate Muslims were busy getting on with their lives and this had left the field open to orthodox Muslim ideas, including militant ideology. She blamed culture for distancing Muslims from the original principles of their faith.
   "The challenge is to understand the spirit of the religion," she said. "We need to go back to the original inner meaning of the religion... everyone knows about prayer but what does it inculcate in you? There is a general tendency to have moved away and got stuck with the form. We need to look at the essence and ask what is the meaning."
keith.mcdonald@wanews.com.au #
   [RECAPITULATION: "Add these three up and you will see that you have a classic Islamic civilisation which was able to produce a sophisticated idea of human rights and ways of living with non-Muslims. We saw a human rights system that was the best in the world."
   "Unsettled by changes and not perceiving many options, Muslims are desperately holding on to obsolete traditions which no longer serve them and view Islam as a cultural, political identity as opposed to faith to draw one closer to God, to lead a righteous life." ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: Who could believe Dr Ahmed's theories about Islam, if one was steeped in the Koran, the Sunnah, and Shariah? Or if one studied the bloodsoaked history of conquest by Mohammed and his successors? COMMENT ENDS.]
   [RECAPITULATION: Samina Yasmeen, director of the centre, said that most moderate Muslims were busy getting on with their lives and this had left the field open to orthodox Muslim ideas, including militant ideology. She blamed culture for distancing Muslims from the original principles of their faith. ENDS.]
   [COMMENT: The idealised society without kings etc. never occurred, judging by the martyrdoms of the early leaders, and the idea that it was a non-aggressive society is belied by the distance from Mecca of their early leaders' tombs, which are honoured by one of the major sects to this day.
   To pretend that women gained rights from Mohammed's teachings is belied by every move he made, from his rules for killing male prisoners-of-war but sexually using the females, to his gradually granting his male followers four wives and himself 11 wives including a child. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [RECAPITULATION: The symposium was organised to celebrate the launch of UWA's Centre for Muslim States and Societies. ENDS.] [Aug 27, 05]
• Australian Complicity in Iraq Mass Mortality  
   Ockham's Razor, Radio National, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, www.abc.net. au/rn/science/ ockham/stories/ s1445960.htm , by Dr Gideon Polya (presented by Robyn Williams), Sunday, August 28, 2005
   AUSTRALIA: Former Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Dr Gideon Polya researched and analysed avoidable global mass mortality. He also talks about the refusal of Anglo/American media to report avoidable mass mortality and other atrocities linked to Western activities.
   The post-1950 avoidable mortality has been 1.3-billion for the world, 1-billion for the Third World and 0.5-billion for the Muslim World, a Muslim Holocaust 100 times greater than the Jewish Holocaust or the contemporaneous but 'forgotten' Bengal Famine in British-ruled India.
   The latest UNICEF report in 2005 estimates that for the year 2003 the under-5 infant mortality was 110,000 in occupied Iraq, 292,000 in occupied Afghanistan and 1,000 in the invading and occupying country Australia (noting that these countries have populations of about 25-million, 24-million and 20-million respectively).
   Using publicly available United Nations and medical literature data one can readily calculate that there have been about 0.4-million avoidable deaths in post-invasion Iraq.
   The War on Terror has substantially helped to produce a post-9/11 extra profit for the US military-industrial complex of about $US500-billion. The annual World death toll from car accidents and smoking-related causes is about 1-million and 5-million respectively. One can see why there is no War on Cars nor a War on Cigarettes.

