“Early in his tenure, Saddam Hussein announced his intentions to restore Iraq’s Babylonian heritage. He launched a meticulous, multi-billion-dollar excavation and reconstruction of the ancient city located sixty miles south of Baghdad, rebuilding a number of its most significant sites. They included Nechadnezzar’s opulent grand palace, the vast Esagila temple precinct, the beautiful Via Sacra …
This Goes Way Back
“Israelis tenaciously hold on to the occupied territories of the West Bank because of promises made millenniums ago to the patriarch Abraham; Iraqis invade the lands of fellow Moslems in order to settle grudges that date back to the time of Nebuchadnezzar; Iranians stir up revolutionary passions that have lain dormant since the demise of …
Should Be Obvious
“The difference between Osama bin Laden and Eric Rudolph is the difference between aberrant acts and aberrant teachings. Any human being with a belief system can do abominable things. But abominable acts are more likely to come in greater numbers and frequency when they are encouraged and perpetuated by religious texts and those who teach …
An Earlier 9-11
“Finally, they besieged Vienna again, only to be turned back by Poland’s King Jan III Sobieski and thirty thousand Polish hussars on a day that marks the high point of Muslim expansion in Europe: September 11, 1683” (Robert Spencer, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), p. 157).
Heaven Forbid
“However strange it may seem to Westerners, the much-publicized virgins promised to Islamic martyrs in Paradise is no myth or distortion of Islamic theology. Muhammad painted a picture of a frankly material and lushly sensual Paradise for his followers—containing everything a seventh-century Arabian desert-dweller could possibly dream of: gold and fine material things, fruits, wine, …
Taking Temp Work to Extremes
“Shi’ite Islam, the dominant form of Islam in Iran, also allows for ‘temporary wives.’ This is a provision for men to gain female companionship on a short-term basis. In a temporary marriage, or mut’a, the couple signs a marriage agreement that is ordinary in every respect except that it carries a time limit. One tradition …
Some More Wishful Thinking
“PC watchdogs, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have virtually ruled out any dissent from the idea that Islam is peaceful, benign, and tolerant to a degree that will present no problem whatsoever for Western societies. They depict Islam as akin to Judaism and Christianity and, like them, liable to be ‘hijacked’ (through no fault of its …
The Order of Revelation Matters
“According to this idea, the violent verses of the ninth sura, including the Verse of the Sword (9:5), abrogate the peaceful verses, because they were revealed later in Muhammad’s prophetic career: In fact, most Muslim authorities agree that the ninth sura was the very last section of the Qur’an to be revealed” (Robert Spencer, The …
Which Means That No One Thinks It is Serious Yet
“The West cannot wage ‘war on terror’ while maintaining its dependence on Arab oil, appeasing Islamist aggression around the world, turning a blind eye to the Islamic destruction of peoples who are animists, Hindus and Christians, and allowing mass immigration of Muslims into its own lands. It risks being the star actor of a Greek …
Some Allies
“The Western press has lamentably failed to peer inside the black box of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Short of an extraordinary humiliation, the Washingtonian policymakers will continue to insist that they ‘need’ Saudi Arabia even more than they ‘need’ Pakistan” (Serge Trifkovic, The Sword of the Prophet, pp. 249).