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Veterans Against Jihad (VAJ) Takes on ‘Threat’ of Sharia Law

Discussion in 'General political debates' started by punkmar77, Oct 8, 2010.

  1. punkmar77

    punkmar77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    re-posted from SPLC's Hatewatch

    http://www.splcenter.org/blog/topics/anti-muslim/


    Veterans Against Jihad Takes on ‘Threat’ of Sharia Law
    Posted in Anti-Muslim by Alexander Zaitchik on October 1, 2010



    The latest fairy tale to emerge from the paranoid right is the idea that the United States legal system is haunted by the specter of Sharia law. Although strict Islamic legal codes are the rare exception even among Muslim-majority nations, anti-Muslim groups and individuals — including well-known politicians like Newt Gingrich — are now warning with straight faces that mullahs could soon be caning American schoolchildren if they get caught chewing gum.

    Among the groups decrying this make-believe threat, a relatively new organization called Veterans Against Jihad (VAJ) seems particularly well positioned to benefit from the current Sharia hysteria. Founded last spring by two retired Marine Corps veterans, the goal of VAJ is to “to encourage Veterans to more actively respond to challenges threatening our Constitution [and] awaken American Citizens to Islam’s Jihadist religious mandate, which dictates the teaching of Shari’ah law, and how Shari’ah Law will impact our way of life.”

    Toward this end, the group is asking all veterans to “renew and retake The Oath of Enlistment, reaffirming their loyalty to our Constitution, our Country and it’s [sic] citizens.” But the VAJ’s understanding of that loyalty is an unusual one; its manifesto specifies the kinds of orders its members can respect as well as what sort of authority it deems legitimate. The VAJ code promises only to cooperate with those officials “legally enforcing, and/or preserving our nation’s security.” Judging from the VAJ site, it is clear the group does not consider that the current Democratic White House fits the bill.

    The VAJ’s distaste for religiously flavored law, however, is selective. Among the far-right groups and individuals linked to on its site is Reclaim America for Christ, which is on a mission to “educate our pastors, legislators, educators, students and all citizens as to the truth about America’s Christian Heritage and the role of fundamental, Biblical Christianity in the establishment and function of our legal, legislative and educational systems.”

    While the VAJ works to protect America from Allah and reclaim it for Christ, it sees the menace of Sharia everywhere, including law firms that offer consultations on the (private) intricacies of Islamic estate planning. But as this article in the New Jersey Jewish News notes (referenced in this Eugene Robinson column), there has in the entire history of the republic been only one instance of an actual crime (domestic abuse) being forgiven by a U.S. judge on grounds of “Islamic practices” — and this ruling was swiftly overturned by another judge.

    “Talk of Sharia law taking root in our country is just a way of stirring up nativist fears,” said Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “It would require throwing out the entire Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. Obviously, no such effort would have the remotest chance of success.”
     

  2. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    We organized an information event on thursday evening against the foreign assignments of the german army, especially the ifor-contingent in Afghanistan. The evening went hot, because of media reports about another (the 44th) stupid fuck of the german ifor-troupe was killed by an afghan suicide bomber, 14 more were wounded. So we had many more german visitors opposing the continuation of the ifor-operation than we expected.
    And as if to add insult to the injury, one of these VAJ-weirdos showed up too - claiming to be a GI on sick leave from a us-hospital in heidelberg, and have learned by coincidence of the event while visiting our city.
    But the german ex-soldier we invited to talk about his experiences in Afghanistan is a member of a german group opposing the ifor-operation and he claimed, that the same guy appeared already on other information events too, always claiming to be "just a VAJ-member passing by".
    The statements of mr. undercover brought the assembly nearly to explosion and after some people got really angry, I had to ask him to leave and indeed he did.

    Some strange thing to think about, and after I remembered the wikileaks article from april I got a real bad feeling...
    Wikileaks is currently down, so it took some time to find it again
    http://www.saarbreaker.com/2010/04/cia- ... emorandum/ - it's a german site!

