PEORIA, IL–The vascular surgery team at HeartCare Midwest made history September 10, 2010 at OSF Saint Francis Heart Hospital in Peoria, IL when it performed the first procedure in the world using a new hybrid bypass stent-graft technology in a patient with peripheral artery disease (PAD).

During an hour long procedure, surgeons Syed Hussain, M.D. and Jennifer Ash, M.D. implanted the hybrid bypass stent-graft into the leg of a 60-year-old Peoria, IL man with a blockage in the primary artery of his left thigh.

OSF Saint Francis Heart Hospital is one of only 16 centers in the U.S. participating in the research study of this graft that combines a traditional graft and a stent-graft. The next procedure using the hybrid stent-graft is scheduled for September 29, 2010.

The use of bypass grafts has served as the traditional treatment for PAD affecting the lower extremities. Stents have also been successful in treating PAD in the lower extremities, but their use is sometimes limited by anatomy or by plaque characteristics. According to Dr. Ash, lower extremity bypass requires the formation of two hand-sewn connection sites between vessels, one at the inflow site and one at the outflow site. The new hybrid graft combines the traditional bypass graft conduit with a covered stent. A bypass performed with this conduit requires only one hand-sewn connection since the end of the bypass graft which incorporates the covered stent is inserted into the patient’s blood vessel using a wire and a sheath. Once the stent-end of the bypass is deployed, the connection is essentially complete.

Members of the vascular team are most excited about what this could mean for their patients.

“These new technologies provide our team, and therefore our medical community, the opportunity to offer novel treatments for vascular disease that will – we hope – result in better, more durable outcomes,” said Dr. Syed Hussain. “Furthermore, these therapies will allow many of our patients to have procedures that require less anesthesia, shorter operative times, smaller incisions, less postoperative pain, and a faster recovery.”

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By Spencer Ackerman

Residents ride on a horse-drawn cart and bicycles in Kandahar City September 28, 2010.    REUTERS/Erik de Castro

Let there be no doubt that the US is at war in Pakistan. It’s not just the drone strikes. According to journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, the CIA manages a large and lethal band of Afghan fighters to infiltrate into Pakistan and attack al-Qaeda’s bases. What could possibly go wrong?

Woodward’s not-yet-available Obama’s Wars, excerpted in the Washington Post and the New York Times, unveils a CIA initiative called Counterterrorist Pursuit Teams, a posse of anti-Taliban and al-Qaeda locals who don’t respect the porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The teams are practically brigade-sized: a “paramilitary army” of 3000 Afghans, said to be “elite, well-trained” and capable of quietly crossing over in the Pakistani extremist safe havens where US troops aren’t allowed to operate. CIA directs and funds the teams.

Administration officials didn’t just confirm the existence of the teams — they bragged about them. “This is one of the best Afghan fighting forces and it’s made major contributions to stability and security,” says one U.S. official who would only talk on condition of anonymity — and who wouldn’t elaborate.

The teams are an implicit concession of a paradox at the heart of the Afghanistan war: the enemies upon which the war is predicated, al-Qaeda and its top allies, aren’t in Afghanistan anymore. The drones — flown by both the CIA and the U.S. military — are one answer to their safe havens in Pakistan. (Two more drone strikes hit Pakistani tribal areas on Tuesday, bringing the total this year to at least 71.) Another is to launch the occasional commando raid across the Afghan border or rely on Special Forces, operating under the guise of training the Pakistani military, to engage in some dangerous extracurricular activity. Still another is to outsource “snatch and grab” operations against al-Qaeda to private security firms like Blackwater.

But the Counterterrorist Pursuit Teams follow a more traditional, decades-old CIA pattern. When it’s politically or militarily unfeasible to launch a direct U.S. operation, then it’s time to train, equip and fund some local proxy forces to do it for you. Welcome back to the anti-Soviet Afghanistan Mujahideen of the 1980s, or the Northern Alliance that helped the U.S. push the Taliban out of power in 2001.

