Ambush

You probably have not heard much about the Lebanese Army attacking an Israeli unit this week. What you have heard from the media is probably wrong leave it to UN to actually defend Israel for once. UNIFIL the unit that is sort of overseeing the cease fire between the IDF and Hezbollah acknowledged that the Israelis were on their side of the border. Also a sniper shot that takes out the CO then followed by a volley of RPG fire. This was a perfect set up. There are lots of links to the incident I suggest that you follow them.

Brennen

Mr. Brennen is the administrations top anti-terrorism guy however smart he thinks he is about jihad he is just not getting it. I have mentioned in the past that yes I do understand that trying to seperate mainstream Muslims from the terrorists view of Islam is a good thing. However with the revival of Islam there seems to be disagrement in the Muslim world of the role of jihad. What CAIR and other Muslim groups want us to believe is that jihad is just an internal struggle however there is too much other information out there saying that jihad is to expand Islam. The latest from MEMRI says something very different. Hafiz Saeed, a scholar of Islam, has said that the purpose of Jihad is to carry out a sustained struggle for the dominance of Islam in the entire world and to eliminate the evil forces and the ignorant. He considers India, Israel and US to be his prime enemies and has threatened to launch Fidayeen (suicide squad) attacks on American interests too. More on Saeed who is the leader of the LeT his favorite verse of the Koran is
Wajahidu Fee Sabilallah: Wage a holy war in the name of God Almighty. His worldview is straight and simple: ’God has ordained every Muslim to fight until His rule is established.

Itjihad - which is a reinterpretation of the Koran has not been done in hundreds of years unlike Christian faith. For those that do not know the violent verses of the Koran abrogate the earlier more tolerant ones.

Conflicting Stories Coming from Afghanistan

Say it is not so.

Also a tale of two articles on from the Asia Times concerning civilian fears in Marjah which to some extent can be attributed to Taliban propaganda and some to legitimate security concerns. Please note the quote from the Taliban spokesman as it says that the locals are helping them. This ties in very well to a report from the Long War Journal about the closing of a local bazaar in the same area in Now Zad. Bazaars in Afghanistan while used to sell goods and services are also a large revenue source for the government as they are taxed. It also seems that the Taliban get their "help from the barrel of the AKs" I would not exactly call this winning the hearts and minds but when it is either your whole family being killed or giving up food and a son what choice do these people really have. It seems the Taliban were also running a bazaar to generate income and to move their opium. It would not be a far stretch to say that the same group of Taliban are stirring up trouble in both areas.