FROM: ACT-AMERICAN CONGRESS FOR TRUTH
By Michael Coren
National Post, Canada
Dr. Tawfik Hamid doesn't tell people where he lives. Not the street, not the city, not even the country. It's safer that way. It's only the letters of testimony from some of the highest intelligence officers in the western world that enable him to move freely. This medical doctor, author and activist once was a member of Egypt's Al-Gama'a al- Islamiyya (Arabic for "the Islamic Group"), a banned terrorist organization. He was trained under Ayman al- Zawaheri, the bearded jihadi who appears in Bin Laden's videos, telling the world that Islamic violence will stop only once we all become Muslims.
He's a disarmingly gentle and courteous man. But he's determined to tell a complacent North America what he knows about fundamentalist Muslim imperialism.
"Yes, 'imperialism,' " he tells me. "The deliberate and determined expansion of militant Islam and its attempt to triumph not only in the Islamic world but in Europe and North America. Pure ideology. Muslimterrorists kill and slaughter not because of what they experience but because of what they believe." Hamid drank in the message of ihadism while at medical school in Cairo, and devoted himself to the cause. His group began meeting in a small room. Then a larger one. Then a mosque reserved for followers of al-Zawaheri. By the time Hamid left the movement, its members were intimidating other students who were unsympathetic.
He is now 45 years old, and has had many years to reflect on why he was willing to die and kill for his religion. "The first thing you have to understand is that it has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with poverty or lack of education," he says. "I was from a middle-class family and my parents were not religious. Hardly anyone in the movement at university came from a background that was different from mine.
"I've heard this poverty nonsense time and time again from Western apologists for Islam, most of them not Muslim by the way. There are millions of passive supporters of terror who may be poor and needy but most of those who do the killing are wealthy, privileged, educated and free. If it were about poverty, ask yourself why it is middle-class Muslims -- and never poor Christians -- who become suicide bombers in Palestine."
His analysis is fascinating. Muslim fundamentalists believe, he insists, that Saudi Arabia's petroleum-based wealth is a divine gift, and that Saudi influence is sanctioned by Allah. Thus the extreme brand of Sunni Islam that spread from the Kingdom to the rest of the Islamic world is regarded not merely as one interpretation of the religion but the only genuine interpretation. The expansion of violent and regressive Islam, he continues, began in the late 1970s, and can be traced precisely to the growing financial clout of Saudi Arabia."We're not talking about a fringe cult here," he tells me. "Salafist [fundamentalist] Islam is the dominant version of the religion and is taught in almost every Islamic university in the world. It is puritanical, extreme and does, yes, mean that women can be beaten, apostates killed and Jews called pigs and monkeys."
He leans back, takes a deep breath and moves to another area, one that he says is far too seldom discussed: "North Americans are too squeamish about discussing the obvious sexual dynamic behind suicide bombings. If they understood contemporary Islamic society, they would understand the sheer sexual tension of Sunni Muslim men. Look at the figures for suicide bombings and see how few are from the Shiite world. Terrorism and violence yes, but not suicide. The overwhelming majority are from Sunnis.
Now within the Shiite world there are what is known as temporary marriages, lasting anywhere from an hour to 95 years. It enables men to release their sexual frustrations. "Islam condemns extramarital sex as well as masturbation, which is also taught in the Christian tradition. But Islam also tells of unlimited sexual ecstasy in paradise with beautiful virgins for the martyr who gives his life for the faith. Don't for a moment underestimate this blinding passion or its influence on those who accept fundamentalism." A pause. "I know. I was one who accepted it."
This partial explanation is shocking more for its banality than its horror. Mass murder provoked partly by simple lust. But it cannot be denied that letters written by suicide bombers frequently dwell on waiting virgins and sexual gratification. "The sexual aspect is, of course, just one part of this. But I can tell you what it is not about. Not about Israel, not about Iraq, not about Afghanistan. They are mere excuses. Algerian Muslim fundamentalists murdered 150,000 other Algerian Muslims, sometimes slitting the throats of children in front of their parents. Are you seriously telling me that this was because of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians or American foreign policy?"
He's exasperated now, visibly angry at what he sees as a willful Western foolishness. "Stop asking what you have done wrong. Stop it! They're slaughtering you like sheep and you still look within. You criticize your history, your institutions, your churches. Why can't you realize that it has nothing to do with what you have done but with what they want."
Then he leaves -- for where, he cannot say. A voice that is silenced in its homeland and too often ignored by those who prefer convenient revision to disturbing truth. The tragedy is that Tawfik Hamid is almostused to it.
xxx
Want to know more about ACT? Write to: info@americancongressfortruth.com.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
The Islamization of Europe
America, take note before it is too late....
By Abdullah Al Araby
It has been said, " Those who ignore the lessons of history are bound to repeat them." Another famous quote says, " History repeats itself." The moral is that people often have short memories. Whether we observe bad things happening to other nations or experience such ourselves we seldom learn the needed lessons. As time passes, all is forgotten and the same mistakes are repeated, over and over again.
When the topic of the serious ramifications of the Islamic invasion of America comes up, few people register sufficient concern. They underestimate the potential threat because they view the USA's current Muslim population of 1%-2% as insignificant. The danger is that, like some Europeans nations, we will wait till the percentage figures doubles, triples or even quadruple before it dawns on us that we have a problem. Our government and our entire population would be wise to look, listen and learn from what countries in Europe are suffering as the result of unchecked Islamic population growth. If we don't heed the warnings that their problems represent, we will be sentenced to duplicating them.
There are many similarities between life in America and that in the Christian countries of Europe. The difference is the homelands of Muslims are much closer geographically to Europe and therefore the immigration invasions began much earlier. The Muslim population of Europe is now estimated to be around twenty million strong. That represents about 5% of Western Europe's total inhabitants. France's Islamic population presently ranks as the highest as it has raced to about 10%. The price tag for naively permitting that degree of growth has proven to have dire consequences.
QUEST FOR DOMINION
Naive and goodhearted Americans often complain and cite various reasons for rejecting any suggestion that the growth of Islam should be a point of concern. They figure, why criticize other religions? Why can't we all just live and let live? Surely, civilized societies should pride themselves on tolerance towards those of other beliefs and grant freedom of religion to all citizens. No one should care about how or what others worship, as long as they worship peacefully. Another test is whether or not a religion infringes on the rights of others. Islam misses on both counts. It's not peaceful because at various junctures it infringes on the rights of others to worship as they choose. Once it gains dominance, it is totally intolerant of other religions.
