Abdullah ibn Umar reported: We were sitting with the
Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he
mentioned several trials until he mentioned a trial in which
people should remain in their houses. It was said:
"O Messenger of Allah, what is this trial in which people
should remain in their houses?"
The Prophet said:
"It is evacuation and war. Then there will come a trial
which appears pleasant. Its murkiness is due to the coming
of a man from my household who imagines that he is part of
me but he is not, for my allies are only the righteous who
fear Allah. Then the people will gather under a man unstable
like a hip bone over a rib. Then there will be an enormous
trial which not leave anyone from this nation unaffected,
and just when people say it is finished it will be extended
further. During this trial a man will be a believer in the
morning and an unbeliever by evening, such that people will
be in two camps: the camp of faith without hypocrisy and the
camp of hypocrisy without faith. When that happens, then
expect the False Messiah to emerge that day or the next."
Sunan Abu Dawud 4242
NEW TREND RESEARCH
What's in the Uncut "death by fire" video put out by ISIS?
Honesty is required in journalism.
The video about the Jordanian pilot's death by fire is 20
minutes long. The media and the pro-Iran groups are showing
only the conclusion of the video.
Here is a summary from Arabic of the component parts:
The video shows flags of the air forces which joined the
US and western coalition to bomb the Islamic State [IS]. Its
shown as a ganging up of the many against the defenseless
few.
It shows the pictures of the late model jet bombers used
by each air force and the missiles they use.
It shows the targeting by the jets of Muslim populations.
It shows the bodies of defenseless people killed.
It shows the death by explosions and by fire of numerous
Muslim CHILDREN killed in the bombing raids.
It shows the demolition of homes in the attacks by the
air forces of the rulers supporting the West.
It shows the rambling confession of the Jordanian pilot.
[Need better translation.] He went to kill.
It indicates that those who kill or injure in a certain
way must be killed or injured in the same way. This is the
Islamic law of retribution and retaliation.
The Jordanian pilot and his colleagues set homes and
buildings on fire and smashed buildings over the heads of
helpless unarmed civilians.
Then right at the end, the killing of the pilot by fire
is shown.
Mosque for Women Only
Mosque for Women only: Nothing Wrong with it but .....
Here is what Islam requires
By Br. Kaukab Siddique [Pennsylvania]
A prayer area [rudimentary mosque] has been set up for WOMEN
ONLY in the Los Angeles area. There has been a furor about
it coming from males who are in charge of most mosques in
America. They are claiming that it is a forbidden act and
that prayers led by a woman are unthinkable.
We should admit that women are not treated well in most of
our mosques. They are tolerated but not included. They
cannot respond, they cannot question, they are shunted into
a small unwanted space or are made to watch the imam on
TV.
Not only is this stance false but it counters the clear
teachings of Islam. Does the Qur'an say that there should
not be any mosques for women only? It does not. The Qur'an
gives a clear FOUR POINT basis for setting up a mosque:
"The mosques of Allah shall be visited and maintained by
such as believe in Allah and the Last Day, establish regular
prayers, and practice regular charity, and fear none (at
all) except Allah. It is they who are expected to be on true
guidance." [Sura Tawba: ]
The idea that women cannot lead prayers is not only
unIslamic but is responsible for the chaos among 50% of the
population. When good Muslim women meet and it is time for
prayers, they don't know what to do and each one starts
praying on her own thus contravening the hadith that praying
together is much more blessed than praying alone. [This
applies to obligatory prayers. Extra prayers can be carried
out on individual basis.]
There are numerous authentic hadith that indicate quite
clearly Ayesha, r.a., used to lead prayers as did her female
students in later years.
Begin with the hadith of the Prophet, pbuh, about women in
ALL kinds of religious and prayer gatherings and in
jihad:
"Narrated Aiyub: Hafsa said, 'We used to forbid our young
women to go out for the two 'Id prayers. A woman came and
stayed at the palace of Bani Khalaf and she narrated about
her sister whose husband took part in twelve holy battles
along with the Prophet and her sister was with her husband
in six (out of these twelve). She (the woman's sister) said,
"We used to treat the wounded, look after the patients and
once I asked the Prophet, 'Is there any harm for any of us
to stay at home if she doesn't have a veil?' He said, 'She
should cover herself with the veil of her companion and
should participate in the good deeds and in the religious
gathering of the Muslims.' When Um 'Atiya came I asked her
whether she had heard it from the Prophet. She replied,
"Yes. May my father be sacrificed for him (the Prophet)!
(Whenever she mentioned the Prophet she used to say, 'May my
father be sacrificed for him) I have heard the Prophet
saying, 'The unmarried young virgins and the mature girl who
stay often screened or the young unmarried virgins who often
stay screened and the menstruating women should come out and
participate in the good deeds as well as the religious
gathering of the faithful believers but the menstruating
women should keep away from the Musalla (praying place).' "
Hafsa asked Um 'Atiya surprisingly, "Do you say the
menstruating women?" She replied, "Doesn't a menstruating
woman attend 'Arafat (Hajj) and such and such (other
deeds)?" (
Sahih Bukhari. Book #6, Hadith #321
)
The solution is that Muslim men and women should learn to
treat each other as brothers and sisters. If we do not,
Muslim women will want to have nothing to do with male
congregations. That is a disaster because it BREAKS UP
FAMILIES. Fathers must take responsibility and not de facto
create single mother families. Step fathers are important
too.
Islam teaches men and women to be near each other without
mingling. What is needed is DISCIPLINE, not separation.
Notice how close men and women were to each other without
mingling in the golden era of Islam:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: "During the lifetime of
Allah's Messenger (pbuh) men and women used to perform
ablution together."
The performance of ablution by a man along with his wife.
The utilization of water remaining after a woman has
performed ablution. Umar performed ablution with warm water
and with water brought from the house of a Christian woman
ب ا ب و ُ ض ُ و ء ِ ا ل ر َ ّ ج ُ ل ِ م َ ع َ ا م ْ ر َ أ َ ت ِ ه ِ و َ ف َ ض ْ ل ِ و َ ض ُ و ء ِ
ا ل ْ م َ ر ْ أ َ ة ِ و َ ت َ و َ ض َ ّ أ َ ع ُ م َ ر ُ ب ِ ا ل ْ ح َ م ِ ي م ِ م ِ ن ْ ب َ ي ْ ت ِ
ن َ ص ْ ر َ ا ن ِ ي َ ّ ة ٍ
Sahih Bukhari . Vol. 1, Book 4, Hadith 192
Often they were so near each other and owing to poverty did
not have enough clothing, this instruction was given, which
shows their close proximity without mingling: Narrated Sahl,
r.a.
