“Islam, as we know, is part of America,” Obama said at a White House dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. “Together we have a responsibility to foster engagement grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect.”Hat tip to Atlas Shrugs for making the guest list available.
“That’s one of my fundamental commitments as president both at home and abroad,” Obama said. “That is central to the new beginning that I’ve sought between the United States and Muslims around the world and that is a commitment that we can renew once again during this holy season.”
Honoring Ramadan, which began Aug. 22, is the latest part of Obama’s sustained outreach efforts to the Muslim world. The president pledged during a June 4 speech in Cairo, Egypt to “seek a new beginning” between the U.S. and Islam.
So what about our supposed best ally freeing the Lockerbie terrorist, Mr. President, who was then treated to a heroes welcome upon returning to Libya? That did a lot to smooth relations between Americans and Muslims, didn't it? I also haven't heard the Left complaining about a record number of U.S. soldiers being killed in Afghanistan in August. The 51 soldiers killed in August topped the previous record in July of 45. This has proven to be the deadliest year for American troops fighting radical Islamic resistance groups with 182 fatalities to date.
UPDATE: It looks like President Obama is blocking Scottish authorities from releasing any information about communications between his administration and the Scottish government concerning the release of the Lockerbie terrorist bomber.
18 comments:
I was in a Pan-Am 747 over Scotland from JFK when the Lockerbie plane went down. My flight had departed minutes before the Lockerbie plane. I didn't hear about it until a day later because I was traveling overseas. I found out that for several harrowing hours my family back home had calculated flight times and determined that it was my plane that went down.
For some morbid reason, I've followed the story fairly closely ever since. After the trials, the US media presented the guilty verdicy and details on the findings. The media has actually gone through the findings of the prosecution team and created documentaries that go step by step through their findings.
After the trials, the stories in UK and European newspapers was somewhat different. US family members who attended the trials believed that the defendents were framed. UK police investigators on the case went public, claiming that the evidence shows that the defendants are innocent. And others in the nearby communities in Scotland, including local religious leaders, led various campaigns to have the verdict overturned.
Here's a quote from one story:
"Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was one of those killed, said he had always suspected the verdict was flawed.
"I went into that court thinking I was going to see the trial of those who were responsible for the murder of my daughter. I came out thinking he had been framed. "Any evidence of perversion of justice should be investigated. Those responsible for any miscarriage of justice should be investigated, and there would have to be a routing and eradication of the underlying ethos that allowed it to happen."
Here's the link:
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/lockerbie-bomber-may-be-innocent-890841.html
That side of the story has never been thoroughly examined and presented to the American people by the US media. They found their muslim scapegoats (because we all know that terrorists are muslim, right?) and they can't let them go. That would mean that someone else got away with the crime.
If you're ever looking for a good measuring stick regarding media lies (what to believe), always go on the assumption that what you're hearing is either an outright lie or a complete distortion. If Geraldo Rivero, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, CNN or FOX news anchors, Jim Lehrer, or any of the media propagandists tell you that the red and orange flames in front of you are fire, don't believe it until you feel the burn.
FYI - I've hitch-hiked alone in the mountains of Bosnia. In day and at night. I was wearing a crucifix over my shirt at all times. On every visit the people have been the salt of the earth. Warm, friendly, helpful, and giving. If that is different than you would have expected, you are probably a victim of mainstream media.
Shorebreak, Debbie Schlussel spent a lot of time researching this case. She provided a missing link that the government ignored in the case. Among the mostly Jewish Americans on that Lockerbie flight was one American Muslim from Dearborn, Michigan. Schlussel's research indicated that the Dearborn passenger likely carried the explosives in his suitcase that brought down the plane. The man convicted is the guy who actually got the explosive device to the Dearborn passenger. The government refused to explore that connection in the case. Interestingly, when the settlement with Libya was reached, it provided for payments to the survivors of the U.S. passengers on the flight. Sen. Levin of Michigan appealed on behalf of the Dearborn passenger's family to be included in the settlement. The Dearborn passenger was not a U.S. citizen. As a result of Levin's efforts, the Dearborn passenger's family collected millions, even though he probably was the guy who carried the explosive-laden suitcase on to the plane.
Here's a link to one of Debbie's post on the real story behind the Lockerbie bombing:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/7407/what-you-dont-know-about-lockerbie-the-megrahi-release/
Well, we all know it's a different set of rules for liberals.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Twenty-four hours after joining President Barack Obama, Indiana Senator Richard Lugar and a host of distinguished guests at a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan, Congressman André Carson will address a group of young leaders from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Carson’s speech will take place tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the AIPAC’s annual Young Leaders Event in Chicago (Location: Park West, 322 W. Armitage Avenue).