Such concerns might be invalid if they pertained to adherents of most any world religion, other than Islam. The thing that makes Islam different is the fact that it is more than a religion. Islam is a political, social, and economic way of life, cloaked in religious garments. Islam's strict observances and regulations are imposed on all Muslims and affect every area of their lives. These shape their attitudes and responses towards those of other religions. Full compliance brings the promises of rewards in this life and in the hereafter. Noncompliance dictates harsh punishments both here and in eternity. As a result many Muslims are willing to kill and to die for the cause of religious fervor. These factors, combined with Islam's inherent tendency to violence, make it difficult for it to co-exist in society with other religions.
Islam is never satisfied to be one religion among many. It has to be supreme; the one and only. " the (only) religion (acceptable) before God is Islam." Surah 3:19 Within Islam, freedom of religion is never an option. Allah says, " If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him." Surah 3: 85 Domination is the name of the game. Islam's objective is to obtain influence superior to that of all other religious groups. Its long-term agenda inevitably includes complete dominion over a nation. In free societies, as in America, they make no effort to hide such agendas. Omar M. Ahmed, chairman of the board of CAIR ( Council on American- Islamic Relations ) said once at a banquet, " I urge Muslims not to shirk their duty of sharing the Islamic faith with those who are on the wrong side." He added, " If you choose to live here, you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam. Islam isn't here to be equal to any other faith but to become dominant."
The plan for the conquest and domination of Europe has been at work for some time. Giueppe Bernardini, the 72 year old Italian Archbishop of the archdiocese of Izmir, Turkey, said something startling. " The dominion has already begun with the petrodollars, used not to create work in the poor North African or Middle Eastern countries, but to build mosques and cultural centers in Christian countries with Islamic immigration, including Rome, the center of Christianity."
Perhaps, there might be some European Muslims who are simply satisfied to enjoy the prosperity afforded them in their adopted countries and therefore don't mind accepting the status quo. However, there is a host of others who strive to see the traditionally Christian societies that welcomed them conform to the rigorous demands of Islamic society. The result is that Europe is undergoing a gradual transformation into a society in which Islam is not just equal to other faiths; it is the dominant player. This may not even be merely dependent upon increasing numerical strength. It may be solely driven by Islamist's innate desire to control societies. It is a strategy of Islamic leaders that is carefully thought out and concisely executed.
THE ISLAMIC INVASION OF EUROPE
Muslim Arabs were invited to Europe from Africa and Asia in the 1950's and 1960's to meet the labor shortages of Western Europe's booming postwar economies. Subsequently, Muslim refugees seeking political asylum to better their lives drastically increased those numbers. The trend continued into the 1970's. The waves of Muslim immigrating from North Africa and the Middle East began to change the demographics of Europe. Muslim birthrates soared. According to U.N. statistics, the Islamic population of Europe doubled between 1989 and 1998, representing approximately 2% of the population. That number had again more than doubled by 2005, representing about 5% of all Europeans.
TROUBLED FRANCE
France has the largest concentrations of Muslims in Europe, about 10% of the total population. Its situation is a clear example of the influence of Islam on European societies. The French actress, Brigitte Bardot, laments the Islamization of France in her book, " A Scream in Silence ". A court accused her of "presenting Muslims as barbaric and cruel invaders, responsible for terrorist acts and eager to dominate the French to the extent of wanting to exterminate them." She states in her book, "There are many new languages in new Europe; mediocrity is taking over from beauty and splendor. There are many people who are filthy, badly dressed and badly shaven."
France has about 5 Million Muslims. The younger generations of French Muslims seem to have a problem with identity. About half of them are almost indistinguishable from other non-Muslims. However, the other half poses a serious problem for France. They don't view themselves as French and they also reject identifying with their families. They see themselves solely as Muslims. About 70,000 young Muslim women are subjected to forced marriages every year. Every year, 35,000 girls undergo Female Genitalia Mutilation/circumcision, or are under threat of the same.
You can't miss seeing Islam's influence if walking along many French streets. Parts of Paris look and sound more like an Arab country than they do European. Marseilles is racing towards becoming the first European city with a non-European majority.
The future is not promising. It is estimated that within 25 years, one in four residents of France will practice Islam. In an effort to maintain France's traditional character, its government is strongly asserting the nation's secularism. In doing so, a fierce struggle with the Islamists has ensued. Towards that goal, parliament banned Muslim women from wearing Islamic scarves ( hijab ) in public institutions. This decision is causing uproar from Muslims, not only in France, but all over the world.
France is Burning
Night after night, youthful Muslims blitzed through the outskirts of the poorer sections of French cities. From late October and into November of 2005 much of France was set aflame by Muslim rioters aged 13-24. At least 350 cities were attacked. Police intelligence sources indicate that the Jihadists minded gangs plan to import the mayhem to the main streets of France's primary cities, including Paris. Unquestionably, the authorities lost control of the nation and a form of marshal-law was enacted to restore some semblance of order. The sparks from those riots ignited embers of Islamic discontent in neighboring Belgium and Germany.
The riots were triggered by the deaths of two Muslim teenagers who were attempting to elude the police and were accidentally electrocuted in a poor suburb of Paris. The violence subsequently spread to other areas of France. More than 6,400 vehicles were torched and one man has been killed. More than 1,600 rioters were arrested. Schools, government buildings and churches were firebombed by the predominantly Muslim gangs. Though it was portrayed as race riots caused by official discrimination, it was in fact nothing less than a French intifada by French Muslims against France. Historically, France has been the most accommodating and liberal country in Europe towards Muslim immigrants. Its reward is exactly that which I have depicted in this volume, civil troubles. Innately Islam, the Quran and Islamic policies are predisposed to attempt to rule any nation that is foolish enough to extend overly liberal policies to them.
Unfortunately, this is not likely to be an ugly isolated and passing incident. The riots bear every indication of being the initial skirmishes of what will turn into a long war. These Muslim bands might retreat; if so, it will only be temporarily. They will likely fervently regroup later under the banners of experienced Islamic terrorists who will gladly inspire them.
EUROPE IS BECOMING EURABIA
Bat Ye'or is a history expert on the subject of "dhimmitude; " how Islam treated the People of the Book, Christians and Jews, throughout history. She originated the term "Eurabia" to underscore the growing influence of Islam in Europe. In a recent article titled, "How Europe Became Eurabia," she states: "Beyond a fleeting awareness, the overwhelming majority of Europeans and Americans do not understand the new Eurabian entity, which is only the first step in a steady progression toward its Arabization and Islamization. Europe has evolved from ... a Judeo-Christian civilization, with important post-enlightenment / secular elements, to a 'civilization of dhimmitude,' i.e. Eurabia: a secular-Muslim transitional society with its traditional Judeo-Christian more rapidly disappearing."