Australian Complicity in Iraq Mass Mortality Sunday at 8.45am, repeated Wednesdays at 9.45pm Presented by Robyn Williams Sunday 28 August 2005 Summary    Former Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Dr Gideon Polya researched and analysed avoidable global mass mortality. He also talks about the refusal of Anglo/American media to report avoidable mass mortality and other atrocities linked to Western activities. Program Transcript    Robyn Williams: Today's talk will make uncomfortable listening. You may disagree with some of the learned Professor's conclusions, even some of his terms. But Gideon Polya, who has been a Professor of Biochemistry at a university in Melbourne for many years, has taken the trouble to do some original research, this time on the deaths of children and their significance.    The science is straightforward, if chilling. It's the political consequences one can argue about. Professor Gideon Polya.    Gideon Polya: The fundamental process of science successively involves considering all the data, setting up testable models of reality, gathering new data to test such potentially falsifiable hypotheses, and then refining our models to accommodate the new data set.    A fundamental rule for scientists is that you cannot rub out the data; this will simply derail the scientific process.    'Rubbing out' is particularly dangerous when the data have a direct bearing on human mortality. History ignored yields history repeated, and a 'rubbing out' or denial of huge mortality events such as the Jewish Holocaust will surely greatly increase the probability of their recurrence.    Indeed some countries, notably Germany, have made Holocaust denial illegal, albeit only in relation to the Jewish Holocaust.    Nevertheless an extraordinary feature of the post-war world has been the resolute refusal of Anglo-American media to report avoidable mass mortality and other atrocities linked to Western activities. Thus in 1943-44 a man-made, market-forces famine killed an estimated 4-million Hindu and Muslim Bengalis in British-ruled India, but most Australians will simply never have heard of this 'forgotten holocaust'.    According to Amartya Sen, the 1998 Economics Nobel Laureate, prosperous, wartime Calcutta sucked food out of a starving countryside, those who could not afford the fourfold increase in the price of rice simply perished. Civilian and military sexual abuse of starving females involved some 30,000 victims in Calcutta alone and probably hundreds of thousands throughout Bengal. The famine-enforced sexual exploitation of starving women and girls in the British Military Labour Corps demands comparison with the 'comfort women' abuses of the Japanese Imperial Army.    To reiterate, history ignored yields history repeated, but unfortunately lying by omission is entrenched in Anglo-American mainstream media.    I have been researching and writing a book on post-1950 avoidable global mortality. This has involved using United Nations data to calculate the avoidable mortality, (or technically, excess mortality) for every country in the world since 1950. Avoidable mortality is the difference between the actual deaths in a country and the deaths expected for a peaceful, decently-run country with the same demographics.    The post-1950 avoidable mortality has been 1.3-billion for the world, 1-billion for the Third World and 0.5-billion for the Muslim World, a Muslim Holocaust 100 times greater than the Jewish Holocaust or the contemporaneous but 'forgotten' Bengal Famine in British-ruled India.    These figures are horrendous and demand some kind of corroboration. To achieve this I have independently calculated the post-1950 under-5 infant mortality for every country in the world. The post-1950 under-5 infant mortality has totalled about 0.9-billion for the world, 0.8-billion for the non-European World and 0.4-billion for the Muslim World. One can calculate from United Nations demographic data that about 90% of the non-European under-5 infant mortality has been potentially avoidable.    When considered country by country, the horrendous post-1950 'avoidable mortality' and 'under-5 infant mortality' correlate with impositions of First World countries (principally the UK, US, France, Portugal and Russia) that have variously included colonial occupation, neo-colonial hegemony, economic exclusion, economic constraint, malignant interference, corrupt client regimes, militarisation, debt, civil war and international war.    Time does not permit a detailed analysis here of avoidable global mortality. However I have written widely on this matter and a Google search for 'Gideon Polya' will allow ready access to this information.    For example, the post-1950 infant mortality in Asian and Pacific countries in which Australia has been involved militarily in that period totals 34-million.    Australia is involved militarily in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is important to assess the human cost of the US-led intervention in these countries. However, when questioned at a recent Senate Estimates Committee hearing, both a Minister and a top Intelligence Chief denied knowledge of such information.    The top ABC journalist, Tony Eastley, concluded: 'The Australian Government has admitted it doesn't know how many civilians have died in the Iraq war, and neither it, nor US authorities, are trying to find out.'    Indeed US authorities have repeatedly stated that they do not keep records of civilian casualties. However as with the children overboard, the weapons of mass destruction and the torture of Iraqi prisoners, the truth eventually emerges.    The latest UNICEF report in 2005 estimates that for the year 2003 the under-5 infant mortality was 110,000 in occupied Iraq, 292,000 in occupied Afghanistan and 1,000 in the invading and occupying country Australia (noting that these countries have populations of about 25-million, 24-million and 20-million respectively).    Using publicly available United Nations and medical literature data one can readily calculate that there have been about 0.4-million avoidable deaths in post-invasion Iraq.    In 1991 the UK recommenced military action against Iraq that had kicked off in 1914. In 2003 the US, UK and Australia illegally invaded and conquered Iraq. I have calculated that the under-5 infant mortality was 1.2-million for Iraq since 1991; 0.2-million for Iraq since the 2003 invasion; and 0.9-million for Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.    US military technologies and strategies minimise politically unpopular military casualties at the expense of civilian deaths in US-invaded countries. There have been about 1,000 US combat deaths in post-invasion Iraq and Afghanistan and one can accordingly calculate that the ratio of avoidable, post-invasion under-5 infant deaths to US combat deaths has been about 1,000 to 1.    The US, UK and Australia are clearly complicit in horrendous avoidable mortality and infant mortality in a swathe of invaded Asian countries in the post-1950 era. This now raises the philosophic issue of responsibility.    The occupying ruler is responsible for the ruled, (noting 'occupation' includes military, economic and political hegemony and rule by client indigenous regimes). Further, whether an adult or child is killed violently or dies non-violently from deprivation or avoidable disease, the end result is the same and the culpability the same.    In 2004 the estimated per capita medical expenditure was only $US37 in occupied Iraq, but $US3,100 in the invading and occupying country, Australia. This roughly one-hundredfold difference in per capita medical expenditure is reflected in a one-hundredfold difference in under-5 infant mortality. The provision of grossly inappropriate medical assistance in occupied Iraq at only about 1% of the per capita level in the occupying Coalition countries is criminal and genocidal.    Professor Peter Singer, formerly at Monash University Melbourne, and now Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University in the US, has been widely acclaimed as the most influential living philosopher.    Professor Singer has generated enormous controversy over his advocacy of 'active', painless, non-voluntary euthanasia for severely disabled infants. However his comments over 'passive euthanasia' are relevant to 'passive genocide' by the Coalition in Iraq. 'Doctors who deliberately leave a baby to die when they have the awareness, the ability, and the opportunity to save the baby's life, are just as morally responsible for the death as they would be if they had brought it about by a deliberate positive action.'    Professor Peter Singer has further stated the following moral generality 'We are responsible not only for what we do but also for what we could have prevented … We could consider the consequences of what we do and what we decide not to do.'    Jihadist violence has taken roughly about 5,000 Western civilian lives over the last 20 years, with most of the victims dying on 9/11 (about 3,000) and the remainder including murdered Israeli civilians and the victims of atrocities such as Madrid, Lockerbie and Bali.    However this jihadist violence has had immensely bloodier consequences through the hysterically and dishonestly promoted War on Terror that has been associated with post-invasion avoidable deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan alone that total 1.6-million.    The War on Terror has substantially helped to produce a post-9/11 extra profit for the US military-industrial complex of about $US500-billion. The annual World death toll from car accidents and smoking-related causes is about 1-million and 5-million respectively. One can see why there is no War on Cars nor a War on Cigarettes.    To conclude, rubbing out the facts prevents rational, scientific solutions to major problems, including avoidable mass mortality. My solution to the continuing global mass mortality holocaust can be summarised by the acronym CAAAA: Cessation of the violence and the lying; Acknowledgement of the human cost: Apology for First World complicity in continuing Third World mass mortality; Amends by aid, debt relief and economic decency; and Assertion that this holocaust will stop and never be repeated.    Silence kills. Silence is complicity. Please inform everyone, discuss this with your associates and then act as responsible citizens. We cannot walk by on the other side.    Robyn Williams: That entreaty from Gideon Polya, who was until recently Associate Professor of Biochemistry at one of our universities in Melbourne.    Next week, if you are sent away as part of the Australian Army in, say Afghanistan or maybe East Timor, what's in your kit for breakfast, lunch or dinner? Chris Forbes Ewan in Launceston presents a menu for your delectation.    I'm Robyn Williams. Guest on this program:    Dr Gideon Polya, Author and Former Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Melbourne    Presenter: Robyn Williams    Producer: Brigitte Seega # [Robyn Williams on ABC Radio National: The Science Show: Saturday Midday, rpt Monday 7pm. Ockham’s Razor: Sunday 8.45am, rpt Wednesday 9.45pm. In Conversation: Thursday 7.40pm.]