Carson, in his remarks tonight, is expected to discuss his backing of a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and address several of the barriers standing in the way of a lasting peace in the Middle East.
So...why the significance of the headline when you don't mention either in your post.
I dont recall any liberals complaining of services when Bush was in the White House....
So what's the problem, Achmed Insallah? Islam is, like it or not, a religion, a religion that is followed here.
Who cares?
You are making a big deal about nothing, or, is Lugar an islamo-fascist terrorist?
By the way, when we object to Republicans having their little prayer breakfasts and such we are objecting because Republicans are smarmy anti-gay moronic hypocrites.
Gee, Dana, surprise you find objections to Christianity but not Islam. Isn't it Islam that condemns gays to death on a daily basis in nations governed by Sharia law? I take it you hate closet cases because they are hypocrites more than people who will execute you without a trial because of your sexual orientation.
" I take it you hate closet cases because they are hypocrites more than people who will execute you without a trial because of your sexual orientation."
Christianity has had its share of people who would kill gays on site too, AI. It still does. Mostly though, the modern Christianist would prefer to hide behind a sign at gay pride and stab you in the back over the internet.
Dana, You can't point to any modern-day examples where organized Christians carried out executions against gays based on a Christian law. It happens daily in the Muslim world.
Actually, there are few executions for homosexual conduct conducted under Sharia Law. Where on earth did you conjure up the bizarre idea of it occurring daily? Can you quote a reputable source?
The Matthew Shepherd murder comes to mind immediately as an example. Then Harvey Milk .........and lots of other examples also of everyday people killed by followers of the Christian religion who respond to the flames of hate spewed by some churches.
Wilson/Art, None of those examples you cite, Harvey Milk or Matthew Shepard, were committed by people carrying out Christian law. Milk was driven insane from eating too many twinkies. Don't you remember his insanity plea? And Shepard was killed by a couple of local drunken losers who probably never attended church. In Iraq, hundreds have been killed this year alone. As reported by the Belfast Telegraph:
Gay men are being murdered across Iraq in a systematic campaign by militia, a human rights group has said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Iraqi government to act urgently to stop the abuses, warning that the “social cleansing” poses a new threat to security as other violence recedes.
The bodies of several gay men were found in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City earlier this year with the derogatory Arabic terms for “pervert” and “puppy” written on their chests.
HRW said the threats and abuses have since spread to the cities of Kirkuk, Najaf and Basra.
“Murders are committed with impunity, admonitory in intent, with corpses dumped in garbage or hung as warnings on the street,” the report said.
Reliable numbers were not available, HRW said. But it cited a well-informed UN official as saying in April that the death toll was probably “in the hundreds”.
The campaign has been largely blamed on Shiite extremists who have long targeted behaviour deemed un-Islamic.
“The same thing that used to happen to Sunnis and Shiites is now happening to gays,” said a doctor who had fled Baghdad and was interviewed for the report.
Shiite militiamen have for the most part stopped their violence against rival Sunnis after a ceasefire last year.
But the report indicated they were conducting a less publicised campaign of social cleansing.
Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/iraqs-gays-being-killed-in-brutal-reign-of-terror-14456510.html#ixzz0Q12fRJRw
Thanks for the link, Gary. To give you some personal background, any time I see a negative report that targets race, ethnicity, or religion, I become very suspiscious of the potential for a racist or biased agenda.
I'll also tell you up front that I consider Debbie Schlussel to be a racist. Anyone can go through her posts and see that they're constantly filled with hate that's directed towards muslims. I find it odd that if the same commentary was regularly posted about blacks, jews, or asians there would be strong protest, but for some reason it's ok to hate muslims. Don't you agree? You'd almost think that there's been a 30 year Hollywood and media campaign to portray muslims as dangerous or as the enemy. Almost as if corporate media is aligned with corporate control of our foreign policy. And all of the heads nod in agreement because "yes - muslims are dangerous".
Of course, you might respond by saying "No Shore, it's not hate. All of her posts are true." If so, then where are all of the true stories about blacks, jews, and asians? The fact is that Debbie goes out of her way to portray muslims negatively because she's chosen to target them along religious or racial lines. She should spend some time over at my house. My boys have best friends who are from Morocco. When I make breakfast, I cook their eggs separately so that they don't mix with the bacon juice. One is named Mohammad. I suspect that if I lived in Dearborn MI, I might be targetted by dear Debbie for conspiring to treat muslims humanely, or for supporting their religious agenda.
