Links from my del.icio.us account for September 25th through September 26th:
- We run the road – The National Newspaper – Nir Rosen rides with Lebanese salafists.
- Theater of the Absurd: Sworn Enemies – Nir Rosen: "American troops currently hold more than 20,000 detainees in two main Iraq prisons, and unknown numbers in smaller holding facilities. Very few have ever been charged. In December, the 1-28 Infantry asked elders in Baghdad's Jihad district to name neighborhood residents who should be released. A list of 700 men was submitted, most of them locked up for being "suspected of Shiite militant activity," commanding officer Lt. Colonel Patrick Frank told me." You should really read the rest, including the weird oath released prisoners are made to say — and the pic accompanying the article is pretty funny.
- Queen Rania of Jordan in New York. – By Rania Al Abdullah – Slate Magazine – Queen Rania's blog: "I was there talking up the Middle East—not a region in conflict and turmoil, as many think, but a mosaic of cultures, stories, traditions, and warm, welcoming people." Oh I am relieved to hear that, all this time I thought it was a region in conflict and turmoil, I stand corrected and great news about the warm, welcoming people. Just remember not to throw shoes at them that would be culturally insensitive.
- Israeli professor wounded in Jerusalem bomb attack – Yahoo! News – "JERUSALEM – A pipe bomb exploded Thursday outside the home of a prominent Israeli scholar and outspoken critic of Jewish West Bank settlements, lightly wounding him in what police suspect was an attack by Jewish extremists.
Investigators found posters in Professor Zeev Sternhell's neighborhood offering a $320,000 prize to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now, a dovish Israeli group whose views Sternhall shares." - H. R. 6975 – bill currently being considered by Congress – "To require aliens to attest that they will not advocate installing a Sharia law system in the United States as a condition for admission, and for other purposes." It would also remove naturalization from US citizens who advocate Sharia, which surely would be unconstitutional.
Wow, that HR6975 bill really is a seminal moment. Up until now they’ve just asked if you ever sympathized with communism or advocated the violent overthrow of government (what if you advocated the violent overthrow of a communist government?) or if you ever had venereal diseases because those are of course un-American.