More Good Advice for Barack Obama: From Islamist Groups This Time

President-Elect Barack Obama has no shortage of advice.

Yesterday, we learned that Iran's President Ahmadinejad told Obama that "...the expectation is that the unjust actions of the past 60 years..." will be end, and that "...The great civilization-building and justice-seeking nation of Iran would welcome major, fair and real changes, in policies and actions, especially in this region...."

Today, it's the Islamic State of Iraq's own Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, "urging the 'new rulers of the White House' and presidential allies from 'Christian nations' to remove their forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Muslim regions." (CNN)

Sounds like Abu Omar al-Baghdadi wants Obama to 'give peace a chance.'

I'm dubious about al-Baghdadi's advice. For starters, it looks like the "Islamic State of Iraq" is a sort of front for Al Qaeda in Iraq. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi says he's the leader of the "Islamic State of Iraq." The American military says he's an actor, who gives the "Islamic State of Iraq" a voice.

Al-Baghdadi offered some hardly-surprising insights:

• The global financial crisis happened because of wars "launched in Muslim countries"
• Western civilization is
  • "Nothing but a civilization made of cardboard"
  • Built on gambling and usury
  • "Robbed" Muslim lands
  • "Oppressed" the residents of Muslim lands

Sounds like Professor Churchill would love this guy.

A Sunni insurgent group, the Mujahedeen Army, had advice for President-Elect Obama, too: Get troops out of Iraq. Now. Or else Obama will face "days that will be more difficult than the nightmare experienced by his predecessor."

The Associated Press says, "Obama has called for an increase in forces in Afghanistan and a withdraw of combat troops from Iraq in 16 months, but said that the time period wasn't rigid and could be adjusted."

It's Different, When You're in Charge

I've said it before: Things look different when you finally get to sit behind the desk.

I think there's a good chance that President Barack Obama will recognize this advice from President Ahmadinejad, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, and the Mujahedeen Army for what it is: more standard-issue propaganda from people I'd rather call Islamist than Islamic.

At least, I hope so.

In the news:

• "Insurgents to Obama: Pull troops from Iraq"
  Associate Press (November 7, 2008)
• "Militant's message to 'new White House' "
  CNN (November 7, 2008)

"Muslims Against Sharia" Put Money Where Their Mouth Is

Mr. Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist, published a very rude cartoon recently, depicting the prophet Mohammed in a very disrespectful way.

So, Al Qaeda in Iraq is offering upwards of $100,000 USD to anyone who kills Mr. Vilks.

Al Qaeda members may be mostly Muslims, but not all Muslims are aligned with Al Qaeda. Muslims Against Sharia says they're nowhere near to being on bin Laden's page, and they're putting money where their mouth is. Here's a quote, repeated from my "Swedish Dog Displays Blasphemous Images" post of September 19.

"Muslims Against Sharia praise the courage of Lars Vilks, Ulf Johansson, Thorbjorn Larsson and the staff of Nerikes Allehanda and Dagens Nyheter and condemn threats issued by Abu Omar Al Baghdadi and the Islamic State of Iraq. Muslims Against Sharia will provide a payment of 100,000kr (about $15,000) for the information leading to capture or neutralization of Abu Omar Al Baghdadi.

"Muslimer mot Sharia berömmer Lars Vilks, Ulf Johansson, Torbjörn Larsson och övriga anställda på Nerikes Allehanda och Dagens Nyheter för deras tapperhet och fördömer hotet från Abu Omar Al Baghdadi och Islamistiska Iraq. Muslimer mot Sharia betalar 100 000 SEK (ca 15 000$) för information som leder till gripande eller oskadligörande av Abu Omar Al Baghdadi."

Let's remember: Islam is far from uniform; Muslims are not all alike.

Related posts, on censorship, propaganda, and freedom of speech.

Swedish Dog Displays Blasphemous Images

Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist with a price on his head, showed a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad to a seminar in Stockholm on yesterday.

Why that "Swedish Dog" term in the headline? It's how "Islamic World News أخبار العالم الاسلامي refers to the Swedish cartoonist.

"Nobody has really seen this image and it has just become more and more impossible to show it, so I thought that ordinary people should be given the possibility to see it live," he told the 100 or so people at a seminar.

I wonder what number Mr. Vilks considers "nobody." The cartoon, or one very much like the famous one, is displayed on his website.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is offering upwards of $100,000 USD to anyone who kills Mr. Vilks. One of the under-reported aspects of this is how Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been corrupted. I'd have thought that more people would be shocked at how western they're acting: offering money, rather than appealing to jihadic zeal.

I hope that Mr. Vilks, and others involved in this cartoon's publication, take care of themselves. Islamic enthusiasts aren't particularly noted taking insults lightly.