"The men used to pray with the Prophet with their Izars tied
around their necks as boys used to do; therefore the Prophet
told the women not to raise their heads till the men sat
down straight (while praying). [Sahih Bukhari]
The idea that women are somehow inferior to men and
therefore men should control and own mosques and women
cannot is flat out anti-Islam. The standard for honor,
nobility and merit in the Qur'an is TAQWA, not gender.
"O mankind! We created you from a male and a female, and
made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each
other(not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most
honored of you inthe sight of Allah is the one best in
conduct of you. [taqwa] And Allah has fullknowledge and is
well acquainted (with all things)." [Sura hujurat:]
Brief, but Important
Nigeria: February 2 to 7:
Boko Haram forces have captured parts of northern Cameroon
and Niger in addition to a string of 10 towns in north
eastern Nigeria.
Pro-western troops from Chad have arrived and are helping
Cameroon to push back Boko Haram but with little success.
Troops in Niger are fighting back but are in bad shape and
are appealing to France for help.
All three governments are making claims against Boko Haram
but are not willing to let journalists check their claims.
The Nigerian government, led by a Christian, has put off the
forthcoming elections. This is creating turmoil all over
Nigeria.
Bangladesh: January last two weeks and February first
week:
The pro-India regime has arrested more than 7,000 people.
Severe subjugation of Jamaate Islami has not dampened down
the anti-government movement. The opposition led by Khaleda
Zia are trying to disrupt public transportation to oppose
the regime. Incidents of violence are being reported coming
from both sides.
Islam in America: Serious split among pro-Regime Shi'ites of
America.
The biggest Shi'ite mosque in America, located in the
suburbs of Detroit, has removed its imam, Qazwini,. He has
lots of support and is leading prayers in the Convention
Center. This follows serious charges that Qazwini was
sending money to Shias in Iraq.[February 6.] [Detroit Free
Press]
Outreach: Jamaat al-Muslimeen Activity in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and Falls Church, northern Virginia.
On February 6, after juma salat, Jamaat al-Muslimeen
documents were given to 93 Muslims at a mosque near the
university of Pennsylvania. This is a largely African
American, Malaysian, African and Arab community.
Also on February 6, Jamaat al-Muslimeen documents were given
to 102 people after Juma salat at the fancy Dar al-Hijra
mosque in Falls Church, a few miles outside Washington DC.
These were mostly immigrants from African countries, Arabs,
Pakistanis and African Americans.
The documents included Br. Kaukab's khutba against
blasphemous cartoons by France, Imam Badi's guidance on
responsibility, Shaykh Shamim Siddiqui's article on western
terrorism and betrayal of religion by Christians and Jews,
call for boycott of pro-Israeli businesses, particularly
Coca Cola, war news from Syria and Iraq, and Pakistani air
attacks on Islamic villages.
Maulana Hussain Khan has successfully led a campaign in
Tokyo, Japan, against blasphemous cartoons. It was well
received in Japan with a retraction of cartoons by the main
daily newspaper.
Palestinian boy Mohammed Abu Khdeir was burned alive, says official
by Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem
Mohamed Abu Khdeir, the Palestinian teenager who was
kidnapped and murdered on Wednesday in a suspected revenge
killing by Israeli extremists, was burned alive after
suffering a head injury, the Palestinian attorney general
has claimed.
The allegation is said to be based on initial postmortem
findings that discovered soot deposits in his lungs
suggesting he was still breathing when he was set on fire.
The shocking details, if confirmed, would seem likely to
exacerbate already toxic tensions.
The reports emerged as Egypt tried to conclude a ceasefire
deal between Hamas in Gaza and Israel. But it appeared not
to have taken hold, with fresh reports of rocket fire into
Israel from the coastal strip.
The murder of 17-year-old Khdeir, who was buried on Friday
in a highly charged funeral after his abduction outside a
mosque next to his home in the early hours of Wednesday
morning, has prompted days of serious rioting in Palestinian
neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem, which then spread to
Israeli-Arab towns.
"The direct cause of death was burns as a result of fire and
its complications," attorney general Mohammed al-A'wewy told
the Palestinian official news agency, Wafa, late on Friday.
Israeli officials have yet to release their findings from
the postmortem on the body.
Tensions have risen after three Israeli teenagers were
kidnapped on 12 June and later found dead in the occupied
West Bank. That has been followed by an outbreak of racist
incitement on Israeli social media sites, street attacks and
Khdeir's murder, a suspected revenge attack.
Saber al-Aloul, director of the Palestinian forensic
institute, attended the postmortem carried out by Israeli
doctors in Tel Aviv. A'wewy said Aloul had reported that
fire-dust material had been found in Khdeir's respiratory
canal, which meant "the boy had inhaled this material while
he was burned alive". Burns covered 90% of his body.
The discovery of the youth's body in a forest on the
outskirts of Jerusalem has prompted the worst riots in the
holy city in recent memory. The violence spread to northern
Arab towns on Saturday morning, an Israeli police
spokeswoman, Luba Samri, said. Protesters there threw stones
at passing cars, burned tyres and hurled fire bombs at
police, who responded with teargas and stun grenades. More
than 20 people were arrested.
At Khdeir's funeral, furious Palestinians chanted "Intifada!
Intifada!", calling for a new uprising against Israel. They
clashed with Israeli police in one of the most highly
charged displays of enmity in Jerusalem in years
Story Originally Published: 5 July 2014
HEALTH NOTES
A Short Walk After Meals Is All It Takes to Lower Blood
Sugar
Researchers studying older adults with pre-diabetes found
that 15 minutes of easy-to-moderate exercise after every
meal curbed risky blood sugar spikes all day.
