Fascinating account in the times of the story of a Qaeda operative turned informant in Germany. The twist to me was that this Jordanian originally fled his own country because he was gay. Then he was caught up in the ex-patriate fundamentalist-terrorist world, trained in Afghanistan, and deployed in Europe to manufacture false passports in order to import more terrorists into the West. So a man who left tyranny for freedom ended up attempting to import it back to the West. And now, in a weird denouement, he has become a critical element in foiling new Qaeda operations. Just like the 9/11 murderers who seemed as much drawn to the West as repelled by it, we have a psychological profile that’s highly conflicted and repressed, wreaking havoc on the world. And when you think of what Islamist culture does to the healthy psychological development of men and women, its sex-phobia and misogyny, it’s no surprise that we have some characters this disturbed. Another reason why we will have no real peace until the fundamental culture of the Middle Eastern Islamic world is shifted.
THE BBC’S TRIUMPH: Last Saturday’s march in London was in part a triumph for the BBC. This enormously influential network – PBS on steroids – has been churning out relentless anti-war polemics for months now. They make Howell Raines seem positively objective. No doubt they had a receptive audience. But it is still quite an achievement. To give you an idea of how it’s done, check out this transcript of a major television show, Panorama. Look at the content of the questions. See how the show, which is ostensibly a “debate”, is in fact a kind of show trial, with the pro-war party represented by a tiny fringe, and given almost no time to make anything like a serious case.
The Dish 