Reader’s Links for October 19, 2019

Daily Links Post graphic

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

79 Replies to “Reader’s Links for October 19, 2019”

  1. Australia Charges Iraqi Man over Deadly Human Trafficking Ring
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1952116/australia-charges-iraqi-man-over-deadly-human-trafficking-ring

    “An Iraqi man has been charged in Australia with people trafficking in connection with the drowning deaths of more than 350 asylum seekers in 2001, police said Saturday.

    Maythem Radhi, 43, was arrested at Brisbane airport late Friday after being extradited from New Zealand and has been charged with “organizing groups of non-citizens into Australia”.

    He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

    Agence France Presse said police claim he was part of a syndicate that charged 421 mostly Iraqi and Afghan refugees for a place aboard an Indonesian fishing boat known by Australian authorities as SIEV-X in 2001.

    The vessel sunk in the Indian Ocean off the Indonesian island of Sumatra while en route to Australia’s Christmas Island, leaving 353 people dead, 146 of them children.

    “Police will allege in court that the man, then aged 24, took payments from the passengers,” the Australian Federal Police said in a statement on Saturday — exactly 18 years after the disaster.

    “It will also be alleged that he helped facilitate the transportation and accommodation of people in Indonesia in preparation for their journey to Australia,” they added, according to AFP.

    Radhi is the third person to face court for their role in the disaster.

    He is expected to appear in court later this month.”

  2. UAE army whistleblower ‘missing’ after exposing military corruption
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/10/19/uae-army-whistleblower-missing-after-exposing-military-corruption

    “An Emirati army officer was arrested by authorities after exposing corruption within the military, according to reports.

    Colonel Mohammed Saeed al-Zaabi was detained for revealing compromising information on the Gulf state’s military, following in the footsteps of his father who was arrested for similar reasons.

    The officer shared details of his father Colonel Dr. Saeed Al Zaabi’s case prior to his own arrest in an audio recording which he said would be released in the event of his capture, according to local Emirates 71.

    According to the 30-minute recording which can be found on YouTube, al-Zaabi said would be heading to Barza Sea Palace to meet Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed to reveal details of corruption within the UAE’s army. However, the colonel was arrested before he could arrive.

    The colonel, whose whereabouts are not yet known, added: “I will record this information, and if I am arrested or reported missing, the recording will be exposed directly to the public fo reveal the reasons why.””

  3. Militants kill five in twin attacks on Burkina army outposts: army
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-burkina-security/militants-kill-five-in-twin-attacks-on-burkina-army-outposts-army-idUSKBN1WY0KT

    “Four soldiers and one police officer have been killed in two attacks on military outposts in northern Burkina Faso, the Burkinabe army said on Saturday.

    Raids by Islamist militants as well as clashes between herding and farming communities have surged this year, killing hundreds of civilians and soldiers.

    In the early hours of Saturday, the unidentified assailants attacked a military position in the town of Bahn and another in the village of Yense, the army said in a statement.

    The attacks happened “almost at the same moment,” it said.

    The troops were able to retain control of their posts and repel the attackers, it said.

    Once a pocket of relative calm in the Sahel, a semi-arid belt beneath the Sahara, Burkina has suffered a homegrown insurgency for the past three years, which has been amplified by a spillover of jihadist violence from its chaotic neighbor Mali.”

  4. Islam principle of organization of universe: ‘Wise King’ (aa, Oct 19, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/islam-principle-of-organization-of-universe-wise-king/1619306

    “Saturday marks the 16th anniversary of the death of Alija Izetbegovic, independent Bosnia’s first president and one of most important Muslim thinkers of the last century.

    Izetbegovic — a politician, writer, lawyer and philosopher who came to international prominence during the bitter 1992-1995 Bosnian war — is commemorated every year on his death anniversary.

    Having struggled against fascism and Chetnik nationalists during the Second World War and communism afterwards, Izetbegovic fought for the independence of Bosnia Herzegovina from Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

    Izetbegovic, often dubbed the “Wise King”, died in Sarajevo on Oct. 19, 2003 of natural causes, having served as president of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1996 and as chairman of the Bosnian presidency until October 2000.

    Intellectual heritage: Understanding Izetbegovic’s ‘Islamic’ view

    Though he is mostly known as a politician thanks to his successful leadership in securing Bosnian independence, Izetbegovic is also one of the most important Muslim thinkers of the 20th century Europe.

    Through his ideas, he addressed not only the Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but across the globe.

    He is the author of several books, most notably Islam Between East and West and Declaration of Islam.

    In his well-known ‘Declaration of Islam’ in 1970, Izetbegovic thoroughly examined the independence, awakening and the expansion of contemporary Islamic thought, as well as the revival of the Muslim world, the relationship between the West and the Islamic world and how to build a new civilization.