The Islamization of Europe becomes more obvious as time goes by. Thanks to the Saudi funds, beautiful mosques are erected in large cities. Many Imams and staff personnel of those mosques are paid by Saudi funds. All over Europe, the picture is not pretty:
Sweden's third largest city is Malmo and for all intents and purposes is ruled by violent Muslim gangs. Some of its Muslim residents have lived there as long as 20 years and still cannot read or write Swedish. Muslims succeeded into turning a first world city into another third world, like the countries they came from.
Britain's Muslim population is estimated to be between 1.6 and 3 million. A substantial segment of young Muslims in the United Kingdom does not identify with Britain, but only with Islam. Such young men were behind the terrorist attack of July 7, 2005. In some areas that have large concentrations, Muslims are targeting churches for arson and their clergymen for physical attacks. The objective is to cleanse such areas of any non-Muslim presence. Muslims are demanding that names of local districts be changed from traditional British names to Arabic Muslim names.
Spain's Muslims have expressed their plan to recapture the Mosque of Cordoba. The building was originally a church that was turned into a mosque after the Islamic conquest to Spain. After the Muslim invaders were put to flight, it again became a Catholic cathedral.
Reports from Italy state that doctors are treating Muslim wives who have been flogged by their Muslim husbands.
In Finland, some imams preach on the Islamic duty to ... kill Muslims who convert to other religions.
The Netherlands has recently turned from tolerance of Islam to the exact opposite. The change of mind followed ... the brutal killing of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a young Muslim in November 2004.
The preceding were just a few glimpses from the big picture of present-day Europe's landscape. The indications are that what was once tranquil and peaceful Europe is beginning to boil. The fire is fueled by the undisputed ultimate goal of Muslims to Islamize Europe.
Some Christians dismiss concerns about the possibility of Europe becoming Islamic before the end of the century as unrealistic and pessimistic. It must be remembered, however, that most Islamic countries of the Middle East were once Christian. Christianity was completely eradicated from many of these countries, while some still have just a symbolic presence. It is rather naive to presume that the same could not happen to Europe.
There is a lesson that America must learn from Europe's experiences with Islam. Surely, it is indicative for us to understand something. That which is happening to our brothers and sisters across the Atlantic is subtly in progress at this moment in America
By Abdullah Al Araby
It has been said, " Those who ignore the lessons of history are bound to repeat them." Another famous quote says, " History repeats itself." The moral is that people often have short memories. Whether we observe bad things happening to other nations or experience such ourselves we seldom learn the needed lessons. As time passes, all is forgotten and the same mistakes are repeated, over and over again.
When the topic of the serious ramifications of the Islamic invasion of America comes up, few people register sufficient concern. They underestimate the potential threat because they view the USA's current Muslim population of 1%-2% as insignificant. The danger is that, like some Europeans nations, we will wait till the percentage figures doubles, triples or even quadruple before it dawns on us that we have a problem. Our government and our entire population would be wise to look, listen and learn from what countries in Europe are suffering as the result of unchecked Islamic population growth. If we don't heed the warnings that their problems represent, we will be sentenced to duplicating them.
There are many similarities between life in America and that in the Christian countries of Europe. The difference is the homelands of Muslims are much closer geographically to Europe and therefore the immigration invasions began much earlier. The Muslim population of Europe is now estimated to be around twenty million strong. That represents about 5% of Western Europe's total inhabitants. France's Islamic population presently ranks as the highest as it has raced to about 10%. The price tag for naively permitting that degree of growth has proven to have dire consequences.
QUEST FOR DOMINION
Naive and goodhearted Americans often complain and cite various reasons for rejecting any suggestion that the growth of Islam should be a point of concern. They figure, why criticize other religions? Why can't we all just live and let live? Surely, civilized societies should pride themselves on tolerance towards those of other beliefs and grant freedom of religion to all citizens. No one should care about how or what others worship, as long as they worship peacefully. Another test is whether or not a religion infringes on the rights of others. Islam misses on both counts. It's not peaceful because at various junctures it infringes on the rights of others to worship as they choose. Once it gains dominance, it is totally intolerant of other religions.
Such concerns might be invalid if they pertained to adherents of most any world religion, other than Islam. The thing that makes Islam different is the fact that it is more than a religion. Islam is a political, social, and economic way of life, cloaked in religious garments. Islam's strict observances and regulations are imposed on all Muslims and affect every area of their lives. These shape their attitudes and responses towards those of other religions. Full compliance brings the promises of rewards in this life and in the hereafter. Noncompliance dictates harsh punishments both here and in eternity. As a result many Muslims are willing to kill and to die for the cause of religious fervor. These factors, combined with Islam's inherent tendency to violence, make it difficult for it to co-exist in society with other religions.
Islam is never satisfied to be one religion among many. It has to be supreme; the one and only. " the (only) religion (acceptable) before God is Islam." Surah 3:19 Within Islam, freedom of religion is never an option. Allah says, " If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him." Surah 3: 85 Domination is the name of the game. Islam's objective is to obtain influence superior to that of all other religious groups. Its long-term agenda inevitably includes complete dominion over a nation. In free societies, as in America, they make no effort to hide such agendas. Omar M. Ahmed, chairman of the board of CAIR ( Council on American- Islamic Relations ) said once at a banquet, " I urge Muslims not to shirk their duty of sharing the Islamic faith with those who are on the wrong side." He added, " If you choose to live here, you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam. Islam isn't here to be equal to any other faith but to become dominant."
The plan for the conquest and domination of Europe has been at work for some time. Giueppe Bernardini, the 72 year old Italian Archbishop of the archdiocese of Izmir, Turkey, said something startling. " The dominion has already begun with the petrodollars, used not to create work in the poor North African or Middle Eastern countries, but to build mosques and cultural centers in Christian countries with Islamic immigration, including Rome, the center of Christianity."
Perhaps, there might be some European Muslims who are simply satisfied to enjoy the prosperity afforded them in their adopted countries and therefore don't mind accepting the status quo. However, there is a host of others who strive to see the traditionally Christian societies that welcomed them conform to the rigorous demands of Islamic society. The result is that Europe is undergoing a gradual transformation into a society in which Islam is not just equal to other faiths; it is the dominant player. This may not even be merely dependent upon increasing numerical strength. It may be solely driven by Islamist's innate desire to control societies. It is a strategy of Islamic leaders that is carefully thought out and concisely executed.