Whatever her story is regarding Lockerbie, she's jepopardized her position by demonstrating too much racism to be deemed a reliable source.
Here's more detail that supports my assertion:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208432/A-2m-witness-payment-bogus-forensic-evidence-Pentagon-memo-blaming-Iran-How-Lockerbie-bomber-threatened-Scottish-justice.html
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2474900.0.Priest_claims_police_interference_in_aftermath_of_Lockerbie_bomb.php
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lockerbie-evidence-planted-by-cia-1586487.html
I certainly don't expect us to see eye to eye on this issue since we obviously have differing ideological views on things such as race and government honesty/corruption. My position is that corporate controlled power structures (i.e. government and media) cannot be trusted, especially in area's related to foreign policy and events that are used/twisted to motivate public support of policy goals.
I met Debbie when she was in high school, Shorebreak. She was then and is still now one of the brightest and most studied person I've had the pleasure of meeting. I have some serious disagreements with Debbie on a number of issues. She is a very proud Jewish-American. She is situated in an area around Detroit, Michigan where the Muslim presence in this country is being more felt than any other part of the United States. She has received numerous death threats from Muslims in the Detroit area and elsewhere because she exposes the dirty underbelly of that religion. One man who threatend to kill her was found guilty by a federal court and sent to prison. What you complain about Debbie doing is practiced daily on blogs like the Daily Kos and other liberal blogs against Christians. It seems the liberals have an ABC policy when it comes to religious tolerance (Anybody But Christians). Time and time again people of the Muslim faith have demonstrated their complete intolerance of people of different faiths. No group of people have been the target of terrorist attacks by Muslims than Jews. Debbie doesn't make outlandish charges. She carefully researches the issues and reports on them. I understand many in the Muslim community would like to keep those facts hidden from public view, but they are what they are.
Like I said, Gary. I don't expect us to see eye to eye on this matter. I respect your views and quite respectfully, I disagree with you.
The fact that Daily Kos and others are rampantly anti-Christian is no excuse for Dianne. I would lump them into the same category as being without merit as a result of their obvious bias.
As far as meeting people and intelligence, that has nothing to do with character and biased beliefs. I've shared breakfast with Colin Powell. He's intelligent, amiable, likeable, and accomplished. That doesn't make him any less a corporate tool who walked our kids into Iraq as part of an ideological agenda.
Additionally, I can point you to over a century of attacks on Jews by Christians in our own country, without provocation. Those attacks are against Jews who aren't even zionists who use military force to colonize Christian properties. These so-called "Christians" simply don't like Jews and they have a history of attacking them as a result. I can point you to over a century of Christian v. Christian terrorism in Ireland, I can point you to ongoing separatist terrorism in Spain, and I can even point you to a separatist terror camapign that lasted two decades just north of our own border.
FYI, my personal savior is Jewish so I have no issues with either Christianity nor Jews.
The bottom line is that governments covertly use and promote terrorism as a means to promote and justify their policy objectives. When I see a terrorist campaign that seems to consistently backfire against the terrorist, while contributing to popular support for the policies of the targetted government, I have to as myself "Really? Is that all there is to this story?" And when I dig for more answers, lo and behold, there's usually many layers that have never been relealed by mainstream media.
Ultimately, it's a matter of perception, which is based just as much on belief as it is in reality. Your belief is that Dianne has merit because muslims are known terrorists, she lives among a muslim population, and she's a member of their target population. My perception is that Dianne empathizes with a foreign nation that demonizes muslims based upon it's policy agenda that includes forced colonialism of muslim property, that our media promotes that occupation and uses it's reach to distort the reality of what is truly happening, and that it becomes easy to join in that attack when you only see one side of the coin and are constantly told and reminded that the side you are shown is the truth.
FYI, there was a time when I was in communication with the political attache leadership of the IDF at the full bird level (one below general) in relaying recommendations in support of Israeli security that went to the cabinet level. I'm not unaware of how policy level activity is carried forward. You might say that my opinions have matured somewhat over the years as I've made conscious decisions to "harden not my heart", and thus openned myself to consider other perspectives.
Dana, If I were gay I'd take being stabbed in the back over the internet over being beheaded for being gay anyday.
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