    CIA Red Cell
    A Red Cell Special Memorandum 11 March 2010

    Afghanistan: Sustaining West European Support for the NATOled Mission – Why Counting on Apathy Might Not Be Enough (C//NF)

    The fall of the Dutch Government over its troop commitment to Afghanistan demonstrates the fragility of European support for the NATO-led ISAF mission. Some NATO states, notably France and Germany, have counted on public apathy about Afghanistan to increase their contributions to the mission, but indifference might turn into active hostility if spring and summer fighting results in an upsurge in military or Afghan civilian casualties and if a Dutchstyle debate spills over into other states contributing troops. The Red Cell invited a CIA expert on strategic communication and analysts following public opinion at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) to consider information approaches that might better link the Afghan mission to the priorities of French, German, and other Western European publics. (C//NF)

    Public Apathy Enables Leaders To Ignore Voters … (C//NF)

    The Afghanistan mission’s low public salience has allowed French and German leaders to disregard popular opposition and steadily increase their troop contributions to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Berlin and Paris currently maintain the third and fourth highest ISAF troop levels, despite the opposition of 80 percent of German and French respondents to increased ISAF deployments, according to INR polling in fall 2009.

    Only a fraction (0.1-1.3 percent) of French and German respondents identified “Afghanistan” as the most urgent issue facing their nation in an open-ended question, according to the same polling. These publics ranked “stabilizing Afghanistan” as among the lowest priorities for US and European leaders, according to polls by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) over the past two years.

    According to INR polling in the fall of 2009, the view that the Afghanistan mission is a waste of resources and “not our problem” was cited as the most common reason for opposing ISAF by German respondents and was the second most common reason by French respondents. But the “not our problem” sentiment also suggests that, so for, sending troops to Afghanistan is not yet on most voters’ radar. (C//NF)

    … But Casualties Could Precipitate Backlash (C//NF)
    If some forecasts of a bloody summer in Afghanistan come to pass, passive French and German dislike of their troop presence could turn into active and politically potent hostility. The tone of previous debate suggests that a spike in French or German casualties or in Afghan civilian casualties could become a tipping point in converting passive opposition into active calls for immediate withdrawal. (C//NF)

    French and German commitments to NATO are a safeguard against a precipitous departure, but leaders fearing a backlash ahead of spring regional elections might become unwilling to pay a political price for increasing troop levels or extending deployments. If domestic politics forces the Dutch to depart, politicians elsewhere might cite a precedent for “listening to the voters.” French and German leaders have over the past two years taken steps to preempt an upsurge of opposition but their vulnerability may be higher now:

    To strengthen support, President Sarkozy called on the National Assembly – whose approval is not required for ISAF – to affirm the French mission after the combat deaths of 10 soldiers in August 2008. The government won the vote handily, defusing a potential crisis and giving Sarkozy cover to deploy approximately 3,000 additional troops. Sarkozy, however, may now be more vulnerable to an upsurge in casualties because his party faces key regional elections this March and the already low support for ISAF has fallen by one-third since March 2009, according to INR polling in the fall of 2009.

    Political fallout from the German-ordered Kunduz airstrike in September 2009 which killed dozens of Afghan civilians, demonstrated the potential pressure on the German Government when Afghanistan issues come up on the public radar. Concern about the potential effects of Afghanistan issues on the state-level election in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2010 could make Chancellor Merkel – who has shown an unwillingness to expend political capital on Afghanistan – more hesitant about increasing or even sustaining Germany’s ISAF contributions. (C//NF)

    Tailoring Messaging Could Forestall or At Least Contain Backlash (C//NF)
    Western European publics might be better prepared to tolerate a spring and summer ofgreater military and civilian casualties if they perceive clear connections between outcomes in Afghanistan and their own priorities. A consistent and iterative strategic communication program across NATO troop contributors that taps into the key concerns of specific Western European audiences could provide a buffer if today’s apathy becomes tomorrow’s opposition to ISAF, giving politicians greater scope to support deployments to Afghanistan. (C//NF)

    French Focused On Civilians and Refugees
    Focusing on a message that ISAF benefits Afghan civilians and citing examples of concrete gains could limit and perhaps even reverse opposition to the mission. Such tailored messages could tap into acute French concern for civilians and refugees. Those who support ISAF in INR surveys from fall 2009 most frequently cited their perception that the mission helps Afghan civilians, while opponents most commonly argued that the mission hurts civilians. Contradicting the “ISAF does more harm than good” perception is clearly important, particularly for France’s Muslim minority:

    Highlighting Afghans’ broad support for ISAF could underscore the mission’s positive impact on civilians. About two-thirds of Afghans support the presence of ISAF forces in Afghanistan, according to a reliable ABC/BBC/ADR poll conducted in December 2009. According to INR polling in fall 2009, those French and German respondents who believed that the Afghan people oppose ISAF – 48 percent and 52 percent, respectively – were more likely than others to oppose participation in the mission.

    Conversely, messaging that dramatizes the potential adverse consequences of an ISAF defeat for Afghan civilians could leverage French (and other European) guilt for abandoning them. The prospect of the Taliban rolling back hard-won progress on girls’ education could provoke French indignation, become a rallying point for France’s largely secular public, and give voters a reason to support a good and necessary cause despite casualties.

    The media controversy generated by Paris’s decision to expel 12 Afghan refugees in late 2009 suggests that stories about the plight of Afghan refugees are likely to resonate with French audiences. The French government has already made combating Afghan human trafficking networks a priority and would probably support an information campaign that a NATO defeat in Afghanistan could precipitate a refugee crisis. (C//NF)

    Germans Worried About Price And Principle Of ISAF Mission.

    German opponents of ISAF worry that a war in Afghanistan is a waste of resources, not a German problem, and objectionable in principle, judging from an INR poll in the fall of 2009. Some German opposition to ISAF might be muted by proof of progress on the ground, warnings about the potential consequences for Germany of a defeat, and reassurances that Germany is a valued partner in a necessary NATO-led mission.

    Underscoring the contradiction between German pessimism about ISAF and Afghan optimism about the mission’s progress could challenge skeptics’ assertions that the mission is a waste of resources. The same ABC/BBC/ADR poll revealed that 70 percent of Afghans thought their country was heading in the right direction and would improve in 2010, while a 2009 GMF poll showed that about the same proportion of German respondents were pessimistic about ever stabilizing Afghanistan.

    Messages that dramatize the consequences of a NATO defeat for specific German interests could counter the widely held perception that Afghanistan is not Germany’s problem. For example, messages that illustrate how a defeat in Afghanistan could heighten Germany’s exposure to terrorism, opium, and refugees might help to make the war more salient to skeptics.

    Emphasis on the mission’s multilateral and humanitarian aspects could help ease Germans’ concerns about waging any kind of war while appealing to their desire to support multilateral efforts. Despite their allergy to armed conflict, Germans were willing to break precedent and use force in the Balkans in the 1990s to show commitment to their NATO allies. German respondents cited helping their allies as one of the most compelling reasons for supporting ISAF, according to an INR poll in the fall of 2009. (C//NF)

    Appeals by President Obama and Afghan Women Might Gain Traction (C//NF)

    The confidence of the French and German publics in President Obama’s ability to handle foreign affairs in general and Afghanistan in particular suggest that they would be receptive to his direct affirmation of their importance to the ISAF mission – and sensitive to direct expressions of disappointment in allies who do not help. (Note 1: European hand wringing about the President’s lack of attendance at a EU summit and commentary that his absence showed that Europe counted for less suggests that worry about European standing with Washington might provide at least some leverage for sustaining contributions to ISAF. (C//NF))

    According to a GMF poll conducted in June 2009, about 90 percent of French and German respondents were confident in the President’s ability to handle foreign policies. The same poll revealed that 82 percent of French and 74 percent of German respondents were confident in the President’s ability to stabilize Afghanistan, although the subsequent wait for the US surge strategy may have eroded some of this confidence.

