Holy War: Killing Unbelievers, Apostates and Destroying Relics

We go from one act of horror to another.

Shabaab massacres dozens in attack on Kenyan university:

Shabaab terrorists attacked the Garissa University College in Kenya earlier today. Initial reports say that approximately 10 gunmen were involved in assault, which left at least 147 people dead and dozens more wounded.
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A spokesman for Shabaab, al Qaeda’s official branch in Somalia, said the gunmen deliberately separated Muslims from non-Muslims during the attack. “We sorted people out and released the Muslims,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters.

We see the same sort of thing with ISIS, ISIS video appears to show beheadings of Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, Iraq's Christians persecuted by ISIS.

Further, it is not enough, in some cases, to be a Muslim. You have to be the right kind of Muslim - 4 questions ISIS rebels use to tell Sunni from Shia:

Whether a person is a Shia or a Sunni Muslim in Iraq can now be, quite literally, a matter of life and death.

As the militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has seized vast territories in western and northern Iraq, there have been frequent accounts of fighters' capturing groups of people and releasing the Sunnis while the Shias are singled out for execution.

ISIS believes that the Shias are apostates and must die in order to forge a pure form of Islam.

Ah, the joys of being on the "right" side in a holy war.

Of course, this form of holy war also wants to destroy the past, Priceless Iraqi Artifacts Destroyed by ISIS :

ISIS fighters are destroying symbols of pre-Islamic culture, including artifacts from the Assyrian Empire that are over 2,000 years old.

Should you be surprised by this destruction?

No, you shouldn't. In his book, The Crisis of Islam, Professor Bernard Lewis explained it, non-Islamic history is irrelevant to these holy warriors:

The Muslim peoples, like everyone else in the world, are shaped by their history, but unlike some others, the are keenly aware of it. Their awareness dates however from the advent of Islam, with perhaps some minimal references to pre-Islamic times, necessary to explain historical allusions in the Quar'an and in the early Islamic traditions and chronicles. Islamic history, for Muslims, has an important religious and also legal significance, since it reflects the working our of God's purpose for His community - those that accept the teachings of Islam and obey its law. The history of non-Muslim states and peoples convey no such message and is therefore without value or interest.

What is of no value may be destroyed without qualm.

Obviously, this includes non-believers, believers who are viewed as apostate, and "images" from the past before Islam.

More from Professor Lewis on "Muslim fundamentalists" -

The Muslim fundamentalists, unlike the Protestant groups whose name was transferred to them, do not differ from the mainstream of question of theology and in the interpretation of of scripture. Their critique is, in the broadest sense, societal. The Islamic world, in their view, has taken a wrong turning. ***

Such a perception of straying from the "true path" justifies pretty much anything, since being wrong-headed means you are resisting God's will and that means you are an enemy of "God's army."

"Holy" War. Brought to us by people who prefer a certain black and white clarity to having to deal with shades of gray.

The ultimate "if you aren't with us, you are against us."

Somali Pirates: A Great Big "Mother Ship"? Or a Weapon?

Platts reports that the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Center says some Somali pirates have gotten underway in a Very Large Crude Carrier for use as a "Mother Ship" for conducting piracy operations:

In an advisory sent to ship captains, the PRC warned ships to keep away from the 320,000 dwt crude carrier, which was taken by the pirates from the Indian Ocean.

"On September 14 morning, hijacked MV Samho Dream departed from Somalia with pirates on board ... the tanker was sighted heading east and 80 nautical miles from Somali coast. The tanker may be used to conduct pirate mother ship operations to attack other vessels," the PRC advisory said.

"All vessels are advised to keep clear of MV Samho Dream and report her position to the centre."

The Samho Dream, which is owned by South Korea's Samho Shipping Corp., had 24 crew members -- five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos ? when it was hijacked on April 4.

Well, this seems an unlikely "mother ship" to me - it's awfully big. But perhaps the pirates lack a more suitable vessel.

On the other hand, if I were going to sail a ship that could pose a threat, a fully loaded VLCC might be just the thing.

The danger of an oil spill raises stakes in dealing with this situation.

The possibility of taking this thing into a restricted strait or channel and ramming other ships? I bet she picks up an escort naval vessel PDQ. Lurking at a safe distance, of course.

Keep an eye on this. It could get very interesting.

UPDATE: Of course, one other threat is engage in eco-piracy by threatening the crude oil in the ship - "if you don't pay, we'll open the valves and ..."

Or maybe they have a buyer for the stuff . . .

UPDATE2: A pirate "lord" yuks it up before the big move, millions of dollars poured into the sand, while this jackass lectures us on his down-trodden people. Well, stop the piracy, set up a legitimate Coast Guard and enforce Somali fishing rights. But quit whining while enjoying the fruits of your piracy. Really.

Somalia: Hotel Suicide Attack Kills 32, Incuding 6 Somali Parliment Members

Reported by the BBC:

Somali gunmen have stormed a hotel close to the presidential palace and killed six MPs on the second day of an Islamist offensive.

