An interesting discussion of Islam as it hasn’t been heard before. In part 1 of this interview, Warraq discusses how post-colonial Western liberal guilt and self-loathing combined with an Arab adolescent mindset, completely devoid of responsibility or self-criticism, has prevented any honest discussion of Islam. In part 2, Warraq discusses how Saudi Arabia and its 250 billion dollars in grants and donations is controlling how Islam is taught and stifling Koranic research in top Ivy League schools and other prestigious universities in America.

You’re probably wondering, “Who in the heck is Abn Warraq?” For those who are not familiar, Ibn Warraq is an independent researcher based at a humanist think tank in the US. He is Vice President of World Encounter Institute, author of Why I am Not a Muslim, 1995, and editor of anthologies of Koranic criticism The Origins of the Koran, 1998, What the Koran Really Says, 2002, and Which Koran?, 2007—all Prometheus Books. He also edited an anthology of testimonies of ex-Muslims, Leaving Islam, 2003, Defending the West, A Critique of Edward Said’s Orientalism, 2007 and Virgins What Virgins?: And Other Essays, 2010. His op-ed pieces have appeared in the Wall Street Journal in America and The Guardian in London, and he has addressed distinguished governing bodies round the world, including the United Nations in Geneva on the subject of apostasy.

Iraq and Iran were among the key issues on the table when Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with top officials in Saudi Arabia.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday for talks with political and military leaders.

Women Airforce Service Pilots were awarded Congressional Gold Medals Wednesday for their service during WWII. WASPs were the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft.

Lawmakers are questioning the cost and the delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

Below is the most recent posting from Navy Admiral Michael Mullen’s blog:

I just returned from a trip to the Middle East where I visited with civilian and military leaders in Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. It was a trip I wanted to make for some time now, given the scope of our security commitments in the region and the mutual challenges we all still face. At each stop and in each meeting, I was encouraged to find, though perspectives certainly vary, the desire for stability and security is as common as it is vigorous.

I was also struck by two other overarching themes.

First, where the United States has military relationships in the region, they are strong and getting stronger. Our partners want to engage, exercise, and operate with us. They also want to pursue new and innovative ways to tackle common challenges there and around the world.

The Egyptians were proud of their participation in this year’s Bright Star exercise, and want to make it even more vibrant in the future. The Israeli’s, of course, remain a vital ally and a cornerstone of our regional security commitments. I was delighted to meet with more than 100 Israeli doctors and nurses who deployed to Haiti to help with international relief efforts. To a person they were proud of the impact they made and of the speed with which they made it.

In similar fashion, the Jordanians, long a key contributor to UN peacekeeping missions, walked me through the medical support they continue to provide in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also showed me a Special Operations Training Center that has tremendous potential for how modern militaries can best prepare for counter-terrorism operations in a harsh environment.

The Saudi’s shared with me valuable lessons they learned working with the Yemeni government to deal with the Houthi issue and in the UAE I was very impressed to see an air coordination and advanced training center that not only provides virtually unimpeded training opportunities to regional air forces, but also improves real-world tactical air coordination issues.

The second overarching theme was, of course, Iran.

If there is one great concern shared by all the nations I visited, it is over the direction they believe Iran is going and what that means for them and for their citizens. I maintain my conviction that Iran remains on a path to achieve nuclear weapons, and that even this very pursuit further destabilizes the region. Like us, it isn’t just a nuclear-capable Iranian military our friends worry about; it’s an Iran with hegemonic ambitions and a desire to dominate its neighbors. This outcome drives many of the national security decisions our partners are making, and I believe we must be mindful of that as we look to the future post-Iraq and post-Afghanistan.

Let me be clear: we owe the Secretary and the President a range of options for this threat. We owe the American people our readiness. But as I have said many times, I worry a lot about the unintended consequences of any sort of military action. For now, the diplomatic and economic levers of international power ought to be the levers first pulled. Indeed, I would hope they are always and consistently pulled.

No strike, however effective, will be in and of itself decisive.

