Who Am I?
The CNN headlines are dramatic. “Cleric in Islamabad: ‘It’s the beginning of the revolution’” His actions are equally dramatic. Tahir-ul Qadri has led a “Long March” through Pakistan to the capital. His message is simple: end government corruption. The problem is that in Pakistan that means ending the government.
“It’s the beginning of the revolution,” Tahir ul Qadri told a rally in Islamabad. “Dissolve federal and provincial governments by tomorrow morning; otherwise, the public will force them to step down!”
But the most dramatic thing about Qadri is that nobody is quite sure who he is and whom he represents. The Los Angeles Times quotes sources who believe that he’s come to end democracy in Pakistan:
Many analysts and commentators have questioned whether Qadri’s mission ultimately imperils what could be a historic transfer of power from one civilian government to another in a country with a history of military takeovers and interference in governance.
“This represents a big threat to Pakistan’s parliamentary process and its hard-fought democratic freedoms,” said Raza Rumi, a political analyst at the Islamabad-based Jinnah Institute.
But still others regard him as a new Gandhi. Wikipedia identifies him as a Sufi. “Qadri started his education at the Christian ‘Sacred Heart School’ in Jhang, where he learned English and was exposed to Christianity at an early age. He learnt under Diya’ al-Din al-Madani. He studied Hadith from Muhaddith al-Hijaz. Qadri continued his quest for knowledge early in his life.”
In March 2010 he gained media attention for the launch of his unconditional Fatwa on Terrorism and appeared on various international media outlets including Sky News, BBC News, ITV, EuroNews, Al-Jazeera, CNN and CNN’s Amanpour, CBC News, Russia Today, Al Arabiya and various other outlets. He appeared on Frost Over The World and interviewed by David Frost in which Qadri stated that the “purpose of his life is to bring peace and harmony in the world”. Furthermore, the US State Department declared the Fatwa to be a significant publication which takes back Islam from terrorists. Qadri was quoted in the American Foreign Policy magazine stating: “I am trying to bring [the terrorists] back towards humanism. This is a jihad against brutality, to bring them back towards normality. This is an intellectual jihad.”
In August 2010 Qadri held the first anti-terrorism camp for Muslim youth at the University of Warwick with the aim of tackling extremism in the UK.
Sufi. Activist against the Jihad, Canadian citizen — that might be the most convincing circumstance of all. But the Economist writes that there seems more to Qadri than meets the eye. For one thing, he seems to have altogether too much money. In an article titled “The mystery of Tahir ul Qadri” they wrote:
Who and what is Tahir ul Qadri? And, more importantly, who is behind him? Those are the questions now racing through political Pakistan, with no firm answers. The religious cleric, previously a minor figure politically, has been living in Canada since 2006, where he acquired Canadian citizenship. Since he arrived back in Pakistan last month, however, Mr Qadri has caused a political sensation with his demands that Pakistan’s democratic system be reformed. He wants to throw the “criminals” out of Pakistani politics, the implication being that doing so would leave very few of today’s politicians still in business.
Mr Qadri seems to have unlimited funds available to him and a huge and growing following. A rally held on December 23rd in Lahore, the provincial capital of the politically all-important Punjab province, attracted hundreds of thousands of people. (Mr Qadri claimed it was a crowd of 2m.) Now he is to march on the capital, Islamabad, aiming to take 4m people to that small and usually serene city on January 14th.
In an interview, Mr Qadri says that he wants to “get rid of electoral dictatorship”. At times he talks about a “Tahrir Square” situation, though he also denies wanting to topple the government. Unlike Egypt before the Tahrir Square protests, Pakistan already has an elected government and is due to hold elections before the summer.
The answer to the question “Who Am I” so far is that no one in the public knows for sure. At stake is the Pakistani nuclear arsenal — believed to be bigger than India’s and rivaling that of France or Britain.
The lack of background disturbs some observers in the West, where it is inconceivable that a political figure should come from nowhere with unlimited money and publicity at his disposal preaching a messianic message, and, without a track record, rise to control the destiny of a great state armed with nuclear weapons.
