CAIR released a statement today demanding that Boeing and Bell Helicopter pull a “Mosque Attack” ad (available in PDF form here) that ran in the National Journal.

Boeing, Bell and the National Journal have apologized:

The ad, coming amid rising concern among Muslims over U.S. military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, prompted immediate complaints from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which demanded the withdrawal of the campaign.

But Boeing, which created the ad with partner Bell Helicopter, said publication was a “clerical error” by the National Journal, which ran the ad on September 24.

“We consider the ad offensive, regret its publication and apologise to those who like us are dismayed with its contents,” said Mary Foerster, vice president at Boeing’s defence unit, in a statement.

The ad “did not proceed through normal channels”, Boeing said, and despite asking for it to be withdrawn and destroyed, was published in error.

The National Journal, a Washington government and policy magazine, admitted it made a clerical error and said it accepted full responsibility in a statement issued on Friday.

“At the very first indication that this ad caused discomfort nearly a month ago, we immediately pulled the creative and replaced it with an alternative ad,” said Bell vice president Michael Cox, in a statement. “Despite our directive to the National Journal to replace the ad, it was not replaced as requested, which resulted in its publication this week.”

Update (Chad):
Commenter PBSwatcher of PBS Watch blog reccomends we post the picture to upset CAIR. While that is certianly not my intention of posting the ad above, I do feel it could add to the discussion.

You can clearly see soldiers assaulting a mosque, but it is also just a sad fact of the current war that terrorists use mosques as bases of operation. Many weapons caches and explosives have been found inside mosques. In Fallujah there were sleeping arrangements for members of Al Qaida in Iraq. Terrorists even fight out of mosques and launch mortars from behind their walls.

While taking down a mosque is not what the Coalition ever intends to do, it is their job to find and eliminate the people who are laying seige upon the Iraqi populace or the Coalition. Personally though on this picture, I understand CAIR’s complaint. That said though, I hardly find it offensive, but then again I rarely ever get offended.

Thanks again to Pbswatcher for providing the image who also notes it’s nothing more than a poor Photoshop job. Heh.

There have been several interesting posts on various blogs concerning the importance of the killing of Abu Azzam whom press reports indicated he was second in command of Al Qaida in Iraq. Most of the posts concerning Azzam have indicated he is not second in command which goes back to a flow chart written by terrorism analyst Evan Kohlman (downloadable here).

According to Kohlman’s chart, Abu Azzam is listed but he is not in the central bracket of Al Qaida in Iraq officers meaning he certainly would not be second in command. He is however an important catch.

The Observer Research Foundation writes an interesting article concerning where Azzam was in comparison to the other 29 most wanted men by the Iraqi government that is well worth a read. The author does not come to any conclusion per se, but he does lay the groundwork for stating that while the killing of Azzam was well worth it, he is hardly the groundbreaking killing announced.

The way Al Qaida in Iraq is structured, as best I can tell from various communiques, killings, capturings, etc. is that Zarqawi has an inner structure of trusted confidants. This inner circle is very small, but the inner circle which travels with Zarqawi is much, much smaller. He has appointed regional commanders which in turn have appointed smaller commanders which in turn have appointed smaller commanders. Zarqawi has organized Al Qaida in Iraq in a similar fashion to the U.S. military in this respects.

Therefore, Azzam may have been the Al Qaida leader of a particular province, but most likely one of his cronnies will step into the job. Like I’ve stated before however, each link in the chain that gets busted gets replaced by a weaker link.

Hat tip: Hyscience who notes a Newsweek story on Azzam

The new Muslim chaplain with the FDNY doesn’t believe Al Qaida caused 9/11 (via LGF). Surely the firefighters who lost friends in the World Trade Center will have a feef with him.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Imam Intikab Habib, 30, a native of Guyana who studied Islam in Saudi Arabia, said he doubted the United States government’s official story blaming 19 hijackers associated with al-Quaida and Osama bin Laden.

“I as an individual don’t know who did the attacks,” said Habib, 30, a soft-spoken man who immigrated to New York in July 2000 after spending six years in Saudi Arabia getting a degree in Islamic theology and law. “There are so many conflicting reports about it. I don’t believe it was 19 … hijackers who did those attacks.”

