USA, Israel Pondering Joint "Surgical Strike" Against Iran?

The United States and Israel are considering the possibility of a joint "surgical strike" against Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a Foreign Policy report by David Rothkopf published Monday.

While Israel and the U.S. still don’t entirely agree on the "red line" which would trigger a military response, the report said that the Israelis are now suggesting a more limited attack than was previously debated.

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Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official and international relations expert, quoted a source said to be close to the discussions, which claimed that a small-scale attack is currently viewed as the most likely military option. Such strike, the source said, is likely to only take a few hours and would be conducted by air, using bombers and supported by drones.
     

In order to send the Iranian nuclear program back many years, such an attack could be carried out in a joint U.S.-Israeli operation, or by the U.S. alone. The report claims Israel would not be able to carry out this kind of attack on its own.

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Israel Strikes Gaza Targets In Retaliation Against Hamas

The IDF struck a number of sites in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including one located in a mosque, in response to continued rocket and mortar fire by Hamas and Islamic Jihad toward southern Israel throughout the morning.

In a statement released Monday, the IDF spokesperson said that the IDF hit "a number of terror cells and targets of the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in response to the rockets fired this morning toward territory of the state of Israel.." The target located in a mosque, the IDF spokesperson said, "is part of the use the organization (Hamas) makes of religious sites for terror activities."

In an unusual move, the military wing of Hamas, along with the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for firing some 50 mortar shells and rockets toward the western Negev area on Monday morning. They said in a statement that they were responding to the IDF targeting two militants in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, reportedly killing one of them, and injuring 11 civilian bystanders.  

Monday morning's rockets and mortars landed in open fields in the Eshkol Regional Council, with three reportedly hitting Kerem Shalom. Shrapnel from the shells caused damage to some residential buildings, but no injuries were reported...  Continued.

Turkey Attacks Syria For Second Day In A Row

AKCAKALE, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey fired on Syrian targets for a second day Thursday but said it has no intention of declaring war, despite tensions after deadly shelling from Syria killed five civilians in a Turkish border town. The border violence has added a dangerous new dimension to a conflict that is pulling Syria's neighbors deeper into what already resembles a proxy war.

Turkey's Parliament began an emergency session to discuss a bill authorizing the military to launch cross border operations in Syria. If approved, the bill could more easily open the way to unilateral action by Turkey's armed forces inside Syria, without the involvement of its Western and Arab allies. Turkey has had a similar measure in place for years for northern Iraq, where its big guns and jets periodically attack Kurdish militants.

Still, there is a distinction between the prospect of retaliatory strikes by Turkey, most likely in the form of more artillery barrages and possibly even air strikes in the border region, and any decision to send troops into the Syrian maelstrom. Turkish leaders are acutely aware of the risks of open-ended intervention, especially without the support of an international coalition; observers do not expect robust action from the United States ahead of the presidential vote next month.
Iran's support for the Syrian regime, a counter to backing for the opposition from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries, has raised worries about increasing sectarianism and the spread of the conflict.

The cross-border tensions escalated on Wednesday after a shell fired from inside Syria landed on a home in the Turkish village of Akcakale, killing a woman, her three daughters and another woman, and wounding at least 10 others, according to Turkish media. The Syrian mortar shell damaged the door and walls of a house in Akcakale, while shrapnel drilled holes and shattered windows of neighboring houses and shops. Some residents of Akcakale abandoned their homes close to the border and spent the night on the streets. Others gathered outside the local mayor's office, afraid to return to their homes as the dull thud of distant artillery fire rumbled across the town.

Continued, here.

Extreme Muslim Rapes 2yr Old Pakistani Girl

Muslim fanatic brutally rapes 2yr old Pakistani Christian girl because her family refuses to convert to Islam.

The girl was severely traumatized and nearly died. Even after five surgeries, she cannot urinate normally. She will never be able to have children. The family must now live in hiding for fear that they will be killed for reporting the attack.
 

France Is Set To Ban The Words "Mother" And "Father" From Marriage Documents

France is set to ban the words "mother" and "father" from all official documents under controversial plans to legalise gay marriage.
The move, which has outraged Catholics, means only the word "parents" would be used in identical marriage ceremonies for all heterosexual and same-sex couples.