But that same history also shows that the U.S. can’t control those proxy forces. Splits within the mujahideen after the Soviet withdrawal (and the end of CIA cash) led to Afghanistan’s civil war in the 1990s, which paved the way for the rise of the Taliban. One of those CIA-sponsored fighters was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, now a key U.S. adversary in Afghanistan. And during the 2001 push to Kabul, a Northern Alliance military commander, Abdul Rashid Dostum, killed hundreds and maybe even thousands of Taliban prisoners. He was on the CIA’s payroll at the time.

Then there are the risks that the Counterterrorist Pursuit Teams pose within Afghanistan. CIA has to recruit those fighters from somewhere. While the agency wouldn’t answer questions about how where its proxy fighters come from, the CIA also pays for a Kandahar-based militia loyal to local powerbroker Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s brother. Fearing that the entrenchment of such warlords will ultimately undermine the Afghan government, the U.S. military is trying to limit the influence of such warlords by changing its contracting rules. CIA may be less concerned.

After all, it’s not like the U.S. has many options for Pakistan, where hatred for the U.S. runs high, official ties to extremists are deep and political restrictions on the presence of American combat troops (mostly) prove durable. One of the larger political narratives Woodward’s book apparently presents is President Obama’s inability to either bring the Afghanistan war to a close or find good options for tailoring it to the U.S.’ main enemies in Pakistan. When the CIA comes to the Oval Office with a plan for inflicting damage on the safe havens — no matter how fraught with risk and blowback the plan is — is it any surprise that Obama would approve it?

Update, 10:42 a.m., September 23: In comments, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for the military attache in Islamabad, objects to my suggestion that U.S. Special Operations Forces are engaging in direct military action in Pakistan. I thought this merited inclusion in the body of the piece:

Mr. Ackerman’s inferrence that U.S. Special Operations trainers in Pakistan are conducting anti-militant combat operations “operating under the guise of training the Pakistani military” is completely false. The U.S. military is conducting no combat operations in Pakistan. U.S. military trainers, personnel, and activities here in Pakistan are conducted at the invitation of the Government and military leadership of Pakistan. At their request, we provide training, equipment, and other forms of support to Pakistan’s defense needs. Our SOF-related training and equipment programs are typically focused on supporting Pakistani Military counterinsurgency operations – support which Pakistani Military officials have requested and which supports their energetic fight against Violent Extremists within Pakistan.

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By Susan Schwartz, MMNS

The plight of the Palestinian people has disturbed the peace of all humanitarians. This plight is never so moving as when it is described by eyewitnesses to the brutality of the Israeli occupation.

The Los Angeles chapter of ANSWER (Act Now to stop War and end Racism) sponsored a public forum and film premier this past weekend in their headquarters. The event was titled: “Eyewitness Palestine” and filled the meeting room with a standing room only audience.

Muna Coobtee, a Palestinian America activist and a leader of the Free Palestine Alliance, began the forum with a presentation on the current peace talks. She spoke with a pessimism born of experience. “The White House aims to create a weak, disarmed and broken-up state side-by-side with and dominated in every respect by Israel.”

She referenced the Oslo Accords born amid great hope but resulting in more control by Israel.

After Ms Coobtee’s presentation, an award winning film titled: The Sand Creek Equation” was shown to the audience. Travis Wilkerson, the film’s creator, was present in the audience. The Sand Creek Equation analogized the actions of a group of white men in Colorado in the mid 19th century with the actions of Israel toward Palestinians. Determined to keep Colorado white, these troops massacred more than two hundred Native Americans after assuring them of their safety.

Mr. Wilkerson travelled to Gaza, taking pictures of Palestinians who lost loved ones to Israeli military action. These loved ones included Palestinians who exited their homes carrying white flags; who were denied medical aid, and who were killed by settlers with de facto immunity for any of their actions. As heartbreaking as these photographs were, the resilience of the Palestinian people captured the audience.

The forum’s featured speaker was Tamara Khoury, a Palestinian American student at California State University Fullerton. Ms Khoury spent the summer at Birzeit University having been awarded a Rachel Corrie Scholarship by the Palestinian American Woman’s Association (PAWA). She was able to observe first hand the brutality of the Israeli military and the lawlessness of the settlers.

She visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron. In Hebron she witnessed Palestinians setting up stalls with goods for sale in an open area. A net had been placed over the area as settlers who lived above the city threw filth and garbage at the Palestinians below.

Particularly moving was her description of Dneisha Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. The walls of the camp were covered with murals of a very political and touching nature.

Ms Khoury spoke of meeting the Palestinian parents of a two year old child who had been blinded by Israeli settlers who threw Chlorox at him. She spoke also of the attempts of the parents to seek medical help for him.

“I cannot imagine anyone who would do that to another person much less a child.” said one young woman moved to tears by the narrative.

The ANSWER Coalition was formed shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. While the group characterizes itself as anti-imperialist, it has over the years expanded its interests to include a variety of issues including Social Security and the Israeli Palestinian conflict. ANSWER has helped to organize some of the largest demonstrations in this nation’s history.

The Los Angeles chapter is one of the most active in the country.

To donate to this group which depends entirely on donations, please access the following: www.answerla.org.

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By Frank Brodhead

I started the Afghanistan War Weekly several months ago because it seemed important to learn more about how the war was being fought on the ground, and what was the impact or what were the results of the military and civilian programs being put in place.

My conclusion so far is that the war, from the US point of view, has been lost. Not just that the war is in trouble, but that from a military and political point of view, things have gone so badly that they cannot be turned around, even with more time and resources.

I think this conclusion is important because the “war is lost” perspective or slogan addresses the likely future moves of the war managers in a way that our current slogans and perspectives do not.

Our antiwar slogans or perspectives now broadly include:

The war is immoral; it kills civilians
The war is not a good response to terrorism; it is making us less safe
The war is expensive; we need the money to build real security at home; and
The war should be ended through negotiations asap.

None of these slogans engage the war itself. We have added little new to our perspectives or our criticisms of the war since Obama’s decision at the end of 2009 to escalate the war. We need to take a closer look at the war itself. Two developments make this especially important.

First, the official US war aim for Afghanistan has changed. Leaving aside nebulous claims about building democracy, etc., until recently the US goal was to kill or eliminate Al Qaeda. But recent reports state that the number of Al Qaeda activists in Afghanistan has fallen probably below 100.

The war managers have responded to the declining usefulness of the Al Qaeda-in-Afghanistan threat by updating the US goal. Now our goal is to make military and political conditions in Afghanistan such that Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups cannot use Afghanistan as an operating base in the future.

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By Stephen Lendman, Countercurrents.org

America’s hidden history is ugly and disturbing. No nation ever matched it. To Iraq alone, over the past two decades, it includes ongoing genocide, destruction, terror, occupation, and contamination – a horrendous combination of crimes, unmentioned in Western discourse.

Environmental Engineering Professor Souad N. Al-Azzawi documents them, including in her report titled, “Crime of the Century: Iraq’s Occupation and DU Contamination,” a detailed account of US culpability.

America’s strategic aims, she explains, include:

— controlling most of the world’s oil and other natural resources;
— remaining permanently in the Middle East, “the intersection zone of the three continents where 80% of the world(‘s) population” lives; and
— if the above two objectives are achieved, America will control the world’s economy, or enough of it to matter.

Spread over a large enough area, depleted uranium (DU) is a weapon of mass destruction, because it’s radioactive and chemically toxic. If ingested or inhaled through food, air, water or other means, it enters the human body, remaining for decades. An earlier article reported the dangers, accessed through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2006/01/depleted-uranium-hidden-looming_16.html

It explained that continued DU use has the potential to end planetary life, yet few understand the risk, or that weaponized DU is used regularly in missiles, bombs, shells and bullets wherever America wages war – first during the 1991 Gulf War.

Its danger comes from radiation residue after use. On impact, DU munitions penetrate deeply and aerosolize into a fine spray, polluting surrounding air, water and soil. It’s microscopic, sub-miscroscopic, and permanent. Spread over vast areas as radioactive atmospheric dust, its contamination causes virtually all known illnesses and diseases from severe headaches, muscle pain and general fatigue, to major birth defects, infections, depression, cardiovascular disease, and many types of cancers. It also causes permanent disability and death.