The deputy prime minister told the BBC that at least 32 people had been killed in the attack.

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says the men were disguised as government soldiers.

They approached the Muna hotel, opened fire on a guard, then one of them blew himself up inside the building.
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Al-Shabab began its offensive on Monday soon after its spokesman said the group was declaring a "massive war" on the AU force, describing its 6,000 peacekeepers as "invaders".
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The group said it carried out last month's deadly twin bombings in Uganda's capital during the football World Cup final.

Such nice, peaceful people.

Somalia: World Cup fans executed

Why people ought to be concerned about the more radical elements of Islamist movements represented in the article-  World Cup fans executed :

Islamic miliants have executed two Somali football fans for watching Nigeria play Argentina on Saturday night.

The deaths happened in Central Somalia which is under strict Islamic law and forbids anyone in the region from watching World Cup matches.

Militants from Hizbul Islam arrested 10 fans who were also part of the group.

A further 30 people were arrested for watching the Australia vs Germany game the following night.

Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aros, a spokesman for the militants, said that, "We are warning all the youth of Somalia not to dare watch these World Cup matches." He said that the people of Somalia should focus on pursuing jihad and not, "watching mad men jump up and down."

No word yet from other religious groups about executions they've conducted because of people watching the World Cup.

Somali: "Al-Shabaab confirms alignment with al-Qaeda: The Implications"

Daniel Sekulich has a post up on the now announced Al-Shabaab alignment with al-Qaeda in Somalia:

Finally, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that if you put a bunch of avowed al-Qaeda fans close to one of the most important sea lanes for global commerce, something bad may happen. We know what al-Qaeda is capable of, on at least four continents. And the only place they have effected large-scale maritime operations to date has been in the seas off the Horn of Africa (viz USS Cole and MV Limburg). If pirates can attack a supertanker or cruise ship for money, why couldn't suicide bombers do the same, albeit with a different goal.

And what does all this have to with piracy? It's simple: The international community has been struggling badly for years to deal with maritime criminals attacking shipping opportunistically. Are we prepared for, say, three skiffs laden with explosives aiming for a box ship in the Gulf of Aden or a supertanker near the Seychelles, piloted by individuals with no intent on boarding and hijacking?

I don't think we are.

Read it all. And think about it.

Nicely done, Daniel.

Somali Pirates: Hostage Tug of War

Trouble for the captured British yacht couple as Somali pirates fight Somali militia - reported here:

One faction of the gang holding the Chandlers, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent,
wanted to hand them over to local Islamists believed to be linked to radical
jihadists fighting Somalia’s Western-backed government.
Mr and Mrs Chandler, 59 and 55, were understood not to have been injured during Monday’s clashes.
They were hijacked at sea off the Seychelles ten days ago and transferred to
Somalia, where it is understood that they are being held on land close to the
town of Haradheere.
“We did not want the pirates to use our territory to
hold hostages or hand them over to another group,” Hussein Mohamed Kahiye, a
clan elder, told The Associated Press in Mogadishu.
He said fighters allied to his clan linked with a moderate Islamic militia to fight back against the pirates’ plan to transfer the Chandlers to another, more radical Islamist group.
There have been reports recently that the gang which is holding the couple
is splitting into different factions, each wanting to deal with the Chandlers
differently.
If they had been given to Islamist extremists, their plight
would have become political rather than simply commercial.

Somali Terrorists: World Cup Plot Against U.S.?

Plot against U.S. by "Somali terrorists" reported here:

Tired of fighting, and largely losing, against the US in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, a group of Somali terrorists devised a strategy to take on the superpower in South Africa.

The Sunday Tribune can reveal that the US's closure of its offices in the country was because of intercepted cellphone communication detailing planned attacks on American interests here. It is unclear whether American interests necessarily include a possible visit by US President Barack Obama for the official opening of the World Cup.

Intelligence officers, according to two sources, intercepted a call made in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, to a group based in Somalia, and the conversation confirmed a plot to blow up American interests in South Africa last month.

A source said US intelligence agents, South Africa's National Intelligence Agency and SAPS Crime Intelligence operatives launched a surveillance operation on the Cape-based group, gathering crucial information before the operation was thrown into disarray.
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As the embassies were closed just before Heritage Day, National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele went on TV to say the country's intelligence structures were on top of the situation.

This, it was established, led to the group discarding the SIM cards and the phones they had used, to cover their tracks.

The source said: "What has been established is that the Cape guys are linked to al-Qaeda cells in Somalia, who are connected to the group in Afghanistan. We have established that most al-Qaeda operatives are relocating from Afghanistan to Pakistan, attracted by increased lawlessness in Pakistan.

"Our information is that there is a trail that links Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and, most interestingly, Mozambique, where Somalis have formed an anti-US cell already.

"The interception revealed that these people plan to move en masse from Mozambique to here (South Africa) in 2010 to attack American interests. Their point is that South Africa is not a target, but if South Africans are caught in the crossfire, then that would be unfortunate.".