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Friday, April 02, 2004
No Dose
An interesting article in Slate on the sharp drop in LSD usage. The factors attributed to the drop include a couple major busts of LSD manufacturers in the last several years, and the fact that the Grateful Dead for a while stopped touring after Jerry Garcia's death and Phish stopped touring in 2001. The surprising thing is that there hasn't been an increase in other hallucinogenics (ecstasy, mushrooms, etc.) which would reflect more of a consumer preference shift. The drop in consumption and reduction in available supply has made LSD prices skyrocket (if it can be found) from $5 a hit to around $20.
Thursday, April 01, 2004
This Year's Fashion
When it comes to baseball uniforms, I'm a paleo-conservative. I hate alternative unis, and batting practice jerseys -- gimmick jersesys to try and sell to fans. Nothing pisses me off, more than seeing the home team come out of the dugout wearing the alternative or solid color batting practice jersey. I like the home team in white, and the road team in gray (or perhaps baby blue on one of those throwback to the early 80s uniforms). It looks like this year, there is nothing too radical going on in baseball uniforms.
So begins Uni Watch's sixth annual baseball roundup, in which we examine the sartorial state of affairs on the diamond. With the Yankees and Devil Rays slated to open the season in Japan on March 30, and the balance of the schedule commencing on April 5, here's what you can expect to see at the ballpark this year.
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The mix-and-match mania of recent years, which has left the average fan with no idea of what his favorite team will look like on any given day, may finally have crested. While a few teams continue to add alternate components—a sharp-looking vest jersey for the Rangers, an ill-advised 1970s throwback cap for the Twins, a predictably garish solid-purple cap for the Rockies—other teams are paring down. The Giants have jettisoned all their alternate-uniform elements, and Mariners have abandoned their green-brimmed home caps and will now wear their solid navy caps for all games, reinforcing the old design logic that sometimes less is more.
As always, the Yankees will not play a game in batting practice jerseys nor do they have an alternative jersey.
Money Where Your Mouth Is
For those who feel really strongly about Bush or Kerry -- positive or negative -- you can help by buying the vote of an alienated, cynical voter in Pennsylvania. (The link to the eBay auction.)
A key swing state, so surely this should be worth a few bucks to someone.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Islamist Assimilation as a Cover
I was reading this article from the WSJ (subscription req'd) that paints a disturbing picture of a new strain of Islamist terrorist -- the dreaded "sleeper" cells.
Evidence in the Madrid train bombings points to the participation of a new breed of Islamic holy warrior, unfettered by many of the religious and ideological constraints that defined Islamic terrorism in the past.
These Islamist warriors -- schooled in the North African doctrine known as Takfir wal Hijra and trained by Afghan veterans of al Qaeda -- think, recruit and operate differently from traditional Islamist networks. For Europe, that makes the threat particularly acute. The Takfir movement is strongest in Morocco and Algeria, the primary sources of Muslim immigration to Western Europe. Takfiri theorists openly advocate using immigration as a Trojan horse to expand jihad, or holy war.
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Unlike previous generations of radical Islamists, who attracted police attention by their long beards, public proselytizing and orthodox postures, the newer generation of holy warrior blends in better. They are encouraged to lead a double life in the ultimate pursuit of jihad, according a German intelligence report.
"Outwardly they pretend to lead a modern lifestyle," says terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp. "But deep inside they adhere to a pure medieval strain of Islam." Many Takfiris shave their beards and avoid mosques for security reasons. "Recruits conceal their true beliefs until the time is right," Dr. Ranstorp says.
Takfiris also indulge in petty crime, credit-card fraud and drug dealing to finance their activities, according to a German intelligence report. The Madrid bombers bartered 55 pounds of hashish for the explosive they used to kill 189 people, according to Spanish news reports. Suspects arrested in Spain were also involved in stealing phones and falsifying phone cards, Spanish police said.
Groups inspired by the Takfiris also show a willingness to recruit women for armed jihad. Most Islamist groups, which adhere to strict Quranic interpretations, shun involvement of women.
Well, actually it isn't that new. It has been a sect that has plenty of links with Al-Qaeda.