THE ISLAMIC INVASION OF EUROPE
Muslim Arabs were invited to Europe from Africa and Asia in the 1950's and 1960's to meet the labor shortages of Western Europe's booming postwar economies. Subsequently, Muslim refugees seeking political asylum to better their lives drastically increased those numbers. The trend continued into the 1970's. The waves of Muslim immigrating from North Africa and the Middle East began to change the demographics of Europe. Muslim birthrates soared. According to U.N. statistics, the Islamic population of Europe doubled between 1989 and 1998, representing approximately 2% of the population. That number had again more than doubled by 2005, representing about 5% of all Europeans.
TROUBLED FRANCE
France has the largest concentrations of Muslims in Europe, about 10% of the total population. Its situation is a clear example of the influence of Islam on European societies. The French actress, Brigitte Bardot, laments the Islamization of France in her book, " A Scream in Silence ". A court accused her of "presenting Muslims as barbaric and cruel invaders, responsible for terrorist acts and eager to dominate the French to the extent of wanting to exterminate them." She states in her book, "There are many new languages in new Europe; mediocrity is taking over from beauty and splendor. There are many people who are filthy, badly dressed and badly shaven."
France has about 5 Million Muslims. The younger generations of French Muslims seem to have a problem with identity. About half of them are almost indistinguishable from other non-Muslims. However, the other half poses a serious problem for France. They don't view themselves as French and they also reject identifying with their families. They see themselves solely as Muslims. About 70,000 young Muslim women are subjected to forced marriages every year. Every year, 35,000 girls undergo Female Genitalia Mutilation/circumcision, or are under threat of the same.
You can't miss seeing Islam's influence if walking along many French streets. Parts of Paris look and sound more like an Arab country than they do European. Marseilles is racing towards becoming the first European city with a non-European majority.
The future is not promising. It is estimated that within 25 years, one in four residents of France will practice Islam. In an effort to maintain France's traditional character, its government is strongly asserting the nation's secularism. In doing so, a fierce struggle with the Islamists has ensued. Towards that goal, parliament banned Muslim women from wearing Islamic scarves ( hijab ) in public institutions. This decision is causing uproar from Muslims, not only in France, but all over the world.
France is Burning
Night after night, youthful Muslims blitzed through the outskirts of the poorer sections of French cities. From late October and into November of 2005 much of France was set aflame by Muslim rioters aged 13-24. At least 350 cities were attacked. Police intelligence sources indicate that the Jihadists minded gangs plan to import the mayhem to the main streets of France's primary cities, including Paris. Unquestionably, the authorities lost control of the nation and a form of marshal-law was enacted to restore some semblance of order. The sparks from those riots ignited embers of Islamic discontent in neighboring Belgium and Germany.
The riots were triggered by the deaths of two Muslim teenagers who were attempting to elude the police and were accidentally electrocuted in a poor suburb of Paris. The violence subsequently spread to other areas of France. More than 6,400 vehicles were torched and one man has been killed. More than 1,600 rioters were arrested. Schools, government buildings and churches were firebombed by the predominantly Muslim gangs. Though it was portrayed as race riots caused by official discrimination, it was in fact nothing less than a French intifada by French Muslims against France. Historically, France has been the most accommodating and liberal country in Europe towards Muslim immigrants. Its reward is exactly that which I have depicted in this volume, civil troubles. Innately Islam, the Quran and Islamic policies are predisposed to attempt to rule any nation that is foolish enough to extend overly liberal policies to them.
Unfortunately, this is not likely to be an ugly isolated and passing incident. The riots bear every indication of being the initial skirmishes of what will turn into a long war. These Muslim bands might retreat; if so, it will only be temporarily. They will likely fervently regroup later under the banners of experienced Islamic terrorists who will gladly inspire them.
EUROPE IS BECOMING EURABIA
Bat Ye'or is a history expert on the subject of "dhimmitude; " how Islam treated the People of the Book, Christians and Jews, throughout history. She originated the term "Eurabia" to underscore the growing influence of Islam in Europe. In a recent article titled, "How Europe Became Eurabia," she states: "Beyond a fleeting awareness, the overwhelming majority of Europeans and Americans do not understand the new Eurabian entity, which is only the first step in a steady progression toward its Arabization and Islamization. Europe has evolved from ... a Judeo-Christian civilization, with important post-enlightenment / secular elements, to a 'civilization of dhimmitude,' i.e. Eurabia: a secular-Muslim transitional society with its traditional Judeo-Christian more rapidly disappearing."
The Islamization of Europe becomes more obvious as time goes by. Thanks to the Saudi funds, beautiful mosques are erected in large cities. Many Imams and staff personnel of those mosques are paid by Saudi funds. All over Europe, the picture is not pretty:
Sweden's third largest city is Malmo and for all intents and purposes is ruled by violent Muslim gangs. Some of its Muslim residents have lived there as long as 20 years and still cannot read or write Swedish. Muslims succeeded into turning a first world city into another third world, like the countries they came from.
Britain's Muslim population is estimated to be between 1.6 and 3 million. A substantial segment of young Muslims in the United Kingdom does not identify with Britain, but only with Islam. Such young men were behind the terrorist attack of July 7, 2005. In some areas that have large concentrations, Muslims are targeting churches for arson and their clergymen for physical attacks. The objective is to cleanse such areas of any non-Muslim presence. Muslims are demanding that names of local districts be changed from traditional British names to Arabic Muslim names.
Spain's Muslims have expressed their plan to recapture the Mosque of Cordoba. The building was originally a church that was turned into a mosque after the Islamic conquest to Spain. After the Muslim invaders were put to flight, it again became a Catholic cathedral.
Reports from Italy state that doctors are treating Muslim wives who have been flogged by their Muslim husbands.
In Finland, some imams preach on the Islamic duty to ... kill Muslims who convert to other religions.
The Netherlands has recently turned from tolerance of Islam to the exact opposite. The change of mind followed ... the brutal killing of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a young Muslim in November 2004.
The preceding were just a few glimpses from the big picture of present-day Europe's landscape. The indications are that what was once tranquil and peaceful Europe is beginning to boil. The fire is fueled by the undisputed ultimate goal of Muslims to Islamize Europe.
