Londonistan Follies: Originally Posted 5/16/03

The British government won itself the reputation for being tough because it joined with the U.S.-led effort in Iraq, quite in contrast to France. But when it comes to domestic counterterrorism, the French are far ahead of the hapless, head-in-the-sand Londonistanis – as I have noted earlier. Indeed, it sometimes seems like one could handsomely fill a blog with nothing but entries documenting the British follies. Here are some examples, in reverse chronological order:

_____________

"Police chief's green ribbons for Muslims":"There have been pink ribbons to raise money for breast cancer research, yellow ribbons for people who have been kidnapped and red ribbons for those suffering from HIV/Aids," writes Helen Carter in the Guardian."Now thousands of green ribbons are to be distributed to show support for Muslim communities after the London bombings last month." Specifically, Nottinghamshire chief constable Steve Green has ordered 20,000 green ribbons and sent them to libraries, police stations, council offices and shops across the UK."Officers will not be compelled to wear these but I have written to my force urging them to take part," he said. Green characterized the effort as a way of showing solidarity with Muslims, who suffered a backlash after the 7/7 attacks. Says the chief constable:"We are united in facing the challenges that last month's tragic events have put upon us. But by far the biggest task which we have undertaken [since July] has been giving reassurance to the community." Comment: What happened to counterterrorism? (August 13, 2005)

"Bakri to have heart op on NHS": Omar Bakri Mohammed, the Islamist loudmouth and terrorist sympathizer who just fled to Lebanon, is free to return to Great Britain and take advantage of an angioplasty procedure to improve his blood flow. It will be paid for by the British taxpayer and will take place at St Thomas's Hospital, directly across the river from the parliament building in London. In addition, the Daily Telegraph notes, Omar Bakri Mohammed receives from the taxpayer £331.28 a month in incapacity benefit and £183.30 a month in disability living allowance, both of which will continue for at least six months while he is abroad, as will the housing benefit on his home in north London and his council tax benefit. And he drives a Toyota worth £30,000, paid for by the taxpayer. His wife, who lives in the UK with their seven children, can continue to claim benefits worth at least £1,300 a month. But the Times indicates that the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, will refuse a request from Mohammed to return. Other details: the operation he needs would cost up to £8,000 if he paid for it. And he has collected up to £300,000 in benefits over the past nineteen years. (August 11, 2005) Aug. 13, 2005 update: They did it. Just four days after Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said that the government was powerless to stop Mohammed from returning, Home Secretary Charles Clarke banned him from Britain.

"Four bomb suspects ‘had £500,000 in benefits'": Bank of England officials disclosed that the four suspected July 21 bombers – Ramzi Mohammad, Yasin Hassan Omar, Muktar Said-Ibrahim and Hussain Osman – collected more than £500,000 in benefits payments from the British government by using multiple aliases and addresses. Ibrahim, for example, accused of intending to blow up a Hackney bus, seems to have used two dates of birth, six aliases, two national insurance numbers, and two addresses:

Date of birth:

(1) 24/01/1978.
(2) 24/01/1976

Aliases:

(1) IBRAHIM, Muktar, Said
(2) IBRAHIM, White, Muktar, Said
(3) SAID, Mukhtar
(4) SAID, Mukhtar, Ibrahim
(5) SAYID, Muktar
(6) SAYID, Muktar, Mohammed

National Identification no:

(1) PX 28 71 49 B [UK]
(2) PX 03 67 12 A [UK]

Addresses:

(1) 16 Nevill Road, London, United Kingdom, N16 8SR
(2) 32b Farleigh Road, Stoke Newington, London, United Kingdom, N16 7GH

(August 6, 2005)

Birmingham imam embarrasses his police hosts: It's not funny, but I can't help but chuckle at Nick Britten's report in the Daily Telegraph about Mohammad Naseem, chairman of the Birmingham Central Mosque and said to be the most senior Islamic cleric in Birmingham, joining a press conference right after the arrest of Yasin Hassan Omar, one of the accused July 21 would-be bombers. At the invitation of the West Midlands police and the Birmingham city council, Naseem appeared near the place Omar had been arrested, the idea being that his presence would calm racial and religious tensions. As Britten puts it,"Naseem is one of the most respected Muslims in the city and is considered a moderate. He has regular meetings with the chief constable to discuss religious harmony."

