Well, this is interesting. That music video from the Norwegian troops, to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo”? After getting out on the Internet, it sparked a full-blown (and admittedly, legitimate) diplomatic incident.
Yahoo News and Al-Jazeera both cover the clash. But only Winds of Change.NET has the lyrics, along with the video links to “Kosovo” and the full version of the British Dragoons’ “Is This The Way To Armadillo”…
Transatlantic Intelligencer put me on to a really good interview The Aspen Institute Berlin did with Irshad Manji, Gilles Kepel, and Steven Emerson about Islam in Europe. Canadian “Muslim Refusenik” Irshad Manji had some especially interesting things to say - not just about Islam, but about Europe and secularism:
bq.. 2. How widespread is Muslim extremism in European Muslim communities and mosques?
(Manji): It mostly depends on how you define extremism. If you mean “literalism,” then it is more than widespread - it is mainstream. If you mean the overt preaching of violence, then it percolates on the margins. The key here is to recognize that because literalism is mainstream in Islam today, the thin minority of Muslims who have any intention of engaging in terror are nonetheless protected by the vast majority of moderate Muslims who don’t know how to debate and dissent with that proclivity.
Let me explain why.
I noted a little while ago a very interesting story that appeared on Expatica in which the Spanish Popular Party had asked the 3/11 commission to look into one Fernando Huarte Santamaria, a Socialist deputy and the former head of the Spanish Palestinian Support Association who had met repeatedly with Abdelkrim Benesmail, who is either an aide to suspected GIA member and 3/11 mastermind Allekema Lamari or a mastermind on his own right.
There was a lot of interesting information that Colt and Joe A listed in the comments and I just want to make sure that I have all the details right concerning Huarte before I start repeating this. I freely confess my ignorance with respect to the Spanish political scene and am more than happy to be corrected on any details I get wrong here. Having seen first-hand how conspiracy theories can spin out of control very, very fast I want to make sure that we have the facts straight.
BBC reports:
A fire has badly damaged a mosque in the Netherlands, in what may be the latest in a series of arson attacks.