    His writings brought him to a run in with the Yugoslav authorities. Along with 12 other Bosniak scholars, he was jailed for 14 years after being accused of “separatism and establishing an Islamic state” in 1983, only to be released five years later.

    Islam Between East and West

    As the contemporary world finds itself in a long-standing and unpredictable ideological clash, Izetbegovic’s magnum opus, Islam Between East and West, discusses Islam’s reaction to these conflicts and whether there was a role for Islam to play in the formation of the present world.

    “The book deals with dogmas, institutions, and teachings of Islam with the aim of establishing the place of Islam in the general spectrum of ideas,” Izetbegovic wrote in his book.

    Izetbegovic outlined three integral views of the world, being the “religious”, “materialistic” and “Islamic”, which he argues reflect three “elemental possibilities”: the “conscience”, “nature” and “man”.

    He asserts that each of these integral world views manifests itself as Christianity, materialism, and Islam.

    The first takes as its starting point the existence of the spirit, the second the existence of matter, and the third the “simultaneous existence of spirit and matter”.

    From a holistic approach, he underlines that Islam is the name for the “unity of spirit and matter”, the highest form of which are humans.

    Highlighting an “inherent harmony between man and Islam”, he stresses that ”in the same way as humankind is a unity of spirit and body, Islam is a unity of religion and social order.”

    This unity, which is foreign both to Christianity and materialism, is basic and the “most Islamic” characteristic of Islam, he highlights.

    Izetbegovic argues that Islam is not only a religion or a way of life but primarily the “principle of the organization of the universe”.

    Overcoming ‘primeval’ universal dualism

    Izetbegovic criticizes the “all-encompassing dualism” of the human world, exemplified by the “insurmountable” conflicts between spirit and body, and religion and science.

    Exploring man’s capability to overcome this contradiction, he finds that Islam dictates first the understanding and acceptance of this “primeval” dualism of the world, and then to overcome it.

    “Islam means the call to create a man harmonious in his soul and body and a society whose laws and socio-political institutions will maintain and not violate this harmony,” stresses Izetbegovic.

    Islam is, and should be, a “permanent searching through history” for a state of “inward and outward balance”, he argues.

    This is the “aim of Islam today”, and will be its “specific historical duty” in the future, Izetbogovic highlights.

    Ideological, political independence of Muslim countries

    Based on his philosophical understanding of Islam, he also criticizes the contentious division of the world into two opposing camps, based in ideological conflict.

    Izetbegovic was one of the few Muslim intellectuals who stood against the East-West categorization, Ibrahim Kalin wrote in an article published in Turkish newspaper Sabah on Dec. 26, 2014.

    “Today, we are faced with two worlds divided to the core, politically, ideologically, and emotionally,” Izetbegovic says.

    Underlining that Islam by its very nature is ideologically and politically independent, he calls on Muslims to free themselves from external influences.

    He highlights that ”opposed ideologies with their extreme forms” cannot be imposed on mankind, and points out to a need for a new “middle position”.

    “Islam, which occupies a central position between East and West, has to become conscious of its own mission as an “intermediary” nation in the divided world,” he stresses.”

  5. CBC – Tories hired strategists to undermine Maxime Bernier’s PPC: source

    The federal party leaders addressed allegations on Saturday that Warren Kinsella’s Daisy Group consulting firm produced a social media campaign to “seek and destroy” Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada for an unnamed client.

    A source with knowledge of the project tells CBC News that client was the Conservative Party of Canada.

  6. 41 Daesh terrorists handed over to Turkey: Minister
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/41-daesh-terrorists-handed-over-to-turkey-minister/1619726

    “Turkish interior minister said 41 Daesh terrorists were handed over to Turkey on Saturday following their release by YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror group.

    Speaking at an opening ceremony held in capital Ankara, Suleyman Soylu said Turkey has so far received a total of 236 Daesh terrorists.

    Minister Soylu went on to say that some of those released by the YPG/PKK terror group were women and children. “In line with our laws, the children will be referred to related institutions to ensure their protection,” he said.

    Soylu said Turkey would accept them as Daesh-linked Turkish citizens.

    He went on to say that Turkey neutralized over 3,000 Daesh terrorists during the country’s Euphrates Shield Operation in northern Syria, and Ankara did its utmost best against the terror group.”

  7. CBC -PPC leader Maxime Bernier responds to ‘seek and destroy’ campaign

    Documents shown to CBC News reveal Warren Kinsella’s Daisy Group consulting firm produced a project to “seek and destroy” Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada for a client that a source says is the Conservative Party of Canada.

  8. ‘Sitting on a powderkeg’: Tension between Germany’s Turks and Kurds
    https://www.thelocal.de/20191019/we-are-sitting-on-a-powderkeg-germanys-turks-and-kurds-in-uneasy-stand-off

    “Syrian Kurd Mohamed Zidik, 76, still buys his bread and baclavas from his Turkish neighbours in Berlin, but he knows better than to expound on his views about Ankara’s offensive in his hometown.

