Armanious - Garas Killings: "Money, Not Religious Extremism"

Religious hate was probably not the motivating factor in the murder of a New Jersey family of four last month, according to law enforcement authorities.

Tom Troncone of NorthJersey.com, writing about the horrific slaying of Hossam Armanious, Amal Garas, and their two daughters in Jersey City a month ago, reports:

"We're getting somewhere that hopefully is going to give us a clear indication as to what the motive is," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio. "And once you have motive, that helps lead you to the people involved."

DeFazio still won't discuss the intricate details of the case or explain why investigators are leaning toward a financial motive for the killings. But he did provide a glimpse into the probe, which has included assistance from an FBI profiler.

"The FBI does not think that, based on the information gleaned from the scene, it's based on religious extremism," the prosecutor said, without elaborating.

For full details, as well as the reactions of Armanious and Garas family members and other members of the Coptic community, read the article at NorthJersey.com.

Freedom and Peace

R. J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii has made a strong case for the thesis that the promotion of democracy is the promotion of peace, and that a free world is a peaceful world. Please go visit his website here.

Thanks to Diane for this link.

German Pilot, Passengers Thwart Iran Extradition

Many thanks to Spenta for translating this Persian news item from Peykeiran at the Free Iran message board:

Pilot of a Luftansa flight from Frankfurt to Tehran refused to take off and return an Iranian woman to Iran!

According to a report from the Women's 8th of March Organisation, dozens of Iranian and Afghani activists from the organisation, activists from the German Leftist groups, and members of other Iranian opposition groups, participated in a protest action to stop the deportation of an Iranian woman political refugee at Frankfurt airport. They notified passengers of this inhuman act, and asked them to refuse to fly on the flight. As a result of this unified action, the pilot of the Lufthansa Frankfurt to Tehran flight, in solidarity with the protestors, refused to takeoff. According to other reports some of the passengers also supported this protest action. The German police arrested the protestors, including many memebrs of the 8th of March Women's organisation and German groups, many of whom are still detained. Today the German police was not successful in deporting Zahra Kameli. This action showed again that with united and aggressive international action the impossible can be made possible.

Zahra Kameli, who faces certain death if deported to Iran, is still alive because of the actions of decent people. There is hope. Read the story, with Spenta's comments, at the link. And keep working for Zahra Kameli - and the thousands of prisoners of conscience, as well as the millions of ordinary citizens still held hostage by fascism in the Middle East.

Iraq Update

Iraqi leader loses two sons, guard. 'A few days ago, Mithal Al-Alusi; an Iraqi politician and the head of the "Hizb Al-Umma Al-Iraqiya" or the (Iraqi Nation Party) survived an assassination attempt when a group of terrorists attacked him in front of his house but his two young sons and his guard were killed in the attack.

The brave politician, despite his tragic loss made very strong statements during an interview he gave to RFI "Radio free Iraq".

Al-Alusi: Again, the ghosts of death are going out. They are ready to kill a person, ready to kill the peace, ready to kill the victory of Iraqis and their right to life. Again, henchmen of the Ba'ath [Party] and dirty terrorist gangs, Al-Qaeda and others, are going out convinced that they can determine life and death as they desire. Iraq will not die.

My children, three people [in all] -- one of my bodyguards and two of my children -- died as heroes, no differently from other people who find their heroic deaths. But we will not, [I swear] by God, hand Iraq over to murderers and terrorists. ... '

Read the rest, and Omar's comments, at Iraq the Model.

Ali on America's mistakes. The third Fadhil brother, responding to a post by Michael J. Totten, takes a look at what he sees as America's mistakes: 'When I say America here, I mean the administration or the people they chose to help Iraqis in their transformation to democracy. While I agree that many regular Iraqis are still misled and have some anti-American feelings as a result of decades of brain washing, I cannot but wonder why should Americans chose such people and trust them in serious issues when there are so many Iraqis who do not suffer from such problems. ... In my mind such mistake comes from two places; first from underestimating Iraqis and thinking that the only Iraqis that are willing to cooperate are those who can be bought in different ways, even if what they were asked was for their own country's good. And second because it seems that Americans themselves have a mixed feeling about what's happening in Iraq. They think that somehow they did something wrong to Iraqis while liberating them since it meant occupying their country and thus they think it's perfectly natural that even those who cooperate with them should have hostile feelings towards America. It hurts me because it wastes so much valuable time, effort, money and most importantly lives and also because it shows that Americans don't think highly of Iraqis.' Read the whole post at the link.

Iraqi forces foil attack in Abu Mustafa. Small Town Veteran (hat tip: Mrs. Greyhawk) reports that Iraqi forces outsmarted the terrorists in the town of Abu Mustafa, south of Baghdad: 'Iraqi security forces foiled a trap set for a local security patrol by 40 terrorist in the village of Abu Mustafa south of Baghdad. After a confrontation between the two sides, the terrorists fled to a near by school. The Iraqi security forces among other forces pursued the terrorists and surrounded the school. The ensuing gun battle resulted in the killing of 12 terrorists and the arrest of 30 more. ...' Read it all at the link.

