The newest red state

Ali Eteraz has a highly speculative piece up on the latest OBL video. I’m actually with him until he gets to the Bollywood part. I hope that there are professionals watching these videos and trying to figure out next moves, but even in the popular media and quick deconstruction like this would take a lot of air from AQ’s mission. Imagine instead of the headline “OBL loves him some martyrs, run for your lives,” we got headlines like “Latest OBL video give further proof that he’s dead, AQ clueless.” Of course, the second headline shouldn’t be read to minimize the…

Following on a previous post: —- Dear Friends, In light of the tragedies in New Orleans and South East Asia, like many, I have been struggling to keep hope. When the earthquake hit Pakistan and India, I was speaking on the phone to a friend in Kabul. At first he was surprised, then he began cursing in anger. Later, we learned that two Afghan children died near Jalalabad. Just across the border, more than 80,000 men, women and children died in Pakistan and northern India. As you know, millions in Kashmir remain homeless. In the face of such tragedy, I…

Malcolm X, before he converted to Islam, was known as Satan. Al-Hallaj claims that the truest lover of God was Iblis, because he refused to bow down in front of Adam; Iblis acknowledged no other than his Beloved. I suppose that means I’m not in such bad company. Some of you may remember this comment by the Attorney General of the United States, John Ashcroft, entrusted with making sure I suffer no discrimination: “Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son…