THE DAILY BLADE: Those Six Imams Are All Terrorists
Definitions of terrorism are many and varied, but they have certain elements in common: using methods of intimidation, the act of terrorizing, threatened use of force or violence with the intention of intimidating, the condition/state of being terrorized. The six imams handcuffed and escorted off a US Airways flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix flight last week said and did several things that fit these definitions of terrorism – therefore, they are terrorists and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
In her column on the incident, political analyst Mona Charen writes that before they boarded the flight, "[I]t seems that they were speaking in Arabic … of their disgust with the US war in Iraq and with American policy in general. One was heard to declare that he would do whatever was necessary to fulfill his obligations under the Koran. Another repeated, ‘Allah, Allah.’"
Charen continues:
When passengers see six Arab men praying, talking animatedly in Arabic (a fellow passenger understood Arabic and was one of those who contacted a flight attendant), and then boarding an airplane and sitting in different places, I wonder what goes through their minds? Is it: "I sure don't like Muslims. Think I'll just harass and annoy them"? Or could it possibly be: "Oh dear God, this is what the 9/11 hijackers must have looked like"? …
Of course passengers would not be nervous in the presence of six priests or six rabbis. Neither of these groups has any history of blowing up innocent people. …
But Islam is problematic. While we would love to think that Islam is as pacific as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism or Hinduism, the facts suggest otherwise. Time and again, terrorists who have committed or attempted to commit murder on a large scale have done so after becoming serious Muslims. …
Maybe the imams meant to gin up a discrimination claim that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) could use in its never-ending mission to prove that there has been an "an anti-Muslim backlash in the US since 9/11" – despite all evidence to the contrary. But their activities had the effect of terrorizing people who were about to be trapped on an airplane with them.
Or maybe the imams had a more sinister motive. The Washington Times reports that they "exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials." In particular:
Witnesses said three of the imams were praying loudly in the concourse and repeatedly shouted "Allah" when passengers were called for boarding US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix.
Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks and also found in probes of U.S. security since the attacks - two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin. …
Three of the men asked for seat-belt extenders, although two flight attendants told police the men were not oversized. … Rather than attach the extensions, the men placed the straps and buckles on the cabin floor, the flight attendant said. …
A flight attendant said one of the men made two trips to the rear of the plane to talk to the imam during boarding, and again when the flight was delayed because of their behavior. Aviation officials, including air marshals and pilots, said these actions alone would not warrant a second look, but the combination is suspicious.
A follow-up report in today’s edition of The Washington Times elaborates further:
[P]assengers told police and aviation security officials ... [the imams] tested the forbearance of the passengers and flight crew in what the air marshal called a "[political correctness] probe."
"The political correctness needs to be left at the boarding gate," the marshal said. "Instilling politically correct fears into the minds of airline passengers is nothing less than psychological terrorism."
The 9/11 terrorists conducted a dry run of their murderous plot one week before pulling the trigger, and there have been numerous instances since of jihadis probing security procedures. This could have been the true agenda of the six imams.
The Homeland Security Department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is looking into the incident. The Stiletto can only hope that they are investigating the imams - one of whom, Omar Shahin, is linked to an Islamic charity with ties to Hamas, according to Jihad Watch - and not US Airways personnel, who are guilty of nothing more than prudence.
It Couldn't Have Happened To A More Likeable Guy
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), who has been making noises about a second run for the presidency, was the least likable among 20 top American political figures in a Quinnipiac University survey of 1,623 registered voters The antipathy Kerry inspires predates his "botched joke" – he has consistently garnered dismal scores in similar Quinnipiac polls earlier this year. "Americans know who he is, and have pretty much decided they don't like him," Quinnipiac assistant director Peter Brown tells Reuters. The poll also asked about the likability of several potential 2008 White House rivals, including Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
Hunter Bags Transgender Doe
It took just one shot for Carmen Erickson to drop a buck with a 4-by-4 rack. But when he and his six hunting buddies got to the animal, they got the surprise of their lives: it was a "transman." In addition to its well-developed antlers, the deer had teats but no testicles. Erickson’s doe is not one-of-a-kind, though rare enough that his hunting group will be talking about his unusual trophy for years to come.
In an unrelated development, ABC’s daytime soap opera "All My Children" is introducing a character who is a "shemale" (in the process of undergoing hormonal and surgical treatment to be transformed from a male to a female). Both the show’s executive producer, Julie Hanan Carruthers, and the actor who plays the tranny, Jeffrey Carlson, deny that the plot twist was done for sensationalism or shock value.
TV Land’s Top 100 Catchphrases
TV Land, the cable network that features golden oldies, plans to countdown "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catch Phrases," over five days starting December 11th. The catchphrases were drawn from commercials ("I want my MTV!") and a wide variety of programming including, dramas (Telly Savalas’ "Who loves you, baby?"), comedies (Jimmie Walker’s "Dyn-o-mite") and news programs (Walter Cronkite’s sign-off, "That’s the way it is.").
While The Stiletto is pleased that three Star Trek catchphrases made the cut - "Resistance is futile"; "Space, the final frontier …"; and "Live long and prosper" - she does have a few quibbles. Why is "That’s hot" attributed to talentless nitwit Paris Hilton, as though she invented the phrase? And why isn’t Scooby-Doo’s "Ruh roh!" on the list? Or Gilda Radner’s "Never mind!" Or Eddie Murphy’s "I am Gumby, dammit!" Or Goliath’s "Oh, Davey."
The Stiletto could go on (and on), but then she’d be giving away her age …
Trackbacks
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February 6, 2007
The Stiletto wrote:
For the last two days Washington, D.C. has been all atwitter over the possibility that Dems might lose control of the Senate before the first minute of the first 100 hours. The House needs each and every Dem vote in the Senate to pass all the legislation that Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised to push through during this period: Enact every recommendation made in the 9-11Commission Report, raise the minimum wage, enable the government to negotiate drug prices directly with the pharmaceutical companies to lower costs for senior citizens, halve the interest rate on student loans and ... -
February 6, 2007
The Stiletto wrote:
The Supreme Court is considering oral arguments in two cases that pit school choice against school desegregation. The high court’s ruling, expected in Spring 2007, will determine whether a public school system can use a race-based formula to promote diversity at individual schools at the expense of individual students. Or to put the issue in stark, black-and-white terms: Is the state’s interest in improving the quality of the education minority kids receive compelling enough to justify destroying the quality of life of white kids? On one side, are white parents in Louisville, KY, and Seattle, WA, ...
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