Middle East Focus-Arabia Deserta: Recent Comments

Comment on Islamist “New” Libya Cuts Saif Gaddafi's Fingers, Defies UNSC Resolution 1970……………

2011-11-22T02:49:43Z

Even if the NTC fighters who captured Saif a few days ago did chop off his fingers (which would be cruel and brutal), how does that prove that this action has anything to do with fundamentalist Islam? The author asserts this connection, but I do not think it is necessarily there. Could people angry at Saif not do this because they want to punish him, not necessarily because they believe this action is required or even condoned by some fundamentalist interpretation of Islam?

Comment on Surprise: Jewish Salafis can be ‘Almost’ as Obnoxious as Ours.……

2011-07-07T16:57:25Z

You're quick to jump to conclusions. The contents of the book have been taken completely out of context by people who assume that religion=horror. There are wartime situations where the killing of innocent children is permitted. Ever hear of Hiroshima? Dresden? Vietnam? Or do you also consider the US Armed Forces to be Salafist?

Comment on The Power of Boycott: Business Facing a Dark Future in Bahrain ………

2011-06-02T07:17:41Z

This is totally untrue. The article compares the sect in Bahrain with Black & White in USA! Shia ppl are wealthy, they proved it when they protested in the Roundabout and camped. We saw their luxury cars, daily buffets, media facilities and entertainment there. When ppl in Bahrain choose to boycott those who financed such protests (with ties with Iran and hizbuula) it is totally their choice. Nothing has been enforced by AlKhalifa. Sunni ppl have their own voice. Be it Shia or others, of course they will boycott anyone who helped in the attempt in turning Bahrain into a country like Iraq with a rigid Islamic system. Nevertheless, we are sure that Bahrain will be stronger than before, with the support of its loyal people, expats, GCC, the Govt and all other countries.

Comment on Rushdie and Bin Laden: One British Knight, Two Islamic Swords

2010-11-30T17:34:09Z

I do need to admit that I enjoy reading through your blog, even when I do not concur with you. I guess the major factor would be to make people today think. 1 of these days I will get around to beginning a blog. It'll most likely be more for blowing off steam and less useful than yours is though. Keep writing and I'll maintain reading.

Comment on Geert Wilders: Godson of Hitler, Faustian Friend of Israel, Coming to America………

2010-10-11T00:33:30Z

A godson of Hitler? Give me a break. He talks about Muslims the same way the Islamic media talks about Jews, no worse. The Nazi's killed people for being gay, they killed people for minor slights... just like Muslims do. Geert Wilders does neither of these.

Comment on In Knownothingness we Trust? United Sectarian States of the Middle East?………

2010-08-19T03:36:13Z

I just ran across this article from Bloomberg. It brings me to question Is Islam a Religion? or is it a Political system. Should Americans stop thinking of Islam in terms like Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism. Maybe to recognize Islam in terms more like Capitalism, Communisms and Fascism would be more appropriate. If that is the case then there is less confusion. Are we in a religious war in Afghanistan and Iraq (and soon to be who knows where else)? Do we have to walk the narrow line drawn by American thinking that requires separation of church and state? Is Islam the State which means there can be no separation? It brings me to question is Islam a just another Religion?

LINK
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/indonesian-central-bank-reviewing-shariah-lending-rules/391675

Jakarta. The central bank is considering easing restrictions on Islamic banks by allowing them to adjust loan terms and boost lending.

“Shariah banks have asked that loans that are still current be allowed to be restructured,” Mulya Siregar, director of Islamic banking at the central bank, said in an interview in Jakarta on Tuesday.

“We’re having intensive discussions and will make a decision by the fourth quarter at the latest.” Current regulations, issued in 2008, only permit terms to be altered once debt becomes non-performing, Mulya said.

Indonesia, home to 192 million Muslims, introduced a law two years ago allowing financial institutions to offer services that comply with Shariah principles, 25 years after Malaysia.

Islamic banking assets total $93 billion in Malaysia in 2009, or 20 percent of the total, compared with 2.9 percent in Indonesia, according to central bank data.

Islamic finance assets in Indonesia may increase 30 percent to Rp 97 trillion ($10.77 billion) by the end of 2010, up from Rp 75 trillion in 2009, Mulya said.

“Even with the late introduction of the laws, growth has been remarkable,” Mulya said. “We only had three Islamic banks in early 2008, now we have 10.” The 2008 law requires all lenders to spin off their Shariah divisions into separate units by 2023, he said.

Non-performing loans at Indonesia’s Islamic banks fell to 3.89 percent of total lending in June, down from 4.39 percent in the same month a year earlier, according to the central bank’s Web site.

That’s more than the 2.24 percent rate for troubled loans at secular commercial banks, down from 2.72 percent a year ago.

“Allowing banks to restructure early would help them focus on giving loans,” Teguh Hartanto, an analyst at state-owned Bahana Securities, said in an interview on Wednesday.

“Credit quality can deteriorate easily in a bad economic environment, forcing banks to curb lending as they have to maintain or even increase capital to support the higher NPL level.”

The non-performing loan rate could h

Comment on The Hidden Humor of Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and Lack of Intelligence…….

2010-07-05T02:13:24Z

Gee, I sure hope the CIA will do something to improve other READERS DIGEST content. After all these years the magazine still reads like a Voice of American handbook - or a speech by Margaret Thatcher - "There is no community, only individuals and their families." "There is no alternative." "The only way to improve things is my individual effort and positive thinking." I write about Project Mockingbird and the extensive involvement of the CIA Office of Information in the mass media and publishing industry in my recent memoir THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY ACT: MEMOIR OF AN AMERICAN REFUGEE (I currently live in exile in New Zealand).

Comment on The Mosque Target Practice, the British Lose their Edge………..

2010-04-10T04:11:49Z

The Times of London's Ruth Gledhill described as "telling" the army's
insistence that a firing range with mosques as targets is considered a
close approximation of reality.

It is so obvious. Even a non-Muslim recognized the significance. The
first person who raised the issue with us was a non-Muslim,'' he told
the Telegraph.

Douglas Murray, writing in The Telegraph blog, said the fact is that British, and U.S. troops for that matter, are forbidden to fire at mosques or other places of worship under the rules of engagement. But that will be forgotten in the current uproar, he says and instead the idea that soldiers are trained to shoot at mosques will get embedded.

But to all this I say. Its not the first time you have done this O Demonic Island.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQeiyrlTqa4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZuXJ49-du8&feature=related

Comment on Why Arabs Doubt U S Congress, of Free Speech and Abandoned Backbones on the Jordan…………

2010-01-13T10:45:02Z

Humm... interesting,
Jordan is one of the countries that has a threat to the west but very little is known about them,
Thanks for writing, most people don't bother.

Comment on Jordan’s Sweet-Talking Interrogators, What about that Humor………..

2010-01-12T14:06:16Z

Nice post,
I have never met anyboy from jordan nor head much about them so this is quite alarming,
Thanks for bringing this up