Some Christians dismiss concerns about the possibility of Europe becoming Islamic before the end of the century as unrealistic and pessimistic. It must be remembered, however, that most Islamic countries of the Middle East were once Christian. Christianity was completely eradicated from many of these countries, while some still have just a symbolic presence. It is rather naive to presume that the same could not happen to Europe.
There is a lesson that America must learn from Europe's experiences with Islam. Surely, it is indicative for us to understand something. That which is happening to our brothers and sisters across the Atlantic is subtly in progress at this moment in America
Friday, November 03, 2006
Iran buying 'whole villages' of converts in Syria; Assad gives 'carte blanche'
WASHINGTON — Iran is moving in on Syria to the point of encouraging Alawis and Sunnis to convert to Shi'ite Islam.
Syrian opposition sources said the regime of President Bashar Assad has given Iran "carte blanche" in Syria. Unlike his late father, Bashar has allowed Iranian clerics to spread the Shi'ite religion in Syria.
Syrian demonstrators carrying photos of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri
"Syrians have been observing over the last year a dangerous phenomena mostly witnessed by an alarming number of non-Shia turning to Khomeini-style Shia in return for financial rewards," the opposition Reform Party of Syria stated. "Whole villages and urban areas are adopting the Hizbullah model whereby clinics, schools and social services are provided by Iran in return for Syrians to convert to Shi'ism."
In August 2006, RPS stated, Iran opened two centers in the Syrian port of Latakia. The centers, which teach Farsi, have been converting Sunni Muslims.
"Assad is logically calculating that if Hizbullah, with its 15,000 fighters and a God-like following of its figurehead Sheik [Hassan] Nasrallah, can achieve with $100 million a year the military prowess it exhibited against Israel then why not turn all of Syria into a larger Hizbullah laboratory in the hope of attaining the same results?" the Syrian opposition party stated.
Sunnis comprise 70 percent of Syria. About 11 percent of the country consists of the ruling Alawite community, with the remainder Christians and Druze.
Opposition sources said the spread of Shia in Iran has angered many Sunnis, particularly those aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. Sunni clerics envision a backlash against Iran and its representatives.
"Many [Sunni clerics] have voiced the following logic: We see the next confrontation in the Middle East along the lines of Israel vs. Iran and we have no choice but to stand by Israel to protect our religion," RPS stated.
"This logic emanates from the fact that no Sunni Arab country has the military competence to stand-up to the Iran-Syria-Hizbullah axis and also because Israel, unlike Iran, is not interested in converting Sunni Muslims," it said.
Syrian opposition sources said the regime of President Bashar Assad has given Iran "carte blanche" in Syria. Unlike his late father, Bashar has allowed Iranian clerics to spread the Shi'ite religion in Syria.
Syrian demonstrators carrying photos of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri
"Syrians have been observing over the last year a dangerous phenomena mostly witnessed by an alarming number of non-Shia turning to Khomeini-style Shia in return for financial rewards," the opposition Reform Party of Syria stated. "Whole villages and urban areas are adopting the Hizbullah model whereby clinics, schools and social services are provided by Iran in return for Syrians to convert to Shi'ism."
In August 2006, RPS stated, Iran opened two centers in the Syrian port of Latakia. The centers, which teach Farsi, have been converting Sunni Muslims.
"Assad is logically calculating that if Hizbullah, with its 15,000 fighters and a God-like following of its figurehead Sheik [Hassan] Nasrallah, can achieve with $100 million a year the military prowess it exhibited against Israel then why not turn all of Syria into a larger Hizbullah laboratory in the hope of attaining the same results?" the Syrian opposition party stated.
Sunnis comprise 70 percent of Syria. About 11 percent of the country consists of the ruling Alawite community, with the remainder Christians and Druze.
Opposition sources said the spread of Shia in Iran has angered many Sunnis, particularly those aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. Sunni clerics envision a backlash against Iran and its representatives.
"Many [Sunni clerics] have voiced the following logic: We see the next confrontation in the Middle East along the lines of Israel vs. Iran and we have no choice but to stand by Israel to protect our religion," RPS stated.
"This logic emanates from the fact that no Sunni Arab country has the military competence to stand-up to the Iran-Syria-Hizbullah axis and also because Israel, unlike Iran, is not interested in converting Sunni Muslims," it said.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Something cool that Xerox is doing
If you go to this website, www.letssaythanks.com, you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them...
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them...
POW Lawsuit Could Force Kerry To Come Clean
George "Bud" Day, Chairman, Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation
(10/15/2006)
Thirty-five years ago John Kerry slandered an entire generation of men who
fought in Vietnam branding them as a "war criminals." Today, much of the
same thing is being said about our young men and women in Iraq.
Now, a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas will test the
very foundation of Kerry's anti-war persona for the first time. It isn't
dubious medals or Kerry's disputed service record in Vietnam that is being
called into question. This time Kerry may finally be forced to answer for
the events that launched his public career, one that made him an anti-war
hero for many American liberals and a turncoat for millions of Vietnam
veterans.
The lawsuit (Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, et al. v. Kenneth Campbell,
et al.) challenges the basis, the factual accuracy of then-Lt. (j.g.) Kerry's acrimonious
testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
in 1971. It was there Kerry's public career was catapulted with his now
ubiquitous portrayal of American soldiers as murderers, rapists and
torturers "who ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam . . . [and] razed
villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan."
Kerry said then his accusations were based on the so-called "testimony" of
"150 honorably discharged" Vietnam veterans who, like himself, claimed to
have committed or witnessed "war crimes, not isolated incidents but crimes
committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all
levels of command."
Many if not all were members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW),
an organization led by Kerry and financed by Jane Fonda during the early
1970s. Now, a number of those "witnesses" will be required to testify, under
oath for the first time ever, about what they really did and saw in Vietnam.
What these VVAW witnesses say could have implications reaching beyond
Kerry's veracity and reputation. Their lasting portrait of the American soldier as
a blood-thirsty butcher, a baby killer, is also at stake. And that picture
remains entrenched among their kind, "proof" that those serving in the U.S.
military, even today, truly are a "horde of barbarians" capable of
unspeakable brutalities. That is the underlying theme, the constant drumbeat
from the mainstream media and others as they try to undermine the American
military today.
For the anti-war, anti-American protesters, the American soldiers are the
"terrorists," and the enemies are the victims of a barbaric U.S. military
which tortures and murders defenseless civilians.