Seniors are more prone to developing diabetes, but a little
exercise could make a big difference. A study published
today in Diabetes Care found that three short walks each day
after meals were as effective at reducing blood sugar over
24 hours as a single 45-minute walk at the same moderate
pace.
Even better, taking an evening constitutional was found to
be much more effective at lowering blood sugar following
supper. The evening meal, often the largest of the day, can
significantly raise 24-hour glucose levels.
The innovative exercise science study was conducted at the
Clinical Exercise Physiology Laboratory at the George
Washington University School of Public Health and Health
Services (SPHHS) using whole room calorimeters. Loretta
DiPietro, Ph.D., chair of the SPHHS Department of Exercise
Science, led the study.
"These findings are good news for people in their 70s and
80s who may feel more capable of engaging in intermittent
physical activity on a daily basis," DiPietro said in a
press release.
Putting Humans in a Box to Measure Their Energy Use
The whole room calorimeter (WRM), which looks like a very
small hotel room, is a controlled-air environment for human
study that allows scientists to calculate a person's energy
expenditure by testing samples of air. The balance of oxygen
consumed and carbon dioxide produced varies according to the
activity level of the person in the room. The WRM also
measures the body's use of different food fuels, such as
carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
The 10 study participants spent three 48-hour periods in the
small calorimeter rooms. Each room was equipped with a bed,
toilet, sink, treadmill, television, and computer, leaving
little room to move around.
Participants ate standardized meals, and their blood sugar
levels were monitored continuously using blood tests.
The first day in the WRM served as a control period, with no
exercise. On the second day, participants either walked at a
moderate pace on the treadmill for 15 minutes after each
meal, or for 45 minutes in either the late morning or before
supper.
The researchers observed that the evening post-meal walk was
the most effective in lowering blood sugar levels for a full
24 hours.
The typical exaggerated rise in blood sugar after
supper-which often lasts well into the night and early
morning-was curbed significantly as soon as the participants
started to walk on the treadmill, the study authors said.
How Age Affects Insulin Resistance
An estimated 79 million Americans have pre-diabetes,
according to the National Diabetes Education Program run by
the National Institutes of Health. But many people have no
idea they are at risk.
According to DiPietro, older people may be particularly
susceptible to poor blood sugar control after meals because
inactive muscles contribute to insulin resistance. The
problem is compounded by slow or low insulin secretion by
the pancreas, which often occurs as the body ages.
"Post-meal high blood sugar is a key risk factor in the
progression from impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes)
to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease," DiPietro
explained.
Other studies have suggested that weight loss and exercise
can prevent type 2 diabetes. The authors say theirs is the
first study to examine short bouts of physical activity
timed around the risky period following meals-a time when
blood sugar can rise rapidly and potentially cause damage to
internal organs and blood vessels.
"The muscle contractions connected with short walks were
immediately effective in blunting the potentially damaging
elevations in post-meal blood sugar commonly observed in
older people," DiPietro said.
If the findings of this small study hold up to further
testing, it could lead to an inexpensive prevention strategy
for pre-diabetes, which can develop over time into type 2
diabetes.
Back in the day, it was "de rigueur" to take a morning,
noon, and evening walk. The time has come to get up from the
table, tie on those walking shoes, and take a little stroll
around the block.
Spotlights & Guidance
What can we learn from the tragedy of Jordan and the King's
Pilot?
If you cannot defend the oppressed people, at least do
not defend the oppressors.
It has been seen that the Jordanian regime been
successful in dealing with ALL the Islamic groups, be they
the Brotherhood or the Salafists. It has been a process of
successful management by passive use of information.
It is really strange to see Jordanian officers and
intelligence agents in far away places like Afghanistan and
Latin America. What are they doing there?
Jordan's army is an army for hire, It is sent to Bahrain,
to Haiti and other places. It's a bunch of agents for
hire.
Why are the Jordanian regime, the UAE, Kuwait, Morocco
attacking in Arab countries?
Why do Arab regimes not defend the honor of the Prophet,
pbuh, al-Aqsa, Jerusalem, Palestine?
The Jordanian pilot does not represent his people. He
represents the rulers, the regime. This pilot nd his regime
are aligned to the West against Muslims. They have been
committing crimes against humanity. He could have rejected
the order to bomb . For him and all of us Qur'an is the
Guidance. Why did he not seek the Guidance.?
He destroyed homes, hospitals, schools, with bombs. He
killed by burning people alive.
This pilot was not dropping candy and chocolates on
people. He was dropping bombs.
You have to check your words and actions. You should be
with the Truth and not with the oppressors.
After the burning of the pilot, there has been a big
debate : Is it legal or not, is it haram or halal. There are
scholars on both sides. On the battlefield too, UAE dropped
out. Others might too and Jordan may be left alone.
Kings ruin all that they control. Will this king be
different. It is doubtful
Those scholars supporting the Jordanian viewpoint should
ask themselves: If you knew that the Islamic side had equal
access to you as the western powers have, would you be
saying what you are saying.
- Imam Badi Ali is a Palestinian American who leads a large
congregation in Greensboro, North Carolina
Remember
Documentation of Muslims Burned alive by Western Powers.
Hellfire Missiles, Phosphorous used in Pakistan, Iraq
[Napalm in Vietnam]
by Glenn Greenwald
"The Intercept" - The latest ISIS atrocity - releasing a
video of a captured Jordanian fighter pilot being burned
alive - prompted substantial discussion yesterday about this
particular form of savagery. It is thus worth noting that
deliberately burning people to death is achievable - and
deliberately achieved - in all sorts of other ways:
"Living Under Drones: Death, Injury and Trauma to Civilians
From US Drone Practices in Pakistan", NYU School of Law and
Stanford University Law School, 2012.
LivingUnderDrones.org/living-under-drones
The most immediate consequence of drone strikes is, of
course, death and injury to those targeted or near a strike.
The missiles fired from drones kill or injure in several
ways, including through incineration[1], shrapnel, and the
release of powerful blast waves capable of crushing internal
organs. Those who do survive drone strikes often suffer
disfiguring burns and shrapnel wounds, limb amputations, as
well as vision and hearing loss. . . .
