Month: November 2015

“While ecstatic crowds celebrated the pope’s visit and message of reconciliation, thousands of Muslims remained essentially blockaded in their neighborhood of PK5, unable to leave because of the armed Christian militia fighters”: Pope Preaches Peace in Central African Republic Visit (Christian Science Monitor) “Westerners have speculated that the drug is being used by Islamic State fighters, the…

“The hospital’s location was known to the U.S. military, and officials from MSF (also known as Doctors Without Borders) repeatedly phoned U.S. and Afghan military officials during the attack, trying desperately to stop the heavy fire”: Attack on MSF Hospital a ‘Tragic but Avoidable Accident,’ Pentagon Finds (NPR) “Such a use of the missile, made…

Justification of “Labott’s suspension with reference to a supposed CNN standard that reporters are not supposed to be ‘predictably partisan’ … is an utter crock…. Glenn Greenwald has drawn up an extensive list of partisan opinions that caused no suspensions”: CNN’s Deplorable Mainstreaming of Anti-Muslim Bigotry (This Week) “Al-Watan reported that he was charged with…

Until joining ISIS, Hasna Ait Boulahcen was “deep into alcohol, drugs and sex” and “her purported pre-radicalization behavior fits with other female extremists” … Fingerprints Confirm ID of Paris Female Suicide Bomber (AP / abc News) … exemplified in the fact that “the terrorists — they are not part of the institutions of the Muslim [community], they…

Juan Cole takes exception to persistent comments about IS that are “exaggerated or just incorrect” about its place in Islamic history, the piety of its membership, its numbers, its influence, and how to fight it: Today’s Top 7 Myths About Daesh/ ISIL (juancole.com) “[T]he West’s veneer of civilization has been peeled away, leaving in its…

“ISIS isn’t just at war with much of the world, or, especially, the Muslim world. The Islamic State is at war with how Muslims understand Islam” … ISIS Perversion of Islam Is a Mortal Danger to Muslims (CNN) … “Islam’s position is very clear … [against] the killing of innocent people, … these acts do…

“This huge effort to go after this deranged man filled with hate when they can’t make half that effort to save the hostages while … [they] were still alive. It’s unfortunate that the government doesn’t get it. They think it gives us solace, but it doesn’t” – mother of IS victim James Foley: ‘Jihadi John’ Believed…

“We have realized this now, that under an Islamic system all rights of human beings — both men and women — need to be implemented 100 percent” — Abdul Manan Niazi, the deputy head of the breakaway group: A New Taliban Breakaway Group Claims Support for Peace and Women’s Rights (Washington Post) “So how does…