French officials think that Takfiri beliefs have bred a distinct form of terrorism. "The goal of Takfir," says one, "is to blend into corrupt societies in order to plot attacks against them better. Members live together, will drink alcohol, eat during Ramadan, become smart dressers and ladies' men to show just how integrated they are."
For law-enforcement officials, the Takfiri connection is terrible news. By assimilating into host societies?some won't even worship with other Muslims?it's easy for Takfiris to escape detection. Those stories of the Sept. 11 hijackers drinking in bars and carousing in Las Vegas may now have an explanation. Jarrah's cousin Salim, who lives in the German town of Greifswald, claims that they "used to go to church more than to the mosque." Jarrah, says Salim, loved discos?"We didn't need veiled women and all that"?and sneaked shots of whiskey during a family wedding. He makes Jarrah sound like a normal guy, and normal guys aren't easy to catch.
The Takfir seem like the ultimate radical Islamic group right out of a spy novel to allow members to indulge in all the "vices" but still remain "pure."
A central tenet, particularly for converts in Europe, is that believers may deviate from strict Muslim practices in order to blend in and avoid detection while plotting attacks. Followers are allowed to shave their beards, drink alcohol, visit topless bars and commit crimes against Westerners--all under the cloak of subterfuge.
That concept is called taquya, which means to protect oneself by burrowing underground. "It means to make your appearance hide your inner reality," Fandy said.
(The Sept. 11 terrorists were not known to be associated with Takfir, said Muntasir Zayyat, a lawyer in Cairo who has defended Islamic militants. But the hijackers certainly adopted Takfir principles by shaving, dressing in casual Western clothes and frequenting taverns and topless bars.)
"With the Takfir logic, you can justify anything," said Alain Grignard, an Arabic-speaking expert on Islam who is also an anti-terror police commander in Belgium. "Takfir becomes the ultimate justification for committing crime as long as it is committed against an infidel."
Recruiters typically cite their own cryptic misinterpretations of the teachings of Muhammad to persuade poorly educated young Muslims that violence in defense of Islam is not only justified but a sacred duty.
The Takfir ideology originated in Egypt as one of two ultra-radical splinter groups from the already radical Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s -- Society of Muslims (Takfir wal-Hijra) and the Society of Struggle (Jama'at al-Jihad). The Takfirs were an original proponent of a worldwide jihad.
Takfir is the legal ascription of unbelief (excommunication) to an individual or group, while hijra signifies Muhammad's original flight or migration from Mecca to Medina, serving as a model for contemporary disentanglement from the corrupt society and regime in Egypt. Takfir was led by Shukri Mustafa, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Asyut who was imprisoned in 1965 and joined the radical disciples of Qutb while in prison. On his release in 1971 he started building up Takfir. Following the kidnapping and murder of an ex-government minister in 1978, Mustafa was arrested and executed by the authorities.
Mustafa was an autocratic leader who expected total obedience from his followers. His control was strengthened by the belief that he was the predicted savior (mahdi) (9). Given this prestige, he was able to run Takfir as a highly disciplined organization, divided into action cells, recruiting groups, and logistic units. As contemporary society was infidel, he argued, Takfir would set up its own alternative community that would work, study and pray together. There were gradations of membership: full members devoted themselves totally to the community, leaving their jobs and family. Errant members were excommunicated and punished.
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The ultimate goal for both groups was the establishment of a renewed universal Islamic nation (umma) under a true Caliph, (19) fully implementing Islamic sacred law (shari'a) as God's ideal form of Islamic government. (20) Until the establishment of this Caliphate (khilafa), the Islamic societies would form the embryo and vanguard of the true Islamic nation in its struggle against internal and external enemies. The takeover of power in individual Muslim states would be a necessary first step toward the ultimate goal.
Takfir's ambitions did not extend to the Middle East or Islamic world alone. It claimed that the Prophet's mandate was to fight all people in the world until they all would convert, pray, and pay the Islamic charitable tax (zakat). The fact that this had never before been achieved did not change the fact that this was Islam's true goal. The group also emphasized the importance of a charismatic leader--its own--for Islam's triumph. After establishing its rule over one state, Takfir would call on all humanity to join Islam and submit to its shari'a. The Islamic state would become the third superpower and extend its dominion over the whole world.