Asked to elaborate on his reasons for doubting that story, he talked about video and news reports widely disseminated in the Muslim community.

“I’ve heard professionals say that nowhere ever in history did a steel building come down with fire alone,” he said. “It takes two or three weeks to demolish a building like that. But it was pulled down in a couple of hours. Was it 19 hijackers who brought it down, or was it a conspiracy?”

We’ve seen this type of lunacy time and time again throughout the Muslim world. Perhaps I should use a different word than lunacy because it’s not quite fitting. Allow me to explain what I mean.

The shock of 9/11 in the United States was and still is great. The shock of 9/11 in the Muslim world perhaps might be greater because many are trying to rationalize how 19 of their fellow Muslims could have committed such an act. Some refuse to believe that other Muslims could have deliberately targeted thousands of innocent civilians. Then of course there’s the role of the Arab press which has advanced these conspiracy theories.

I am not an engineer or an architect therefore I cannot explain how the towers collapsed, however what would the rational reason for the U.S. to tear down the buildings be? The most common argument is that President Bush wanted to start a war in Afghanistan against the Taliban and Al Qaida. There was already ample evidence to start such a war at least against Al Qaida that should have began during the 1990s but wasn’t.

I’d like to hear some reactions to this statement from firefighters in New York. Would it effect their job or their confidence in those around them?

Update (Mac): As LGF and Michelle Malkin notes, Imam Intikab Habib has resigned already. That was quick.

Great news out of Palestine. With the recent Israeli pullout from Gaza, Hamas tried to capitalize on the movement. I thought they actually had done so and would garner many more votes than it appears they have.

According to the Jerusalem Post:

Final results Friday showed the Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas making an unexpectedly strong showing against key rival Hamas in local elections in dozens of West Bank towns and villages, with 54 percent of the vote compared to Hamas’ 26%.

Though the elections were mostly about local issues such as roads and water, Fatah’s showing was in line with a recent rise in support for the party following Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Faced with early results showing a worse-than-expected outcome, the Hamas complained that many of its candidates were detained by Israeli troops before Thursday’s election.

Hamas still received votes, but that is to be expected. What is surprising is how well Fatah did in comparison to what the role of Hamas in Palestine is and how they have played the Palestinian people to their own agendas. All politicians do bend and tweak people’s viewpoints to their own, but Hamas takes it quite a large step further by advancing their viewpoints based upon their religion of convert or kill.

While I have not seen any evidence the PA will restrict the radical Islamic groups in Palestine, they have a far better chance at doing so under Fatah than Hamas.

An Egyptian newspaper columnist writes the Guantanamo Bay detention facility is just like Nazi prison camps.

“This can be called the first massacre of the 21st century; it is being perpetrated by the Bush administration against 200 Muslims, mostly Arabs, who have been hunger-striking for the past three weeks. This premeditated crime is taking place before the eyes of the [entire] world, but not a single conscience has awakened to demand that the slaughter be halted and that these prisoners be rescued from death.

“This murderous crime runs counter to all laws, conventions, and moral standards, [yet] none [stand up to] defend its victims. In the future, it will leave its dark marknot only on the forehead of the Bush administration, but also on the faces of several Arab governments – [since] more than 80% of the prisoners and hunger strikers in this concentration camp are their subjects.

“This camp takes us back to the time of Nazi persecution of innocent people in the early 1940s. The U.S., which in the 20th century played a major role with the Allies in closing down the Nazi camps and liberating Europe from the Nazi massacres, has, in the early 21st century, reestablished a detention camp in Cuba, which is very much like the Nazi camps, and where they [incarcerate] those whom they label enemy combatants.

I don’t believe my tax money is going towards furnaces or gas chambers in Guantanamo Bay. Furthermore, the people held at Guantanamo are members of a terrorist organization which has killed numerous Americans over the past decade. The Jews the Nazis rounded up were guilty of just trying to live and practice their own religion. Then again, there is a wide belief in the Middle East that the Holocaust never happened.

So where does this columnist get the rhetoric? Sadly from our own politicians who advance these asinine comparisons to get a column inch on the New York Times front page.

World Net Daily had an exclusive interview with Hamas senior spokesman Sami Abu Zahri, presumably while Zahri was hiding underground after Israel retaliated for Hamas rockets. Zahri said Hamas plans many more attacks. This comes despite Hamas repeatedly saying they would abide by the cease-fire and then breaking it the next day each time.