    Since Turkish forces launched their assault on Kurds in northeastern Syria, tensions have risen in Germany where millions of Turks and Kurds live side by side.

    Shops have been trashed, knife attacks reported and insults traded, prompting Germany’s integration commissioner Annette Widmann-Mauz to call for restraint.

    “We have a responsibility to prevent the conflict in the region from becoming a conflict in our society,” she said in an interview with the Funke newspaper group.

    Of the roughly three million people with Turkish nationality or roots living in Germany, around one million are Kurds.

    “We are sitting on a powderkeg in Germany,” Turkish expert Burak Copur told ZDF broadcaster.

    “The emotions here cannot be viewed in isolation from the political developments in Turkey, which are mirrored in Germany.”

    Some 15,000 pro-Kurdish demonstrators are set to take to the streets in Cologne on Saturday, with similar demos planned in other European cities.

    German police are on high alert to ward off any new violence from protests over the Turkish offensive after clashes erupted on the sidelines of a demonstration on Monday in the western city of Herne.

    Turks performed the “wolf salute” hand gesture linked to the country’s nationalist far right as a Kurdish protest passed.

    It was one provocation too far for some marchers, and a fight erupted leaving five injured.

    In Germany, the hand sign mimicking a wolf’s head remains legal, but in neighbouring Austria it has been banned — just like the Nazi-era Hitler salute.

    ‘Daily consequences’

    In a small cafe in the German capital, Mohamad Khalil, 23, is keeping an eye on a slew of charging walkie-talkies which will be distributed to fellow demonstration organisers to keep order during planned marches this weekend.

    “For now, all we have left is protest,” the student acknowledges bitterly, underlining the helplessness he feels over the lot of fellow Kurds.

    Germany’s Kurds fear that Ankara’s offensive could pulverise the foundations they have built in Rojava, the self-proclaimed Kurdish zone in northeast Syria.

    Ankara for its part says the main Kurdish militia in Syria is a “terrorist” group with links to its own outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency in Turkey for three decades.

    Melahat Yavas, who works at a Berlin driving school, whole-heartedly backs the Turkish offensive.

    “We are sending our soldiers to their deaths to free Syrian children and families, and be it against the terrorists of PKK or IS, Erdogan is a man of his word and he won’t leave until our Syrian Muslim brothers are secure within their borders,” Yavas told AFP.

    “Turks and Kurds, we live, work and sometimes we laugh together there or here in Germany. My colleague is Kurdish and that’s fine. But the PKK is something else,” she added.

    In a similar show of backing for the military action, at least five German regional football teams face disciplinary action after their players imitated the military salute performed by the Turkish national team during matches earlier this month.

    Such gestures lead to “daily consequences for Kurds, in the streets, when they are protesting, in their work places and definitely in the schools where they are victims of discrimination by Turkish children,” charged Rohat Geran of a Kurdish umbrella federation.

    Kurds in Germany have also accused DITIB mosques in the country of pushing Ankara’s views on the sidelines of prayers.

    But the powerful Turkish religious organisation rejected the charges, telling AFP that it has never championed such messages.

    Some caught in between are just hoping that latest conflict will soon blow over.

    “I only go back (to Turkey) once a year… we live well here. So let them sit down at the same table and find a solution, and let us live peacefully in Germany,” pleaded Cezal Vedat, 43, who runs a travel agency specialising in holidays to Turkey.”

  9. Germany: No total arms export ban for Turkey despite Merkel’s promise
    https://www.dw.com/en/germany-no-total-arms-export-ban-for-turkey-despite-merkels-promise/a-50898701

    “German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week vowed to halt weapons exports to Turkey due to its offensive against Syrian Kurds in northern Syria. But the Economics Ministry now says the ban isn’t so far-reaching.

    Germany’s arms export ban to Turkey only applies to weapons and other military assets that could be used during Ankara’s offensive in northern Syria, the Economics Ministry clarified on Saturday.

    The ministry was responding to a request by the socialist Left party following comments by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

    On Thursday, Merkel warned Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, that a 10-day-old incursion by Ankara’s military into Syrian territory to push out a Syrian Kurd militia was “a humanitarian drama with enormous geopolitical consequences.”

    Merkel said ‘No weapons’

    Amid concerns the offensive would displace tens of thousands more Syrians, the chancellor said that “under the current conditions,” the German government would not provide any weapons to Turkey.

    Merkel was standing behind an agreement reached by the EU’s 28 foreign ministers on Monday to limit arms sales to Ankara.

    Her comments led to speculation about a total German arms ban similar to one levied against Saudi Arabia last November.