In addition, because the Hellfire missiles fired from drones
often incinerate the victims' bodies, and leave them in
pieces and unidentifiable, traditional burial processes are
rendered impossible. As Firoz Ali Khan, a shopkeeper whose
father-in-law's home was struck, graphically described,
"These missiles are very powerful. They destroy human beings
. . .There is nobody left and small pieces left behind.
Pieces. Whatever is left is just little pieces of bodies and
cloth."
A doctor who has treated drone victims described how "[s]kin
is burned so that you can't tell cattle from human." When
another interviewee came upon the site of the strike that
killed his father, "[t]he entire place looked as if it was
burned completely, so much so that even [the victims'] own
clothes had burnt. All the stones in the vicinity had become
black." Ahmed Jan, who lost his foot in the March 17 jirga
strike, discussed the challenges rescuers face in
identifying bodies: "People were trying to find the body
parts. We find the body parts of some people, but sometimes
we do not find anything."
One father explained that key parts of his son's burial
process had to be skipped over as a result of the severe
damage to his body. "[A]fter that attack, the villagers came
and took the bodies to the hospital. We didn't see the
bodies. They were in coffins, boxes. The bodies were in
pieces and burnt." Idris Farid, who was injured and lost
several of his relatives in the March 17 jirga strike,
described how, after that strike, relatives "had to collect
their body pieces and bones and then bury them like that."
The difficulty of identifying individual corpses also makes
it difficult to separate individuals into different graves.
Masood Afwan, who lost several relatives in the March 17
jirga strike, described how the dead from that strike were
buried: "They held a funeral for everybody, in the same
location, one by one. Their bodies were scattered into tiny
pieces. They...couldn't be identified" . . . .
Mirza Shahzad Akbar, The New York Times, May 22, 2013:
Instead, a few days after [Obama's] inaugural address, a
CIA-operated drone dropped Hellfire missiles on Fahim
Qureishi's home in North Waziristan, killing seven of his
family members and severely injuring Fahim. He was just 13
years old and left with only one eye, and shrapnel in his
stomach. . . .
Mr. Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech on drones
at the National Defense University today. He is likely to
tell his fellow Americans that drones are precise and
effective at killing militants.
But his words will be little consolation for 8-year-old
Nabila, who, on Oct. 24, had just returned from school and
was playing in a field outside her house with her siblings
and cousins while her grandmother picked flowers. At 2:30
p.m., a Hellfire missile came out of the sky and struck
right in front of Nabila. Her grandmother was badly burned
and succumbed to her injuries; Nabila survived with severe
burns and shrapnel wounds in her shoulder.
Al Jazeera, "Yemenis seek justice in wedding drone strike,"
May 21, 2014:
Mousid al-Taysi was travelling in a wedding convoy
celebrating a cousin's marriage when a missile slammed down
from the sky. All he remembers are bright red-and-orange
colours, then the grisly sight of a dozen burned bodies and
the cries of others wounded around him. Mousid survived the
December 12 attack in Yemen's central al-Baydah province,
apparently launched by an American drone, but his physical
and psychological recovery process is just beginning. If
confirmed, it would be the deadliest drone attack in the
country in more than a year. . . .
After talking with victims and family members in the area,
it was clear a majority of civilians were among the carnage
of the targeted wedding convoy. . . .
Civilians living under drones said they live in constant
fear of being hit again. "Many people in our village have
expressed terror at the thought of another strike,"
Sulaimani said. "When the kids hear a plane they no longer
climb the trees searching for where that noise came from.
They each immediately run to their houses."
CNN, December 23, 2011:
She has eyelashes but no eyebrows. She has all her fingers
but is missing four nails. Her skin is so taut now that she
can no longer frown.
But she can still smile.
Her face tells a story of suffering. Her name, Shakira,
tells a story of a new journey. . .
Last week, 4-year-old Shakira arrived in the United States
for what her caretaker, Hashmat Effendi, hopes will be the
start of the rest of her life.
Shakira, discovered with severe burns in Pakistan, will
undergo reconstructive surgery in January. . . . All anyone
could say is that there had been a U.S. drone attack, though
U.S. officials say that drones have never struck targets in
Swat.
The Independent, "The fog of war: white phosphorus, Fallujah
and some burning questions," November 15, 2005:
Ever since last November, when US forces battled to clear
Fallujah of insurgents, there have been repeated claims that
troops used "unusual" weapons in the assault that all but
flattened the Iraqi city. Specifically, controversy has
focussed on white phosphorus shells (WP) - an incendiary
weapon usually used to obscure troop movements but which can
equally be deployed as an offensive weapon against an enemy.
The use of such incendiary weapons against civilian targets
is banned by international treaty. . . .
The debate was reignited last week when an Italian
documentary claimed Iraqi civilians - including women and
children - had been killed by terrible burns caused by WP.
The documentary, Fallujah: the Hidden Massacre, by the state
broadcaster RAI, cited one Fallujah human-rights campaigner
who reported how residents told how "a rain of fire fell on
the city". . . . The claims contained in the RAI documentary
have met with a strident official response from the US . . .
.
While military experts have supported some of these
criticisms, an examination by The Independent of the
available evidence suggests the following: that WP shells
were fired at insurgents, that reports from the battleground
suggest troops firing these WP shells did not always know
who they were hitting and that there remain widespread
reports of civilians suffering extensive burn injuries.
While US commanders insist they always strive to avoid
civilian casualties, the story of the battle of Fallujah
highlights the intrinsic difficulty of such an endeavour.
It is also clear that elements within the US government have
been putting out incorrect information about the battle of
Fallujah, making it harder to assesses the truth. Some
within the US government have previously issued disingenuous
statements about the use in Iraq of another controversial
incendiary weapon - napalm. . . .
Another report, published in the Washington Post, gave an
idea of the sorts of injuries that WP causes. It said
insurgents "reported being attacked with a substance that
melted their skin, a reaction consistent with white
phosphorous burns". A physician at a local hospital said the
corpses of insurgents "were burned, and some corpses were
melted". . . .
Yet there are other, independent reports of civilians from
Fallujah suffering burn injuries. For instance, Dahr Jamail,
an unembedded reporter who collected the testimony of
refugees from the city spoke to a doctor who had remained in
the city to help people, encountered numerous reports of
civilians suffering unusual burns.
