Space War Power

Taylor Dinerman has an article that’s recommended reading here.

An Excerpt:
As long as we live in a world without an all-out major war, the most dangerous form of space power is non-military. The mullahs of Iran and, before them, the Afghan Taliban banned satellite dishes, for good reason. Commercial Western television is a subversive force of unmatched power. While pro-jihadi television such as al-Jazeera and al-Manar continues to have an immediate impact, the forces of western commercial culture, as well as dissident broadcasts relayed via satellite to the Middle East, are at least as destabilizing. At some point people get tired of ideology and long to be normal. It will probably take decades for this to have a decisive effect, but as long as the West maintains a steady stream of entertainment products flowing into the minds of young potential jihadis the outcome is predictable.

This is why Iran’s 2003 Cuba-based jamming of broadcasts from Persian exiles based in Southern California is so significant. They went after the Telstar 12 satellite in geosynchronous orbit because it was feeding the people of Iran with alternative ideas that originated from people whose basic culture and religion were identical to their own. Satellite television allows people who speak the same language and share the same culture to stay in touch and to maintain their identity even when living thousands of kilometers apart. For good or ill this is an inescapable aspect of what may be termed “soft” space power.

Taliban Recruiting Drive Continues

No commentary needed here, story from the Frontier Post:

One of three boys kidnapped by Taliban earlier in the week has been slaughtered, alleges a district chief in the southern Kandahar province. Of the abducted teenaged trio, two youngsters were lucky enough to have a narrow escape from captivity but the third one had his throat slit, the Nawbahar districts administrative head said on Thursday. Mullah Zarif told Pajhwok Afghan News the 15-year-old – all too green to take sides in the ongoing insurgency – was killed on the ludicrous charge of spying for government forces. But Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, expressing ignorance about the teenagers execution, said he had not yet received any information in this regard.

Meanwhile, some who are willing Taliban show how inept and stupid they are:

Three militants died when a bomb they were planting on a road used by the Pakistan army detonated prematurely in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan. The three were killed at Datta Khel in Waziristan late on Wednesday “while planting an improvised explosive device

So, I guess no virgins for them… maybe they will get 72 devils to play with the pieces of their bodies instead, what do you think?

Pakistan Update

cyclone-yemyin.jpgIn Pakistan there are a quarter million homeless people in the wake of Cyclone Yemyin, the largest natural disaster to hit Pakistan since the earthquakes. The rain has affected the entire country, and even folks in the mountains near Chitral have died to its effects. ( The monsoon rains pushed forward by the Cyclone.) The Cyclone has since moved into Iran, and the storm has even been powerful enough to  break the pattern of of “the wind of 120 days” in Afghanistan a short while. Meanwhile, in the Bay of Bengal another cyclone is building. One of the horrors of this storm is finding the bodies of the deceased quickly so they can receive proper burial.

Update: more on the ongoing rescue efforts from AP/Breitbart.

Continue reading “Pakistan Update”

Christian Nurses Re-instated

Justice Iqbal of the Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered that the five Christian nurses accused of blashphemy at the Mandi Bahauddin Nursing Hostel be allowed to resume their humanitarian duties. The five were accused of defacing Quranic verses on a water-cooler, however the accuser is linked to Lal Masjid / Jamia Hafsa, madrassas that are more political than religious, and the accusation is suspect.

A full investigation and report has been ordered, but a cloud hangs over the Nurses heads for the next four weeks as a charge of blasphemy in Pakistan is very serious. Story at The Pakistan Observer.

Gas Rationing and Inflation in Iran Sparks Riots

The Iranian leadership has come under fire from the citizens as they moved to rationing gas due to shortages. Crowds rioted, and burned gas stations.

The Iranian leadership has come under fire from the citizens as they moved to rationing gas due to shortages. Crowds rioted, and burned gas stations. This is in the face of shortages of other goods and spiraling price inflation. Story Here, and Gateway Pundit has the video.

This is a clear sign that the sanctions against Iran’s nuclear programs are having some effect.