In the West the press vets political candidates.
Still this seems the season of surprises. Mali, Syria, Somalia, the discovery that the Chinese nuclear arsenal might be much bigger than believed. All this is unsettling. And now come dramatic developments in Pakistan, which is even now engaged in border tension with India. The puzzles come thick and fast. Mystery makes for good drama, but often produces poor statecraft. One is tempted to ask: do the Western electorates have all the information to understand all this?
In times of crisis there is sometimes a tendency among the vexed and harried people to look to a savior. One Muslim explained it thus:
In fact, this belief is not limited to the Muslims alone. In almost all religions and heavenly creeds one can find a similar belief in the future savior. The followers of these religions believe that there will come a time when the world will become corrupt and engulfed in a crisis. Evil and injustice will become the rule of the day. Disbelief will cover the entire world. At that time, the universal savior of the world will appear. With remarkable divine help he will restore the purity of faith and defeat materialism with the help of divine worship. Not only are the tidings to be found in revealed books like the Zand and Pazand, and Jamaspname of the Zoroastrians, the Torah and other Biblical books of the Jews, and the Gospel of the Christians, such information can also be seen, more or less, among the Brahmins and the Buddhists …
each group believes that this divinely ordained savior will be among them. The Zoroastrians believe he is Persian and among the followers of Zoroaster. The Jews maintain that he will be among the Children of Israel, and the follower of Moses. The Christians think he will be one among them. Muslims believe that he will be among the Hashimites and among the direct descendants of the Prophet.
Perhaps the biggest innovation of political correctness was to instill in the population the idea that the savior would not be one of them. Rather he would be of the other, free of the defects that condemned them in the first place.
So who is Qadri? There are no clear answers. No matter. Maybe we should approach these vexing questions like they did in the old days. They waited to see what the answer was.
Who am I?
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri.
A man shrouded thick with mystery.
These innocents who bear my face
Who authorize the nukes but in my place
Who am I?
Can I conceal myself for evermore?
Pretend I’m not the man I was before?
And must my name until I die
Be no more than an alibi?
Who am I?(countersong)
I had not looked until today.
How can I know before I’ve started?
You might well be from worlds away,
And yet with you, the crowds have parted!I had a dream there was a meme
In this crazy world I live in!
Watch ‘em run amuck,
Catch ‘em as they fall,
Never know your luck
When there’s a free for all,
Here a little `dip’
There a little `touch’
Most of them are goners
So they won’t miss much!(chorus)
Tomorrow we’ll discover
What our God in Heaven has in store!
One more dawn
One more day
One day more!
The Three Conjectures at Amazon Kindle for $1.99
Storming the Castle at Amazon Kindle for $3.99
No Way In at Amazon Kindle $8.95, print $9.99
Tip Jar or Subscribe or Unsubscribe
“The lack of background disturbs some observers in the West, where it is inconceivable that a political figure should come from nowhere with unlimited money and publicity at his disposal preaching a messianic message, and, without a track record, rise to control the destiny of a great state armed with nuclear weapons.”
Cute.
“In the West the press vets political candidates.”
Sarcasm, surely.
It depends on what the meaning of “vet” is:”To endorse a candidate for office that has the same ideology of the “press” despite any other flaws in the candidate.”
How do you say “State of Nature” in Paki?
“In the West the press vets political candidates.”
Go ahead and pull the other one.
“In the West the press vets political candidates.”
Hahahahahahaha…..
Its not likely that this will go anywhere.
………………..
Orly Taitz Celebrates As Birther Case Is Referred To High Court
The Huffington Post | By John Celock Posted: 01/09/2013 6:49 pm EST | Updated: 01/09/2013 7:09 pm EST
Birther queen Orly Taitz is celebrating a routine U.S. Supreme Court decision to refer her petition, which asks the court to overturn President Barack Obama’s election, to a February conference of the justices.