One resident told him the US used "weird bombs that put up
smoke like a mushroom cloud" and that he watched "pieces of
these bombs explode into large fires that continued to burn
on the skin even after people dumped water on the burns."
The doctor said he "treated people who had their skin
melted."
Jeff Englehart, a former marine who spent two days in
Fallujah during the battle, said he heard the order go out
over military communication that WP was to be dropped. In
the RAI film, Mr Englehart, now an outspoken critic of the
war, says: "I heard the order to pay attention because they
were going to use white phosphorus on Fallujah. In military
jargon it's known as Willy Pete ... Phosphorus burns bodies,
in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone ...
I saw the burned bodies of women and children" . . . .
Napalm was used in several instances during the initial
invasion. Colonel Randolph Alles, commander of Marine Air
Group 11, remarked during the initial invasion of Iraq in
2003: "The generals love napalm - it has a big psychological
effect."
Lindsay Murdoch, The Age (Australia), March 19, 2013:
I was not aware the Pentagon had called me a liar. . . .
An editor in Sydney took the call from the Pentagon's
Lieutenant-Commander Jeff Davies a day after the beginning
of the ground war in Iraq 10 years ago today. My report for
Fairfax Media of the opening of hostilities, which referred
to the use of Vietnam-era napalm, was "patently false", he
said. . . .
It was not until US Marine Corps fighter pilots and
commanders started returning from the war zone later in 2003
that the Pentagon's deceit was exposed in interviews
conducted by the San Diego Union Tribune.
The pilots described how they had dropped massive fireballs
they called napalm on Iraqi forces as marines battled
towards Baghdad.
On August 4, 2003, a Pentagon spokesman admitted that "Mark
77" incendiary devices were used by the US forces, which he
acknowledged were "remarkably similar" to napalm weapons.
The Mark 77s used a fuel-gel mixture that was similar to
napalm, he conceded.
Asked about Safwan Hill, US Marine colonel Mike Daily said:
"I can confirm that Mark 77 firebombs were used in that
general area."
Incendiary bombs were also dropped in April 2003 near
bridges over the Saddam Canal and Tigris River, returning
officers revealed.
"We napalmed both those [bridge] approaches," said Colonel
Randolph Alles who commanded Marine Air Group 11 during the
war.
"There were Iraqi soldiers there. It's not a great way to
die."
Colonel Alles added that napalm had a "big psychological
effect" on an enemy. "The generals love napalm," he said.
Haaretz, October 22, 2006 ("Israel admits using phosphorus
bombs during war in Lebanon"):
Israel has acknowledged for the first time that it attacked
Hezbollah targets during the second Lebanon war with
phosphorus shells. White phosphorus causes very painful and
often lethal chemical burns to those hit by it, and until
recently Israel maintained that it only uses such bombs to
mark targets or territory. . . .
During the war several foreign media outlets reported that
Lebanese civilians carried injuries characteristic of
attacks with phosphorus, a substance that burns when it
comes to contact with air. In one CNN report, a casualty
with serious burns was seen lying in a South Lebanon
hospital.
In another case, Dr. Hussein Hamud al-Shel, who works at Dar
al-Amal hospital in Ba'albek, said that he had received
three corpses "entirely shriveled with black-green skin," a
phenomenon characteristic of phosphorus injuries.
Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud also claimed that the IDF
made use of phosphorus munitions against civilians in
Lebanon.
Human Rights Watch, March 25, 2009 ("Israel: White
Phosphorus Use Evidence of War Crimes"):
Israel's repeated firing of white phosphorus shells over
densely populated areas of Gaza during its recent military
campaign was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes,
Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 71-page report, "Rain of Fire: Israel's Unlawful Use of
White Phosphorus in Gaza," provides witness accounts of the
devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on
civilians and civilian property in Gaza. . . .
"In Gaza, the Israeli military didn't just use white
phosphorus in open areas as a screen for its troops," said
Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights
Watch and co-author of the report. "It fired white
phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas, even
when its troops weren't in the area and safer smoke shells
were available. As a result, civilians needlessly suffered
and died" . . . .
Israel at first denied it was using white phosphorus in Gaza
but, facing mounting evidence to the contrary, said that it
was using all weapons in compliance with international law.
Later it announced an internal investigation into possible
improper white phosphorus use. . . .
The IDF knew that white phosphorus poses life-threatening
dangers to civilians, Human Rights Watch said. A medical
report prepared during the recent hostilities by the Israeli
ministry of health said that white phosphorus "can cause
serious injury and death when it comes into contact with the
skin, is inhaled or is swallowed." Burns on less than 10
percent of the body can be fatal because of damage to the
liver, kidneys, and heart, the ministry report says.
Infection is common and the body's absorption of the
chemical can cause serious damage to internal organs, as
well as death. . . .
All of the white phosphorus shells that Human Rights Watch
found were manufactured in the United States in 1989 by
Thiokol Aerospace, which was running the Louisiana Army
Ammunition Plant at the time. . . . The United States
government, which supplied Israel with its white phosphorus
munitions, should also conduct an investigation to determine
whether Israel used it in violation of the laws of war,
Human Rights Watch said.
Boston Globe, February 14, 2013 ("Girl in famous Vietnam
photo talks about forgiveness"):
The girl in the photo - naked, crying, burned, running, with
other children, away from the smoke - became emblematic of
human suffering during the Vietnam War. Kim Phuc was 9 then,
a child who would spend the next 14 months in the hospital
and the rest of her life in skin blistered from the napalm
that hit her body and burned off her clothes.She ran until
she no longer could, and then she fainted. . . .
Phuc went outside and saw the plane getting closer, and then
heard the sound of four bombs hitting the ground. She
couldn't run. She didn't know until later, but the bombs
carried napalm, a gel-like incendiary that clings to its
victims as it burns.
"Suddenly I saw the fire everywhere around me," she
remembers. "At that moment, I didn't see anyone, just the
fire. Suddenly, I saw my left arm burning. I used my right
hand to try to take it off."
Her left hand was damaged, too. Her clothes burned off.
Later, she would be thankful that her feet weren't damaged
because she could run away, run until she was outside the
fire. She saw her brothers, her cousins, and some soldiers
running, too. She ran until she couldn't run any more. . . .