Let's blogroll!

Jeff draws a lesson from Mother Nature while steeling himself for a confrontation with a psycho. Let's hope the laws of karma work their magic on the vermin who did this.

Mamamontezz unfurls the new flag of Howard Dean's party. (Readers of the lavender persuasion shouldn't take the polychromatic theme amiss ... it's an allusion to Reverend Jesse Jackass's "rainbow" outfit.)

Auntie Cracker has a chat with her mom about a serious subject.

The Democrats have a new leader ... but what about the NAACP? Chris Muir has an idea.

Chapter 4 of "Pacific Memories" is up.

"And so, reluctantly ... " our hero leaves New Zealand.

Update

Posting will be sporadic over the next week while I get caught up on school and other stuff. Morning Report will make occasional appearances.

Morning Report: February 11, 2005

US: No talks with North Korea. The United States continues to refuse bilateral talks with the newly-declared-nuclear North Korea, according to this CNN report. 'White House press secretary Scott McClellan said North Korea would have plenty of opportunities to raise issues directly with the United States if it agreed to resume six-party talks. Those have been on hold since Pyongyang withdrew last year.' The six-party talks included the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan, and Russia. Debka says: 'White House plays down North Korea claim of nuclear weapons, calls for return to multi-nation disarmament talks but rules out concessions. DEBKAfile’s Washington sources: Administration has no real proof that Pyongyang really has manufactured nuclear bomb although it has enough plutonium. Its announcement may be bluff. No indication nuclear test ever conducted. Kremlin concurs with this skeptical view'. (CNN, Debka)

Death of a playwright. Arthur Miller, America's foremost playwright, has died. The reclusive writer died at his Connecticut home Thursday night of heart failure, at the age of 89. Miller was the author of the classics "All My Sons", "The Crucible", and "Death of a Salesman", (CNN)

Shahna Lax

I believe I mentioned Shahna Lax without providing a link.

I believe I'll correct that oversight now:
Shahna Lax at Tribe of the Winds
Crestone Artisans Gallery

Why do they hate us?

The Redhunter brings up some excellent points in this post on Condi Rice. I don't have much to add to what Tom has said (go read the post), but I especially want to highlight his observation

We need to hold the Administration to their word; reform of Saudi Arabia and the various gulf states is just as important, and perhaps more so, than dealing with Syria and Iran. It is not by accident that the most pro-American population can be found in Iran, and the most anti perhaps in Saudi Arabia. The most popular explanation that I have seen is that the Iranians appreciate American opposition to their hated mullahs, while the Saudis hate the U.S. for proping up their corrupt leadership.

The BBC, of course, has it exactly backwards; Rice doesn't represent the "same old" State Department, she represents a new and tougher one, and one that's closer to the President's views. The fact that she also has more personal charisma than Powell makes her that much stronger as a stateswoman - and it is exactly this subtle strength that will be needed when dealing with the Europeans.

(Can anyone say "soft power"?)

How an Italian Blogs

This just in, courtesy of Stefania:
One of the Italians held hostage by terrorists - along with the heroic Fabrizio Quattrocchi - has started his own blog. It's in Italian, but be sure to drop by (even if your Italian is rusty) and pass on this link to your friends:
Salvatore Stefio


And don't forget to drop by Stefania's blog, which is bilingual.

"Death To America" Day

Iranian freedom activists marked the anniversary of the islamist revolution in Iran with civil disobedience:

Millions of Iranians inflicted, today, another heavy slap to the face of the shacky and unpopular Islamic regime by boycotting its "celebration of the 26th anniversary of revolution" by staying home or afar from the official gatherings.

In Tehran, the regime was not able to bring more than 70 or 80 thousands of professional demosntrators or forced employees of the government. The Capital's inhabitants are over 12 Millions.

Thousands of homes had shut off their lights from 09:00 PM on Wednesday while hundreds of maverick Iranians sized the occasion in order to get into the streets and bring down many of the regime's electrical propaganda tools in southern, western and eastern parts of the Capital and in cities, such as, Shiraz, Hamedan and Esfahan.

Slogans were shouted from roofs against the regime and its leaders by calling an end to the rule of the Islamic regime.

Iranians will be shuting off again their home's lights this evening from 09:00 PM.

SMCCDI had called for such Civil Disobeidance Actions in a statement read by opposition radios, such as KRSI, and during a NITV special program, with the presence of the Movement's Coordinator and responsibles of other opposition groups, such as, Payvand e Iranian, Marzeporgohar and Iranian Jewish Federation. The NITV special long programing took place just few hours before and ended by 05:00 PM of Wedenesday.

Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera-on-the-Thames gave its version of events:

Tens of thousands of Iranians have braved blizzards to attend rallies marking the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The government had urged people to turn out to show support for its nuclear programme amid pressure led by the US. ...