Over the past two decades in Iraq alone, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tons have been used, irradiating the entire country, some areas more than others. In her October 2009 presentation to the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia International Conference to Criminalize War, Azzawi accused America and Britain of:

“subject(ing) the whole nation of Iraq for two decades to torture and slow death through the intentional use of radioactive weapons and the sanctions. The continuous and intentional use of (these) weapons is a crime against humanity due to its undifferentiating harmful health effects on civilians in contaminated areas tens of years to come after the military engagements.” Radiation, in fact, is permanent, affecting unborn generations like living ones.

During the Gulf War, about 320 tons were used in southern Iraq, affecting the Basrah region. Post-conflict, “comprehensive” examination detected it, especially “in and around Al-Basrah City,” showing:

— “high gamma radiation” levels;
— “soil samples from 39 locations (with) higher activities than natural background levels;” and
— “Surface water channel sediments (with 2 – 3) times higher radioactivity than the natural background” level.

Contamination was widespread, affecting at least “45% of people in the area, the Iraqi troops, and” coalition ones. As a result, soldiers (and civilians) exposed “to DU oxides (can expect) 70 cancer cases per 1,000” persons. Perhaps a higher incidence over time, and along with other illnesses and diseases, an epidemic of human affliction.

Subsequent epidemiological studies in Basrah showed a “five times rise in the incidence rate of malignancies amongst children to be far more noticeable from 1995 onwards.” In addition, exposure to ionized radiation caused:

— higher child leukemia rates;
— a “six fold increase in congenital malformations among births in Basrah City since 1995 onward,” some too disturbing to view; and
— higher rates of congenital heart diseases and chromosomal aberrations.

Even more destructive weapons were used in the 2003 war, including banned ones like napalm, white phosphorous, cluster bombs, and greater amounts of DU – “against people, infrastructure facilities, and environment.” Further, “the looting and burning of factories, industrial complexes, laboratories, and ministries (including the looting of the Tuwaitha Atomic Energy Agency, and 300 other highly contaminated sites….)” caused contamination.

Much more as well across the country in Baghdad and suburbs, Basrah, Mosul, Fallujah, Balad, Anbar, Haditha, Qa’im, Rawa, Karbala, Najar, Aubaidi, Diala, Samara, Tikrit, Baiji, Ahsaiba, Mada’in, Kubaissa, and other locations.

In March 2009, Gideon Polya used the Just Foreign Policy estimate of 1.32 million Iraqi deaths post-March 2003 alone, a number considerably higher today. It’s also well below his post-9/11 eight million “war on terror” total, mostly affecting women and children, aged five and younger, killed by war, diseases, and/or depravation, America’s horrific ongoing genocidal legacy – air-brushed from history. Azzawi adds more:

— at least 4.5 internal or external refugees, many victimized by “militias and police raids and terrorist groups;”
— death squads targeting “certain ethnic and sectarian groups” daily; and
— in cities throughout Iraq, sieges cutting off “all life support aids on people, (affecting) Thousands of children, women and elderly who could not leave their houses and were subjected to collective punishment….” For weeks, these areas were deprived of food, water, healthcare, and electricity. As a result, contaminated water was used “from ditches and nearby rivers,” causing cholera and other waterborne diseases.

The continuous use of DU weapons in heavily populated areas exposes millions to its destructive effects. Further, “Continuous negligence of medical care systems, hospitals, and the killing of prominent medical and healthcare specialists….after 2003” exacerbated a widespread health crisis.

Yet occupation forces provide no data on civilians killed, wounded, kidnapped or otherwise harmed. Nor do they allow “exploration programs to detect (DU) related contaminated areas.” Yet they’re vitally needed to “help Iraqi people….cope with the damages.”

Known evidence shows “Continuous deterioration of environmental quality….in Baghdad City due to explosions, and heavy traffic of tanks and vehicles….” Concentrations of numerous toxins way exceed safe levels. “Water quality deterioration caused an increase in “pathogenic water borne diseases like Cholera, Typhoid, Hepatitis, (and) others.” Air pollution results from continuous bombing and explosions.

