Motoon attack, reactions and reporting, Iran chases the US navy, and more: Links 2 on May 6 – 2015

1. Jihadist who left Britain to join ISIS in Syria was responsible for the slick footage showing Jordanian airman being burned alive in a cage, says prominent Islamist

2. Pentagon sees “tough” Iraqi battle to secure Baiji oil refinery

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) – The Pentagon on Wednesday said Iraq’s fight to secure the country’s largest oil refinery from Islamic State militants was headed in the wrong direction and declined to predict the outcome of ongoing battle.

“It’s been a tough, fluid fight,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told a news briefing, adding that “right now it’s flowing in the wrong direction.”

(It’s a good thing the Soviets didn’t know you could beat the US military machine with a few psychos, a convoy of Toyota Land cruisers and some Chinese made imitation US light and medium arms or we would all be speaking Russian today instead of just the media and the university profs)

3. Pig farm plan to push away Muslim immigrants

Anti-immigration campaigners in Gullberg in southern Sweden are plotting to build a pig farm next to an asylum centre in a last-ditch effort to deter would-be Muslim immigrants, who might find the animals offensive.

(Of course it won’t work. The thing about pigs is more to deny us our own dietary choices and culture, and isn’t a real deterrent to muslims or they wouldn’t come to the West anyway. But it is funny and the world can always use more bacon)

4. Geert Wilders is planning a Mo-toon expo of his own 

(If i were one of the Temptations, the Supremes, the Four Tops etc. I would be heading for witness protection about now)

Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders said on Wednesday he wanted to stage a parliamentary exhibition of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed that sparked a deadly shooting in Texas that left two dead.

“I am going to request Parliament to exhibit the same cartoons as those that were displayed in Garland,” Wilders told AFP on Wednesday, referring to the Dallas suburb where the shooting took place on Sunday.

Police said the two gunmen drove up to the conference centre in Garland, where the American Freedom Defense Initiative was organizing a controversial Mohammed cartoon contest, and opened fire with assault rifles, hitting a security guard in the ankle.

5. Pamela Geller: A Response to My Critics—This Is a War

(In this Time Magazine oped, Pamela Geller states her case well and if you add this to the various TV interviews she has done recently where she elucidates more aspects of this you get a pretty complete picture of the issue from the side of reason and genuine human rights. But I feel I have to follow this up with something truly disappointing. Pour yourselves a drink for this next little link:)

6. NYT: Charlie Hebdo Editor Seeks to Distance Newspaper From Anti-Islam Causes

In an interview with members of the editorial board of The New York Times, the editor, Gérard Biard, disputed any analogies drawn between the Charlie Hebdo attack and the assault on Sunday against an art contest in Texas organized by Pamela Geller, a conservative activist and blogger.

“We have nothing to do with Pamela Geller’s work,” Mr. Biard said. “When Islam or the Prophet Muhammad jump out of the news, we comment on it, we mock it, maybe. But we are not obsessed about it.”

Mr. Biard also criticized Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front, whose popularity has risen in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack on Jan. 7.

(It will be interesting to keep an eye on this magazine in future and see what kind of mockery they engage in exactly)

7. Report: Iranian Navy Chases After U.S. Warships

An Iranian naval fleet chased a U.S. warship and military planes through the waters off the southern coast of Yemen late Monday in yet another provocative encounter between the two nations, according to Iranian state media reports.

A U.S. warship and several planes reportedly “changed their direction” on Monday after encountering an Iranian naval fleet during a patrol in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen, Iranian state media revealed.

The U.S. military assets fled “after they came close to an Iranian naval fleet and were warned to move away,” Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency reported. Iran also released video of the incident.

8. Texas attack: The chain of terror tweets that led to Elton Simpson rampage at Draw Mohammed contest

9. US News clip on Islamic State recruiter on the attack in Texas

Thank you M., Richard, Wrath of Khan, Yucki and many more. There is a great deal more material to come. The amplitude and tempo of events is likely to increase noticeably in the coming months and year. How disappointing that the majority of conservatives and news broadcasters have opted for a post modern position in this struggle.