Naval forces fired missiles into southern Somalia

American naval forces fired missiles into southern Somalia on Monday, aiming at what the Defense Department called terrorist targets. The attack was carried out with at least two Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from a submarine. It was not the first time that American forces fired missiles into Somalia in pursuit of what the Pentagon has called terrorist operatives in the country. They did so at least three times last year. here

Pakistan military is professional, competent

There is a feeling of uncertainty, which, in the minds of many among the Pakistani political class and average citizens, is strongly reminiscent of 1971 [the year of both war with India and the civil war that led to the separation of Bangladesh] and the breakup of Pakistan. The people are haunted by the feeling that an outside hand is trying to destabilize the country and conspiracy theories abound.

The military is modern, professional, competent, and well trained, and its officer cadre remains by and large pro-West. In that sense, the military continues to be a strong countervailing force force against the militants, with the capacity to confront, disrupt and dismantle jihadi groups.

The corps commanders and top staff officers pursue a consensual approach to decision making, and their relationship is more political and equal than hierarchical. Therefore decisions are made by consensus and in the spirit of unity of command. Saeed Shafqat, Columbia Magazine, Winter 2007-08.

Islamicate

Brig. F.B.Ali (ret.) Pakistan
Islamicate
Pipes blog

Muslims face Enlightment challenges

Pope Benedict XVI urged intensified dialogue with Islam. He compared the situation in the Muslim world to that faced by Christians beginning in the Enlightenment, the 18th-century movement to promote individual rights, including freedom of religion. here "On the one hand, one must counter a dictatorship of positivist reason that excludes God from the life of the community and from public organizations, thereby depriving man of his specific criteria of judgment.

"On the other, one must welcome the true conquests of the Enlightenment, human rights and especially the freedom of faith and its practice, and recognize these also as being essential elements for the authenticity of religion.

"As in the Christian community, where there has been a long search to find the correct position of faith in relation to such beliefs -- a search that will certainly never be concluded once and for all --, so also the Islamic world with its own tradition faces the immense task of finding the appropriate solutions in this regard. " here Karen Armstrong

Islam in Europe

Mainstream leaders speaking bluntly on Islam

Mainstream leaders in Europe have begun talking more bluntly about Muslims. “Self-censorship does not help us against people who want to practice violence in the name of Islam,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said in criticizing the opera’s cancellation. “It makes no sense to retreat.”

“There’s no nice way of saying this,” British home secretary, John Reid, told a Muslim group in East London. “These fanatics are looking to groom and brainwash children, including your children, for suicide bombing, grooming them to kill themselves to murder others.” A sense of guilt over Europe’s colonial past and then World War II, when intolerance exploded into mass murder, allowed a large migration to occur without any uncomfortable debates over the real differences between migrant and host.
There are more than 1 billion Muslims in the world -- a huge population to single out for special scrutiny -- and only a tiny fraction are members of al Qaeda or other terrorist groups. NYT WP

Pope deeply regrets

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the new Vatican secretary of state, said Saturday that Pope Benedict XVI “deeply regretted” that a speech he made this week “sounded offensive to the sensibility of Muslim believers.” here