Two of her cousins, ages 9 months and 3 years, died in the
bombing. Phuc had burns over two-thirds of her body and was
not expected to live.
Unlike ISIS, the U.S. usually (though not always) tries to
suppress (rather than gleefully publish)evidence showing the
victims of its violence. Indeed, concealing stories about
the victims of American militarism is a critical part of the
U.S. government's strategy for maintaining support for its
sustained aggression. That is why, in general, the U.S.
media has a policy of systematically excluding and ignoring
such victims (although disappearing them this way does not
actually render them nonexistent).
One could plausibly maintain that there is a different moral
calculus involved in (a) burning a helpless captive to death
as opposed to (b) recklessly or even deliberately burning
civilians to death in areas that one is bombing with weapons
purposely designed to incinerate human beings, often with
the maximum possible pain. That's the moral principle that
makes torture specially heinous:sadistically inflicting pain
and suffering on a helpless detainee is a unique form of
barbarity.
But there is nonetheless something quite obfuscating about
this beloved ritual of denouncing the unique barbarism of
ISIS. It is true that ISIS seems to have embraced a goal - a
strategy - of being incomparably savage, inhumane and
morally repugnant. That the group is indescribably
nihilistic and morally grotesque is beyond debate.
That's exactly what makes the intensity of these repeated
denunciation rituals somewhat confounding. Everyone decent,
by definition, fully understands that ISIS is repellent and
savage. While it's understandable that being forced to watch
the savagery on video prompts strong emotions (although,
again, hiding savagery does not in fact make it less
savage), it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the
ritualistic expressed revulsion has a definitive utility.
The constant orgy of condemnation aimed at this group seems
to have little purpose other than tribal self-affirmation:
no matter how many awful acts our government engages in, at
least we don't do something like that, at least we're not as
bad as them. In some instances, that may be true, but even
when it is, the differences are usually much more a matter
of degree than category (much the way that angry
denunciations over the Taliban for suicide-bombing a funeral
of one of its victims hides the fact that the U.S. engages
in its own "double tap" practice of bombing rescuers and
funeral mourners for its drone victims). To the extent that
these denunciation rituals make us forget or further obscure
our own governments' brutality - and that seems to be the
overriding effect if not the purpose of these rituals - they
are worse than worthless; they are actively harmful.
[1] See, e.g., Yancy Y Phillips & Joan T. Zajchuk, The
Management of Primary Blast Injury, in Conventional Warfare:
Ballistic, Blast and Burn Injuries 297 (1991) ("The thermal
pulse from a detonation may burn exposed skin, or secondary
fires may be started by the detonation and more serious
burns may be suffered."); AGM-114N Metal Augmented Charge
(MAC) Thermobaric Hellfire,
GlobalSecurity.org,http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/sytems/munitions/agm-114n.htm (last visited Aug. 17, 2012)
("The new [AGM-114N Thermobaric Hellfire] warhead contains a
fluorinated aluminum powder layered between the warhead
casing and the PBXN-112 explosive fill. When the PBXN-112
detonates, the aluminum mixture is dispersed and rapidly
burns. The resultant sustained high pressure is extremely
effective against enemy personnel and structures.");
Explosions and Blast Injuries: A Primer for Clinicians,
Center for Disease Control and
Prevention,http://www.bt.cdc.gov/masscasualties/explosions.ap (last visited on Sept. 17, 2012) (outlining one of the
types of blast injuries as "burns (flash, partial, and full
thickness")).
ViewPoint and Analysis
Hama: Syrian Tyrant's Father did this. Bashar, has repeated
this over the Country.
Let Us Be Steered Towards Mercy
by Karin Friedemann
February 2 marked the 33rd anniversary of the Hama Massacre,
which took place in the city of Hama, Syria in 1982. A year
earlier, in April 1981, Syrian security forces randomly
executed 350 residents of the city, who were chosen among
the male population over the age of 14. This event caused
the majority of people in this area to turn against the
Ba'athist, socialist government.
"Back then, the city of Hama was the stronghold of Syria's
Muslim Brotherhood and the center of an anti-regime uprising
that had been targeting government buildings and minority
Alawite military officers for years," wrote Azmat Khan for
PBS.
"In 1982, the regime basically said, 'That's it. That's
enough. We have to deal with this once and for all. We have
to show that we're in control,'" David Lesch told
FRONTLINE.
Hafez al Assad, then president of Syria, sent the army to
lay siege upon the population for 27 days, during which
45,000 people were killed. About 1,000 Syrian soldiers were
also killed during the operation. Large parts of the old
city were destroyed.
"Assad's troops pounded Hama with artillery fire for several
days and, with the city in ruins, his bulldozers moved in
and flattened neighbourhoods," reported the Guardian. Syrian
forces, flown in by helicopter, searched the rubble in order
to kill any remaining rebels.
This was one of "the single deadliest acts by any Arab
government against its own people in the modern Middle
East."
My friend described the situation there in the 80s, which
was very similar to what is going on today. The people were
demonstrating against the Assad regime and the Syrian
government opened fire on them. As a result, some people
started firing back. Secret police came to his home looking
for his brother, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Finding
him not at home, they killed two brothers and a sister. They
shot his sister in the stomach so many times that her body
was in two pieces. I am a moderate person by nature and I
try to see all sides. I understand some people's fear of
Islamism due to its predictable excesses and even the desire
for secularism. However, if this government represents them,
then I cannot agree. Because any government that comes into
someone's home and shoots a family down is pure evil.
A Syrian ex-patriot gave Voice of America many gruesome
examples of atrocities.
A wealthy old woman lived in a beautiful mansion with her
son. "After the soldiers looted the house they poured
gasoline on both of them and burned the house."
"And in the same neighborhood, two buildings down the
street, a family owned a place for wood chipping. They took
the whole family down and they shot them all. About 25 of
them."
Another woman had "many gold bracelets on her wrists, so
they cut off both of her hands and let her bleed to
die."
She quickly followed up with another story about a father
who was pleading with a soldier.
"I have a 14-month-old baby," the man said. "Please don't
make him an orphan."
The officer said, "Oh, you don't want him to be an
orphan?
"Now your son won't be an orphan," the officer said. Then he
shot dead the child, the father and the rest of his
family.
