“Does President Bush have a realistic plan for bringing democracy to the Middle East?” was the title of an Insight In the News Symposium from April 1, 2003. Abdulwahab Alkebsi, executive director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, answered “YES: Human dignity, the rule of law…

Experts slam the Washington Post’s series about intelligence contractors.

According to the article, a number of the supporters of “Muslims Against Crusaders” are former members of Islam4UK, which actually got itself banned earlier in the year. No problem; they’re taking a page from Pakistani groups like Jamaat ud-Dawa and simply re-branding as needed. And also, according to the article,…

Talk is cheap. I’ve heard a lot of talk about the Islamic faith in the past several years. I’ve heard everything from Muslims are pure evil to Muslims are the embodiment of all that is good and pure in the world.
As with most things pertaining to a group of people sharing a religion, I believe [...]

What shall we make of David Cameron? What can we learn from his little speech in Ankara? What does it tell us about his mental makeup, his grasp of history, his powers of understanding, his ability to make sense of things, his hierarchy of values, his appreciation and knowledge of…

The speculation is well under-way about what caused the explosion that damaged a Japanese tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic seaway has been threatened by Al-Qaeda and Iran has threatened to close it if attacked, although doing so would quickly bankrupt the regime.
The possibility that the explosion was an attack is being considered [...]

It amazes me how Hollywood celebrities or just average opinionated people are so confident in their analyses when they don’t really know what they are talking about. Last night in an interview with Fareed Zakaria, Jon Stewart stated that the Afghans “don’t like us” and it is absurd to think any invasion force can win [...]

Translated as “holy warrior” in this AP piece. “Al-Qaida No. 2 slams France’s push to ban veils,” by Maggie Michael for Associated Press, July 28 (thanks to Maxwell): CAIRO – Al-Qaida’s No. 2 has slammed France’s push to ban the Islamic full-face veil and urged Muslim women to be “holy…

How did Samir Khan board a flight to Yemen?

Winning hearts and minds. None could have gone to the jihad, you say? And why not, exactly? What effective safeguards were in place to ensure that those who received money in Iraq had no sympathies for the jihad? With the U.S. government in massive denial about the nature of the…