Posts Tagged ‘Jihad’

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Israeli Army Training (and some desert mysteries)

Monday, February 7th, 2011

I saw this dandy Michael Totten piece on Israeli military preparation (including building an entire town for training exercises) a few weeks ago, and meant to write something about it, but got busy with other things.

Being a curious sort, I went searching for that training center on Google maps, and think it might be at 31.163869, 34.532279; you may have to zoom out or scroll south and to the west to see it, since Google Maps centers on the nearest road. (I don’t think anything visible on Google Maps is a military secret, and I doubt anyone in Hamas reads my blog anyway.)

However, even more interesting is the structure due south of it at 31.139718, 34.531937:

There are a lot of structures in the Nagev with a sort of circular berm around them, and I guess those are just oases or something equally benign. But the interesting thing about this one is the big X across the top of it. what is that? Storage facility? Secret silo? For all I know it could be a hazardous waste dump.

But given the Big X, I’m guessing this is the entrance for Professor Charles Francis Xavier’s secret Israeli academy for mutants…

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This Week in Jihad for February 3, 2011

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

All eyes are still on Egypt, but that’s not the only hotspot for jihad:

  • Suicide bomber prematurely detonates thanks to spam text message. (Via Slashdot)
  • “Barack Obama has endorsed a role for the Muslim Brotherhood in a new, post-Mubarak government for Egypt.”
  • The current unrest in Egypt makes makes things look pretty grim for the Copts: “I’ve pored over every news report I can find, and have seen no sign that local Christians are involved in this uprising against Mubarak. This tells me all I need to know about the calls for ‘democracy’ and ‘reform’ in Egypt. They know that Mubarak’s fall would mean to them what Hussein’s fall meant to Iraqi Christians: the end.”
  • More from JihadWatch’s indefatigable Robert Spencer on the Muslim Brotherhood’s involvement in the unrest in Egypt. The amount of writing and analysis keeps up on the topic of jihad is positively dizzying. It’s hard to keep up just summarizing him…

    Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey (whom I linked to a few days ago), has been arrested and then released by the Egyptian government. “I am ok. I got out. I was ambushed & beaten by the police, my phone confiscated , my car ripped apar& supplies taken”

  • While everyone was paying attention to Egypt, Hamas fires rockets into Egypt.
  • Fifteen-year old Bangladeshi girl whipped to death in Koranic punishment for fornication.
  • Tell a Muslim their food smells bad and lose your house in Canada. This decision was overturned, but it proves Mark Steyn’s point that all Canadian “Human Rights Tribunals” need to be eliminated as threats to free speech…
  • Add New York City building code to the list of rules that are no longer applicable to Muslims.
  • A white Vietnam Veteran jihadi?
  • More reports of an al Qaeda dirty bomb.

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    What’s Going On In Egypt?

    Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

    Good question. Wish I knew. Or, more accurately, wish I knew more than what I can glean from various reports, which is that anti-Mubarak forces are getting a smackdown from pro-Mubarak forces, including (reportedly) police (secret and otherwise) in disguise. Beyond those clashes, its hard to tell what is going on. Maybe Mubarak waited until popular rage had run its course, and delayed the crackdown until fears of disorder and looting drove the majority of non-hardcore protesters off the street before beginning the crackdown.

    The more I’ve read the past few days, the more I think that Mubarak survives until his promised stepping down in the September elections. What I’ve seen is lots of anti-Mubarak forces saying he has to step down now, he can’t survive, etc., as well as similar noises from various international governments, but no reports of Egyptian generals or colonels saying the same thing.

    A few other interesting articles on the situation:

  • First-hand report of The Battle of Tahir Square
  • A summary of events as they have unfolded so far. It talks about Gamal Mubarak’s technocrat friends working economic miracles but their takeover of the ruling ruling NDP party alienated the army, which saw the NDP as a rival power.
  • Michael Totten interviews Abbas Milani on parallels between Egypt today and the fall of the Shah in Iran.
  • The ever readable Christopher Hitchens on Mubarak’s shaming Egyptians. “It’s possible that people will overlook outright brutality sooner than they will forgive undisguised contempt.” (David Pryce-Jones also made much of the Arab shame/honor response in The Closed Circle.)