[Aug 28, 05]
• Al-Qaida claims London bombing.

Al-Qaida claims London bombing    Aljazeera Arabic TV, http://english. aljazeera.net/ NR/exeres/B22D0 ADF-D0EB-4DC0-9C6E- 7671F19CD589.htm , By Lawrence Smallman, 23:37 Makka Time, 20:37 GMT, Thursday 01 September 2005,    Aljazeera has aired a clip from an al-Qaida video in which one of the London bombers explains his reasons for the July attacks on the British capital.    Al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also appeared on the video on Thursday, promising similar attacks in the future. [Picture] Muhammad Sadiq Khan said Westerners should not feel safe.    London bomber Muhammad Sadiq Khan, a 30-year-old British national from West Yorkshire, said responsibility for the attacks on European and US cities fell squarely on the shoulders of the West.    He explained the West was backing governments that were carrying out crimes against humanity.    "Your [the West's] democratically elected governments continue to perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world.    "Your support for them makes you directly responsible ... until we feel security, you will be our targets. Until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people, we will not stop."    In four bombings on the London transport system on 7 July, 56 people were killed. London police believe Khan was the leader of the suicide bombers. Slap for Blair    Al-Zawahiri also spoke at some length on the reasons for the London attacks, and described them as "a slap to the policy of British Prime Minister Tony Blair".    "And just as Blair makes light of the blood of our brothers in Chechnya, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan, so he also makes light of your blood too when he drew you into this war in Iraq."    The al-Qaida deputy characterised the blasts as a response to UK foreign policy "just as 9/11 was a response to America's".    Further, al-Zawahiri promised similar operations in "enemy territory" in the near future, particularly Europe - because it had ignored an offer of truce from al-Qaida's leader, Osama bin Ladin.    The deputy commander also directly addressed Muslim scholars in the West who condemned al-Qaida's attacks, asking them why they did not protest so loudly when "a million people starved in Iraq and when warplanes dropped bombs on innocent communities in Afghanistan ... and when Crusader forces bombed women and children in Falluja?"    Neither the British Metropolitan police force, not London's Foreign Office were prepared to comment on the video, though both said they were aware it had been broadcast. July blasts    Khan, along with two other young British Muslims of Pakistani origin and a fourth Jamaican-born Briton, blew themselves up on three underground trains and a bus in London on 7 July.    Khan visited Pakistan along with another of the bombers last year, where religious schools have been under scrutiny after some were accused of breeding extremism.    Pakistani security forces have also been searching for members of al-Qaida in remote areas of the country recently.    London's police chief Ian Blair said the bombings bore all the hallmarks of an al-Qaida operation as it was a multiple coordinated attack on a city's transport system. Previous al-Qaida message    Last December, in a similar broadcast made by Aljazeera, bin Ladin called for a boycott of Iraq's elections and endorsed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as his deputy in the country. [Picture] Al-Zawahiri vowed 'more attacks in enemy territory in near future'..    The audio message condemned the 30 January elections to elect a national assembly that drafted the new constitution.    "In the balance of Islam, this constitution is infidel and therefore everyone who participates in this election will be considered an infidel," he said.    "Beware of henchmen who speak in the name of Islamic parties and groups who urge people to participate" in the election.    He also described al-Zarqawi as the "amir" of al-Qaida in Iraq and called upon Muslims there "to listen to him".    Bin Ladin had added that his al-Zarqawi announcement was "a great step on the path of unifying all the mujahidin in establishing the state of righteousness and ending the state of injustice". #

[Sep 01, 05]

• Jakarta Cardinal calls on police to protect churches from attacks

   
   CathNews (from Church Resources, Australia), www.cathnews.com/news/509/39.php , Sep 7, 2005
   JAKARTA, Indonesia: Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, Archbishop of Jakarta, yesterday visited Indonesian Police Chief General Sutanto, to demand that the security forces protect every faith group in case of new attacks by religious extremists.
   AsiaNews reports that Cardinal Darmaatmadja was accompanied by Kiai Haj Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organisation in the country, and Rev Andreas Yewangoe, chairman of the Indonesian (Protestant) Synod of Churches.
   After the meeting, Cardinal Darmaatmadja said that whatever problem may exist between religious denominations should be dealt with peacefully.
   "The problem should not be kept alive by the violence of illegal groups," he said.
   Kiai Muzadi further reiterated that the police must intervene whenever Muslim fundamentalists try to forcibly close down churches. "They should not take the law into their own hands," he said. Instead, the "police should assist in clearing up any problems. Dialogue is a more appropriate way."
   The move by the three religious leaders comes after a statement by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in which he pledged his government's resolve to guarantee religious freedom.
   In the statement released on Sunday, the President called on the national police to prevent any acts of violence against any religious denomination.
   Mr Susilo also ordered Minister for Religious Affairs Haj Maftuh Basyuni and local leaders to quickly find a solution to the violence in Bandung (West Java).
   With the backing of former President Abdurrahman Wahid (aka Gus Dur), thousands of Christians demonstrated in Jakarta on Saturday against the closure of 23 churches in the aforementioned province by the Islamic Defender Front (IDF), an Islamic fundamentalist group.
   IDF chairman Habieb Rizieq retorted that none of the buildings shut down were churches but houses where religious services and prayers were organised without a permit.
   Mr Rizieq recently received Fr Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Jesuit priest and peace activist and Reverend Sairin.
   During the meeting, Mr Rizieq expressed his group's willingness to "prevent any attack against legal churches as long as they stay legal".
   SOURCE: Cardinal of Jakarta calls on police to protect churches from attacks by fundamentalists (AsiaNews.it 6/9/05)
   MORE STORIES:
Three Christian women jailed for "proselytising' (AsiaNews.it 6/9/05)
Indonesian Muslim Assails Forced Closure of Churches (Zenit 4/9/05)
  HAVE YOUR SAY   Click here    [Sep 7, 05]

