Al-Qaeda chief calls for attacks on US in 9/11 speech to followers

Verne Strickland / September 15, 2011

The leader of Al-Qaeda has called on Muslims to wage attacks inside the United States, to wreak instability that will “bleed America economically”.

 

 Photo: AFP/GETTY

Ayman al-Zawahiri speaking during an interview   

By Ruth Sherlock, Beirut

11:03AM BST 13 Sep 2013

In an audio message released on Friday, two days after the anniversary of September 11th, Ayman al-Zawahiri said America was not a “mythic power” and that it could be defeated even through small-scale strikes by “one brother or a few of the brothers”.

“We should bleed America economically by provoking it to continue in its massive expenditure on its security, for the weak point of America is its economy, which has already begun to stagger due to the military and security expenditure,” he said, according to SITE, a jihadist monitoring group.

“America is not a mythic power and the Americans, after all, are humans who can be defeated, felled and punished.”

Zawahiri urged the Islamic world to “abandon the dollar and replace it with a currency of other countries that are not taking part in the aggression against us”. He also said that Muslims should refuse to buy goods from America and its allies, as such spending only helped to fund US military action in Muslim lands.

As well as mounting small, “disparate” assaults, Zawahiri urged fellow members of his extremist group to “watch and wait” and seize any opportunity to conduct a large strike against the US, similar to the 9/11 attack that killed almost 3000 people.

His speech picked up on the belief held by former Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden that targeting economic institutions can destroy the United States.

Free hot dog cookout a la Pamela Lynn Collins and John Dismukes. Not an official GOP function although it might just as well be.

 

Brotherhood Imposes Jizya Tribute on Egypt’s Christians:

 Verne Strickland / September 13, 2013

Understanding (and deploring) Muslim Persecution of Christians

By Raymond Ibrahim on September 8, 2013 in Muslim Persecution of Christians

 The return of jizya. 

Historically, non-Muslims had to pay tribute to their Islamic masters.  This practice was interrupted in the 19th century, thanks to European intervention. Today it’s back thanks to Western intervention.

Now that the attacks on Egypt’s Christian churches have subsided, stage two of the jihad — profiting from the fear and terror caused by stage one — is setting in: reports are arriving that the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters are forcing the roughly 15,000 Christian Copts of Dalga village in south Minya province to pay jizya — the money, or tribute, that conquered non-Muslims historically had to pay to their Islamic overlords “with willing submission and while feeling themselves subdued” to safeguard their existence, as indicated in Koran 9:29.

According to Fr. Yunis Shawqi, who spoke yesterday to Dostor reporters in Dalga, all Copts in the village, “without exception,” are being forced to pay tribute, just as their forefathers did nearly 1400 years ago when the sword of Islam originally invaded Christian Egypt.  He said that the “value of the tribute and method of payment differ from one place to another in the village, so that, some are being expected to pay 200 Egyptian pounds per day, others 500 Egyptian pounds per day…”

In some cases, those not able to pay have been attacked, their wives and children beaten and/or kidnapped.  As a result, some 40 Christian families have now fled Dalga, joining the ever growing list of displaced Christians in the Middle East.
It’s the same in Syria and Iraq.  ”Rebels” recently went to a Christian man’s “shop and gave him three options: become Muslim; pay $70,000 as a tax levied on non-Muslims, known as jizya; or be killed along with his family….  Androus from Mosul, Iraq… says he received a similar demand via telephone. ‘Because you are infidels, you have to pay jizya,’ he recalled being told over the phone. ‘Either you pay jizya, or we will kill you or your son.’”

Collecting jizya from non-Muslims was interrupted in the 19th century, thanks to European intervention.  Today, the jizya and other injustices against Mideast Christians — in Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq — have returned precisely thanks to Western intervention, in this case, U.S. support for the Muslim Brotherhood and its jihadi offshoots.

Team Tillis ramps up the momentum for Thom Tillis campaign for U.S. Senate

Over the past few weeks, we have been working on assembling a strong campaign team to ensure we have the resources needed to defeat Kay Hagan.  I am happy to announce that Lieutenant Governor Jim Gardner, former Ambassador Dave Phillips, Bob Ingram and Harry L. Smith, Jr. have agreed to help lead my finance team.  Each has dedicated much of their lives to making North Carolina a great place to live, work and raise a family. Jim Gardner was elected in 1989 as the first Republican Lieutenant Governor since 1901.  Jim previously served in the US House, where he chaired the House Committee on Agriculture.  He began his successful business career in Rocky Mount in the early 60s.  Stanley Davis (Dave) Phillips was appointed Ambassador to Estonia by President Bush in 2007.  Dave has been a business leader for our state in showcasing to the world our furniture and textile industries.    Bob Ingram began his career in the pharmaceutical industry and is the former CEO/Chairman of GalxoWellcome.  He serves on numerous community and business boards and has been a leading citizen in helping to shape the Research Triangle business community.  Harry Smith is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of the Flanders Corporation.  He is also a member of the UNC Board of Governors and a member of the North Carolina Economic Development Commission. In addition to building out our finance committee, staff and I continue to build a strong list of supporters who are hosting campaign events in their local communities.  We are happy to announce the following events: • September 13: Fundraiser at the home of Jane and Scott Sullivan, Wilmington • September 18: Fundraiser at Old Town Country Club, Winston-Salem • September 19: Fundraiser at The Peninsula Club, Cornelius • September 20: Fundraiser at River Landing Country Club, Wallace If you would like information on any events in your area, please contact Lucy Croxton at Lucy@thomtillis.com. Equally important to building a strong finance team is the need to build a strong grassroots effort.  Kim Canady, former Political Director for the North Carolina Republican Party has joined our staff and will serve as Political Director.  Kim has extensive experience in working with local Party volunteers and we are excited about having her on staff.  Kim has finalized our grassroots plan and is now working on building our volunteer effort in each county.  If you have an interest in working as a campaign volunteer, please contact Kim at Kim@thomtillis.com. Also helping with our political staff is Luke Blanchat.  Luke’s is a native of Hickory but comes to us from Texas where he worked for Governor Rick Perry’s presidential campaign and Congressman Michael McCaul’s reelection campaign.  You can reach Luke at Luke@thomtillis.com. Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoyed your summer.  There is still a lot of work to complete so be sure and check back for more campaign announcements and updates very soon! Best, Thom