She said she learned about what happened to this family from
a soldier, who defected from the army. He said, "I'm not
going to be with an army like that."
In a suburb of the city called New Hama, soldiers stood in
the street while an officer used a bullhorn to call
residents out of their homes.
"You all come down to the street. Women, children,
everybody," the voice announced... And after that they went
and raided the homes and whoever stayed in there they took
them out and they dug a big ditch and shot them and threw
them in the big ditch. They say in the neighborhood about
1500 people got shot."
This actually reminds me of Dachau, Germany, where I took a
tour of the concentration camp. While the "gas chambers"
story never happened, at least not in Dachau, unwanted
persons were told to dig a ditch, then lined up and shot.
The Hollywood version of the Holocaust is a fabrication, but
the behavior of socialist governments, whether of the Nazis
or Assad's tyranny, draws many parallels.
The problem resides in the ego-based concept of "unwanted
persons." Once a person becomes "unwanted," almost anything
can be justified against him, even in the name of religion.
Those of us who desire to attain spiritual excellence need
to learn to temper this particular passion. Like all
passions, this destructive desire serves only to swerve away
from the Middle Path towards the gutter. Whatever we do in
life, we need to ask our Creator for personal permission
first. Even when we eat a meal involving an animal who gave
its life, we say grace first.
There was a moment when Hazrat Ali (ra) was dueling with an
opponent, and he had got him beat to the ground. However the
man spit at Ali. It was such an offensive moment that Ali
let the man go free because if he had killed him now, which
he could have easily done, it would have been committed in
an act of anger, which Ali knew could send himself straight
to the hellfire.
Muslims need to know that even in war, every act of mercy
could go recorded for generations. Laura Ingalls, author of
"Little House on the Prairie," married a farmer named
Almanzo. His name dates back to the Crusades, when his
ancestor's life was spared by a man who was in the position
to kill him, named Al-Mansour. The Wilder family thenceforth
dedicated one male in each generation to be named after this
true Muslim. Laura and Almanzo's daughter Rose Wilder later
wrote some of the most beautiful statements about Islamic
culture that have ever been written.
Editor's critical note: We don't like to censor but I would
urge writers to not include Jewish propaganda about the war
in their articles. Germany is a defeated nation and dare not
defend the atrocities attributed to it. Revisionist
researchers have shown that just about all the propaganda
against Germany is false or is out of context.
Dr. Firoz Kamal in his article on cartoons also referred to
Nazi Germany. Remember that Hitler was NOT the enemy of
Muslims and it is easy to criticize those who cannot answer.
The horrors of Israel are what we are facing. After burning
and bombing alive 500 children in Gaza, Israel is
represented in the UN and has support across America.
Pakistan
Pakistan incomplete without Kashmir.
LAHORE, Feb. 5; The Kashmir Solidarity day was observed all
over Pakistan, with great enthusiasm and firm resolve to
continue the political and moral support for Kashmiris till
they won their freedom.
Rallies expressing complete solidarity with the Kashmiris
were staged all over the country under the aegis of the
Jamaat e Islami, in which hundreds of thousands of people
participated. Public meetings and seminars were also held in
major cities at which the speakers highlighted the importance of Kashmir for the country.
Ameer, JIP, Sirajul Haq, stood up with the Kashmir
leadership at the Kohala bridge linking Kashmir with
Pakistan to complete the chain of hands formed by the people
of Pakistan and Kashmir. He led the main Kashmir rally in
Muzaffarabad and addressed the public meeting there.
The Kashmir rally in Islamabad was led by JI deputy chief
Mian Muhammad Aslam.
JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch led the rally at Karachi.
The Quetta rally was led by JI deputy chief Asadullah Bhutto
while JI deputy chief Hafiz Muhammad Idrees led the rally at
Gujranwala.
The rally in the Punjab capital was led by the JI Punjab
chief Dr Syed Waseem Akhtar.
Sirajul Haq told the huge public meeting at Muzaffarabad
that Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir and it could
not give up the demand for the liberation of Kashmir at any
cost. He said that friendship with India was impossible
without the solution of the Kashmir issue.
He said that the US and Britain were responsible for the
Kashmir problem and they should come forward for the
implementation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir promising
the right of self determination to the Kashmiris.
He said the Quaid e Azam had declared Kashmir as the jugular
line of Pakistan, and added that the very existence of this
country was insecure without Kashmir.
Sirajul Haq made it clear to Indian rulers that they could
not defeat the Kashmiris' spirit for liberation and their
freedom struggle would continue till Kashmir was free.
He said the US President Obama, had done great injustice by
not referring to the Kashmir issue during his India visit.
He said if referendum could be held in Scotland, East Taimur
and South Sudan, why referendum could not be held in
Kashmir, and added that the world community should fulfill
its commitment made with the Kashmiri people.
The JI chief said that the liberation of Kashmir should be
the precondition for the UN Security Council membership of
India. He said that India's attitude on Kashmir had always
been aggressive while the Pakistani rulers had not done
their duty in this regard.
Addressing the rally, JI Azad Kashmir chief, Abdur Rashid
Turabi, saluted the Kashmiri people for their resolute
struggle for liberation. He said that the Kashmiris were
fighting the war of the completion of Pakistan and its
solidarity. He said if the Pakistani rulers had been
enthusiastic like their people on the Kashmir issue, Kashmir
would have gained independence long ago. He asked how long
the rulers in Islamabad would continue their policy of
appeasement with New Delhi ignoring the bloodshed of
Kashmiris at the hands of Indian occupation forces.
Asif Luqman Qazi, son of the former JI, Ameer, Qazi Husain
Ahmed, also addressed the rally.
War News
Europe
EU pledges one billion euros for Syria and Iraq to Fight
Islamic Caliphate
[Courtesy Al-Akhbar, February 6]
The European Union has pledged one billion euros ($1.1
billion) in funding for Syria and Iraq in the fight against
ISIS, the bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini
said Friday.
"This package will strengthen our actions to help restore
peace and security in a region that is so close to us and
that has been devastated by terrorism and violence for too
long," Mogherini said in a statement.