    However, in its statement on Saturday, the Economics Ministry insisted: “The Federal Government is not issuing new permits for armaments that could be used by Turkey in Syria.”

    Public ‘deceived’

    Reacting to Merkel’s comments, Left party MP Stefan Liebich accused the chancellor of deceiving the public.

    Last year, arms sales to Ankara totaled €242.8 million ($271 million), almost a third of the German defense sector’s total production, according to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency.

    In the first eight months of 2019, arms sales rose to €250.4 billion, the highest since 2005.

    The number of export permits handed out by Berlin has more than tripled to 182 so far this year, compared to 58 for the whole of last year.

    Safe zone protected by truce

    Turkey launched its military incursion into northern Syria on October 9 to ensure a 20-mile (30-kilometer) “safe zone” along its border, which includes major Kurdish-held towns and cities.

    Ankara seeks to push back the YPG, a Kurdish militia that led an alliance of US-backed fighters to expel the “Islamic State” (IS) armed group from Syria.

    Turkey deems the YPG a terrorist group because of its links to Kurdish insurgents in Turkey.

    The offensive was widely condemned internationally, which prompted a US-brokered cease-fire that began on Thursday and is to last five days.”

  10. India’s Nuclear Weapons Arsenal Keeps Getting Bigger and Bigger

    “India is estimated to have produced enough military plutonium for 150 to 200 nuclear warheads, but has likely produced only 130 to 140,” according to Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. “Nonetheless, additional plutonium will be required to produce warheads for missiles now under development, and India is reportedly building several new plutonium production facilities.”

    In addition, “India continues to modernize its nuclear arsenal, with at least five new weapon systems now under development to complement or replace existing nuclear-capable aircraft, land-based delivery systems, and sea-based systems.”

    Unlike the missile-centric U.S. and Russian nuclear forces, India still heavily relies on bombers, perhaps not unexpected for a nation that fielded its first nuclear-capable ballistic missile in 2003. Kristensen and Korda estimate India maintains three or four nuclear strike squadrons of Cold War-vintage, French-made Mirage 2000H and Jaguar IS/IB aircraft targeted at Pakistan and China.

    “Despite the upgrades, the original nuclear bombers are getting old and India is probably searching for a modern fighter-bomber that could potentially take over the air-based nuclear strike role in the future,” the report notes. India is buying thirty-six French Rafale fighters that carry nuclear weapons in French service, and presumably could do for India.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/indias-nuclear-weapons-arsenal-keeps-183000277.html

  11. Turkey to View Protection of Kurdish Units by Damascus as Declaration of War – Erdogan Aide
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201910201077097329-turkey-to-view-protection-of-kurdish-units-by-damascus-as-declaration-of-war-erdogan-aide/

    “he possible protection of the Kurdish units, operating in northern Syria, by Damascus will be regarded by Ankara as a declaration of war on Turkey, Yasin Aktay, an adviser of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said on Saturday.

    On October 9, Turkey began the Operation Peace Spring, stating it aimed to rid its southern border of the Kurdish militia, which it views as terrorists. Soon after that Damascus sent troops to the north to protect the Kurdish units.

    “If the Syrian regime [government troops] wants to enter Manbij, Ayn al-Arab [Kobani] and Qamishli to provide protection for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units [YPG], that will be viewed by Turkey as the declaration of war and it [Damascus] will face a relevant response,” Aktay said.

    However, if the Syrian government provides Turkey with guarantees that the Kurdish units will not operate in the border area, Ankara may change its position on the Syrian government troops’ advance to the northern part of the country, according to Aktay.

    He added that the Turkish and other foreign troops would leave Syria after the establishment of peace and security across the country.

    “Turkey does not grab anyone’s territories,” Aktay added.
    Aktay also said that Ankara has agreed with Washington to create a 444-kilometre-long (275 miles) safe zone controlled by its troops on the Syrian border.

    “The depth of the created safe zone was discussed during the meeting with the US, when the Turkish side confirmed the need to create a safe zone on the border with Syria with a depth of 32 kilometres [19 miles] and a length of 444 kilometres, which was agreed with the US delegation,” Aktay said.

    According to the adviser, the absence of a written agreement with the United States on the safe zone does not mean disagreement on this matter or on the content of the deal.

    “The east of the Euphrates, in particular, the provinces of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, which was discussed with the United States, will be fully included in the safe zone, and we managed to reach mutual understanding on this issue. The agreement reached with the Americans is clear, the Turkish armed forces will exercise control over the safe zone, the depth and extent of which will be determined by Turkey,” Aktay stressed.

    At the same time, he pointed out that Ankara’s cooperation with Washington on the safe zone will continue within the framework of the relationship between the two countries as NATO members. After withdrawing from these territories, the United States is expected to leave Turkey with security controls in this area…”