That false premise, one of the most vicious and enduring smears spawned by
Kerry 35 years ago, will also be put to the test once Kerry's true "Band of
Brothers" are put under oath in a Philadelphia courtroom.
The background to this lawsuit is long and complex, but even a condensed
version is rich in irony and poetic justice.
It had it roots in 2004 with the documentary Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never
Heal. Many may recall the film, although it is probably best known for not
being seen, suppressed after Sinclair Broadcasting Company courageously
announced it was going to air the documentary in its entirety. Thanks to
Kerry and his liberal colleagues in the Senate and their enablers in the
mainstream media, Sinclair was browbeaten into withdrawing the film, its
broadcast license threatened by a Kerry campaign manager in 2004.
Stolen Honor focused on Kerry's venomous diatribe before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee in April 1971 when he accused Vietnam veterans of "war
crimes" on a genocidal scale. (A full transcript is available at
http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/index.php?topic=Testimony. ) It examined
the impact Kerry's widely reported statements had on hundreds of Americans
who were being held prisoners of war by the North Vietnamese communists. The
filmâ?Ts producer, Carlton Sherwood, a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody
Award-winning investigative reporter, interviewed former POWs for the
documentary.
I was among those whom Sherwood, a decorated Marine combat veteran himself,
asked to participate in Stolen Honor. I was a POW for nearly six years, held
in North Vietnam prison camps, including the notorious Hanoi Hilton, a place
of unimaginable horrors -- torture, beatings, starvation and mind-numbing
isolation. When Kerry branded us "war criminals," he handed our captors all
the justification they needed to carry out their threats to execute us.
Thanks to Kerry, Jane Fonda and their comrades in the anti-war movement, our
captivity was prolonged by years. The communists in Hanoi and Moscow couldn't
have had a better press agent to spread their anti-American propaganda.
To guarantee Stolen Honor would never be seen by anyone not even
theatre-goers the producer was slapped with a libel and defamation
lawsuit. That lawsuit was filed by Kenneth Campbell, a University of
Delaware professor, Kerry campaign aide, and long-time anti-war disciple of
the Massachusetts Senator. Campbell co-founded the Philadelphia chapter of
Vietnam Veterans Against the War and, in 1971, he was one of Kerry's key war
crimes "witnesses," one of several on whom Kerry claims he based his Senate
testimony.
Campbell was and still is regarded by some as one of the VVAW's most
articulate and published "experts" on U.S. atrocities in Vietnam. He has
"testified" before Congress, in Europe, and elsewhere that while in Vietnam
he deliberately killed "dozens and dozens" of innocent civilians as a Marine
artillery forward observer.
He has written extensively about his and others' atrocities in
Vietnam and he even teaches a course on the Vietnam War that
showcases his war crime accusations. Campbell, like Kerry, met with enemy
delegations -- Vietcong and North Vietnam Communist officials -- in Paris in
1971 while he was still a U.S. uniformed reservist. He was also flown to
Moscow that same year to meet with other Communist leaders, all expenses
paid by the Soviets.
Campbell's lawsuit put a unique spin on the definition of defamation: He
claimed that Stolen Honor damaged the public reputations of himself, Kerry
and others by questioning whether they truly were the baby-killers they
claimed to be!
Ignored and censored by the mainstream news networks, Stolen Honor
eventually aired on some small local cable outlets. The documentary managed
to penetrate Kerry's blacklisting in rural northern Ohio, Florida,
Pennsylvania and several other places. But, Campbell's lawsuit against
Sherwood continued in 2005, when he even added POWs who appeared in the film
to the litigation!
The POWs and the wives of POWs who participated in Stolen Honor refused to
abandon the facts conveyed in the film. For some of us, it was the first
time since our release by the Communists in 1973 that we were able to have
our voices publicly heard, to tell our stories about the consequences of
Kerry's treachery.
In 2005, we formed a nonprofit organization, the Vietnam
Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF), to gather records, documents and other
materials to form a fact-based, educational repository for students and
scholars of Vietnam history and to tell the true story of the American
soldiers in Vietnam. The VVLF's mission is "to set the record straight,
factually, about Vietnam and those who fought there."
For our efforts, we were promptly sued by Campbell and another long-time
anti-war Kerry follower and VVAW member, Dr. Jon Bjornson. It was clear that
Kerry not only wanted to punish us for Stolen Honor; he intended to use
surrogates to sue us into permanent silence and financial ruin.
But in lawsuits, even defendants have an opportunity to question the accuser
under oath in pre-trial depositions -- even when a lawsuit is filed solely
to harass, intimidate and silence and when the legal system is abused for
political vengeance, as these lawsuits clearly were.
Our chance came earlier this year when Kenneth Campbell was deposed. Among
the first thing he disclosed was that this was the first time he had
actually been put under oath in over 35 years of "testifying" about Vietnam
"war crimes." Neither he nor any of his fellow "war criminals" Kerry
included had ever been sworn in at any hearings, not before the Senate,
the House of Representatives, or anywhere.
All of the so-called "testimony" the old mainstream media trumpeted for
nearly four decades -- graphic, sickening and grisly "testimony" about
savage atrocities committed by Vietnam veterans, "testimony" to which
Congress and the media gave so much weight and credibility -- wasn't
"testimony" at all! Just propagandist speeches told without limitation or
fear of consequences, least of all penalties for perjury.
As for the "war crimes" Campbell claimed for years he committed and
personally witnessed, he now conceded he didn't actually see innocent
civilians killed by his artillery barrages. In fact, if anyone had been killed
or wounded, he admitted, they may not have been civilians at all! Concerning
other atrocities Campbell identified in his lawsuits -- things like Marines
massacring an entire village, killing surrendering enemy soldiers -- those
incidents, too, failed to stand up under questioning. Some were things he
said he had heard or assumed happened; others, he acknowledged, were simply
"rumors."
That Campbell alleged personal knowledge of horrible atrocities in his
complaints and then gave wholly different stories of hearsay and assumption
at his deposition is detailed in the recently filed Philadelphia lawsuit,
which repeatedly alleges that Campbell lied about supposed war crimes in
1971 and lied again when he claimed in 2004 that his war crime stories were
true.
While hard evidence may have been in short supply during his sworn
testimony, Campbell did offer the names of "witnesses" who would confirm his
stories. Not surprisingly, the first two were Kerry State Veterans Campaign
Coordinators and long-time VVAW organizers in Florida and Massachusetts.