Remember Theo van Gogh? A Muslim killed him after Mr. van Gogh made a film, "Submission," that followers of Islam didn't like. Muslims had good reason for disapproving of the film. At best, Muslim women in the film, whose "chadors and gowns are transparent," make the movie insulting.

However, Michael Moore has offended conservatives and some Christians in America, and he's still very much alive.

Back to Mr. Vilks and his appalling diplomatic skills.

An earlier post, "Death to the Cartoonist! Death to Swedish Dog!" discussed the Swedish cartoonist's drawing and how some Muslims reacted. Happily, a group I hadn't heard of, Muslims Against Sharia, posted a comment on that post. I'm taking the liberty of quoting their comment.

"Muslims Against Sharia praise the courage of Lars Vilks, Ulf Johansson, Thorbjorn Larsson and the staff of Nerikes Allehanda and Dagens Nyheter and condemn threats issued by Abu Omar Al Baghdadi and the Islamic State of Iraq. Muslims Against Sharia will provide a payment of 100,000kr (about $15,000) for the information leading to capture or neutralization of Abu Omar Al Baghdadi.

"Muslimer mot Sharia berömmer Lars Vilks, Ulf Johansson, Torbjörn Larsson och övriga anställda på Nerikes Allehanda och Dagens Nyheter för deras tapperhet och fördömer hotet från Abu Omar Al Baghdadi och Islamistiska Iraq. Muslimer mot Sharia betalar 100 000 SEK (ca 15 000$) för information som leder till gripande eller oskadligörande av Abu Omar Al Baghdadi."

It's my opinion that Islam is going through a very interesting time in its history. Muslims have very serious decisions to make. But, that's for another post.

Related posts, on censorship, propaganda, and freedom of speech.

Does Anyone Really Believe Censorship Isn't Happening?

Lars Vilks published cartoons, showing the prophet Mohammed (first strike) in a disrespectful way (second strike) in July, 2007. Now, Al Qaeda in Iraq is offering $100,000USD for the head of Lars Vilks (yer out!).

It reminds me of May, 2006, when Muslims were offended by other cartoons. Some headlines then were "Al-Qaeda Threatens 3 EU States over Mohammed Cartoons," and, showing great compassion, " Algeria cartoon publishers jailed." The latter news account said that "according to Algerian law, both journalists now face between three and five years in jail for 'insulting the prophet'." The article was quite calm. I'm glad the journalists didn't lose their heads.

The 2006 flap was over cartoons in a Danish paper, re-published in Norway and elsewhere. All twelve cartoons are displayed in the Brussles Journal's "Danish Imams Propose to End Cartoon Dispute." The Journal's slogan is "defending freedom of speech in Europe."

As of early 2006, the imam's idea of ending the "cartoon dispute" involving Jywallands-Posten, the infidel paper which posted the cartoons was that "Jyllands-Posten admit that publishing the cartoons was wrong and make amends for it." In a way, the demand is very moderate, assuming that no beheadings are involved in making "amends."

As a devout Catholic, I'd be satisfied if all anti-Catholic cartoons were so restrained and polite as the ones the imams were fussing about.

Back to Lars Vilk.

Samples from the latest cartoon flap are displayed (as of today's date) at Wikipedia's "Lars Vilks Muhammad cartoons controversy"

I'll admit that portraying a Mohammed with a dog's body is quite disrespectful. But, as an American, I'm used to seeing over-the-top depictions of leaders and cultural icons.

Al Qaeda in Iraq has a different attitude. "Al Qaeda: $100G To Kill Swedish Cartoonist" was the way WCBSTV.com put it. "The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq offered money for the murder of a Swedish cartoonist who recently produced images deemed insulting to Islam and promised a new offensive in Iraq during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in a statement carried by Islamist Web sites Saturday."

While looking for these anti-Islam cartoons, I found a very helpful page. It included links to the "Swedish Dog," sites which published the 2006 cartoons, and a list of newspapers that reprinted Jyllands-Posten's Mohammad cartoons.

Here's an excerpt.

"Islamic World News أخبار العالم الاسلامي

"Islamic Studies دراسات اسلامية
14 سبتمبر, 2007
حرية التعبير والإساءة إلى رسول الإسلام
(The Arabic phrase after the date translates as
"Freedom of expression and offend the Prophet of Islam" (World Star Dictionaries, Translators and Encyclopedias, and Google translation service))

"http://www.vilks.net Lars Vilks Cartoons :: Swedish Dog Mohamed Cartoon Draws.

"http://www.vilks.net الموقع الخاص بالفنان الذي رسم محمد ("The relative to site the artist who Mohammed drew" (systransoft.com)")

"http://www.vilks.net/?p=936 Lars Vilks Cartoons :: Swedish Dog Mohamed Cartoon Draws."