• Sharia proposal spurs protests

       
   The West Australian, p 28, Friday, September 9, 2005
   TORONTO -- Protesters were expected yesterday in cities from Amsterdam to Toronto because of a proposal that would allow Islamic law to be used in Ontario to settle civil and marital disputes.
   The Canadian province would become the first Western jurisdiction to allow Muslims to use sharia if the Ontario Government followed recommendations by former Ontario attorney-general Marion Boyd.
   She has recommended that Ontario allow Muslims to establish sharia-based tribunals similar to Jewish and Catholic arbitration bodies that have operated there since 1991. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty offered no clues this week on whether the province would act on her report, which was delivered in December.
   Opponents of sharia say it discriminates against women. Almost 100 organisations have banded together to oppose the proposal and were to march in six European cities and at least five in Canada yesterday. # [Bolding added]
   [COMMENT: Marion Boyd seems to be one of the "trendies" who are willing to drag modern humanity back to primitive traditions, in vain attempts to adopt multiculturalism even at the risk of human rights. COMMENT ENDS.]
   [DOCTRINE:
   Surah 2 "The Cow", aya 282 -- O ye who believe! when ye contract a debt ... call to witness two witnesses ... but if there not be two men, let there be a man, and two women of those whom ye shall judge fit for witnesses ... -- (J.M.Rodwell's translation, pp 30-31, The Koran, 2001 - originally 1909 - , Phoenix Press, London.)  www.usc.edu/ dept/MSA/ quran/002. qmt.html #002.282) .
   Surah 4 "Women", aya 3 -- ... marry but two or three or four ... -- (Rodwell's translation, p 49.)
   4:12 -- With regard to your children, God commandeth you to give the male the portion of two females ... (Rodwell's, p 50)
   4:19 -- If any of your women be guilty of whoredom, then bring four witnesses against them from among yourselves ... shut them up within their houses till death release them ... (Rodwell's, p 51)
   4:38 -- Men are superior to women ... chide those for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear ... and scourge them ... God is High, Great! (Rodwell's, p 53) DOCTRINE ENDS.] [Sep 9, 05]
• [Pro-terrorist imam Bakri cost £250,000 so far, now plans terror school]  
   The International Express (Britain), West Australian edition, "Hate cleric's vow for a school for UK fanatics," p 6, Tuesday, September 13, 2005

6       INTERNATIONAL EXPRESS       Tuesday September 13, 2005 Hate cleric's vow for a school for UK fanatics LONDON: BANNED cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed has vowed to set up a training camp for British Muslims in his first repulsive rant since fleeing the UK    The extremist, who backs terror attacks, wants to teach British Muslims his perverse brand of Islam before sending them home from Beirut as "ambassadors".    The pledge sparked widespread condemnation last night and demands for the Government to crack down on anyone who takes up his offer and even bar them from the UK.    Shadow homeland security minister Patrick Mercer said: "I very much resent Omar Bakri carrying on his stream of abuse towards this country and the idea of youngsters going to him to be instructed, I find both laughable and worrying. Were this ever to happen the Government has a duty not only to monitor individuals on these courses but also to question whether they should be allowed back in the country to continue Omar Bakri's stream of hatred." [Picture] EVIL ON THE RUN: Bakri in Beirut    Bakri, dubbed the Tottenham Ayatollah, was finally banned from the UK last month by Home Secretary Charles Clarke who used existing powers to exclude the 46-year-old, confirming his presence was "not conducive to the public good". During almost 20 years living off UK benefits, Bakri was responsible for a stream of hate-filled rants against the country and its leaders.    He has also described the 9/11 terrorists as "magnificent", claiming the voices of dead terrorists were calling young Britons to fight. Declaring Britain a "land of war" he urged Muslims to join Jihad "wherever you are".    And last week he vowed: "I am going to open a school for teaching Arabic English to foreigners who come from Britain to study Arabic English in Beirut. I would like, myself, to see most of the Muslims join me here in Beirut, study Arabic English, study religion and after that become the best ambassadors back home when they go back to Britain."    Inayat Bungawala, of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, said: "This proposal would be welcome if it was coming from someone who was sane but at the hands of Omar Bakri with his background of provocative rants against our country and our people here in the UK, this must be naturally a cause for concern." He added: "If any British Muslim is duped into attending this man's programme that would be of immense worry to us."    Shadow home secretary David Davis added: "It is vital that the Government does all it can to make sure young British Muslims are not exposed to extremist teaching. This is why, for example, we urge the Government to ensure Imams [Muslim clerics] are trained in Britain."    Syrian-born Bakri fled to Lebanon last month when he feared he could face treason charges for his views. Syria has made a request to the Lebanese to extradite him there.    Bakri's Lebanese wife and seven children still live in the UK and enjoy £300 a week in State benefits. The family, who live in north London, have received more than £250,000 in unemployment, child and disability handouts since arriving in 1986.#

   [COMMENT: The Conservatives, who at times presided over the influx of millions of non-British immigrants, didn't set such rules about training Muslim clerics in place when they were in Government. Funny how wise they are now! Did Mr Davis or his ilk condemn Tories of past decades who opposed the policies? COMMENT ENDS.]
   [NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL: And see the Editorial on p 10. ENDS.] [Sep 13, 05]
• [Britain's open-door heading towards Britons in minority]  
   The International Express (Britain), West Australian edition, "Migration map shows how UK is changing," p 14, Tuesday, September 13, 2005 LONDON: Rising numbers are putting a strain on the country's services. A quarter of the population in the nation's capital is now made up of immigrants and in at least one area they account for more than half. ...
   Between the 1991 and 2001 Census, the increase of 1,147,905 accounted for half the rise in the total British population over that period. And at least another 600,000 have moved to the UK in the past four years, based on the Government's own estimate that 150,000 are arriving annually. ...

