Friday, July 15, 2005
The Al Qaeda Flash Movie
Yesterday, in a post entitled "Know Your Enemy," Michelle Malkin wrote,
"If you haven't already done so, take the time to watch this excellent Flash presentation of major al Qaeda attacks around the world since 1998 from Winds of Change."
I didn't embed the link because "if you haven't already done so" I thought I should give you a head's up about the Flash movie.
It's composed of pictures from 30 attacks attributed to Al Qaeda and the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders since 1998. A red circle, that expands ominously like a mini-explosion before contracting back to a dot, marks points on a map as Marvin Hutchens and Bill Roggio take us through the years (text appears on the screen to give it contest; there is no narration during the presentation).
Some of the pictures are gory - but there are no beheadings - and the right wing bloggers didn't include some of the more disturbing pictures from the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001.
Although the mini-moviemakers note that they could have included even more attacks in it, some of the attacks included seem tenuously linked to al Qaeda, including the December 13 attack in New Delhi, which India blames Pakistan for, and the 2004 school massacre in Beslan, which has more to do with the ongoing conflict between Chechnya and Russia than anything else.
The soundtrack sounds like something that was played in the movie "Black Hawk Down" (Ridley Scott's film could have been a bit better, but it's not the right wing screed that many think it is; Mark Bowden's book is one of the best war books written by a journalist and it includes much more viewpoints from the other sides, both the innocent Somalis and even the terrorists); it's in Arabic with tense drum rolls and musical flourishes combined with acapella chants of "Mohhamad." Although the track isn't credited in the Flashpoint presentation, Marvin blogs about it:
"It’s title is Mohammad al-Mustafa or Mohammad the Chosen One. It wasn’t selected to stir the pot, so to speak, or to enflame the passions of those who will disagree with our editorial perspectives on the war or any other matter. It was simply a moving piece that, from my perspective at least, speaks volumes in Arabic and should reinforce a desire to see Islam no longer held captive by terrorist. To the ear unaccustomed to Arabic it is simple, resonating and perhaps somewhat haunting."
Bullshit.
In the comments, Marvin translates the one reoccuring line in the song as "O' Allah shower your prayers upon Muhammad the Chosen One, O' Allah." How exactly does that "speak volumes"? It was chosen to scare people, plain and simple. The Flash movie was made to scare people, too.
Reading through the comments and following some of the trackbacks at the post where the Flashpoint movie can be accessed (link), one will see that another reason for making the movie, which was started the day after the London bombings, was to politicize the war on terrorism. So that liberals that try to blame what happened in London as a response to our invasion of Iraq will realize that the evildoers struck as even before that.
Thanks, right wingers, most of us on the left have forgotten that 9/11 came first...please. It's a shame you can't debate intellectually without resorting to the use of propaganda to reinforce your dogmatic, partisan viewpoints of the day.
Anyway, I wonder if Bill and Marvin should be proud of their work, because it's the best recruitment video I've ever seen for al Qaeda. Great job, guys.
By the way, the song was written and performed by Cat Stevens, as Marvin reveals in the comments section of the post linked to above. Cat Stevens converted many years ago to Muslim and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. He also supported the fatwah against Salman Rushdie, although he later claimed he was misquoted, Yusuf Islam dug even deeper holes the more times he talked about it.
This is taken from a New York Times book review article by Craig R. Whitney written on May 23rd, 1989 ("Cat Stevens Gives Support To Call for Death of Rushdie"):
"The musician known as Cat Stevens said in a British television program to be broadcast next week that rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of the author Salman Rushdie, "I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing."
"The singer, who adopted the name Yusuf Islam when he converted to Islam, made the remark during a panel discussion of British reactions to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's call for Mr. Rushdie to be killed for allegedly blaspheming Islam in his best-selling novel "The Satanic Verses." He also said that if Mr. Rushdie turned up at his doorstep looking for help, "I might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like.""
""I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is," said Mr. Islam, who watched a preview of the program today and said in an interview that he stood by his comments."
Why isn't Cat Stevens credited in the flash movie? Because that wouldn't make it as scary. But since the musican has said some pretty horrible things, and has had problems entering America, his inclusion in the movie becomes ironically scary.
(Hat tip to Michelle Malkin for continuing to link to some of the craziest, most off-the-wall right wing stories on the net. Her blog is like manna for liberal bloggers. Every day, if one is willing to wade through the mire, there are at least two posts to choose from which are simply begging to be called out on. Michelle Malkin is the cure for liberal blogger's block.)
|