Subpoenas were served on both men but, before either could be deposed, one
checked himself into a hospital for elective back surgery and the other had
himself arrested and committed to a mental institution. At last press
reports, he was released from the psychiatric hospital and fled the country
to Vietnam via Hawaii.
Both men clearly knew what was coming, as did Campbell. For the first time
in nearly four decades they would be forced to answer for their alleged "war
crimes," their slanderous accusations against their fellow soldiers finally
examined, under oath.
It was just a matter of days before all the lawsuits were withdrawn, nearly
two years of costly litigation abruptly ended, Campbell's libel claims
ground to dust under the weight of his own testimony.
Like their leader, John Kerry, his surrogates wanted no part of having to
defend these despicable allegations, or for being held accountable for the
great harm they and he continue to inflict on our men and women in uniform.
They fled the moment the light of truth shined their way.
My fellow POWs and I who were the target of these lawsuits are not willing
to quit or surrender. Kerry and his cowardly followers may have achieved
their purpose of keeping the American people from seeing Stolen Honor in
2004, but we refuse to allow the truth about Vietnam to remain untold.
Forced to spend huge sums to defend ourselves from these frivolous lawsuits,
we have filed a countersuit against these Kerry surrogates and intend to
reveal the truth about the lawsuits and their sponsors. We believe that we
can prove that the purpose of nearly two years of litigation was to cover up
for Kerry''s treachery, to drain us financially and spiritually, and to
prevent us from setting the record straight.
At stake is ultimately nothing less than the integrity of the American
military in Vietnam, the honor of the men who served their country, the
nobility of those who gave their lives, and the truth of America's history
in Vietnam. Until or unless we do correct the existing record, the American
military may never be free of the myths and smears of Vietnam, its honor and
integrity cleansed as it fights to defend freedom at home and around the
world.
Our mission is hardly over. We hope you will join us in fighting this battle
. . . for our soldiers, then and now.
Col. George E. "Bud" Day, USAF (Ret.,) was a POW in North Vietnam for five
years, seven months and 13 days. He served in three wars (WWII, Korea, and
Vietnam) and earned the Medal of Honor. He is the Air Force's most decorated
living veteran. He is the Director and President of the Vietnam Veterans
Legacy Foundation, Inc., an organization created to better educate and
inform the public about the Vietnam War, its events, its history, and the
men and women who sacrificed to serve their country.
(10/15/2006)
Thirty-five years ago John Kerry slandered an entire generation of men who
fought in Vietnam branding them as a "war criminals." Today, much of the
same thing is being said about our young men and women in Iraq.
Now, a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas will test the
very foundation of Kerry's anti-war persona for the first time. It isn't
dubious medals or Kerry's disputed service record in Vietnam that is being
called into question. This time Kerry may finally be forced to answer for
the events that launched his public career, one that made him an anti-war
hero for many American liberals and a turncoat for millions of Vietnam
veterans.
The lawsuit (Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, et al. v. Kenneth Campbell,
et al.) challenges the basis, the factual accuracy of then-Lt. (j.g.) Kerry's acrimonious
testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
in 1971. It was there Kerry's public career was catapulted with his now
ubiquitous portrayal of American soldiers as murderers, rapists and
torturers "who ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam . . . [and] razed
villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan."
Kerry said then his accusations were based on the so-called "testimony" of
"150 honorably discharged" Vietnam veterans who, like himself, claimed to
have committed or witnessed "war crimes, not isolated incidents but crimes
committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all
levels of command."
Many if not all were members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW),
an organization led by Kerry and financed by Jane Fonda during the early
1970s. Now, a number of those "witnesses" will be required to testify, under
oath for the first time ever, about what they really did and saw in Vietnam.
What these VVAW witnesses say could have implications reaching beyond
Kerry's veracity and reputation. Their lasting portrait of the American soldier as
a blood-thirsty butcher, a baby killer, is also at stake. And that picture
remains entrenched among their kind, "proof" that those serving in the U.S.
military, even today, truly are a "horde of barbarians" capable of
unspeakable brutalities. That is the underlying theme, the constant drumbeat
from the mainstream media and others as they try to undermine the American
military today.
For the anti-war, anti-American protesters, the American soldiers are the
"terrorists," and the enemies are the victims of a barbaric U.S. military
which tortures and murders defenseless civilians.
That false premise, one of the most vicious and enduring smears spawned by
Kerry 35 years ago, will also be put to the test once Kerry's true "Band of
Brothers" are put under oath in a Philadelphia courtroom.
The background to this lawsuit is long and complex, but even a condensed
version is rich in irony and poetic justice.
It had it roots in 2004 with the documentary Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never
Heal. Many may recall the film, although it is probably best known for not
being seen, suppressed after Sinclair Broadcasting Company courageously
announced it was going to air the documentary in its entirety. Thanks to
Kerry and his liberal colleagues in the Senate and their enablers in the
mainstream media, Sinclair was browbeaten into withdrawing the film, its
broadcast license threatened by a Kerry campaign manager in 2004.
Stolen Honor focused on Kerry's venomous diatribe before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee in April 1971 when he accused Vietnam veterans of "war
crimes" on a genocidal scale. (A full transcript is available at
http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/index.php?topic=Testimony. ) It examined
the impact Kerry's widely reported statements had on hundreds of Americans
who were being held prisoners of war by the North Vietnamese communists. The
filmâ?Ts producer, Carlton Sherwood, a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody
Award-winning investigative reporter, interviewed former POWs for the
documentary.
I was among those whom Sherwood, a decorated Marine combat veteran himself,
asked to participate in Stolen Honor. I was a POW for nearly six years, held
in North Vietnam prison camps, including the notorious Hanoi Hilton, a place
of unimaginable horrors -- torture, beatings, starvation and mind-numbing
isolation. When Kerry branded us "war criminals," he handed our captors all
the justification they needed to carry out their threats to execute us.
Thanks to Kerry, Jane Fonda and their comrades in the anti-war movement, our
captivity was prolonged by years. The communists in Hanoi and Moscow couldn't
have had a better press agent to spread their anti-American propaganda.
To guarantee Stolen Honor would never be seen by anyone not even
theatre-goers the producer was slapped with a libel and defamation
lawsuit. That lawsuit was filed by Kenneth Campbell, a University of
Delaware professor, Kerry campaign aide, and long-time anti-war disciple of
the Massachusetts Senator. Campbell co-founded the Philadelphia chapter of
Vietnam Veterans Against the War and, in 1971, he was one of Kerry's key war
crimes "witnesses," one of several on whom Kerry claims he based his Senate
testimony.