And so on. "Swedish Dog" is repeated fairly often.

Reading "Islamic World News أخبار العالم الاسلامي", remember that this, unlike sites and blogs which criticize Islam, is not a hate site, and does not promote violence or racism.

Meanwhile, is Australia, Australian Christian Lobby head Jim Wallace, is a non-Muslim who disapproved of pastors Danny Nalliah and Daniel Scot being convicted of inciting "hatred against, serious contempt for or revulsion or severe ridicule of" Muslims.

The infidel preachers claim that "they had merely informed Christians about Islamic teachings, based on the Koran and other Islamic texts."

Wallace said that the finding against the pastors probably meant that Australians

It's hard to for me to verify any of this, since most of the online references to both Wallace and the Mohammed cartoons matter have been removed from the Web, or been re-edited.

Having grown up in a country which supports free speech, I have misgivings about censorship, and regard propaganda skeptically.

Related posts, on censorship, propaganda, and freedom of speech.

Special Consideration Doesn't Help

Religious Staffers React,
Major Sunday Strip Banned!

I'm pretty sure I know the response that such censorship would get. And, I'm pretty sure that the favored religious group wouldn't win friends by receiving special consideration.

The Washington Post and other newspapers pulled a strip from Sunday's comic section. Religious members of the Post staff, consulted about Sunday's "Opus," declared an emotional reaction to how the strip portrayed their faith. The Post's top brass had "considerable alarm" over the offending strip's content.

This isn't the "Opus" with a Jerry Falwell punchline. That was August 19's strip.

This was yesterday's strip. Lolla Granola, the strip's religious faddist, says that she's a radical Islamist, and wants to be called Fatima Struggle. The strip ends with Fatima and her boyfriend, Steve, sitting on a couch.

That's pretty hot stuff right there, but it gets worse. Granola/Fatima says,

• "You're not getting a girlfriend obsessed with decadent western crud"
• "You're not getting a girlfriend blathering about 'American Idol'"
• "And you're not getting a girlfriend who resists a man's rightful place"

(Warning! ADULT CONTENT!) Steve says, "anything else I won't be getting, Fatima?" She replies, "God Willing."

Writers Group comics editor, Amy Lago, who flagged the offensive strip for subscribing newspapers, gave two reasons for drawing attention to it. First, the jokes about Islam might by "misconstrued." Second, there was that sexual innuendo in the punchline.

What does this have to do with the War on Terror?

Fanatic Muslims have segued from saying "Death to America" to doing it. Quite a few people in this country are understandably nervous about Islam.

Uneven treatment of religious views doesn't help defuse this situation.

I'm a devout Catholic, and have gotten accustomed to the background noise of American culture, including gags about drunk and lecherous priests, nuns gone wild, constitutionally-protected works from Rebecca Reed’s "Six Months in a Convent" to Jack Chick's comics, and sophisticated statements like "As you've probably heard, the Pope has asked all the Cardinals to return to Rome. You know how they got them all to come back? They told them that there was going to be a performance by the Vienna Boys Choir."

I'm not sure that I'd be at all comfortable with a society in which prominent newspapers banned a cartoon which a hypersensitive Catholic might find offensive, and passed a cartoon which poked fun at, say, the Dali Lama. A situation like that would smell of special treatment: something no group should want.

There may be a sort of soft prejudice here. The Post decision can be interpreted as assuming that Christians are sophisticated enough to understand, and tolerate, a joke; while assuming that Muslims, as primitive people, must be given special consideration.

The Post ran Sunday's "Opus" on washingtonpost.com. What, they figure that Muslims and children don't go online?

Whatever the reason for pulling that strip, I don't think that the Washington Post's sensitivity helps establish Islam and Muslims as an acceptable part of mainstream America.

My information is from "Washington Post, Other Newspapers Won't Run 'Opus' Cartoon Mocking Radical Islam," and the Jerry Falwell "Opus" strip and Fatima Struggle strips. They're both pretty funny.

Posts on this general topic:

• Special Consideration Doesn't Help (August 27, 2007)
• Jihad Rehab (August 22, 2007)
• Muslims Are Not All Alike (August 19, 2007)
• More about "Yeh Hum Naheen" / "This is Not Us" (August 9, 2007)
• Saudi Arabia: Non-Islamic Religious Items Verboten (August 9, 2007)
• Moderate Muslim Video from Pakistan: Very Good News (August 7, 2007)
• Rep. Ellison's Misconstrued Reichstag Remarks July 17, 2007
• There's a New Loon in Minnesota (July 16, 2007)
• Another Islamic Voice in the Debate (July 16, 2007)
• "Islam is a Peaceful Religion" 2 (July 15, 2007)
• "Islam is a Peaceful Religion" (July 6, 2007)

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