Jim sent this in:

Five would-be terrorists, ages 19 to 25, who lived in the northern Virginia area, were captured last week in Pakistan on their way to a terrorist training camp. Pakistani police in the city of Sargodha have charged the American Jihadists with violating Pakistan’s laws regarding foreigners and the use of computers as part of a criminal enterprise.

According to the FBI and Pakistani security officials, the five suspects attended a madrasa, or radical Islamic school, and proclaimed that they wished to join the jihad, or Muslim holy war, against the US and its allies. Unfortunately, this was just one of several cases of US citizens becoming radicalized and seeking to wage war against their own country. 

US government and other terrorism experts continue to report that Islamic extremism is on the rise and that the spread of Islamic extremism is the preeminent threat facing the United States. In addition, various sources alleged that Saudi Arabia has supported and funded the spread of Islamic extremism globally, including here in the United States. 

The intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the US Agency for International Development are implementing various efforts to identify, monitor, and counter the support and funding of the global propagation of Islamic extremism. The intelligence agencies and DOD are carrying out identification and monitoring efforts, primarily in counterintelligence and force protection.

According to reports, the State Department and USAID are carrying out efforts to counter the global propagation of Islamic extremism, with State’s efforts focused primarily on traditional diplomacy, counterterrorism, and public diplomacy and USAID’s efforts focused on development programs to diminish underlying conditions of extremism.

According to the General Accountability Office, they are preparing a classified report to be subsequently released with a more complete description of US efforts to address the global spread of Islamic extremism. A number of sources have reported that Saudi private entities and individuals, as well as sources from other countries, are allegedly financing or supporting Islamic extremism.

For example, a Treasury official testified before Congress that Saudi Arabia-based and -funded organizations remain a key source for the promotion of ideologies used by terrorists and violent extremists around the world to justify their agenda. However, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, the Commission found no persuasive evidence that the Saudi government knowingly supported al Qaeda.

The government agencies also told GAO staff that Islamic extremism is being propagated by sources in countries other than Saudi Arabia, such as Iran, Kuwait, and Syria. The agencies are still examining Saudi Arabia’s relationship, and that of other sources in other countries, to Islamic extremism.

The Saudi government has announced and, in some cases, undertaken some reform efforts to address Islamic extremism. For example, the government is undertaking educational and religious reforms, including revising textbooks and conducting a 3-year enlightenment program, to purge extremism and intolerance from religious education. However, US agencies do not know the extent of the Saudi government’s efforts to limit the activities of Saudi sources that have allegedly propagated Islamic extremism outside of Saudi Arabia.

Officials with the European Union Naval Forces are confirming Somali pirates have hijacked a tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States.

Military leaders believe that Afghanistan’s Logar Province, which is south of Kabul, is a critical region in the country.

The 57th annual Christmas parade outside of Boston, Massachusetts had a military theme this year as the town of Quincy said goodbye to troops heading overseas.

For once, the Israelis have an ally in their corner in reference to the very likely possibility of the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities.  Whether this ally is a surprise may depend on your point of view; who is this ally, you’re wondering?  None other than Saudi Arabia.

At least this is according to the head of Mossad (the top Israel spy agency); Meir Dagan, head of Mossad, has already held secret talks with Saudi officials.  And the Saudi kingdom has apparently agreed to turn a blind eye to any future bombing of Iran by Israel should the Israelis fly into Saudi air space.

All of this makes perfect sense since both Israel and Saudi Arabia share common interests which could be jeopardized with the advent of the Iranian nuclear program, hence the tacit approval by the Saudis.  So essentially, the approval that the Israelis tried to get from the U.S. – namely the Obama administration – they got elsewhere.  And I have said several times here before that Israel would wind up eventually doing this Iran bombing excursion alone – the only difference being that someone other than the U.S. has the Israelis’ back.

All of these happenings prove once and for all that the Obama administration is clueless insofar as foreign policy is concerned.  All because they want Israel to not build some settlements despite “natural growth”.  If I didn’t know any better, I would have to say that both Obama and probably Hillary Clinton are both pro-Palestine.

President Obama’s meeting with the Saudi king and pressuring Israel took over the Wednesday morning talk show circuit.