The Truth about Militant Islam

This is a must watch video for anyone concerned about the ongoing threat posed by al-Qaeda and militant Islam (skip ahead to about the 8 minute mark below if you want to get to the meat of her arguments).

Lara Logan is the CBS News reporter who was sexually assaulted by an Egyptian mob in Cairo's Tahrir Square a year and a half ago. Last week Logan was the keynote speaker at the annual luncheon of the Chicago Better Government Association last week, and she blasted the Obama administration for lying to the American people about the threat that they face from militant Islam. (Courtesy the Israel Matzav blog.) - R.O.

Eleven years later, “they” still hate us, now more than ever, Logan told the crowd. The Taliban and al-Qaida have not been vanquished, she added. They’re coming back.

“I chose this subject because, one, I can’t stand, that there is a major lie being propagated . . .” Logan declared in her native South African accent.

The lie is that America’s military might has tamed the Taliban.

“There is this narrative coming out of Washington for the last two years,” Logan said. It is driven in part by “Taliban apologists,” who claim “they are just the poor moderate, gentler, kinder Taliban,” she added sarcastically. “It’s such nonsense!”

Logan stepped way out of the “objective,” journalistic role. The audience was riveted as she told of plowing through reams of documents, and interviewing John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan; Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and a Taliban commander trained by al-Qaida. The Taliban and al-Qaida are teaming up and recruiting new terrorists to do us deadly harm, she reports.

She made a passionate case that our government is downplaying the strength of our enemies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as a rationale of getting us out of the longest war. We have been lulled into believing that the perils are in the past: “You’re not listening to what the people who are fighting you say about this fight. In your arrogance, you think you write the script.”

Our enemies are writing the story, she suggests, and there’s no happy ending for us.

...Logan even called for retribution for the recent terrorist killings of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other officials. The event is a harbinger of our vulnerability, she said. Logan hopes that America will “exact revenge and let the world know that the United States will not be attacked on its own soil. That its ambassadors will not be murdered, and that the United States will not stand by and do nothing about it.”Unfortunately, I was not able to find video of Logan's talk on line. Two other speeches have been posted, but so far Logan's has not. I guess that President Obama still has friends in Chicago.

http://israelmatzav.blogspot.ca/2012/10/video-cbs-reporter-lara-logan-blasts.html

Turkey 'fires over Syrian border' - BBC News

Is this a prelude to war? Will NATO defend Turkey if there's an outbreak of hostilities? Serious questions need to be asked. -R.O.

Turkey 'fires over Syrian border'
6 October, 2012 1:51 AM

Turkey has fired into Syria for a fourth day after a Syrian mortar landed near a Turkish village, reports say.

Turkish troops responded immediately after the mortar landed near the village of Guvecci in Hatay province, according to Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

Turkey has been firing into Syria since Syrian mortar fire killed five Turkish civilians on Wednesday.

It was the first time Turkey has taken military action across the border since the Syrian uprising began.

Early on Saturday, the Anadolu Agency said the Syrian mortar had landed over the border during intense fighting between government troops and rebels in Syria's Idlib province.

The rebels are fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in an uprising that began in March last year.
There were no immediate reports of casualties on the Turkish side.

Following the killing of two women and three children in the Turkish border town of Akcakale this week, Turkey's parliament authorised troops to launch cross-border operations against Syria and strike at Syrian targets for a period of one year.

The UN Security Council said the incident showed the "grave impact" of the Syrian crisis on "regional peace and stability".

On Friday, Turkey moved tanks and anti-aircraft missiles into Akcakale, though Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country did not want war.

BBC © 2012