The Cross Still Stands: Another timeless image which burns 9/11/01 into our memory forever

John Kerry: US will 'live in infamy' if military doesn't strike Syria

Verne Strickland / September 6, 2013

(SHAWN THEW/EPA) “In the nearly 100 years since this global commitment against chemical weapons was made, only two tyrants have dared to cross the world’s brightest line. Bashar al-Assad has now become the third.”

Kerry's quote on 'a date that will live in infamy' rings hollow, lacks the eloquence of FDR's original

By JOEL GEHRKE | SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 AT 11:42 AM

Topics: Beltway Confidential Secretary of Defense John Kerry Syria Middle East

Secretary of State John Kerry borrowed Franklin Delano Roosevelt's denunciation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to urge Congress to authorize a military strike on Syria following the latest chemical weapons attack.


"That will be one of those moments in history that will live in infamy," Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee while discussing the possibility that Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad escape an international response to the most recent chemical weapons attack by his regime during the Syrian civil war.

The "live in infamy" phrase comes from FDR's Pearl Harbor speech. "Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan," Roosevelt said. "The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific."

 

 

Kerry said that refusing to strike Syria would stand along "some of those moments" when the United States has done something worthy of infamy. He compared it to the FDR administration's decision not to allow Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to come to the United States.

 

"In a highly publicized event in May–June 1939, the United States refused to admit over 900 Jewish refugees who had sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on the St. Louis.

The St. Louis appeared off the coast of Florida shortly after Cuban authorities cancelled the refugees' transit visas and denied entry to most of the passengers, who were still waiting to receive visas to enter the United States," the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum explains in its history of the event.

"Denied permission to land in the United States, the ship was forced to return to Europe. The governments of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium each agreed to accept some of the passengers as refugees.

Of the 908 St. Louis passengers who returned to Europe, 254 (nearly 28 percent) are known to have died in the Holocaust. 288 passengers found refuge in Britain. Of the 620 who returned to the continent, 366 (just over 59 percent) are known to have survived the war."

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Matt Drudge sounds off on Republicans over Syria, NSA. Shall we call it "Drudgery"? No, let's not.

Verne Strickland / September 5, 2013

Asking why anyone would vote Republican, Drudge listed his grievances: "Raised taxes; marching us off to war again; approved more NSA snooping. WHO ARE THEY?!"

Published September 05, 2013

FoxNews.com

Drudge Report founder Matt Drudge is shown in this 1997 file photo. 

AP Internet pioneer Matt Drudge may have had enough of the Republican Party.  

Though known to needle the GOP and its leaders from time to time, the founder of Drudge Report let loose over the party's direction on Twitter this week.

Asking why anyone would vote Republican, Drudge listed his grievances: "Raised taxes; marching us off to war again; approved more NSA snooping. WHO ARE THEY?!"

His tweets referred to Republican leaders, like House Speaker John Boehner, getting behind the president's military-strike push in Syria and other positions. But Drudge's comments also touched on the broader internal fight in the party.
Or as Drudge put it: "It's now Authoritarian vs. Libertarian. Since Democrats vs. Republicans have been obliterated, no real differences between parties."

But Drudge's recent tweets are hardly the first time he's gotten in the middle of Republican Party infighting.

In January 2012, conservative Republicans accused him of catering to the GOP establishment and said he used his influential site as a virtual soap box for presidential candidate Mitt Romney. They were upset that he had taken repeated swipes at candidate Newt Gingrich.

Some fans openly questioned whether Drudge, once the darling of the conservative right, had become an enemy to the "cause" and accused him of using his digital real estate to push a more mainstream message. Politico wrote at the time, "Newt Gingrich better hope voters who lapped up his delicious hits on the 'elite media' and liberals don't read the Drudge Report this morning ... If they do, Gingrich comes off looking like a dangerous, anti-Reagan, Clintonian fraud."

Known for its never-changed spartan look, Drudge Report has become one of the most powerful drivers of political news in the country. The headlines trend toward news that interests conservative readers the most, but news outlets of all stripes relish a link on the heavily trafficked site -- and check it regularly. 

According to a May 2011 Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism study, Drudge is an "extremely important traffic driver."

"In other words, the Drudge Report's influence cuts across both traditional organizations such as ABC News to more tabloid style outlets such as the New York Post," the study found. "What's more, Drudge Report drove more links than Facebook or Twitter on all the sites to which it drove traffic."

Drudge Report started off as an online news group in the '90s. Its break-out moment came in 1998, when it out-scooped Newsweek on its own story. Drudge reported that the national magazine had information on the inappropriate relationship between then-President Clinton and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky but was sitting on it.

Newsweek published the story after Drudge's report came out.
Not known for his tact, Drudge has been repeatedly slammed by the left for sensationalizing news.

Yet earlier this year, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange hailed Drudge as a "news media innovator" who should be applauded.

Assange claimed that Drudge made his name by "publishing information that the establishment media would not. It is as a result of the self-censorship of the establishment press in the United States that gave Matt Drudge such a platform and so of course he should be applauded for breaking a lot of that censorship."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/05/matt-drudge-turns-on-gop/#ixzz2e5alDqbf