“Our relations are good with all the honest forces in the Arab world and this includes Assad’s Syria, Hezbollah and other movements and forces,” Zuhri said in the interview, which will be released in full on WND this weekend.

Zahri claimed Israel does not have the military capability to stop Hamas’ Qassam rockets from flying out of Gaza and hitting nearby Jewish communities.

“Israel has always tried to stop Qassam attacks and she always failed to do so, even while using the most sophisticated technological and military tools. … Hamas succeeded in creating a new military equation against Israel.”

What I find even more amazing is that there are certain people who see the Israeli offensives as terrorism and give Hamas a free pass to launch whatever they want into Israel and towards Israeli citizens. Time and time again Hamas has glorified terrorist operations and taunted Israelis.

Sadly though, until the Palestinian Authority gets a handle on their territory and Hamas, which they do not seem to be able to do, these types of attacks will continue. Attacks by Hamas are well up since the Israeli pullout in an effort to prop up the PA. Clearly that has not worked.

Head of U.S. Central Command Army General John Abizaid laid out his assessment of Iraq and the greater conflict against Al Qaida yesterday in front of the Senate Armed Service Committee. Much of it we already know, but some of it is new.

Abizaid explained the Syrian border with Iraq is still not controlled, something we already knew of course, but he said the Iraq National Guard only has one battle-ready batallions. This figure is down from three only a short time before. General Casey, in charge of Iraq, though says there are an additional 20,000 Iraqi soldiers ready to carry out offensives. It is the 7,000 figure which Abizaid describes as “Level 1.”

This news prompted General Casey to say he cannot see a substantial U.S. withdrawal from Iraq within the next year. He cautioned though the next 75 days are crucial.

“The next 75 days are going to be critical in what happens after that,” [Casey] testified, referring to a constitutional referendum Oct. 15 and parliamentary elections in December, for which 98 percent of eligible voters are registered.

Ninety-eight percent of eligible voters are registered? That figure is extremely high for any nation, much less a nation besieged by terrorists threatening to kill anyone who votes or even registers to vote.

Also in Abizaid’s speech was his belief of what Al Qaida seeks in the region.

Gen. Abizaid raised the stakes for Iraq by presenting a chilling assessment of al Qaeda’s worldwide goals. He said leader Osama bin Laden’s sights are set on Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and then the entire region, as well as Asia.

Although the Bush administration describes the conflict as the “war on terror,” Gen. Abizaid made clear the enemy is al Qaeda.

“Their objectives are very clear,” Gen. Abizaid said. “They believe in a jihad, a jihad, first and foremost, to overthrow the legitimate regimes in the region. But in order to do that, they have to first drive us from the region. This is what they believe. They believe, ultimately, that the greatest prize of all is Saudi Arabia and the holy shrines there.”

He said the war against Zarqawi’s al Qaeda in Iraq, and al Qaeda worldwide, presents “a rare opportunity to get in front of these extremists and focus on them now before al Qaeda and its underlying ideology becomes mainstream.”

Osama Bin Laden has stated numerous times in the past his desire to topple the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia. In fact, this is to be the ultimate base of the Caliphate and he wants to run Saudi Arabia personally.

Make no mistake about it, if we were to leave Iraq to Al Qaida, they would topple the existing democratic Iraqi government and then move to Saudi Arabia. If you’re complaining of $3 gas now, imagine what it would cost if Al Qaida controlled the largest reserves in the world with a strict policy against selling oil to Western nations. That is assuming they would sell it in the first place.

From Saudi Arabia Al Qaida would move West into Africa and Europe. They already have a small foothold in Africa with cells in the Horn of Africa and throughout Europe. They believe Allah wants the entire world to convert to Islam and will kill or convert all who cross their path unless they are stopped.

The Islamic Revolution that came out of Iran during the early 1980s is a small insight into what Al Qaida wishes to accomplish. Iran though had several enemies abroad including in Saddam Hussein who started the Iran-Iraq war to keep the Islamic Revolution out of his country. This limited the reach of the movement.

Al Qaida though does not play by the same rules in which Iran did. They have no qualms with killing innocents along the way toward their stated goal of a Caliphate. Who is their biggest obstacle in this quest? The United States.

