What a waste of space these MP's are

From Melanie Phillips site. Some of these MP's appear to be so thick, they probably can't touch their bums with both hands. Sarah Teather has no excuses, there's plenty of Jewish and Muslim people in her constituency who could explain to her about Israel and the terrorists of Hezbollah.

Perhaps she should consider becoming a shelf-stacker at Tesco's.

January 10, 2007

Spelling it out

First we learned that Americans on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee didn’t know their Sunni from their Shia. Then we learned from the Sunday Times that British politicians who claimed some expertise in the Middle East were no better:

Both Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East, and Sally Keeble, Labour member for Northampton North, thought Hezbollah was an organisation based in Palestine. Anne Milton, the Tory MP for Guildford, wears the dunce’s cap after getting 13 out of 14 questions wrong. It even slipped her mind that she was a member of the Friends of Islam group. ‘Ooh, am I?’ she said. ‘Oh yes, I suppose so. I forgot. I don’t think I’ve sat on it yet.’ Gordon Marsden, the Labour MP for Blackpool South and treasurer for the British Lebanon all-party parliamentary group, did not know who the leader of Hezbollah was. Asked if Al-Qaeda was Sunni or Sh’ite, Brian Iddon, Labour MP for Bolton South East and secretary of the Britain-Palestine parliamentary group, said: ‘Well, it attracts all sorts.’

Oh dear.

They should read this article in the Wall Street Journal by Peter Wehner, deputy assistant to the President and Director of the White House’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, who explains the differences between Sunni and Shia. In particular, he sets out how the Shi’ite Ayatollah Khomeini subscribed to the cult of apocalyptic messianism of which Ahmadinejad is also an apostle, and which makes the Iranian regime totally impervious to the theory of mutually assured destruction which has kept the nuclear peace until now. By contrast, Sunni al Qaeda does not believe in the imminent end of days but sees its war upon the infidels as very much part of this earthly life. Both agendas, in their different ways, are totally non-negotiable. Wehner goes on:

Since the attacks of September 11, we have learned important things about al Qaeda and its allies. Their movement is fueled by hatred and deep resentments against the West, America, and the course of history. In Islam’s first few centuries of existence, it was a dominant and expanding force in the world, sweeping across lands in the modern-day Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and elsewhere. During its Golden Age — which spanned from the eighth to the 13th century — Islam was the philosophical, educational, and scientific center of the world. The Ottoman Empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century. Islam then began to recede as a political force. In the 17th century, for example, advancing Muslims were defeated at the gates of Vienna, the last time an Islamic army threatened the heart of Europe. And for radicals like bin Laden, a milestone event and historic humiliation came when the Ottoman Empire crumbled at the end of World War I.

This is significant because for many Muslims, the proper order of life in this world is for them to rule and for the ‘infidels’ to be ruled over. The end of the Ottoman Empire was deeply disorienting. Then, in 1923-24 came the establishment of modern, secular Turkey under Kemal Ataturk–and the abolishment of the caliphate. Osama bin Laden and his militant Sunni followers seek to reverse all that. Bin Laden sees himself as the new caliph; he has referred to himself as the ‘commander of the faithful.’ He is seeking to unify all of Islam–and resume a jihad against the unbelievers.

According to Mary Habeck of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University: ‘Jihadis thus neither recognize national boundaries within the Islamic lands nor do they believe that the coming Islamic state, when it is created, should have permanent borders with the unbelievers. The recognition of such boundaries would end the expansion of Islam and stop offensive jihad, both of which are transgressions against the laws of God that command jihad to last until Judgment Day or until the entire earth is under the rule of Islamic law.’

Al Qaeda and its terrorist allies are waging their war on several continents. They have killed innocent people in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Far East, and the United States. They will try to overthrow governments and seize power where they can–and where they cannot, they will attempt to inflict fear and destruction by disrupting settled ways of life. They will employ every weapon they can: assassinations, car bombs, airplanes, and, if they can secure them, biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. The theocratic and totalitarian ideology that characterizes al Qaeda makes typical negotiations impossible. ‘Anyone who stands in the way of our struggle is our enemy and target of the swords,’ said Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the late leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Osama bin Laden put it this way: ‘Death is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us.’

…The war against global jihadism will be long, and we will experience success and setbacks along the way. The temptation of the West will be to grow impatient and, in the face of this long struggle, to grow weary. Some will demand a quick victory and, absent that, they will want to withdraw from the battle. But this is a war from which we cannot withdraw. As we saw on September 11th, there are no safe harbors in which to hide. Our enemies have declared war on us, and their hatreds cannot be sated. We will either defeat them, or they will come after us with the unsheathed sword.

Maybe someone should send this to all our members of Parliament and Congress. If they read it aloud very slowly and trace each word with their fingers, they might just get it.

I doubt it Melanie!