The EU said in a statement that it had agreed on the "first
EU comprehensive strategy on tackling the crises in Syria
and Iraq and the threat posed by Daesh," an Arabic acronym
for ISIS.
Syria
Carnage over 4 Years: Assad Survived owing to Iranian &
Russian Support
About 2 million people killed and wounded in 47 months, and
it is still not enough...
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented death
of 210060 persons since March 18, 2011, which witnessed the
fall of the first martyr in Daraa, until February 5,
2015.
The casualties are as follows:
Civilians: 100973 civilians, including 10664 children and
6783 women.
Rebel and Islamic fighters: 35827
Defected soldiers and officers: 2498
Arab, European, Asian, American and Australian fighters
from the ISIS, al-Nusra Front, Junoud al-Sham battalion,
Jund Al-Aqsa battalion, Jund al-Sham Movement and al-Khadra'
battalion: 24989
Regular Assad's regime soldiers and officers: 45385
Combatants from Assad's Popular Defense Committees,
National Defense Forces, al Shabiha, pro-regime informers
and the "Syrian resistance to liberate the Sanjak of
Alexandretta": 29943
Pro- regime Shia militiamen from Arab and Asian
nationalities, Al Quds Al Felastini Brigade and other
pro-regime militiamen from different Arab nationalities:
2502
Fighters from Hezbollah: 640
Unidentified dead people (documented by photos and
footages): 3130
It is worth noting that the numbers do not include more than
20000 detainees in regime prisons and thousands of those who
disappeared during regime raids and massacres. It does not
include more than 7000 regular soldiers and pro-regime
militants and hundreds of "regime supporters" captured by
IS, Islamic fighters, Al-Nusra front, rebel and Islamic
battalions on charge of "dealing with the regime".
Our America
Colorado
Christians Against Zionism: Protesting in Cold Night thought
of Palestinian Families
by Chuck Carlson
Our vigil for peace and justice for Palestine was a frigid
one, standing in the dark at the west entrance of giant
Resurrection Fellowship. We held signs, illuminated by
candles, electric torches, and incoming headlights, as the
sellout crown arrived for "Israel Summit: STAND FIRM."
Pastor Jonathan Wiggins, indeed the gentleman we were told
he would be, was exceedingly gracious as we stood in the wet
snow in front of his church while his guests arrived. We
were disarmed by his unexpected acts of kindness in what we
would normally find more hostile. Pastor Wiggins personally
brought or dispatched to us several comforts: food, water,
heat, and a portable toilet. He did not want us to be
uncomfortable while we were there. But should we have
accepted these gifts of hospitality? No, not if we were
thinking seriously about the terrible plight of the
Palestinian Gazans! We should have told Pastor Wiggins, "No
thanks, we cannot accept your generosity, no matter how well
intended, while Gazan children are starving and freezing,
and are being ignored inside your Israel Summit!"
I admit it, I like hospitality, and I get cold faster of
late. But I woke up the next morning thinking, "HOW COULD WE
HAVE ACCEPTED COMFORTS THAT ISRAEL DEPRIVES THE PALESTINIAN
PEOPLE OF, A PEOPLE WHOSE HARDSHIPS ARE TOTALLY IGNORED BY
ISRAEL SUMMIT SPEAKERS?" I owe the people of Gaza an
apology: "Sorry, mothers and children of Gaza, I failed you
when I warmed my cold hands at Pastor Wiggins' heater."
Wiggins personally carried out to us a case of bottled
water. I am returning it to him untouched because most
people of Gaza do not have enough clean water to sustain
life; each lives on borrowed time. This case of water might
save one child's life, for Israel has systematically
destroyed most of Gaza's water wells and pipelines, causing
a desperate shortage. Civil Engineer, Gary Anderson, who has
worked in Gaza, and was present at the vigil, provides his
own personal testimony of water shortages due to Israel
usurping the Palestinians' water.
Wiggins also brought us a zip-lock bag of candy bars. But we
should have told him, "No thanks, the Gazans have no food."
I am returning the candy. If the pastor is sincere in his
love of peace and "unity", he should take up a collection
for Gaza and send food through Israel Summit speakers who
live there. Had we, who were outside, been thinking about
the children of Gaza, who have little or no protein and may
never have experienced the taste of a candy bar, we would
have rejected his food offering on the spot. After checking
the church's website, it is clear that Wiggins' keynote
speakers are all Zionists who seem to support repressing the
Palestinians, and that makes Pastor Wiggins an enabler of
both the repression and the ensuing deaths, no matter how
friendly he seemed to us.
Pastor Wiggins also brought to us his big backyard space
heater; it took three men to drag it onto the public
right-of-way where we held our vigil. The heat felt great,
but I regret accepting it. The Gaza children do not have
heat in their homes, that is, If they still have a home
after last years Israel's Operation Protective Edge which
destroyed some 25,000 homes. Israel disabled Gaza City's
electric grid while killing over 2400, including some 500
children. If Pastor Jonathan's little back yard space heater
was in Gaza city, with fuel to run it, it would be
surrounded by dozens of families, made homeless by Israeli
bombs, taking turns warming themselves around it.
The Israelis whom Wiggins invited and paid to speak at his
Summit did not resist the destruction of the Gaza electric
plant, as best we can tell from reading their websites. They
need to tell the truth about Israel's demolition of Gaza. My
fingers again feel icy at the thought that I unthinkingly
accepted a few calories of heat provided to us, while
Palestinian children, whom the Israel Summit will
deliberately ignore, are without shelter. In Gaza at least
two infants and one man are reported to have died of
exposure in January
Pastor Wiggins even provided a portable toilet for us to
use. My first reaction was, how excessively kind of him. As
far as I know no one used his sanitary facilities, nor
should we have, for in Gaza there remains no sewage disposal
for many, after Israel's 2014 attack on sewage plants there.
In many places children must walk in streets that carry
human excrement.
By bestowing kindness upon us, his challengers, likable
Pastor Wiggins dulled our consciences toward the excluded
Palestinians. He has done us a favor by showing us how
easily the love of Christ can be misused to desensitize us.
May we remain steadfast as we continue to speak out for a
people whom much of the Christian world is willing to
forget.
WHTT report on Israel Summit: "Pastor Wiggins Reveals
Christian Zionist Theme At Israel Summit"