14       INTERNATIONAL EXPRESS       Tuesday September 13, 2005 Migration map shows how UK is changing LONDON: BRITAIN'S open door on immigration means one in 13 people living in the UK was born overseas and more than a million migrants have swelled the population in just a decade.    A quarter of the population in the nation's capital is now made up of immigrants and in at least one area they account for more than half.    New research also revealed huge differences in the migrants' contribution to Britain's economy with some groups showing appalling employment rates.    Critics have warned that rising numbers are putting a strain on the country's services and accused Labour of running an immigration system in chaos.    Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "While a certain amount of immigration may help the economy, it must be controlled. Sadly, in Britain, Labour has lost control of the immigration system which has descended into shambles."    The extensive study by the Institute of Public Policy Research, which shows where migrants are based, said the immigration population grew from 3,153,375 to 4,301,280 between the 1991 and 2001 Census.    The increase of 1,147,905 accounted for half the rise in the total British population over that period. And at least another 600,000 have moved to the UK in the past four years, based on the Government's own estimate that 150,000 are arriving annually.    The figures come just a week after pressure group MigrationWatch UK claimed the immigrant population had increased by 1.2million since Labour came to power in 1997 - enough to fill two large cities. #

   [COMMENT: London's imbalance is well past the figure which would support a successful coup, as is Washington in the USA. COMMENT ENDS.] [Sep 13, 05]

• [Letters exposing policies on attacking Iraq, clerics preaching against whites, and the European Union]

   The International Express (Britain), West Australian edition, from "Letters", p 36, Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Other duties. POLICE in New Orleans and Biloxi had to stop their rescue efforts to concentrate on the looters. Whatever happened to the National Guard? Far too late on the scene. I always thought their prime objective was care and safekeeping of the local populace. I wonder how many lives have been lost because so many National Guardsmen are getting shot up in Iraq to keep Bush's oil buddies happy and Halliburton making billions in profits out of our taxes. Isn't it about time all those politicians began to get some backbone and remove this person from the White House? A very sad day for this country. Owen Clarke, Des Moines, Washington, USA
PC disease. AFTER reading Neil Clark's article "Was life really better in the 1940s" (September 6), I suggest most Britons look back nostalgically to that time not only because they were the greatest generation, but also because they would never have allowed the disease called political correctness to corrupt their country. This process has been going on for the last 30 or so years and now native Britons appear to feel like strangers in their own country! Unfortunately, as we in Australia follow British law, what has happened in the UK is beginning to happen here with Muslim clerics, living off our generous welfare system, preaching hatred towards white Australians and demanding we follow Islamic law. Michael Monroe, Perth, Western Australia
Changed Ken. I OWE Ken Clarke an apology ("Has Ken Clarke got the Winston factor?" September 6). Years ago, in your columns, I lambasted him for his pro-Europe views and expressed the hope that he would be thrown out at the next election. It seems to me that at the time he supported the ideals upon which the EU was founded - which, after all, was a valid point of view. Years later, having seen what a rotten, corrupt monster it has become, he has altered his stance. Thus, he is in my book a man of honour and a statesman. I have the exciting feeling that here at last is a worthy successor to Winston Churchill. John C Tysoe, Cheltenham, Ontario, Canada
   Write to: intexletters@aol.com . [Sep 13, 05]

• [Forced marriages, 'honour' killings, ramping up immigration and culture change -- law may slow 250 p.a.]

       
   The International Express (Britain), West Australian edition, "New law to end hell of forced marriages,", p 41, Tuesday, September 13, 2005
   LONDON: PARENTS who force children into arranged marriages could face criminal charges under proposals unveiled by the Government.
  Thousands of Britons are believed to be coerced into marriages abroad every year so their "spouses" can move to the UK.
   But ministers will announce plans to create a criminal offence of forcing people into wedlock. Shadow home secretary David Davis welcomed the move, saying: "Forced marriages cause misery. The principles of personal freedom must prevail."
   A three-month joint consultation by the Home Office and Foreign Office will determine the best way to tackle the growing menace. Government officials have dealt with 1,000 cases in the past four years and police forces around the country deal with many more.
   It is seen as a major cause of so-called "honour" violence among some ethnic cultures, and the majority of cases involve girls and young women forced into marriage in Pakistan and Bangladesh. # [Sep 13, 05]

• [Multiculturalism, Muslim headscarfs in schools, and India]