Yesterday, however,"His comments shocked senior police officers." Some highlights:

• The eight suspects in the two bombing attacks on London in July" could have been innocent passengers"; they were selected as suspects because Muslims.
• Tony Blair is a"liar" and"unreliable witness."
• Muslims"all over the world have never heard of an organisation called al-Qa'eda."
• The Government and security services"were not to be relied upon."

Comment: Perhaps a tiny bit more care should be deployed before labeling someone a moderate Muslim? (July 28, 2005) Aug. 6, 2005 update: More from the"moderate" Naseem, who told a radio station that he sees"similarities" between Blair's approach to Britain's Muslim community and Hitler's demonization of Jews."I think he is not very wise in the way he did it. I am saying he is not handling the situation wisely, because he says one thing at one time and another at another. He [Hitler] was democratically elected and gradually he created a bogey identity, that is, the Jewish people, and posed to the Germans that they were a threat to the country. On that basis, he started a process of elimination of Jewish people. I see the similarities. Everything moves step by step. I am saying these are dangerous times and we must take note of this."

"Bombers on benefits":"Two fugitive London bombers have been living in Britain on state benefits," reports the Sun. Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, accused of trying to bomb Warren Street underground station, received £23,000 in housing benefit over six years. His flatmate, Muktar Said-Ibrahim, stands accused of trying to bomb a double-decker bus. (July 26, 2005)

"Change foreign policy - top Muslims": In a striking move of political ju-jitsu, three British Islamists are exploiting the London bombings to try to impose their foreign policy agenda, reports the Evening Standard.

• Azzam Tamimi, Muslim Association of Britain: The July 7 bombings and the attempted attacks on July 21 were"horrifying" but it is not enough to condemn the bombers."The latest developments very clearly show this is a very big thing. It's not just a few individuals from Leeds. I think it's time everybody got serious and engaged in an attempt to prevent it. Part of that would be to understand what's going on. 7/7, 21/7, and God knows what will happen afterwards, our lives are in real danger and it would seem, so long as we are in Iraq and so long as we are contributing to injustices around the world, we will continue to be in real danger. Tony Blair has to come out of his state of denial and listen to what the experts have been saying, that our involvement in Iraq is stupid."
• Shahid Butt, marketing manager for The Muslim Weekly:"At the end of the day, these things [violent incidents] are going to happen if current British foreign policy continues. There's a lot of rage, there's a lot of anger in the Muslim community. We have got to get out of Iraq, it is the crux of the matter. I believe if Tony Blair and George Bush left Iraq and stopped propping up dictatorial regimes in the Muslim world, the threat rate to Britain would come down to nearly zero."
• Massoud Shadjareh, chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission: The government must take responsibility for the"political environment" in which the attacks took place."Now we know this wasn't a one-off, we need to look at ways of addressing the underlying factors that created it. I feel it's urgent to start addressing these before there is further loss of life."

Comment: These statements show how non-violent Islamists hope to benefit from the actions of their violent counterparts. Will it work? Stay tuned. (July 22, 2005)

"Terror suspect is a convicted mugger":"One of the four suspects in the attempted suicide bombings in London last week spent several years in prison as a mugger, the Telegraph can reveal. Despite his record, Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said, was granted a British passport less than a year ago. A key condition of naturalisation is that an applicant must be ‘of good character'." (July 20, 2005)

"Dewsbury-born mufti hates British way of life": Zubair Dudha, 29, an Islamic teacher of primary school children, teenagers and young adults at the Islamic Tarbiyah academy in Dewsbury, the town where he was born, openly proclaims how he despises the West and openly advocates jihad against it. Dudha told the Times that he understood the anger of young Muslims. His sees his mission as" channelling that anger in the right manner . . . controlling it and giving it the correct guidance." His students are taught that"the enemies of Allah" have schemed"to poison the thinking and minds of [Muslim] youth and to plant the spirit of unsteadiness and moral depravity in their lives."

It is due to the inconsistency of moral preaching we have plunged headlong into the bosom of the deplorable kufr [non-believer] culture. As a result Muslim youths have drowned into th