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    Egypt: A Fist, Slowly Clenching

    Monday, January 31st, 2011

    Hosni Mubarak seems to have adopted an interesting strategy to deal with the unrest gripping his country: Let the worst of it rage with a minimum of reprisals and crackdowns, and then slowly but surely reassert his control using the police and the military. Such a strategy walks the fine line between appearing weak enough to let the revolution push him out of power, and a Tienanmen-type crackdown that leaves thousands dead. So far it seems to be working: Despite some blips and waivers, the army still appears to be following Mubarak’s orders. If they continue to do so, it’s hard to see how the called-for general strike can be total enough to paralyze the nation. And if gas and food continue to make it through, it’s hard to see the general masses being radicalized enough to join the call to oust Mubarak.

    Also, National Review reminds us that the Muslim Brotherhood is bad news.

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    Egypt Update for Monday, January 31

    Monday, January 31st, 2011

    The situation this morning looks much the same as it did last night: neither side backing down, the army following Mubarak’s orders (for now).

    Once again the live update pages have changed:

  • BBC
  • Al Jazeera

    • And here’s an interesting article placing the Egyptian situation in the context of higher global food prices, which is driving global unrest. So ethanol subsidies, which were supposed to ween us from dependence on unstable Middle Eastern sources of oil, are helping destabilize the Middle East. Good work, guys!

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    Stratfor: Police and Army Redeploying, Both Suporting Mubarak For Now

    Sunday, January 30th, 2011

    Or so say their sources:

    The Egyptian military and internal security forces have coordinated a crackdown for the hours ahead in an effort to clear the streets of the demonstrators. The interior minister has meanwhile negotiated his stay for the time being, in spite of widespread expectations that he, seen by many Egyptians as the source of police brutality in the country, would be one of the first ministers that would have to be sacked in order to quell the demonstrations. Instead, both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and al-Adly, the two main targets of ire for the demonstrators, seem to be betting that they can ride this crisis out and remain in power. So far, the military seems to be acquiescing to these decisions.

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    More Reports of the Military Siding With Protesters in Egypt

    Sunday, January 30th, 2011

    Haaretz reports that military men are taking off their helmets and being hoisted by the crowd in Cairo, chanting “the people and the military are one.” (Hat tip: Belmonst Club.)

    All the protest factions (including the Muslim brotherhood, who seem quite content to stay in the background for now) have settled on Mohamed ElBaradei as the leader and presumptive transition President should Mubarak fall. ElBaradei is reported to be at Tahrir Square.

    Stratfor analyzes the Egyptian military, and the possibility that Islamist sympathizers exist within its ranks.

    Here’s a Wall Street Journal report from two years ago on the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s (generally successful) attempts to suppress it.

    Once again, the live update sources have changed:

  • NRO
  • BBC
  • The Atlantic
  • Al Jazerra

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    More Live Egypt Updates

    Saturday, January 29th, 2011

    Not a lot of news coming out. The longer it takes things to happen, the more likely Mubarak is to hold onto power. Yesterday brought scattered reports that the army may be wavering in support of Mubarak. Today? Not so much. There are sporadic reports of gunfire, and lots of reports that citizens groups are banding together to prevent looting.

    The old links down the page stopped updating at the end of the day. The new links are:

  • The BBC.
  • The Atlantic.
  • Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey’s Twitter feed

    • As for what an actual popular Egyptian government might look like, Michael Totten reminds us that the answer might be pretty ugly:

    In Egypt, 82 percent want stoning for those who commit adultery; 77 percent would like to see whippings and hands cut off for robbery; and 84 percent favor the death penalty for any Muslim who changes his religion.

    Asked if they supported “modernizers” or “Islamists” only 27 percent said modernizers while 59 percent said Islamists.

    Elsewhere in the Middle East, there are reports of unrest in Yemen. Conversely, yesterday’s reports that Syria had also taken down nationwide Internet access appear to have been false.

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    Posted in Global Warming, Jihad, Media Watch | 1 Comment »

    Hamas Crossing Border Into Egypt to Work With Muslim Brotherhood

    Saturday, January 29th, 2011

    This is not good news.

    It would be great if the current unrest lead to a free, democratic government in Egypt. However, it is just as likely that events will lead to widespread Islamization of regional governments and another Arab-Israeli war.

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    More Sources for Live Egypt Updates

    Friday, January 28th, 2011
  • Pajamas Media
  • Max Fisher at the Atlantic
  • Al Jazeera (no RealPlayer required)

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