Miniter's Notebook

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December 27, 2005

State of Scandal

Yet another U.S. embassy is being dragged into controversy by the actions of its foreign employees. This time, it is Muslim employees of the U.S. embassy in Cairo who are allegedly influencing the visa-granting process to favor fellow Muslims and exclude Christians. One Coptic Christian was told (twice) to either remove his cross or see his visa application rejected. He refused and was refused. Disgraceful.

Posted by Richard Miniter at 09:15 PM

December 19, 2005

The Case for Murdering Infidels

The commander of the terrorist cell behind the Bali bombings—which claimed the lives of 202 people on that Hindu-majority island—is named Mukhlas and, from prison, has written a 60-page tract calling for sniper and other types of terrorist attacks on Westerners. His comments are certain to ignite debate among those who think that Islam, as opposed to radical Islam, is the cause of terror.

"You who still have a shred of faith in your hearts, have you forgotten that to kill infidels and the enemies of Islam is a deed that has a reward above no other... Aren’t you aware that the model for us all, the Prophet Mohammed and the four rightful caliphs, undertook to murder infidels as one of their primary activities, and that the Prophet waged jihad operations 77 times in the first 10 years as head of the Muslim community in Medina?"

Can you imagine what Michael Savage would do with a quote like that?

Mukhlas’ tract points to a key failure of U.S. public diplomacy, which tends to argue against terrorism as bad in its effects. In fact, it is a ideology that needs to be confronted ideologically. Mullahs, imams and others should be employed (covertly or not) to explain why Murhlas’ understanding of jihad is wrong or doesn’t apply now. So far, the State Department has turned up its nose at getting into faith or ideological fights. It is time to drop the prissy Marquess of Queensbury rules and face facts: the enemy likes to fight on ground where we are uncomfortable. That means terrorists strike in cities where the U.S. Army hates to operate and in the world of ideas, where the State Department fears to tread.

According to The Australian, Down Under’s biggest quality paper, "the jihadist tract reportedly began its life in Bali’s Kerobokan prison, where Mukhlas was jailed until recently." Mukhlas’ call to arms ran on anshar.net web site, now shuttered by Indonesian police. Now that anshar.net is gone, will the U.S. covertly help some moderate Muslims put up something in its place?

Posted by Richard Miniter at 06:33 PM

December 06, 2005

A Word from Ward Churchill

My girlfriend, Heather Smith, is a producer at the Laura Ingraham radio show, the fourth most-listened to program in the country. Recently she invited Ward Churchill, a Colorado University professor who is infamous for his remarks about the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks (calling them "little Eichmans" who "deserved to die"), to appear on the program along with Ian, a Colorado University Young Republican leader who showed Churchill a list of the 9-11 victims and asked him to circle the names of the ones that deserve to die. Very clever. Churchill, who believes in protest but not debate, declined to appear. What he wrote in declining is noteworthy. It is reproduced below, in full. There is more over at DCHeathersmith.com.

There was/is no "controversy" with Ian and his awesome force of 11 other overindulged brats. I will, however, be happy to speak with these sunshine patriots when they return, as I did in my day, from their tours of duty in the current generation’s combat zone.

Until then, a simple thank you, not only from CU Young Republicans, but from other such pro-war avoiders of military service in their party as Bill Owens, Bob Beauprez, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney will be sufficient. Beyond that, they’ve nothing to say, either to me or to anyone else used as fodder in one of this country’s endless wars against peoples of color.

As to Laura Ingram herself, the very fact that she’d seek to dignify Young Republicans’ pitiful little imitation of SDS-style action with "nationally syndicated coverage" while ignoring the far larger showing made to protest Rocky Mountain News editor Vincent Carroll’'s racist comments regarding the late Vine Deloria Jr. on the very day of the man’s funeral says all that needs saying.

Your hood and sheets are showing, sweetie.

With all due respect,
Ward Churchill

Posted by Richard Miniter at 07:35 PM

December 02, 2005

Lessons of a Belgian Woman’s suicide-attack in Iraq

So Murielle Degauque is "the latest European, and the first woman, to join the lengthening list of bombers," in Iraq, according to the (London) Independent. Her bomb attack killed only herself, but her trajectory from working-class Belgian to Islamist suicide-bomber deserves a closer look, partly because what her life portends about Europe’s future and partly because it provides still more evidence that racial profiling ("search all Arab males") will not stop terrorist attacks. Let’s take the last one first. In my new book, Disinformation, I devote a chapter to debunking the idea focussing on searching all Muslims or Arab males or any particular profile will defeat hijackings and bombings. Instead, radical groups simply recruit people who do not fit the profile. French prisoners, white Australian hotheads, Berkeley, Calif.-converts, Indonesian students and Filipinas married to Arab men have all been recruited to al Qaeda, the Taliban or other Islamist terror outfits. If Ms. Degauque brought her bomb into an American airport instead of against an American patrol in Iraq, she would not have seemed suspicious. When you are looking for Arab males, you tend to ignore Belgian females. It makes more sense to profile on the basis of documented relationships (sharing a bank account with a known terrorist, et cetera), than on a clutch of skin-deep categories.

Now what does Ms. Degauque transformation from party animal to terrorist teach us? One, the riots in France and Belgium are just the beginning. As Europe increasingly becomes a recruiting ground for terrorists, the EU should expect some attacks on their continent. Two, Belgian intelligence is not very effective in tracking radicals in their midst. Remember that the two terrorists (and one of their wives) who used a bomb-rigged camera to kill anti-Taliban leader Ahmed Shah Massoud on Sept. 9, 2001 carried Belgian passports. Belgian intel does not seem to have stepped up its efforts in the past four years. Paul Belein wrote in the (London) Spectator about the laissez-faire attitude at Belgian intel several years. Despite a parliamentary investigation and a high-profile resignation, little has changed. Add to that, that Degaugue mere and pere were not surprised when police arrived to tell them that their daughter died in Iraq. They knew why the police were there before they even said bonjour, as the Independent article says. Even after her husband died at the hands of U.S. forces in Iraq, Belgian intel did not question her or her parents. There are, of course, domestic political reasons in Belgium for the dangerous laxity. The excellent Brussels Journal.com adds some important information:

"The American authorities informed the Belgian authorities of the woman’s identity a few weeks ago, but Brussels kept it secret. Yesterday evening the Franco-Luxemburgian network RTL announced the news. Last night, the Belgian police arrested 14 people. Nine of them are Belgians, mostly of foreign origin, three are Moroccans and two are Tunisians. They are said to belong to the same network as the woman suicide bomber. Today a 27-year-old man was arrested in Paris. He is suspected of belonging to a group that takes Jihadists from Belgium to Iraq."

Well, better late than never, mes amis. Three, Degauque began her drift into terrorism in a fairly standard pattern: marriage to a Muslim man of North African descent — dramatically changing her behavior and appearence to conform to Islamist doctrines, isolating herself from family and friends and becoming emotionally and financially dependent of a man with terrorist connections. Finally, and this may have been the catalyst, the death of her "benefactor" — which provided a powerful revenge motive. The "right to revenge" seems to be an key doctrine in radical Salafi circles, especially among women. The woman who failed to detonate her bomb in Amman, Jordan on Nov. 9 lost three brothers and an husband to anti-American activity. We know that al Qaeda prefers to recruit people who have lost a close relative to allied military or intelligence services. Allied forces should encourage moderate imams to speak out against the so-called right to revenge.We must learn to spot the signs of terrorist transformations of the Degauques of the world or we will pay for our ignorance with the blood of innocents.

Posted by Richard Miniter at 10:41 AM