The “Multiple impact of all of the above pollution sources on the human body can be critical, especially for children, women and the elderly people.”

From DU munitions alone, Azzawi told the Kuala Lumpur conference that contamination is spread over vast areas by “wind storms, dust storms, sandstorms, and rainstorms,” besides polluted waterways and surface migration in soil, causing:

— “Siltation, creeping, and suspension from contaminated soil to atmosphere; (and)
— Suspension and re-suspension of deposited DU aerosols….the most dangerous and critical pathway of transfer and spreading from source to the human population.”

America and Britain are responsible “for exposing a whole nation to the risk of continually receiving high radioactive and toxic persistent contaminants,” including DU and many others, a noxious brew leaving no one untouched and many lethally harmed. “This is a crime against humanity (because of) its undifferentiated harmful health impacts on civilians long (after) military operations” are concluded.

A Final Comment

On September 19, Brussells Tribunal Executive Committee member Dirk Adriaensens headlined, “Iraq: The Age of Darkness,” explaining “a devastating balance sheet (of) success,” including:

— a 150% increase in child mortality since 1990;
— only half of primary-aged children in school;
— about 1,500 children in (horrific) detention facilities;
— in 2007, about “5 million Iraqi orphans;”
— over two million external refugees and almost three million internal ones (IDPs);
— official unemployment at 50%; real unemployment at least 70%;
— at least 43% of Iraqis “in abject poverty;”
— at least eight million need “emergency aid;”
— at least four million “lack food and are in dire need of humanitarian assistance;”
— at least 80% lack “effective sanitation;”
— “Religious minorities are on the verge of extinction;” and
— an Oxfam survey showed 33% of women got no humanitarian aid since 2003; 76% of widows lack pension help; 52% are unemployed; 55% have been displaced; and 55% have been “subjected to (various forms of) violence.”

In Iraq today, “killing of innocent people has become part of daily life.” America is committing genocide against the entire population. It persists daily unreported, yet called “a success.”

It includes death, destruction, torture, terror, occupation, displacement, disease, and insecurity in a nation that no longer exists. For sure, one unfit to live in – unsafe, corrupt, terrorized, tyrannized, contaminated, and permanently occupied. In virtually all rankings that matter, Iraq scores last, Afghanistan second last, a testimony to America’s liberating values.

They’re run from Washington with no functioning governments, de facto satraps instead obeying their imperial masters. Yet on August 31, declaring an “end to the combat mission in Iraq,” Obama outrageously said: “Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility,” infamously displaying his culpability as a war criminal, matching the worst America ever produced.

Under him, George Bush, and their successors, “Iraq has no viable future,” Adriaensens’ final assessment of America’s “success.”

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

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By Spencer Ackerman

Your favorite ballplayers had former bat boy Kirk Radomski get them their steroids. While in Iraq, Blackwater had a Texas businessman named Howard Lowry, who bought steroids “by the case” for juicing security contractors.

And Lowry didn’t just help Blackwater’s guards get jacked. He helped them get deadly as well, buying over 100 AK-47s and ammunition for the company on the black market.

And what goes better with guns and steroids than nudity and drugs? In a sworn deposition for a lawsuit brought by two ex-Blackwater employees, Lowry maintains that he hung out at Blackwater parties in Baghdad where “company personnel had large amounts of cocaine and blocks of hashish and would run around naked.” Addled guards would step onto the balconies of their rooms at the Hamra Hotel, point their automatic rifles at Iraqi housing complexes and open fire.

That’s all reported by Blackwater nemesis Jeremy Scahill, who acquired Lowry’s deposition for a new Nation piece. One of Lowry’s friends was Jerry Zovko, one of the four Blackwater contractors lynched in Fallujah in 2004. Lowry testified that Zovko gave him “tremendous insight into the company and confirmed that the use of steroids and human growth hormone, testosterone, were pretty endemic to them and almost companywide.”

The entire lawsuit is wild. Ex-employees Brad and Melan Davis have accused Blackwater of defrauding the government by, among other interesting bookkeeping techniques, billing the government for money spent on strippers.

