Riaz Hassan, the Pope, the Taliban and 22 South Korean Hostages

Cross posted from DeMediacratic Nation:

According to an editorial written by Australian professorial fellow and emeritus professor at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, Riaz Hassan, (“Interrupting a history of tolerance?”):

“The Zionist project for a Jewish state was predicated on centuries of Jewish sufferings in Europe.

Anti-Semitism was not an entrenched characteristic of Islamic ideology and history until the 20th century. Without doubt, European anti-Semitic writings and their translation into Arabic during the 19th century and German National Socialism in the 20th century were instrumental in instigating anti-Semitism throughout Arab lands.”

Strange revelation, not so much from Hassan, but more due to its publication in The Korea Herald today, following the extension of the deadline set by the Taliban for the release of 22 South Koreans for roughly the same number of Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pope Benedict recently chimed in on the hostage situation that may lead to the murder in cold blood of the 22 Christian missionaries calling the exploitation of innocent people as a “grave violation of human dignity:”

“Unfortunately the usual practice of exploiting innocent people for their own ends is spreading among armed groups. It is a grave violation of human dignity that clashes with every elementary norm of civility and rights and gravely offends divine law.”

Hopefully this will not exacerbate the situation as according to Professor Hassan in the September 26, 2006 issue of the Daily Times of Pakistan in his “VIEW: The Jihad and the West:”

“The need for a dialogue between Islam and the West has never been more acute than now, but Pope Benedict XVI’s recent description of Islam as “evil and inhuman” is clearly not the best approach. In his lecture on Faith and Reason at Regensburg University, the pope quoted the 14th century Byzantine Christian emperor Manuel II Palaeologus as saying, “Show me just what Muhammad [peace be upon him] brought was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by sword the faith he preached.” Notwithstanding the Vatican’s statement that the pope meant no offence and, in fact, desired dialogue, in the eye of many Muslims his remarks only reinforced a false and biased view of Islam — not conducive to dialogue.”

In another example of intolerance toward radical Islam the South Korean government has asked YouTube to remove video clips from 2004 that “showed Koreans condemning Islam after a Korean translator was killed in Iraq in 2004, and a Korean woman preaching Christianity to a group of Afghan children. It was not disclosed who posted the videos, which have now been taken down.”

Further in the effort to avoid provoking the Taliban, “the Korean Government Information Agency asked Youtube last Friday to delete the content on the grounds that it falsely portrays Christians and Koreans alike.” The Christian portrayal refers to a quote from a YouTube post that said, “I am Korean myself and right now 90 percent of Korean public also think that those stupid Korean Christians deserve what has happened.“

So in the effort to bring the 22 hostages home safely a view of the world that the likes of the Taliban most violently represents is wiped from the public record.

Good luck with real negotiations.

Believing the Worst Requires Too Little Imagination

Cross posted from DeMediacratic Nation:

If it bleeds it leads is one reason we are all too well aware of as to why the news has more good then bad; even when more good than bad may have happened. Watch any local newscast and the coverage is wall to wall crime, accidents and anything that might bring in the viewers hoping for some action and car chases.

In Iraq, from Abu Ghraib, Fallujah to Haditha, the truth isn’t nearly as important as the story; much like the Duke Lacrosse players in their travails and tribulation facing prison time for a rape they did not commit nor even happened.

All this is unfortunate for us in that it leads to an acceptance of what isn’t as those it is, which brings us to all the horror stories of our soldiers in Vietnam as baby killers and presently our heartless “killers” in Iraq. Perhaps if the media wasn’t so starved or easily self-mislead toward the worst in us in a war they disagree with we might have a true picture of what exactly is going on.

Mackubin Thomas Owens, contributing editor at NRO had a great column yesterday that I had hoped to bring attention to, however failed on that task. From John Kerry and the “Winter Soldier Investigation” from Vietnam, to Stephen Glass of National Review fame, Owens reveals a reason that we should all take what we hear of atrocity with a grain of salt before we go on the rampage beating ourselves, our military and our nation down as though it is not worthy of spitting on.

Owens does not deny the reality that horrible things happen and anyone that does is obviously a fool probably cannot speak beyond the monosyllabic. That said however, it is a fool that in knee jerk order accepts that which paints what our military does as everything but honorable as though each member in its ranks cheered on the anomaly, not “new management” at Abu Gharaib.

