I'm a little short on time so I will have to revisit this topic later but I wanted to write it down before I headed out. I have occasionally contended that Islam is an ideology that is also a religion. The religion part I have no problem with. But the ideology I do.  I believe there is something inherent in the Islamic ideology that promote violence and intolerance. But let's put that aside for a moment and look at Communism. Communism, as an ideology IS peaceful.  The theory ...

There's been a lot of debate this past week over the survey of American Muslims and their views. The left has used the survey to paint American Muslims as being "mainstream" while the right has been using it to present American Muslims as being ready for Jihad? What's the truth? I have linked to the actual 108 page survey below so you can read it for yourself.  But here are the facts of the survey: 47% of American Muslims see themselves as Muslims first and Americans second. 35%...

It's been a busy year for the so-called "Religion of Peace".  It started with violent protests and attacks on Danish embassies over the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohamed and ended with 6 Imams crying foul for getting kicked off a plane after behaving in ways that would have gotten anyone else booted. And in betwee, a big fat sandwich of violence. Islam, the violence-inducing ideology masqerading as a religion, managed to keep itself in the headlines with its followers...

The Iraq Study Group report is finally out. It's a bit surprising in a few areas. First, it doesn't suggest that the US needs to exit immediately but rather that over the course of the next year the US should transition to a more supporting role of training Iraqi forces. Then, after that, the troops should come home -- ready or not. It also advocates talks with Iran and Syria.  James Baker makes the case that the US had regular talks with the Soviet Union for 40 years even though th...

Earlier this week 6 Islamic Imams were taken off a US Airways flight after what was deemed "suspicious behavior". The mainstream media, naturally, tried to report it as "racial profiling" in action. But as more information becomes available, it has become clear that there was something up. The Imams not only were not sitting in their own seats but had spread out in groups of 2 in every section of the plane (like the 9/11 hijackers). At least one had asked for seat-belt extenders that were ...

In many Islamic countries, intentionally murdering innocents in the name of Islam is considered acceptable by significant portions of the population. By significant, I mean near majorities or outright majorities. Read the full report for the horrifying full stats.

One of the many reasons I'm not a fan of Bush is that he continually allows his opponents to re-define his own objectives.  How many times has the "Mission Accomplished" photo-op been thrown back in his face? And yet, what was the mission that was accomplished? Deposing Saddam Hussein.  That was the mission. That was precisely what the war was about - to remove a dictator in a critical part of the world that was an open enemy of the United States. Period. But now, "success" is b...

Michael Scheuer, the CIA operative who was in charge of the Bin Laden unit was interviewed this week and was out-right emotional in his assertion that contrary to Bill Clinton's claims on Fox News last week, Clinton did have plenty of opportunities -- 10 actionable ones to be exact -- to kill Bin Laden but chose not to. In each case, there was a plausible explaination (such as not wanting to risk damaging a Mosque).  But Clinton strenuously argued that he had done "everything in his powe...

The article I link to below is written by a historian who writes far more eloquently than I can about why conspiracy theories in general and the 9/11 "inside job" conspiracy in particular are annoying to him. It's definitely worth the read.

This is going to be part one of a two part article that talks about what the War on Terror is about and how it got started. Every so often I'll see a book or read an article that either asks "Why do they hate us?" or asserts how "we" squandered the "good will" that the United States had right after 9/11. When I get into debates with people on these subjects the main problem I run into is that many people - on both sides of the debate - are appalling unfamiliar with history -- even recent h...

Part 1 of 6 , Part 2 of 6 , Part 3 of 6 , Part 4 of 6 , Part 5 of 6 , Part 6 of 6 See them all..

I made a news item on WinCustomize.com tonight about the 5th anniversary of 9/11.  It's always a touchy thing putting up a political hot potato on WinCustomize.com.  One thing I have learned over the years is that many non-Americans who visit WinCustomize.com have an extremely poor opinion of the US, its policies.  I don't think that's representative of foreign readers of WC, just those who happen to post. But 9/11 was a big deal. And at the end of the day, we're an Americ...

ABC's upcoming TV movie, "Path to 9/11" has some portions that are quite critical of the Clinton administration. One part in particular has Clinton and Democrats up in arms.  The part in question has to do with a missed opportunity to take out Bin Laden in the late 90s. In the unedited version of the movie, CIA agents request permission to capture Bin Laden.  The agents are refused citing fear of accidentally killing him and the US being condemned internationally for "assasina...

I got into a debate with some friends of mine over the NSA wiretapping program. There is a great deal of question over whether the program is legal or not.  They felt it was illegal, I think it may be legal but that not enough information has been presented. For example, there is apparently a lot of misconception over who is being targeted.  They said that the program included targeting Americans where both parties were in the United States. However, the facts, as we know them pr...

Why is it that the group that claims tolerance and open-mindedness as its mantra so intolerant and close minded in practice? What I speak of is the political left's tendency to interject their political beliefs into every venue that they can while at the same time, actively working to prevent those who disagree with them from having the ability to express their beliefs. If I watch the MTV Music Awards, I can expect to have some left-winger denounce the war in Iraq.  If I was the Oscars, ...