But Lowry’s accusations are some of the most baroque yet. Guards charged with protecting the U.S.’ viceroy in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, were “beyond out of control,” dumping ounces of cocaine on tabletops to sniff before letting off a spray of gunfire into populated areas. Such parties, he claimed, were a “weekly” ritual.

“One of the suites would be absolutely packed with gentlemen running around with either no clothes on, no shirt on,” Lowry testified, according to Scahill. “It was like a frat party gone wild. Drug use was rampant. There was cocaine all on the tables. There were blocks of hash, and you could smell it in the air…walking up to the door.”

Lowry’s drug stories all raise questions, to put it mildly, about what kind of behavior Blackwater’s guards are up to on their secret missions in Pakistan.

That isn’t the only lawsuit that Blackwater is facing. Two of its former guards, Justin Cannon and Christopher Drotleff, are staring down federal murder charges in Virginia for shooting Afghan civilians in Kabul last year. Their defense counsel rested their case yesterday. (At least two groups to support Cannon and Drotleff have set up shop on Facebook.)

Blackwater’s currently up for sale. Judging from Lowry’s deposition, Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory is a natural future owner.

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28/09/10

Based on the close of trading on September 27, the global Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index, which measures the performance of 100 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks globally, gained 9.05% month-to-date, closing at 2052.87. In comparison, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index, which measures the 50 biggest companies worldwide, posted a gain of 8.55%, closing at 2067.03.

    * The Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in the Asia/Pacific region, increased 9.42%, closing at 1946.82. The Dow Jones Asian Titans 50 Index, in comparison, posted a gain of 8.36%, closing at 134.17.

    * Measuring Europe, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Europe Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of the 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in Europe, closed at 2032.16, a gain of 10.13%, while the conventional Dow Jones Europe Index gained 10.96%, closing at 257.76.

    * Measuring the performance of 50 of the largest Shari’ah compliant U.S. stocks, the Dow Jones Islamic Market U.S. Titans 50 Index increased, closing at 2067.03. It represents a gain of 8.55 %. The U.S. blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 7.96%, closing at 10812.04.

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AFMI Relief Mission Headed to Pakistan

An American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) relief mission is headed towards Pakistan to help the victims of the devastating floods. The mission is led by Dr. Siraj Ahmed, AFMI’s regional vice president of Chicago. According to latest United Nations estimates almost 14 million are still affected by the floods.

In its first stage the mission will distribute more than 5,000 food kits and will establish two medical clinics. The clinics will be established in Naushehra and Thatta Gurmani area near Muzaffargarh district of Punjab. This project is being coordinated with the help of Doctors World Wide and there are plans to establish permanent medical facilities in the area. The decision to establish the clinics was taken in light of the fact that there are increasing cases of communicable diseases like diarrhea and malaria, water borne diseases, malnutrition among children, and the massive disruption to healthcare.

The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) requests its supporters and friends to pray for a successful and safe mission. Dr. Siraj Ahmed is expected to arrive back from Pakistan in two weeks and will provide an update at the upcoming convention of AFMI to be held in Troy, Michigan on October 16, 2010.

In addition to the relief mission AFMI chapters in Albuquerque, Detroit, and Houston have also cooperated with other organizations to raise funds for the flood victims.

While AFMI’s activities are primarily directed towards India it also has a record of helping out in other areas struck by catastrophes. During the Bosnian War (1992-1995) it had organized fundraising events across the US and in Canada to help the victims. Mr. Dilip Kumar, noted Bollywood thespian, had served as the keynote speaker at these highly successful events. AFMI trustee Dr. Nakadar had also personally visited Bosnia to take stock of the situation.

The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin, is a North American based grassroots organization, dedicated to socio-economic and educational development of Muslims and other underprivileged masses in India.

THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSLIMS OF INDIAN ORIGIN

Contact: AFMI, 29008, West Eight Mile Road, Farmington MI 48336, USA; Tel: 248-442-2364; Fax: 248-476-8926 E-Mail: afmi11@aol.com; / www.afmi.org.