A personal anecdote shared by Owens during his time in Vietnam goes:

“I heard of an atrocity just after I joined the unit. A Marine who was scheduled to rotate soon recounted an incident that he claimed had occurred shortly after he had arrived in the unit about a year earlier. According to his story, members of a sister company had killed some North Vietnamese soldiers after they had surrendered.

Some months later, I happened to overhear another Marine who had joined my platoon after I took it over relate exactly the same story to some newly arrived men, only now it involved me and my platoon. I had a little chat with him and he cleared things up with the new men. But that episode has always made me wonder how many of the stories have been recycled and how many accounts of atrocities are based on what veterans heard as opposed to committed or witnessed.”

Instances of atrocity are undeniable in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere; they happen in Iran, Palestine, and Lebanon and we’re not there. As a matter of fact horrible acts are committed daily all over the world. This is not to justify the action of those that commit them, but to allow ourselves the calm that should come knowing that it is not in our military’s first instinct to commit them.

We should doubt that which we read or see in the news until we know more. All the claims of support of our troops is nothing if you expect the worse of them.

From Wednesday’s NRO, Mackubin Thomas Owens, “Stephen Glass Meets the Winter Soldiers.”

South Korean Hostages Held by Taliban Orts – “they do not pay attention!”

Cross posted from DeMediacratic Nation:

Of the 22 remaining South Korean hostages taken by the Taliban in Afghanistan Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said:

“They are safe and alive,” and that the Afghanistan government, “has given us hope for a peaceful settlement of the issue.”

The “hope” he spoke of is a positive turn as 23 people had initially been taken hostage while on a 10 day relief mission and unfortunately one had to be shot dead yesterday because the Afghan government “had not responded positively to its demands,” which was to a demand of the release “of eight Taliban prisoners in exchange for eight Koreans.”

Another Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, complained of the government in Kabul:

“They do not pay attention and did not give a positive response, so that’s why we killed one Korean hostage.”

Chief Presidential Secretary for Security Policy Baek Jong-chun of South Korea furthered what will likely be observed as “non positive response,” by the “spokesman heavy” Taliban when he said:

“The Korean government clearly states that the organization responsible for the abduction will be held accountable for taking the life of a Korean citizen. The killing of an innocent citizen cannot be justified under any circumstance or for any reason, and any such inhumane act can not be tolerated”

Sadly, the Taliban lost its short hold on power that it had in the mid to late nineties, which has forced it to abuse, quash and make miserable fewer lives; wo is them.

The prospect of the possibility of snuffing the lives of the 22 remaining infidels must be of some solace to the Taliban members. Of comfort early on in the kidnapping episode to the Taliban members, internet users had “criticisms on the Christian community for aggressive proselytizing activities in Islamic countries,” also “local protestant churches were urged to think again about their aggressive evangelism after the news of hostages broke out last week.”

Following the slaying, in cold blood, pointless murder of one of the hostages, Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu yesterday, other internet users began saying (one anyway):

“This is not the time to keep up criticisms when a person has been shot dead. Although these people could have been more careful, they were there with good intentions, and none of them deserves to be victimized this way.”

It’s interesting to read of the pathetic stupidity of those that will put their own safety and life on the line in an effort to convince the “believers” that it isn’t so bad to be an “infidel.” Those that criticized the Christian missionaries do have a point that the hostages put themselves in harms way, “for endangering their safety, ignoring government warnings and not reporting to the local police while traveling from Kabul to Kandahar, the former stronghold of the Taliban.” Surely it isn’t safe for Muslims in South Korea or the U.S. either to practice according to their beliefs.

So, I guess they had it coming.

Regardless of how the “negotiations” go, it would probably be a good idea to continue and/or increase a steady stream of 500 pound and larger “negotiators” into the mountainous regions where these once proud stiflers of life now reside.

Of “Hostage Games” Global Guerrillas asks and answers:

“The recent series of hostage dramas in Afghanistan poses the following question: what’s the value of a hostage in 21st century warfare? Answer: an order of magnitude more than it was a decade ago (in contrast, the Iranian hostage drama and the Lebanon hostage crisis were outliers to the trend line driven by more by domestic US politics than any inherent system effects).

Here’s why: