Wouldn't it be ironic if the reason Westerners get kidnapped is because they are accompanied by a local. Perhaps if he went out on his own, he wouldn't have to worry.

Not that I'd test that mind you... just a thought.

Kate,

Scott Johnson of Power Line has a letter up from

NAJIM ABDULLAH ABID AL-JIBOURI
Mayor of Tall 'Afar, Ninewa, Iraq

It's the kind of letter that inspires those of us who can think clearly and distinguish right
from wrong.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/

It's the kind of letter that MSM won't print.

Mr. Saddam Hussein has gone on the Bobby Sands diet, that ought to keep the costs down...

More for Canadian Defence Minister O'Connor:

It's 'Toon Time, Mr. O'Connor; Cartoon Time. But... it's not funny/hawhaw Cartoon Time. This is deadly serious Cartoon Time, Mr. O'Connor.

Stand for Western Civilization, Mr. O'Connor.

Islamist jihadists do not vote in Canada, Mr. O'Connor.

Long live freedom and democracy. >>>

Daniel Pipes: Boycotts of the West will put Muslims further behind
Manchester Union Leader ^ | February 14, 2006 | Daniel Pipes

Posted on 02/14/2006 4:56:13 AM PST by billorites

WHAT ARE the long-term consequences of the Muhammad cartoon furor? I predict it is helping bring on not a clash of civilizations, but their mutual pulling apart. This separation, which has been building for years, has dreadful implications.

Signs of disengagement are all around.

* Trade: Boycotts now exist in both directions. Even as the U.S. government sanctions Iranian products, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his government will "revise and cancel economic contracts" with countries where newspapers published the cartoons. Several Muslim countries have suspended trade with Denmark, while Muslim-owned stores in Canada have removed Danish products. The Pakistani medical association even announced a boycott of medicines from five European countries.

* Consumer items: Muslims are increasingly replacing Western consumer items with their own. They purchase the extremely modest Fulla and Razanne dolls rather than the busty Barbie. In France, Beurger King provides halal food, competing with Burger King, just as Mecca Cola takes the place of Coke and Pepsi. Al-Jazeera is starting an English-language channel to go up against CNN and the BBC.

* Financial investments: As a result of freezes on funds and the designation of terrorist entities, Muslims have moved large amounts of capital out of the West and invested these either in their own countries or in other places around the world, such as East Asia. Middle Eastern oil exporters before 9/11 annually put as much as $25 billion into American investments; since then, the amount is about $1 billion a year.

* Emigration: 9/11 caused a significant increase in obstacles to Muslims traveling to the West, so fewer Muslim business executives, students, hospital patients, conference goers and workers are reaching there.

* Tourism: Islamist atrocities such as the murder of 60 Japanese, German and Swiss tourists in Luxor in 1997 or the abduction of 32 German and other travelers in the Sahara in 2003 had already led some Westerners to avoid discretionary travel in the Muslim world. Cartoon-related violence has prompted a Danish advisory warning citizens against travel to fourteen Muslim countries. Scandinavian tourist companies have canceled many tours to North Africa.

* Foreign aid: Muslim aggression against aid workers in Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority have led to the partial or complete withdrawal of European missions. In Chechnya, the Danish aid mission was expelled and the Iraqi transport ministry has rejected any future offers of Danish reconstruction money.

* Embassies: From the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1978 to the multiple attacks on Danish and other European embassies this month, the assault on Western diplomatic missions in Muslim countries is causing them to take on the features of armed fortresses, to be removed from the center of towns to the peripheries, and in some cases to be closed down.

* Westerners providing services: Zayed University in Dubai fired an American professor, Claudi Keppoz, for distributing the Muhammad cartoons to her students. Rampaging Palestinians caused the foreign observers staffing the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, or TIPH, to flee Hebron.

These developments suggest what the prime minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has called a "huge chasm" between the Muslim world and the West. Or, in the more bellicose wording of the influential Sunni imam Youssef al-Qaradawi, "We must tell Europeans, we can live without you. But you cannot live without us."

Should the chasm widen, with its concomitant lessening of human interaction, commercial relations, and diplomatic engagement, the Muslim world will likely fall further behind than it already has. As I wrote in 2000, "Whatever index one employs, Muslims can be found clustering toward the bottom — whether measured in terms of their military prowess, political stability, economic development, corruption, human rights, health, longevity, or literacy." >>>
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1578142/posts

I found this at the American Thinker web site.  Of course, the mainstream media wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole. . .
----------------------------------------------------
The following comes from Col. Ren Hart. We know this is happening – we just don’t hear it enough

John B. Dwyer
As I’m sure you know, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment has been serving in Iraq (its second deployment there) for the past year.
As the regiment prepares to come home, it has received the letter pasted below. I believe many of you will find it an interestingcounterpoise to much of what we read in the press.
From:  Mayor of Tall ‘Afar, Ninewa, Iraq
In the Name of God the Compassionate and Merciful
To the Courageous Men and Women of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who have changed the city of Tall’ Afar from a ghost town, in which terrorists spread death and destruction, to a secure city flourishing with life.
To the lion-hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the streets for many months.
To those who spread smiles on the faces of our children, and gave us restored hope, through their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new life to the city after hopelessness darkened our days, and stole our confidence in our ability to reestablish our city.

Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi. The city was completely held hostage in the hands of his henchmen. Our schools, governmental services, businesses and offices were closed. Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them. Our people were barricaded in their homes out of fear; death awaited them around every corner. Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city. Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young. This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi’s followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists, and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to the surrounding areas, where the bravery of other 3d ACR soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiah, Zuma and Avgani finally destroyed them.

I have met many soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment; they are not only courageous men and women, but avenging angels sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of terrorism.
The leaders of this Regiment; COL McMaster, COL Armstrong, LTC Hickey, LTC Gibson, and LTC Reilly embody courage, strength, vision and wisdom.
Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era. The mission they have accomplished, by means of a unique military operation, stands among the finest military feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and truly deserves to be studied in military science. This military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage.
God bless this brave Regiment; God bless the families who dedicated these brave men and women. From the bottom of our hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we will never forget. To the families of those who have given their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence and to the souls of your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not in vain. They are not dead, but alive, and their souls hovering around us every second of every minute.  They will never be forgotten for giving their precious lives. They have sacrificed that which is most valuable. We see them in the smile of every child, and inevery flower growing in this land. Let America, their families, and the world be proud of their sacrifice for humanity and life.
Finally, no matter how much I write or speak about this brave Regiment, I haven’t the words to describe the courage of its officers and soldiers. I pray to God to grant happiness and health to these legendary heroes and their brave families.
 NAJIM ABDULLAH ABID
AL-JIBOURI
Mayor of Tall ‘Afar, Ninewa, Iraq. TG