Al Qaeda: No Big Fans of Jews, Children

"The radical leader of Islamabad's Red Mosque, under siege for the last six days by hundreds of Pakistan troops, said the 1,800 children he claims are still in the religious-school complex have taken oaths on the Quran to fight to the death, a frightening possibility confirmed by frantic parents who have spoken by cell phone with sons and daughters who say they soon hope to be martyrs," WorldNetDaily reports.

Ghazi, who has said he and his followers will fight to the end, now says the 1,800 children he holds have been divided into two groups and will join his fighters against any assault. [...]

"The boys are the first line of defense, then the girls," he said. "They have all sworn an oath on the Koran that they will fight to the death."

All Ghazi needed was eight weeks:

Khan, the desperate father and shopkeeper, succeeded Friday in getting his two daughters to leave the compound with a ruse.

Reaching them once again by cell phone, he told them their mother was ill and lay unconscious on the pavement outside. The two girls left the compound and were taken by their father.

Saima, Khan's 10-year-old daughter, denounced the trick.

"The teachers taught us about martyrdom and that it is a great achievement," she told the Times. "I could see the fighting was in front of me and I could understand that we would die. I felt real anger about what my father did. He tricked me."

"I'm taking them back to our village," Khan said. "They were ready for martyrdom and they're very angry with me. I'm just happy I've got my daughters back, and sorry for those whose daughters are still in there."

According to Khan, Saima's transformation had taken only eight weeks.

Also, Karol directs readers to this story, from Michael Yon, reporting from Iraq:

At first, he said, they would only target Shia, but over time the new al Qaeda directed attacks against Sunni, and then anyone who thought differently. The official reported that on a couple of occasions in Baqubah, al Qaeda invited to lunch families they wanted to convert to their way of thinking. In each instance, the family had a boy, he said, who was about 11-years-old. As LT David Wallach interpreted the man’s words, I saw Wallach go blank and silent. He stopped interpreting for a moment. I asked Wallach, “What did he say?” Wallach said that at these luncheons, the families were sat down to eat. And then their boy was brought in with his mouth stuffed. The boy had been baked. Al Qaeda served the boy to his family.

Politicians make much of their passion for The Children, passing bans on everything from smoking to dodge ball out of concern for their well-being. Meanwhile, House Speaker Speaker Nancy Pelosi is promising a "month of action" to "end the war," thereby ensuring stories like those above become only more frequent. Too bad Iraqi/Pakistani parents don't vote in Democratic primaries.

A Few Must-Reads

-- The Washington Post, hardly a lapdog of the president, absolutely eviscerates Madam Speaker Pelosi's diplomatic adventures in Syria.

-- In a "loosely scientific" analysis, Radar details The New York Times' top 10 most error-prone reporters. In rather biting fashion, to boot.

-- Robert Tracinski says the Supreme Court ruled Monday that "the EPA is obliged to treat every substance on earth as a pollutant to be regulated, unless it can demonstrate why that substance is not a pollutant." Well, just the ones involved in any part of the economy, anyway.

Democrats' Doublethink

"Doublethink," as defined by In George Orwell's 1984, means holding "simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them ..."

Nancy Pelosi, today: "We owe our troops a course of action in Iraq that is worthy of their sacrifice. Today, we set the state for a New Direction on Iraq by passing a resolution of fewer than 100 words which supports our troops but disapproves of the President's escalation proposal. ... The bipartisan resolution today is nonbinding, but it will send a strong message to the President: we are committed to supporting the troops and we disapprove of the escalation."

Pelosi's Preference

Remember that C.S. Lewis quote posted here yesterday?

"One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting every one else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons-marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning."

Something to bear in mind while reading today's Washington Post story on Nancy Pelosi's decision to ban smoking from the Capitol Building:

Some fresh air blew into the Capitol yesterday, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi banned smoking from the most venerable nicotine haven on the hill -- the Speaker's Lobby outside the entrance to the House floor.

Pelosi, of smoke-free California, is known to detest the tobacco habit. Ever since her ascension as top Democrat with authority over the lobby and most other space in the House, smokers have been bracing for the moment when they'd be ordered to extinguish their butts.

The FunkyPundit is known to detest pompous, self-righteous assholes. But notice he's not manipulating the government to have them banned.

Oh, and by the way, Boehner, you're a pussy:

One of the heaviest smokers, Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who is partial to Barclays, was resigned to the new reality yesterday. As majority leader in the last Congress, Boehner ignored calls to ban smoking from the Speaker's Lobby. But now, as minority leader, he has little choice but to abide by Pelosi's wishes and told reporters he was fine with the ban.

Tradition? Who cares about tradition when we've got "scientists":

For generations, the Speaker's Lobby has been the most visible space where smokers gather inside the Capitol. It is an ornate space dotted with fireplaces, leather armchairs and chandeliers. Lawmakers relax there between votes and debates, often meeting with staff members, reporters or the public and huddling in informal groups. Cigarette smokers tended to dominate the daytime hours there; at night, the cigar smokers took over.

Pelosi said she was banning smoking from the area to protect the health of the staff, reporters and public who spend time in the lobby. "Medical science has unquestionably established the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke, including an increased risk of cancer and respiratory diseases. I am a firm believer that Congress should lead by example," Pelosi said in a statement. "The days of smoke-filled rooms in the United States Capitol are over."

No one believes secondhand smoke causes cancer. Not even "scientists." No matter. Tobacco bans are very in these days, and Nancy Pelosi is nothing if not trendy.