The draft law states that "marriage is a union of two people, of different or the same gender".
It says all references to "mothers and fathers" in the civil code – which enshrines French law – will be swapped for simply "parents".
The law would also give equal adoption rights to homosexual and heterosexual couples.
Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told France's Catholic newspaper La Croix: "Who is to say that a heterosexual couple will bring a child up better than a homosexual couple, that they will guarantee the best conditions for the child's development?"

“What is certain is that the interest of the child is a major preoccupation for the government." The head of the French Catholic Church Cardinal Philippe Barbarin warned followers last week that gay marriage could lead to legalised incest and polygamy in society.

He told the Christian's RFC radio station: "Gay marriage would herald a complete breakdown in society.

"This could have innumerable consequences. Afterward they will want to create couples with three or four members. And after that, perhaps one day the taboo of incest will fall."

Leading French Catholics have also published a 'Prayer for France', which says: "Children should not be subjected to adults' desires and conflicts, so they can fully benefit from the love of their mother and father."

And Pope Benedict XVI invited 30 French bishops to Italy to urge them to fight against the new law.
He told them: "We have there a true challenge to take on. The family that is the foundation of social life is threatened in many places, following a concept of human nature that has proven defective."

 President Francois Hollande pledged in his manifesto to legalise gay marriage. The draft law will be presented to his cabinet for approval on October 31.

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Scared Of Islam?

Islamic countries indoctrinate children with hatred toward Israel and teach them Israel has no historic claim to the land or the city of Jerusalem, Nonie Darwish, founder of Arabs for Israel, told WND’s Greg Corombos.

 

Darwish shared her story of being born into a Muslim family in Egypt and being raised to hate Israel.
“It is the total annihilation of Israel and the Jews,” she said. “This is what the center of the educational system in the whole Arab world is. We were taught Jerusalem is a Muslim city; Jews had nothing to do with it, and we have to liberate it. … There’s no acknowledgement that Jerusalem has any roots in Judaism or Christianity. There’s total denial of history.”
Darwish said she only learned the truth after she came to America, because the Muslim world often filters and censors information.

“I actually worked in censorship when I was a journalist in the Middle East,” she explained. “Information is totally filtered, and the propaganda, at the same time, is daily, very intense. Islam lives on propaganda and denies the truth.”

She said any person who challenges the Muslim version of the truth is “immediately regarded as a traitor, and riots happen and this person’s life is threatened.”
Darwish warned, “This is now coming to the West, this fear that I used to live in in the Muslim world – which was fear of speaking my mind, fear of saying the truth – is now following me to America. … My culture of origin is now infecting America with fear of speaking the truth.

Continued, here.

Kenya: Child Killed From Grenade Attack In Church

One child has been killed and three seriously hurt, police say, in a grenade attack on a church's Sunday school in the Kenya capital, Nairobi.

The attacker targeted St Polycarp's church on Juja Road.

A police spokesman blamed sympathisers of Somalia's al-Shabab Islamist militant group, angry over Kenya's role in the UN-backed intervention force.

A mob later rounded on Somalis living near the church with sticks and stones in a suspected revenge attack.

Police chief Moses Nyakwama told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that 13 people had been injured in the revenge attack, in the suburb of Eastleigh.

Separately, two police officers were killed in an ambush in the town of Garissa, near the border with Somalia.

In July, 15 people were killed in raids on churches in Garissa, and there was speculation that al-Shabab or its sympathisers were responsible.
'Running for their lives'
Reports suggested a number of those hurt at the church were injured in a stampede after the attack.

Story continued here.

Azerbaijan Mulls Helping Israel With Iran Attack

Israel's "go-it-alone" option to attack Iran's nuclear sites has set the Middle East on edge and unsettled its main ally at the height of a U.S. presidential election campaign.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exudes impatience, saying Tehran is barely a year from a "red line" for atomic capacity. Many fellow Israelis, however, fear a unilateral strike, lacking U.S. forces, would fail against such a large and distant enemy.

But what if, even without Washington, Israel were not alone?

Azerbaijan, the oil-rich ex-Soviet republic on Iran's far northern border, has, say local sources with knowledge of its military policy, explored with Israel how Azeri air bases and spy drones might help Israeli jets pull off a long-range attack.