   The West Australian, "In short," Various letters on multiculturalism and Islam, p 22, Thursday, September 15, 2005
   PERTH (W. Australia):
Country towns, overseas immigrants. Country towns which are struggling to survive will come good in a few years. The cities, like Perth, are full of overseas immigrants. It will be a relief to go to the country and feel like an Aussie. Edna Hocking, Cottesloe.
French banned all religions' paraphernalia in public schools. Kate Hilgendorf (Letters, 14/9), nobody has suggested that Muslim girls be prevented from wearing headscarfs in public. The proposal was for a ban on headscarfs in government schools. Last year the French Government banned the wearing of any religious paraphernalia in government schools. Bob Stephen, Hillarys.
No others hid face or identity. A number of correspondents have been likening the headscarfs worn by Muslim women to items worn by other faiths. Examples cited have included the so-called Jewish skullcaps, a priest's dog collar and even the wearing of a cross. None of the items they have used as "overt signs of one's faith" hides the wearer's face or identity. Ross Hawes, Clarkson.
Strong faith prevents take-over. I have been reading the letters from people concerned about Muslims taking over Australia. For hundreds of years Muslims tried to take over India and it never happened Why? Because the Hindu faith is very strong. It is the same with the Jews in Israel and the Buddhists in Thailand. Islam can dominate only where there is a weakness in tie faith of a society. Maureen Haynes, High Wycombe.
   [COMMENT: The last letter shows lack of historical knowledge. The Muslims dominated India for a long time. The Mogul empire that had begun to fragment, and that various European traders and raiders gradually weakened and the British finally overthrew, was led by Muslims, seemingly of a tolerant nature. COMMENT ENDS.] [Sep 15, 05]

• A Critical Analysis of ‘Real Islam’. Its People, Culture, Philosophy, and Practices Yesterday and Today.

   Islam Undressed website, http://www. islamundressed. com , by: Vernon Richards, Islam_ Undressed@ yahoo.com , Sept 19, 2005
   [...] Following September 11th, many Muslims living in the West defended Islam, stating that it is a religion of peace. At the same time there were many other Muslims in Islamic lands, and even some in America (living in predominately Muslim communities as well as Muslim students on American campuses) who openly celebrated the deaths and destruction. Many throughout the Islamic world were observed rejoicing and calling for the continuing destruction of America chanting "Death to America", and "America is the Great Satan". Huge numbers openly or quietly rejoiced, with the absence of sincere and coherent outrage palpable. In the West, Muslim spokesmen were much more muted; some proclaimed that "the Muslim terrorists have hijacked our faith" and that real Islam is a kind, tolerant religion not associated with terrorist individuals or events. A claim oft repeated in defense of Islam was that "Islam' is a word which literally means 'Peace'". In response it was pointed out that the Arabic word for peace is salaam, and that Islam is Arabic for surrender or submission, quite a different concept than peace, and that even Muslim means one who submits. Now the official line from Islam is that "Islam means Peace through submission to Allah's will", but the opposite camp points out that the newly created definition is illusory in that it does not mention what 'Allah's will' is with respect to Jihad and its role in the advancement of Islam. [...]
   [The mini-book goes through from the earliest days of Mohammed and the beginning of Islam, showing the killings and conquests, into current times.] [Sept 19, 2005]

• Tales of abuse at Pakistan's Islamic schools come to light

. - Islam / Moslems. > 500 boys.  
   Houston Chronicle, www.chron.com/ cs/CDA/ssistory. mpl/world/3357477 , By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press, ~ September 18, 2005
   ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - The accounts are disturbing: beatings, forced sex and imprisonment with shackles and leg irons. Abuse accusations from hundreds of children sent to study at Islamic schools are increasing the calls from parents and rights groups for a full-scale investigation.
   But officials have moved slowly and cautiously in probing the charges of mistreatment in Quranic schools, or madrassas - pointing to a paradox across much of the Muslim world. It's often easier to tackle Islamic militants than to confront the cultural taboo on publicly airing alleged sex crimes and challenging influential clerics.
   Still, if Islamic institutions ever face a reckoning over sexual abuse - as the Roman Catholic Church has in recent years - it could begin in Pakistan where institutions are under unprecedented scrutiny by anti-terrorism agents.
   "We are forcing people to look this problem in the eye," said Zia Ahmed Awan, whose group Madadgaar, or Helper, compiles reports of sexual abuse of children in Pakistan. "It is not anti-Muslim. It is not anti-cleric. We are looking out for the most vulnerable in society."
   Last year, a Pakistani official stunned his nation by officially disclosing more than 500 complaints of sexual assaults against young boys in madrassas. [~ Sep 18, 05]

• ['Apart from the Kurdistan area, Iraq is in a state of total anarchy and chaos' - Robert Fisk]

- 50,000 - 60,000 dead a year now.  
   Democracy Now!, Partial transcript -- Robert Fisk: War is the "Total Failure of the Human Spirit", www.democracy now.org/article. pl?sid=05/10/ 20/1411211 , Amy Goodman interviewed Robert Fisk, September 21, 2005.

---

   We play an interview with veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk of the London Independent, speaking last month in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Fisk says, "The Americans must leave [Iraq]. And the Americans will leave but the Americans can't leave. And that's the equation that turns sand into blood. Once you become an occupying power, you take on the responsibilities for the civilians, which we have not done. But you also have a responsibility to yourself. You have to keep justifying, over and over and over again to your own populations, you were right to do it." [includes partial transcript]

---

   Veteran Middle East correspondent, Robert Fisk of the London Independent discusses Iraq, the media and what gives him hope. During the thirty years that he has been reporting on the Middle East, Fisk has covered every major event in the region, from the Algerian Civil War to the Iranian Revolution, from the American hostage crisis in Beirut to the Iran-Iraq War, from the Russian invasion of Afghanistan to Israel's invasions of Lebanon, from the Gulf War to the invasion and ongoing war in Iraq.
   Amy Goodman interviewed Robert Fisk in Santa Fe, New Mexico last month at an event sponsored by the Lannan Foundation. He was in a studio in Toronto, Canada and was brought in by satellite into a packed Lensic Theater on a huge screen. Fisk is author of the new book, "The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East." * Robert Fisk, speaking in Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 21, 2005.

