I just watched Fitna the Movie by [[Geert Wilders]]. If you know Geert Wilders, then you probably know that any movie made by him would be a movie that would piss the Muslim world off.

Anyway, I don’t want to run down on a play by play of the movie because I bet blogs and forums around the world will have arguments about this movie. I would just like to say something to Geert (I know he’ll probably never read this but whatever):

Now Geert. No offense…wait… actually, offense intended. Your movie sucks. It didn’t even offend me or make me think. I’ve seen some compelling arguments against Islam in my life, and personally your movie seemed like it was made by a bunch of high schoolers. The special effects sucked, and any professional debater and open minded thinker that watches this movie would recognize the lack of links between many Quranic verses and the conclusions you are making. It’s like watching [[Boondock Saints]], [[Pulp Fiction]], and [[Kingdom of Heaven]] and basing your view upon a Christianity entirely on that. By the way, the Quranic line you started with reminded me of Pulp Fiction, where [[Samuel L Jackson]] kept repeating a Bible verse:

Ezekiel 25:17
I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I take vengeance on them.

Oh my people! Look at that line! Christianity is violent. We should rid the world of Christians so there will be no more violence! (I hope you understand my sarcasm Wilders, but you never know since you do think like an idiot.)

Next time you make an anti-Islam movie, make one that can won’t make intellectuals fall asleep.

Anyway, I’m done talking about this movie. I bet the internet will be filled with commentary on this. I prefer examining things that actually have good arguments and/or cause major problems.

Speaking at the Pentagon, Mr Bush said “removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision”.

And he went on to say that the recent “surge” of US troops to Iraq has brought about “a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror”.

BBC News

Let the numbers talk:

From About.Com Mar 19 2008

US SPENDING IN IRAQ

Spent & Approved War-Spending - About $600 billion of US taxpayers’ funds. President Bush has requested another $200 billion for 2008, which would bring the cumulative total to close to $800 billion.

U.S. Monthly Spending in Iraq - $12 billion in 2008

Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq - $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)

Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers’ money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.

Missing - $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)

Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq - $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings

Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported - $1.4 billion

Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items - $20 billion

Portion of the $20 billion paid to KBR that Pentagon auditors deem “questionable or supportable” - $3.2 billion

Number of major U.S. bases in Iraq - 75 (The Nation/New York Times)

TROOPS IN IRAQ

Iraqi Troops Trained and Able to Function Independent of U.S. Forces - 6,000 as of May 2007 (per NBC’s “Meet the Press” on May 20, 2007)

Troops in Iraq - Total 164,481, including 155,000 from the US, 4,500 from the UK, 2,000 from Georgia, 900 from Poland, 650 from South Korea and 1,431 from all other nations

US Troop Casualities - 3,989 US troops; 98% male. 90% non-officers; 80% active duty, 12% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 10% African-American, 11% Latino. 18% killed by non-hostile causes. 51% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 70% were from the US Army

Non-US Troop Casualties - Total 308, with 175 from the UK

US Troops Wounded - 29,395, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)

US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems - 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home

US Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq - 68 total, at least 36 by enemy fire

IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS & OTHERS IN IRAQ

Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - More than 180,000 in August 2007, per The Nation/LA Times.

Journalists killed - 127, 84 by murder and 43 by acts of war

Journalists killed by US Forces - 14

Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 8,009

Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualities have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualities at over 600,000.

Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000

Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 548

Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 305, including 54 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 94 status unknown.

Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14

Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70

Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007 - 163

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007 - 70,000

QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS

Iraqis Displaced Inside Iraq, by Iraq War, as of May 2007 - 2,255,000

Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan - 2.1 million to 2.25 million

Iraqi Unemployment Rate - 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect

Consumer Price Inflation in 2006 - 50%

Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition - 28% in June 2007 (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)

Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 - 40%

Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion - 34,000

Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion - 12,000

Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion - 2,000

Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 1 to 2 hours, per Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (Per Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2007)

Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 10.9 in May 2007

Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 5.6 in May 2007

Pre-War Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 16 to 24

Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems - 37%

Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies - 70% (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)

Water Treatment Plants Rehabilitated - 22%

RESULTS OF POLL Taken in Iraq in August 2005 by the British Ministry of Defense (Source: Brookings Institute)

Iraqis “strongly opposed to presence of coalition troops - 82%

Iraqis who believe Coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security - less than 1%

Iraqis who feel less secure because of the occupation - 67%

Iraqis who do not have confidence in multi-national forces - 72%

If you ever listen to Mos Def, you will notice a very strong message of Islam throughout his entire album. An article I found today sums up Mos Def’s how he puts an Islamic message, rock music, and rap together into a mainstream album.

By Ali Asadullah

Look at Mos Def and you see a poster child for the East Coast hip-hopper, Brooklyn division. But when he opens his mouth, whether plying his rhymes or just chatting, his eloquence shatters the preconceptions. What comes out is a surprising moral rectitude and religious focus.

“Black on Both Sides,” his 1999 breakthrough album, has the same effect: witty title, and a look that’s all about street cred. But the first words the listener hears are “Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem” (”In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful”).

Islam has long played a prominent role in hip-hop. Among early rap groups like Afrika Bambata or mid-’80s groups like Poor Righteous Teachers and Big Daddy Kane, the Islamic inclinations were more implied than explicit. But by the ’90s, Public Enemy was openly praising Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and references to the 5 Percent Nation of Islam (a spin-off of the Nation of Islam) were popping up on albums by the Wu Tang Clan and Busta Rhymes. Especially when the topic is social justice, an Islamic understanding has been a hallmark of socially conscious hip-hop.

Mos Def, however, represents arguably the first time that an artist, solidly wedded to the orthodoxy of the religion, has stepped into mainstream popularity with a complete, well-articulated Islamic message as part and parcel of that popularity.

Born Dante Smith in 1974, the 27-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., native first learned the importance of Islam from his father, who was a member of the Nation of Islam before becoming an active member in the community of Imam Warithdeen Muhammad (the son of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad who brought the Nation of Islam into orthodoxy in 1976).

Raised by his mother in Brooklyn, across the river from his father’s home in New Jersey, Mos didn’t receive a formal introduction to Islam until adolescence. “I got my first exposure to Islam when I was 13,” says Mos. “My dad taught me how to make wudhu [the ritual ablution Muslims perform before prayer].”

It wasn’t for another six years, when he was 19, that he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. He’d gotten there by reading and personal reflection and after getting to know other Muslim rappers, like Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip of the group A Tribe Called Quest.

Since then, Islam has been the cornerstone of Mos’ life and of his socially and spiritually themed music. “You’re not gonna get through life without being worshipful or devoted to something,” says Mos. “You’re either devoted to your job, or to your desires. So the best way to spend your life is to try to be devoted to prayer, to Allah.”

Tackling a broad swath of issues that include water rights, African American self-esteem, and the destiny of humankind, Mos enlightens the listener as well as entertains. Taking on such issues, he says, is an Islamic mandate. “If Islam’s sole interest is the welfare of mankind, then Islam is the strongest advocate of human rights anywhere on Earth,” says Mos.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE (BELIEFNET)

A lot of people have heard about Oklahoma State Representative [[Sally Kern]] making a speech in which she denounces gays. I don’t care about gays, but something else caught my ear. Here’s the exact quote:

I honestly think [homosexuality is] the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam - which I think is a big threat.

Oh crap. I didn’t know I was a threat. Sally, I’ll go turn myself into the police department first thing tomorrow morning so you feel better.

I mentioned Carson before and wrote a little bio about him.  Well, today it’s official. Carson is the second Muslim in Congress.

Indiana voters on Tuesday elected a Muslim to Congress, only the second of that faith chosen in U.S. history.

Andre Carson, grandson of the late Democrat Rep. Julia Carson, was elected to serve the balance of her term in the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election.

She died in December 2007, after serving 11 years in the heavily Democratic district.

Story Continued Here… (Reuters)