Back to the Future

When I was a kid, space travel was the future, the stuff of science fiction. No, I'm not THAT old. I don't pre-date Sputnik. But when I was little, man was just taking his first steps in space, orbiting, leaving the capsule, docking. By the time I was ten, Neil Armstrong was stepping out on the moon...which many scientists had confidently assured us not too many years earlier was absolutely impossible.

The space shuttle Disvovery launched successfully this morning, as shown in this AP photo. I wish this crew, and all future space explorers, the best of luck.

The truth is, I'm never really surprised when a space mission goes badly, even disastrously wrong like the shuttle disasters. Space travel is inherently very, very dangerous. The machinery, the mission planning, is very, very complex. I'm actually surprised at how many missions don't end in disaster.

Interview with a "moderate" Muslim American

Over at CUANAS there’s a post titled “the Moderate Face of the Next Generation of Muslim Americans”.

Meet Imam Sheikh Ahmed Dewidar, whom Egypt Today calls "the face of the next generation of Muslims in America." He is praised for "moderate views and vigorous efforts to reach out to mainstream America, so necessary in today’s polarized atmosphere." He rubs shoulder with Kofi Annan and George Bush. He's an up and comer in the American Muslim community. Yes, that's for sure.

The piece then goes on to detail an interview Dewidar did for an Egyptian program, certainly not intended for American audiences. Go read it… it’s a real eye-opener. It takes him a while to get warmed up, but he ends up spouting some decidedly un-moderate ideas.

London bombing suspect convicted of Casablanca bombings; Britain declined extradition

GeoBandy has been tracking information about one of the names that has surfaced in connection with the London terrorist bombings, Mohammad al-Garbuzi. Some disturbing facts are coming to light.

Yesterday I linked to a news article that quoted French sources as stating that Mohammad al-Garbuzi, sought by investigators in the London bombings, had been convicted in absentia in Morocco and sentenced to 20 years in the Casablanca bombings that killed 44 people. Today, the Sunday Times U.K. confirms these facts, and has further information. Apparently, Garbuzi is also wanted by Spanish authorities in connection with the Madrid bombings:

From the first, people have speculated about similarities between the Madrid and London attacks. Could Garbuzi be the link?

Even more disturbing though, is that, as stated in GeoBandy's first post on the subject, French authorities have revealed that Morocco requested extradition of Garbuzi after his conviction for the Casablanca bombings, but Britain failed to turn him over.

If, and at this point, it's still a big "if", Garbuzi is responsible for the London bombings and could have been safely tucked away in a Moroccan prison instead of walking around free in Britain, continuing his terrorist activities, the British government is going to have some explaining to do.

Another One Bites the Dust

Good news from Saudi Arabia:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Security forces killed al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia, who topped the nation's list of most-wanted militants, during a fierce gunbattle Sunday, an Interior Ministry official said.

Younis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, a Moroccan, was killed during a dawn raid by security forces on an area in the capital where suspected militants were hiding, the official was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency as saying.

Three other unidentified suspects were arrested, and weapons, ammunition, computers and documents were seized, he said.

Make no mistake about it, killing any one of these guys - including bin Laden - isn't going to end the take-over-the-world jihad. There will always be another miscreant waiting to move up. Only killing every one of them would bring an end to the global Islamic fundamentalist terror campaign.

But, every "big wheel" taken out of circulation disrupts things and makes it more difficult for them to plan and execute mass murder on a grand scale. Even more importantly, the information captured in most of these high-level strikes is invaluable. Almost invariably, documents, computers and disks, and close associates are grabbed up when one of these guys is killed or captured. And that's worth alot more than any one individual member.