Open Letter from Houston Muslim re. Florida Fitna

September 08th, 2010

Dear Pastor Jones,

Thank you for buying so many copies of the Quran and giving all of the Muslim publishing companies more money to print more Qurans in these hard economic times. I sincerely do thank you also for respecting our faith by disposing of the Quran by burning, which by the way, is one of the few recommended and approved methods for disposing of a Quran.

Dr. Terry,  I encourage you and  anyone else, who Fox News has frightened about us Muslims, your neighbors, who have lived in the U.S. even before Columbus, to please check out http://www.muslimserve.org to see what Americans who practice the Judeo-Christian-Islamic  faith are doing in your neighborhood to proudly answer President Obama’s  call  to serve in our communities. To us, “Answer the Call” means to answer God’s call to serve our neighbors – to confirm faith with good works. As the Quran teaches us: “Race one another in good works.” (The Quran 5:48).

I invite you, Pastor Jones, to replace the smoking Quran on your barbecue fork with a T-Bone, or a grilled salmon fillet, or, if you’re vegan, some smoked tofu.  I invite you to lay down your gas can, open your heart, and extinguish your hatred with God’s love and teachings of love your neighbor.  As President Obama said, “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism — it is an important part of promoting peace.”

As a pastor, you must know that you can’t burn the word of God by burning ink and paper.  God eternally protects the Tablet containing his messengers’ teachings sent to humanity. Unless you have gone to heaven, wrestled the big book from the big guy himself, you aren’t burning the Torah-Bible-Quran. You will just be burning yourself up with hatred in flammable PJ’s. I pray that God blesses you with an understanding to practice what God has entrusted you to preach at the Dove World Outreach Center. It’s not too late to stop, drop, and roll.

The Pennsylvania neighborhood where I grew up as a child was just a few miles away from the home of the Reverend Dr. Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers, who also taught us American kids to be good neighbors.  Millions of us are Muslims. We are America and we bleed red, white and blue.

We follow the same 10 commandments and worship the Creator, the one true God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, the God of Adam, Noah, Jesus, and Muhammad (s), the Almighty Creator of our world, the Alpha and the Omega. We are peacemakers. Muslims are not demons, we are human beings.  Like all people, including Christians and Jews, there are some who do evil, but the masses strive daily to serve God and each other with love and peace and to be good neighbors.

Dr. Terry, since we’re together, we might as well say, Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbor?

Peace be with you,
Hannah Hawk
Hannah.Hawk2000@Yahoo.com

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By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

It has been over four months since boxing’s Amir Khan knocked out Paulie Malignaggi in New York’s Madison Square Garden in his American debut. That win gave Khan the WBA Junior Welterweight championship of the world. Originally the Pakistani-British boxer wanted to schedule his next fight before Ramadan, but that never happened due to a disagreement over financial terms. But now a deal has been signed for Khan to take on Argentinian Marcos Rene Maidana on December 11th in Las Vegas. The purse will be split 55-to-45 in favor of Khan.  The 23-year-old Khan (23-1, 17 knockouts) and the 27-year-old Maidana (29-1, 27 knockouts), will face-off at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, and the fight will be televised on HBO.

“All legality work for the next fight has been done,” Khan wrote on his personal Twitter page. “The fight has been signed by both parties. It’s Khan versus Maidana, December 11th, venue to be confirmed, on HBO Boxing and Sky Sports.”

“It will be a great fight and a great weekend. Amir Khan has fans in the United Kingdom, but if you want to capture the United States’ market, this is a way to build someone into a superstar in the United States,” said Robert Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, in an interview with Boxing Fanhouse. “Then, we will go back to the United Kingdom. Amir is really excited about it, and so, is Maidana to be fighting one of the super stars in the sport.”

“What a wonderful thing for the boxing world. It’s going to be a wonderful event,” said Oscar De La Hoya, legendary boxer and founder of Golden Boy Promotions, in an interview with Boxing Fanhouse. “…I am looking forward to it like every fan. I’m glad that it’s going to be in Las Vegas, because Amir Khan can really make a splash here in America.” Next stop Las Vegas, in King Khan’s quest to conquer the boxing world.

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