The Takfir ideology was one, like any radical, ultra-fundamentalist sects, that espoused a worldwide conspiracy against Islam. Big surprise, the Takfirs saw an International Jewish Conspiracy -- "This battle had started right at the inception of Islam, and the Jews and Christians of the 7th century were identical with the Jews and Christians of today." An additional non-surprise, the the group also got support (money) from Saudi interests. The real surprise was that Takfir was willing to accept women into their movement, even actively recruiting them.
If the piece detailing the history of the two radical groups is accurate, it appears that the WSJ articles and other writings about Takfir past, that they have essentially combined the two splinter groups from Egypt. I say this, because the historic comparison of Takfir and al-Jihad groups, identifies Jama'at al-Jihad as being the group responsible for assassinating Anwar Sadat in 1981. The Takfir group espoused separation from the corrupt and "pagan" Egyptian society and government, until it became strong enough to destroy it. Al-Jihad called for armed struggle and immediate revolution. The section mentioning their activities after the assassination and Egyptian crackdown bears out a combining of the two splinter groups.
Takfir seemed to disintegrate and its members joined other underground groups such as al-Jihad. However there are persistent rumors that a nucleus remains active underground and their ideas have affected many other radical groups. (48)
In contrast, though, al-Jihad survived repression. Despite the imprisonment and execution of al-Jihad's leaders following Sadat's assassination, offshoots managed to regroup, declaring jihad against Mubarak's regime. Al-Jihad has continued to be linked to terrorist incidents and outbreaks of communal violence ever since. (49) It seems to have a narrow base of support mainly in the urban centers of northern Egypt, and many of its leaders live in exile in Western countries. One wing seems to be loyal to Abbud al-Zammur, one of the original founders, now imprisoned in Egypt. Another wing is called Vanguards of the Conquest or The New Jihad Group and appears to be led by an Afghan war veteran Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. (50)
... Al-Jihad maintains links with other international radical Islamic groups and figures such as Osama ben-Laden, the presumed mastermind of the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. (53) Sheikh Abd al-Rahman was exiled to the United States in 1985, where he was later implicated in the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, put on trial, and sentenced to imprisonment. He had kept his influence on al-Jihad as well as on the other radical movement, al-Jama'at al-Islamiyya, operating both in Egypt and abroad. In the 1980s members of these societies, like other radical groups in the Arab world, fought alongside the mujahidin in Afghanistan against the Soviets, gaining valuable experience in warfare and often specialist training from U.S. agents. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, many returned to their home countries reinvigorating the violent struggle against the regimes in power.
The writer of this piece, David Zeidan, later wrote another article published December 2001 regarding fundamental Islamists. There are some very detailed portions, especially the use of anti-semitism and conspiracy theories to blame Jews in the Islamists worldviews. He also notes that the international scope of the Islamic terrorism is in part because:
Another interesting development of the 1990s was the relocation of the centers of many extremist movements from their countries of origin to the West due to the repression of radical fundamentalists in their home countries. Many leaders and activists were exiled or went into voluntary exile to Western Europe, the United States and Canada, where they utilized the relative freedom of operation granted them in the secular-liberal democracies to set up their bases and networks. From the West they could more effectively oversee their networks, link up with each other and propagate their doctrines back into their home countries using the modern globalizing technologies of fax, e-mail and the world-wide-web, while recruiting new members in the Western Muslim communities and raising the necessary finance for increased activities.
I guess the thing that bothers me in all these stories about the Takfiri worldview. There is never any real explanation how they got to the point where they could rationalize their behavior -- I mean the act of assimilation. The Takfirs seemed to have gone from the "separate and prepare for the revolution in the future" plan to "kill them all by any and all means" ideal. This seems more like the al-Jihad view, and going back to Zeidan's 1999 piece he makes reference to an al-Jihad fatwa by "Sheikh 'Abd al-Rahman issued a religious legal edict (fatwa) legitimizing the killing and robbing of Christians who were said to be anti-Muslim." Again, this suggests that the Takfir and al-Jihad groups have essentially merged or morphed into one entity -- or are simply treated as such.
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