Campbell was and still is regarded by some as one of the VVAW's most
articulate and published "experts" on U.S. atrocities in Vietnam. He has
"testified" before Congress, in Europe, and elsewhere that while in Vietnam
he deliberately killed "dozens and dozens" of innocent civilians as a Marine
artillery forward observer.
He has written extensively about his and others' atrocities in
Vietnam and he even teaches a course on the Vietnam War that
showcases his war crime accusations. Campbell, like Kerry, met with enemy
delegations -- Vietcong and North Vietnam Communist officials -- in Paris in
1971 while he was still a U.S. uniformed reservist. He was also flown to
Moscow that same year to meet with other Communist leaders, all expenses
paid by the Soviets.
Campbell's lawsuit put a unique spin on the definition of defamation: He
claimed that Stolen Honor damaged the public reputations of himself, Kerry
and others by questioning whether they truly were the baby-killers they
claimed to be!
Ignored and censored by the mainstream news networks, Stolen Honor
eventually aired on some small local cable outlets. The documentary managed
to penetrate Kerry's blacklisting in rural northern Ohio, Florida,
Pennsylvania and several other places. But, Campbell's lawsuit against
Sherwood continued in 2005, when he even added POWs who appeared in the film
to the litigation!
The POWs and the wives of POWs who participated in Stolen Honor refused to
abandon the facts conveyed in the film. For some of us, it was the first
time since our release by the Communists in 1973 that we were able to have
our voices publicly heard, to tell our stories about the consequences of
Kerry's treachery.
In 2005, we formed a nonprofit organization, the Vietnam
Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF), to gather records, documents and other
materials to form a fact-based, educational repository for students and
scholars of Vietnam history and to tell the true story of the American
soldiers in Vietnam. The VVLF's mission is "to set the record straight,
factually, about Vietnam and those who fought there."
For our efforts, we were promptly sued by Campbell and another long-time
anti-war Kerry follower and VVAW member, Dr. Jon Bjornson. It was clear that
Kerry not only wanted to punish us for Stolen Honor; he intended to use
surrogates to sue us into permanent silence and financial ruin.
But in lawsuits, even defendants have an opportunity to question the accuser
under oath in pre-trial depositions -- even when a lawsuit is filed solely
to harass, intimidate and silence and when the legal system is abused for
political vengeance, as these lawsuits clearly were.
Our chance came earlier this year when Kenneth Campbell was deposed. Among
the first thing he disclosed was that this was the first time he had
actually been put under oath in over 35 years of "testifying" about Vietnam
"war crimes." Neither he nor any of his fellow "war criminals" Kerry
included had ever been sworn in at any hearings, not before the Senate,
the House of Representatives, or anywhere.
All of the so-called "testimony" the old mainstream media trumpeted for
nearly four decades -- graphic, sickening and grisly "testimony" about
savage atrocities committed by Vietnam veterans, "testimony" to which
Congress and the media gave so much weight and credibility -- wasn't
"testimony" at all! Just propagandist speeches told without limitation or
fear of consequences, least of all penalties for perjury.
As for the "war crimes" Campbell claimed for years he committed and
personally witnessed, he now conceded he didn't actually see innocent
civilians killed by his artillery barrages. In fact, if anyone had been killed
or wounded, he admitted, they may not have been civilians at all! Concerning
other atrocities Campbell identified in his lawsuits -- things like Marines
massacring an entire village, killing surrendering enemy soldiers -- those
incidents, too, failed to stand up under questioning. Some were things he
said he had heard or assumed happened; others, he acknowledged, were simply
"rumors."
That Campbell alleged personal knowledge of horrible atrocities in his
complaints and then gave wholly different stories of hearsay and assumption
at his deposition is detailed in the recently filed Philadelphia lawsuit,
which repeatedly alleges that Campbell lied about supposed war crimes in
1971 and lied again when he claimed in 2004 that his war crime stories were
true.
While hard evidence may have been in short supply during his sworn
testimony, Campbell did offer the names of "witnesses" who would confirm his
stories. Not surprisingly, the first two were Kerry State Veterans Campaign
Coordinators and long-time VVAW organizers in Florida and Massachusetts.
Subpoenas were served on both men but, before either could be deposed, one
checked himself into a hospital for elective back surgery and the other had
himself arrested and committed to a mental institution. At last press
reports, he was released from the psychiatric hospital and fled the country
to Vietnam via Hawaii.
Both men clearly knew what was coming, as did Campbell. For the first time
in nearly four decades they would be forced to answer for their alleged "war
crimes," their slanderous accusations against their fellow soldiers finally
examined, under oath.
It was just a matter of days before all the lawsuits were withdrawn, nearly
two years of costly litigation abruptly ended, Campbell's libel claims
ground to dust under the weight of his own testimony.
Like their leader, John Kerry, his surrogates wanted no part of having to
defend these despicable allegations, or for being held accountable for the
great harm they and he continue to inflict on our men and women in uniform.
They fled the moment the light of truth shined their way.
My fellow POWs and I who were the target of these lawsuits are not willing
to quit or surrender. Kerry and his cowardly followers may have achieved
their purpose of keeping the American people from seeing Stolen Honor in
2004, but we refuse to allow the truth about Vietnam to remain untold.
Forced to spend huge sums to defend ourselves from these frivolous lawsuits,
we have filed a countersuit against these Kerry surrogates and intend to
reveal the truth about the lawsuits and their sponsors. We believe that we
can prove that the purpose of nearly two years of litigation was to cover up
for Kerry''s treachery, to drain us financially and spiritually, and to
prevent us from setting the record straight.
At stake is ultimately nothing less than the integrity of the American
military in Vietnam, the honor of the men who served their country, the
nobility of those who gave their lives, and the truth of America's history
in Vietnam. Until or unless we do correct the existing record, the American
military may never be free of the myths and smears of Vietnam, its honor and
integrity cleansed as it fights to defend freedom at home and around the
world.
Our mission is hardly over. We hope you will join us in fighting this battle
. . . for our soldiers, then and now.
Col. George E. "Bud" Day, USAF (Ret.,) was a POW in North Vietnam for five
years, seven months and 13 days. He served in three wars (WWII, Korea, and
Vietnam) and earned the Medal of Honor. He is the Air Force's most decorated
living veteran. He is the Director and President of the Vietnam Veterans
Legacy Foundation, Inc., an organization created to better educate and
inform the public about the Vietnam War, its events, its history, and the
men and women who sacrificed to serve their country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)