---

   SANTA FE, New Mexico, USA: RUSH TRANSCRIPT
   AMY GOODMAN: I asked him his assessment of the current situation there and what needs to be done.
   ROBERT FISK: Three days after the Americans came to Baghdad, I said the real story is about to begin and that is the story of war against American occupation. A lot of my colleagues thought that was very, very funny -- they hooted at me with laughter. But they're not anymore. Look, apart from the Kurdistan area, Iraq is in a state of total anarchy and chaos. No roads are safe outside Baghdad. Much of Baghdad is in insurgents' hands. Only the little green zones, the armored hotel areas where the westerners live and swim, and some cases don't even leave their rooms, and that applies to many journalists, only here are people allowed to have the illusion that things are getting better, things are improving. Outside in the streets where some journalists still go, including, for example, my colleague Patrick Cockburn of the Independent and myself and the Guardian Newspaper, not most Americans though one or two. Out in the streets where few of us go is hell on Earth.
   I managed to get, a couple of weeks ago, to the mortuary in the city of Baghdad. As I often go in the past, counting the bodies of midday and midsummer out in the heat. There were 26 by midday. Nine had arrived by nine in the morning. I managed to get the official figures for July for the total number of violent deaths in Baghdad alone. The figure was 1,100 violent deaths, men, women and children. Shot, butchered, knifed, executed, death squad killings. A figure which, of course is not given out by the Iraqi Health Ministry and certainly not by the occupational authorities.
   We now have a situation in Iraq where there is a full scale insurgency by both the Shiites and the Sunnis against western forces. Once an insurgency of that kind starts in a Muslim country, it is impossible to quench it. Sorry, you guys can we put the book back? Let's start again, we got it wrong at one point. You can't do that. You can't do that. I was discussing with an Iraqi friend three weeks ago in Baghdad what he thought the answer was. He said, There is no answer. You've got to go. You've got to go. I wrote at the time that I thought it was a terrible equation in Iraq. It goes like this. The Americans must leave. And the Americans will leave but the Americans can't leave. And that's the equation that turns sand into blood.
   Once you become an occupying power you take upon the responsibilities for the civilians which we have not done but you also have a responsibility to yourself. You have to keep justifying over and over and over again to your own populations. You were right to do it: ok, there were no weapons of mass destruction but we got rid of Saddam; ok, we haven't gotten the electricity yet but there will be a constitution. Well, we hope. And we did have elections. Remember them in January? And all the time people die in ever greater numbers. Remember that figure for July, that's just Baghdad. What does that mean for the whole country? 5,000 dead? In July? What does that mean in the whole of Iraq in a year? You see the problem? We're talking a 50,000, 60,000 dead a year now. The worst figure we've heard is 100,000 since 2003 yet still we don't get statistics. When individual journalists have to go to hospital mortuaries and count the bloated corpses on the floor, you know you've got problems.
   The last time I was in Baghdad I began to ask myself whether the dangers -- and I've never done this on any other war except for the Algerian war which was very similar in many ways, questioning whether the dangers of covering Iraq are any longer worth the story. I suppose I think they are. But I guess having looked at my face in the mirror occasionally and seeing the gray hairs, I wonder if I should keep going. I probably will, but I'm not sure.
   AMY GOODMAN: Robert, what about the number of journalists who have died? This weekend there's going to be a major anti-war protest in Washington, on the 24th, and all over the country. One of the people or two of the people who will be there are the mother and brother of Jose Couso, who is the Spanish cameraman killed at the Palestine Hotel, the day before the U.S. Forces pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Fardus Square.
   ROBERT FISK: No, it was the same day. It was the same day. The same day. It was the first armored division tank. It was the American tank that killed him absolutely, but it was the same day.
   AMY GOODMAN: Now, he is one of scores of people, of journalists who have died most recently. Reuters photographer killed, his colleague arrested by U.S. Forces and held, another is being held at the Abu Ghraib prison. Dozens of journalists. What about your colleagues in Iraq right now?
   ROBERT FISK: The total figure of journalists who have died during and after the 2003 invasion up to date is now 68. The most recent being an Iraqi stringer again from The New York Times in Basra who was found dumped in a waste heap, executed with three bullets through the back of his head. I suspect the Iraqi police killed him like I suspect the Iraqi police killed the American journalist in Basra. Look, there's no doubt it's becoming the most dangerous story for journalists anywhere ever.
   If you want to look at the worst period it would be in Bosnia in 1992 when a lot of journalists who had never been in wars before were sent in to Bosnia and were dying at the rate of dozens a month. That was primarily, I think, because they were sending in very young men whose experience of war was Hollywood where the hero, of course, always survives. And what is shocking about this is that almost all the journalists are being killed, almost without exception in Iraq, are experienced in many cases, middle-aged guys who have been under fire many times before, who know about the lethality of weapons and whose jobs and lives are simply no longer respected. I've never been in a war like Iraq war in which our lives are so endangered, so targeted by all sides it sometimes seems. And I'm not sure what we can do about it.
   The American correspondents, some of them are guarded by armed Iraqis. The New York Times has a compound with four watch towers and armed Iraqis with NYT New York Times on their black t-shirts. NBC lives in a hotel in the Karada District with iron grills. The A.P. lives in the Palestine Hotel with two armored walls. Very rarely do they ever venture out and never do the American staffers go in the streets. As I say, we still go out with Iraqi friends. We actually go out to lunch in restaurants in Iraq. But I think that's probably because as long as we're with Iraqis and we look at our watch and say, 20 minutes, finish the meal, half an hour, got to be out. You're ok but it's a calculated risk.
   As I said, I'm not sure the risks are worth it any more. Our lives are worth nothing to the insurgents. Our lives appear to be worth virtually nothing to the Americans or the British. I think that when you reach a stage where our lives and our jobs are simply no longer respected, you do have to ask the question, is it worth it anymore.
   I think it is because I think Iraq is an appalling tragedy. Primarily for Iraqis, of course, who we don't put at the top of our list. We say 1,900 Americans, 93 Brits or whatever it may be. It's the Iraqis doing the suffering and the dying in fast numbers. Many of them because they trusted us and took our shilling and wanted to work for the police or wanted to work for construction companies building landing strips for the Americans or fortresses for the Americans.
   But I think the whole Iraqi story for us as journalists is becoming almost impossible to cover. Certainly if you have a journalist who lives behind two armored walls of the hotel who just used a mobile phone to call British or American diplomats behind another concrete wall, you might as well live in County Mayo, Ireland or Santa Fe, New Mexico. There's no point in being there.
   And for example, the last trip I made outside Baghdad it took me two weeks to arrange it to go down to Najaf. It was the most fearful trip. I drove the road with three Iraqi friends. One of them a Shiite proleter, a clergyman, a religious man. All the checkpoints of the Iraqi army had been abandoned. This just after George Bush says the Iraqi army is in the field. There were up-turned Iraqi police cars, burned-out American vehicles. I didn't see a member of the Security Forces until I reached the outskirts of Najaf about 80 miles from Iraq.
   The whole of the countryside outside Baghdad is under the control, is now the property of the armed insurgents both Sunni and Shia. This, we are not being told. This, president Bush will not acknowledge. This, our own dear Mr. Blair will not acknowledge. And that is part of the tragedy. And it seems now to be part of our life that New Orleans flooding is not real until it's real, that the collapse of Iraq is not real until it's real.
   With such poor television coverage, although we did get good pictures I noticed, of the British soldiers on fire, for heavens sakes in their armored vehicles. I don't know if it's possible to explain what is happening in Iraq anymore. Most journalists, western journalists are relying upon Iraqi stringers, Iraqi correspondents to risk their necks on the streets. And they are risking their necks and they are dying for it to bring in the news. But there are no by and large -- by and large there are no westernized, independently journalists on the streets unarmed. My newspaper does not have protection. We do not carry weapons.
   But my goodness, as I say, I don't know how long we can continue doing this. Each time Patrick and I go to Iraq it's a little bit worse. And when we look back at what it was like a year ago, which was considered appalling, we're amazed at how free we were, how easily we went grocery shopping. I still go grocery shopping-- for six minutes only. Grab the bread, push my way to the front of the queue, pay, out. You learn a lot.
   I went out to my favorite restaurant, the Ramaya, the other day to find it was no longer the Ramaya. It was now given an Islamic name and had a green neon sign. When I went inside, the menu was no longer in English, French, and Arabic. It was only Arabic. No more bottles of Lebanese red wine. It been totally Islamicized. You need to see this and understand it. But the problem is most of our colleagues are not permitted even by their head offices to do that.
   AMY GOODMAN: Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk of Britain's Independent newspaper. [Break] (by courtesy of Michael P) [Sep 21, 05]