All the above is outlined in the Al Qaida strategy guide for the next twenty years that was found in the Netherlands. It is of great comfort that our military brass is reading Al Qaida’s material and acting accordingly.

Is anyone surprised? According to the World Tribune, PA sources are claiming that Hamas has taken control of Gaza:

GAZA CITY — Hamas has taken control of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority officials said.

Palestinian sources said Hamas forces, some of them dressed in uniforms, have been manning roadblocks and patrolling the streets of towns and cities in the Gaza Strip. The sources said virtually all of Gaza’s refugee camps have come under Hamas control.

“This is the new reality,” a Palestinian Authority official said. “Hamas is in control and all we can do is look on.”

“There is no real PA presence in Gaza,” Palestinian Legislative Council member Nabil Amr said, according to Middle East Newsline.The sources said Hamas has been strongest in the southern Gaza Strip. They said masked Hamas operatives have taken over Rafah near the Egyptian border.

The sources said Hamas has also gained control over refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. They said Hamas operatives patrol such camps as Jabalya, north of Gaza City; Brazil, outside Rafah, and Bureij in the central Gaza Strip.

Hamas said it has seven brigade commanders in the Gaza Strip, led by Mohammed Deif. The sources said Hamas has at least 5,000 fighters under arms.

They board up windows from the inside and don’t bother covering the door.

Let us hope the Aggies are as prepared on November 5. Then again, they will need all the help they can get.

CENTCOM is making a push on blogs to get links out for their site and to announce a new newsletter. When I received my email, naturally I obliged because I support our soldiers and our mission and I’ve used information from CENTCOM several times over the past year. It is a valuable source of information and some great photos too.

I emailed back the officer at the Public Affairs office though to ask what we as a nation are doing to counter the Al Qaida propoganda. Below is the pertinent part of my email back leaving out the Officer’s name because no agreement other than the agreement found on my site called for using this email exchange for a post.

What is the U.S. military doing to either subvert or counter the propoganda coming from the opposition including even a few specific media outlets? Throughout this entire conflict, the lack of what I feel is adequate counter-propoganda has simply boggled my mind. As I am sure you are aware of, Al Qaida and similar groups have proven to be champions of using the Internet against us, but what is our nation doing to either take down or counter these many sites, videos, communiques, etc.? This is something I follow quite closely and there has been very little information, to say the least, about what we are doing to counter Al Qaida’s use of the Internet as their main propoganda tool.

Frequent readers of ITB know I have often been critical of the U.S. response to the propoganda spewed by Al Qaida and other various terrorist groups. I did not expect a response, but I was hoping I got one. I did.

Again, leaving out the Officer’s name:

I appreciate your timely response and support. My response is not meant to be harsh, only straight up. We don’t do propaganda at Public Affairs. Our motto is “Strength Thorough Truth”. And, I personally believe that if we as soldiers continue to try to do the right thing, good things will happen. Now the military will make it’s mistakes (Vietnam Public Affairs), and I know we will do our best to correct them and drive on. But today we tell the soldiers story. Good and Bad. There is however much more good, or I could not in good conscience do my job. So what we are trying to do is GET the word out. However, most of the mainstream media does not find 100 rebuilt schools to be as interesting as 1 IED. Such is the challenge. Again, thank you for the support. I look forward to browsing your blog for interesting news from time to time.

I do not view all propoganda as misleading nor full of half-truths or lies. It has come to mean such, but the actual roots of the word as best I know it is simply pushing an agenda. Nevertheless, you have to love the Officer’s response. It is quite telling when an officer with the Public Affairs office speaks out against the media’s slanting towards violence in covering the GWOT.

I’ve written quite a few posts detailing why the media does have a bias towards violence, but not necessarily an ideological bias. What is even further telling though is why we as consumers continue to support the same media which gives us only part of the story while even one of the larger wire services, Reuters, blames the United States military for not allowing Reuters journalists to cover the full story of Iraq.

It used to be a journalist’s job to dig into a situation to find the story, not anyone else’s responsibility to lead the journalist to a report. It is a sad state of affairs when media agencies as large as Reuters feel they need to be breast fed their entire lives by another agency whose job it is to protect, fight and build.