I remember the day. I was in my apartment, studying for finals, on a cold December morning, when I heard the news about Pan-Am flight 103 over Scotland. I remember, in particular, the name Syracuse and how 35 students--kids like me with parents like mine--on their way home for Christmas, were senselessly killed. That "jihad" was responsible, and that a man by the name of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi would be convicted of terror, wasn't known.
Jihad was new, obscure, and the single Ali I could reference had invented the "rope-a-dope" and applied it to a future meat-grill salesman. Kareem Abdul Jabaar (Lew Alcindor) was "strange," but Ali was American, Kentucky bred, and had taken Gold-via-fist in Olympian style. Cassius Clay would become Muhammad Ali, and the latter, not Ali al-Magrahi, symbolized a faith neither ominous nor oppressive insofar as violence was concerned. The only terror I knew was confined to comely co-eds and the damning ineloquence their presence dealt my mouth.
The Soviets were the enemy. The Beirut barracks bombing in which 220 Serviceman perished failed to resonate as symptomatic of Jihad. Russia made missiles. Muslims wired trucks. Indeed, when THEE symbol of oppression, the Berlin Wall, fell (1990), it portended an era of cooperation and peace. The Beirut bombing ('83), and the Lockerbie nightmare ('88), were minor setbacks to a New Golden Age.
It never materialized. Instead, despite the enormity of 9-11, and the outing of Jihad as a bane to the West, Muslim extremism is accommodated in Europe. Without nuclear weapons (yet), the jihadists have managed to effect policy across the continent, and the Archbishop of Canterbury (the Protestant Pope) is quoted as saying that Sharia Law is "unavoidable." Sharia Law, straight from the Koran and Muhammad's "hadith," demands a litany of punishments anathema to human rights. These include:
the whipping of gamblers and those who drink alcohol
the permitting of wife-battery
eye-for-eye justice
the mutilation of thieves
the execution of homosexuals
the stoning of adulterers
the murder of critics
the murder of apostates
support of caliphate (Sharia law) via terror
That the Archbishop would call this "unavoidable" should send a chill down every American's spine. An estimated40% of British Muslims support the murder of Christian converts and impunity for the aggressor. Yet, Scottish police, last Thursday, allowed the savage who blew a hole in a plane, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, to amble into the desert sun, a Free Man. Said Justice Spokesman, Kerry MacAskill: "Scotland will forever remember the crime that has been perpetrated against our people and those from many lands.... Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion be available.... Our beliefs dictate that justice be served, but mercy be shown."
This is stunning. Al-Megrahi, who has cancer, is compassionately granted a family farewell, while the families of his victims are left to contemplate why, after serving eight years, he receives a hero's welcome on Libyan soil. Said, Aisha, his wife: "I am overjoyed, it is indescribable. It is a great moment which we have been waiting for.... The house is bursting; everyone who loves Abdel is with us."
Feel good? Barack Obama, who in Cairo compared the struggle of American feminism to the plight of women who are treated like dogs, called the release a "mistake."
Excuse me?
A mistake is missing the off-ramp. Releasing a man who sent 270 people to violent termination is DISGRACEFUL, Dear Leader. Your bow to King Abdullah and your declaration that America "is not a Christian nation" lead some to question where your sympathy lies. On Saturday, to mark the advent of Ramadan, the president issued a message (here excerpted) from the White House:
On behalf of the American people--including Muslim communities in all 50 states--I want to extend best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world. Ramadan Kareem.
Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection--a time when Muslims fast during the day and perform tarawih prayers at night, reciting and listening to the entire Koran over the course of the month.
These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam's role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings....
Justice? Where is the justice for the childless mother whose son died in mid-air? Tolerance? Where is the tolerance for those murdered in cold blood for converting to Christianity? Dignity? Where is the dignity for the Muslim girl cloaked in a burqae and kept illiterate her whole life?
Obviously, Mr. President, you don't compass peril. Forty-eight hours after the release of a monster, you paint a rosy picture. Where are the thorns?
Greg Halvorson is an island of conservative clarity in the liberal armpit of Portlandia, Oregon. He regularly drives liberals berserk at The Conservative Hammer Facebook page. His Twitter handle is @GHalv.