 • Iraqi bishops concerned 

   
   The Record (Western Australian Roman Catholic newspaper), CNS, p 9, September 22, 2005
   BAGHDAD, Iraq: Catholic bishops in Iraq are seeking last-minute changes to their country's draft constitu­tion amid "grave concerns" that it would lead to discrimination against Christians.
   Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad, Iraq, met Iraqi inter­im President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari on September 18 and asked them to remove Article 2.1 (a) from the document.
   The article states that "no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam," and Christian leaders fear it will inevitably lead to the country being governed by Shariah, or Islamic law.
   Church leaders in Iraq are opposed to Shariah because it demands inequalities between Muslims and non-Muslims and between men and women.
   Christians say it will make them second-class citizens and spark an exodus of the faithful from a country where Christian communities have existed since the first century.
   "The bishops' conference expressed a grave concern and fear ... about Article 2.1 (a)," the statement said.
   "This opens the door widely to passing laws that are unjust toward non-Muslims. This con­ference insists that this clause is amended or deleted." The constitution will be put to a vote in a referendum on October 15.
   [RECAPITULATION: Church leaders in Iraq are opposed to Shariah because it demands inequalities between Muslims and non-Muslims and between men and women. Christians say it will make them second-class citizens ... This opens the door widely to passing laws that are unjust toward non-Muslims. ... ENDS.] [Sep 22, 05]

---

ANCHOR LIST (After reading an article, use Browser's "Back" button to return to Anchor List)
* Land Row = Greek Orthodox church mired in Jerusalem land row. JERUSALEM: The Greek Orthodox church in the holy land, already mired in financial and political scandal, has been accused of secretly selling off a prime Arab area of Jerusalem's old city to Jewish settlers. The properties were allegedly sold by the church's treasurer in Jerusalem, Nicholas Papadimas, before he disappeared when he was charged in Greece with stealing church funds in a separate case. Mar 22, 2005.
* Muslims sound alarm over schools.  The Sunday Age has been told that Werribee College appears intent on exporting its particular brand of Islam to Indonesia, an achievement made possible by generous commonwealth and state grants – estimated to be in excess of $3 million a year. July 31, 2005
* Torturers = "We Are All Torturers Now," By Mark Danner, New York Times, Thursday, January 6, 2005. NEW YORK: The United States senators are likely to give full legitimacy to a path that the Bush administration set the country on more than three years ago, a path that has transformed the United States from a country that condemned torture and forbade its use to one that practices torture routinely. Jan 6, 2005
* Yasin = Sheikh Khalid Yasin (inspired by Malcolm X) - "The historical Jesus, a Prophet of Allah; Islam, the true religion". Public lectures at Winthrop Hall, UWA, Perth, March 6 and 7, 2005

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Translations: http://babelfish.altavista.com/  www.tranexp.com/  www.alis.com/  http://lingvo.org/traduku
"Walzing Matilda", MIDI music, console 145 x 40 pixels, 9 kb, plays for 1 min 38 sec.  Music source unknown, console HTML by courtesy of Montrose Music, www3.pair.com/montrsmu/music.html and others.
SUBMISSION STUDY UNIT
Doc 247 : submit/subchron3.htm
Electoral authorisation:

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