    The same poll also found that, when respondents were reminded that President Obama himself had asked for increased deployments to Afghanistan, their support for granting this request increased dramatically, from 4 to 15 percent among French respondents and from 7 to 13 percent among Germans. The total percentages may be small but they suggest significant sensitivity to disappointing a president seen as broadly in sync with European concerns. (C//NF)

    Afghan women could serve as ideal messengers in humanizing the ISAF role in combating the Taliban because of women’s ability to speak personally and credibly about their experiences under the Taliban, their aspirations for the future, and their fears of a Taliban victo ry. Outreach initiatives that create media opportunities for Afghan women to share their stories with French, German, and other European women could help to overcome pervasive skepticism among women in Western Europe toward the ISAF mission.

    According to INR polling in the fall of 2009, French women are 8 percentage points less likely to support the mission than are men, and German women are 22 percentage points less likely to support the war than are men.

    Media events that feature testimonials by Afghan women would probably be most effective if broadcast on programs that have large and disproportionately female au-diences. (C//NF)

    source: WikiLeaks
     
  3. punkmar77

    punkmar77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    I would be very interested to discover the funding behind this group, it almost sounds like a very inept CIA idea.
     
  4. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Problem is, every aspect of a nato-wide cia desinformation campain ends up quickly at the border of conspiracy theories, and this wikileaks-article only proves only that the agency is watching us, but there is no proof for covered actions.
    Netherlands islamophob geert wilders rose like a comet - with a liberal background, love for israel and the jews - but nothing else - and now he's the kingmaker at the recent dutch election?
    German federal bank manager and member of the social democrat party thilo sarrazin wrote a book about how germany eliminates itself with hordes of bear-joyful turkish muslims, and he loves at least jews too?

    electionhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11443211 - wilders career
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,715876,00.html - sarrazin

    Both of these fucks "we-are-no-fascists-we-love-jews" at the same time, the war in afghanistan/iraq gets stuck and the US can't afford another vietnam all alone, and don't forget: Iran has the nuclear bomb... and lots of oil...
    (And by the way, I'm just anti-zionist, but I love jews too, and I like muslims, even if I'm atheist, honest!)

    And what about 9/11, irangate, bin laden fighting the russians, saddams rise to power... the kennedy assassination, mossadeq in iran... Its sheer endless.
    Immigration into the EU is at the lowest since 25 years - why this fuelling of xeno- and islamphobia?
    It's right, concerning the war the population in west europe is simply apathic, so why this crusade-promoting?
    Don't panic and no paranoia...
    We have some nice pictures of this christian soldier, our ex-paratrooper has them too and he will ask others of his group about the guy, I'm draft resister since I'm 18 and I have contacts with groups all around - so maybe we can find out how often and where he was appearing - but to find out who he really is?
     
  5. punkmar77

    punkmar77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    You're absolutely right, I am a passionate Anti-Conspiracy Theorist myself, but I'm not blind or insensitive to the well established patterns of capitalist and authoritarian socialist oppression either. The focus Vassil is a very clear campaign of disinformation and camouflage aimed at the people to inflame feelings of insecurity and thus expand the scope & power of the government right before our eyes. Bush and Cheney were masters of this in the U.S. and what you are experiencing in Europe is a copycat syndrome of erosion of rights. As far as ever finding out, it will take somebody on the inside to leak the information....sooner or later the dirty laundry gets aired.
     
  6. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Huhhuu, and we must have had another spy/agent/whatever attending:
    There is an article about the evening on the blogpage of "rote welt", a marxist/leninist group/sect still on the brink of dying of old age, I troll there sometimes when I'm in the mood, too bad that one has to register.

    They called us "little kronstadt", mention that we all dress up in black, that we act really cool but suffer heavily from libertine disease, but have lots of friendly tail waggin' dogs (do we?) and good coffee.
    The writer was very found about Lil's for-work-hairstyle, reminding him of sara wagenknecht, and the "quiet" handling of the christian veterans way to the door convinced him, that punk hasn't always to be rude (such insight!). Ah yes, he liked the dogs again...
    The last two sentences describe the evening as "wasted time with endless discussions lacking true insight and a general line of attitude that would allow cooperation with the international movement...

    So it's washington and the marxists/leninists geriatric department and - I guess we become famous? :ecouteurs:
     
  7. vAsSiLy77

    vAsSiLy77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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