That is a far cry from the massive firepower and diplomatic cover that Netanyahu wants from Washington. But, by addressing key weaknesses in any Israeli war plan - notably on refueling, reconnaissance and rescuing crews - such an alliance might tilt Israeli thinking on the feasibility of acting without U.S. help.

Continued.

What Would Muhammad Do About "That Video"?

By Khaled

I received lots of feedback from Western Christians to my article “What Just Happened? A Former Muslim’s Thoughts on the “Muhammad Video””. Most of the messages were asking the same question: Why are Muslims behaving this way about the Muhammad video?

To my Arab Muslim background mind it is clear why many Muslims have to act like this. Let us say that I was programmed like these angry Muslims to certain Islamic standards and an important one of them is this: do not think, and do not do the unthinkable. In this case, the unthinkable is to ridicule Muhammad and mock him in any form especially visual presentation.

Sunni Muslims do not allow actors to play the role of Muhammad in any video or audio production that tells his story from the Islamic perspective. You never could see or hear Muhammad. This also extends to drawing Muhammad—you cannot even draw him, nor have a portrait of him, in Sunni Islam.

Now, this “insulting” video is made with an actor portraying Muhammad in a ridiculous and mocking way. Many Muslims who have never before seen their prophet being portrayed by an actor and then see him for the first time in such a shameful presentation will be greatly enraged. This also extends to any funny drawings (caricatures) of him.

So, the issue we have here is a double anathema: first, representing Muhammad by an actor or a drawing; and second, insulting him.

It did not occur to me to write this article at first.  After several Westerners inquired about why Muslims acted in this way, I fell back on my comfort zone excuse of “cultural differences.”

What finally made me write this article was a message from a close friend, who is an Arabic-speaking Middle Eastern Christian who knows a lot about Muslims and Islam. He sent me this:

"So to sum up; a bad biased clip full of unproven assumptions caused riots and the death of tens of people in several countries. As much as I disagree with the movie the question that remains is: how far is the Islamic mentality willing to go until it can deal with critique? Till when do they think we should be dealing with their ultra-sensitive ego issues?

What kind of sick narcissism, or should I say lack of self-confidence is it that leads them to such acts? Why have other nations found ways to deal with critique, but they think we should wear silk gloves if we touch any of their holy (sub)objects? They feel attacked, humiliated and discriminated, that may be the case. Across history many nations have dealt with worse and were able to overcome it."

That woke me up. If he couldn't understand why, even though he speaks the language, has been around Muslims, and has been involved with them for a great part of his life, then I cannot just say “cultural differences” anymore.

So, how could I explain this issue? Continued, here.

Saudis To Nigerian Women: No Mahram, No Pilgrimage To Mecca

ABUJA (AFP) – Saudi Arabia has denied entry to some 1,000 Nigerian women seeking to visit for Hajj because they were not accompanied by men, with most stuck at the Jeddah airport, Nigerian officials said Wednesday.

The women, who began arriving Sunday at the airport in Jeddah, in western Saudi Arabia, were facing possible deportations by Saudi authorities, said a report compiled by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, which oversees Nigerian participation in the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

 

“Upon enquiries by the reception team officials of the National Hajj Commission in the airport, they were told that the pilgrims were held back because of lack of mahram (lawful male accompanying pilgrim),” said the report, which was submitted to the Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

About 171 of the women returned home to Nigeria on a flight Wednesday, an official said.
“These women were not deported. They were returned based on the decision by the National Hajj Commission because the embarrassment from the Saudi authorities was becoming unbearable,” commission spokesman Umar Bala told AFP.

Bilateral talks were ongoing between officials of the two countries to resolve the issue, he added. He said that about 1,000 women were still blocked at the Jeddah airport.
According to the report, Nigerian pilgrims’ welfare boards have in the past acted as “mahrams” and visas have been granted on that basis.

The report said that officials observed that flights which arrived at the Medina airport were not subjected to such treatment.
“Only those in Jeddah were affected. Checks at the Jeddah airport revealed that only Nigerian pilgrims were subjected to such treatment,” the report said.
Last year, nearly three million Muslim pilgrims performed the Hajj, which represents one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all Muslims who are able to do so.

Roughly half of Nigeria’s 160 million people are Muslim. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation.
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