Taitz posted on her website Wednesday afternoon that the Supreme Court will discuss a case she filed on behalf of three minor presidential candidates — including a federal prison inmate — at their conference Feb. 15. The court’s website confirms that Taitz’s case, which she submitted to Chief Justice John Roberts’ office last month, has been placed on the Feb. 15 conference agenda
and has been distributed to the nine justices for consideration.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/orly-taitz-birther-supreme-court_n_2443077.html
France has imposed a media blackout on their operations in Mali.
One of the advantages of being on the Left is that you can do stuff that nobody else can. You will recall that George Bush got Congressional authorization for his actions, but that did not stop the press from branding his actions “illegal”.
Obama and Hollande have a much freer rein. Mali-based Islamists pledge attacks on French soil. But no one has yet said that Paris brought the hatred of the Islamic world on itself, something which would have happened by now if certain other countries were involved.
“Who am I?” reminds me of Admiral Stockdale. What would Epictetus do? If Perot hadn’t run, using the war hero and getting 18.9% of the vote, we would have been spared Clinton. What Ifs.
Is Qadri a Pakistani Kerensky or a Sufi Stockdale offering a vision of purity that a corrupt society rejects? The punch line is that nothing has proven more corrupt than Islam. It exceeds the track record of Communism in eliciting pathetic cries that it hasn’t really been tried by pure True Believers while consistently stripping society of the republican virtues of individual responsibility, self discipline, creativity, thrift, tolerance, honesty, and moderation, while replacing them with an arid selfish materialism.
India must be keeping one eye to the North while marshaling forces for when options with Pakistan narrow to der Tag.
**In the West the press vets political candidates.**
Maybe Obama wasn’t vetted because He was considered to be messianic.
I had to Google Qadri to make sure you weren’t putting us on. I see that Wikipedia lists him as an “international constitutional scholar”. Funny, he doesn’t look like Obama’s brother. This situation is so surreal.
What could possibly go wrong?
Maybe the president and Qadri hung out together during Obama’s trip to Pakistan in his youth.
French politics and government, and theories and practices of governance, are highly problematic, IMO. But France itself and the French people are wonderful–again, IMO. I hope the French succeed in Mali. I hope they kick ass.
“One of the advantages of being on the Left is that you can do stuff that nobody else can.”
Precisely, Wretchard. From Guantanamo to hit lists, to crony capitalism, to rule by executive order and czars, to vast expansion of the surveillance state, to warmaking without consent, to ‘closed door’ sessions where the people’s business is discussed, everything the Left and the fraudulent ‘anti-war’ movement ever accused the Bush administration of doing the Obama administration is doing in triplicate.
Thus as it ever was with the Left — keeping their adversaries on the defensive with wild accusations, then feigning outrage (or playing the race, gender or McCarthy-ism card) when they’re caught doing precisely the same.
If it wasn’t for double standards, they wouldn’t have any.
Google + Apple – Qadri = 372
“372″ means Elohim (God), Mason (Freedom), Torah (Jewish B-ble), Benedict (Pope in Rome), Jay Z (Rapper), and P Diddy (Rapper). That’s 3 world leaders, 2 cults, and God. Adding any of these to “Qadri” means Beast number.
If we cross the English and Jewish systems, then ‘Rothschild’ works too, but that’s probably cheating.
Also adding to ‘Soros’ comes close, but only = 665 (Soros + Qadri ≠ Antichrist).
@16, Jay Z and P Diddy. Huh?
A Pakistani Tea Partier?
“He wants to throw the “criminals” out of Pakistani politics, the implication being that doing so would leave very few of today’s politicians still in business.”
Change that “Pakastani” to “American” and I’m down for the struggle!!!
Let’s see…
The press doesn’t know who he is. Check
He wants to get rid of corrupt politicians. Check
He wants to “get rid of electoral dictatorship”. Check
DUDE! And you speak English???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqsT4xnKZPg
Reads like the Pakistani version of Hope and Change? – We shall see. – At least this guy hasn’t been to the vet, yet? A new Mahdi, or another version of the old one? Interesting times.
You mean in the West they think Obama is “inconceivable”? I guess they’ve never been to the Iowa primaries.
Or else Hillary is the Grand Poobah of “Western” thinking. She and Bill still do not understand what hit her in 2008. Why should her MSM lapdogs understand it either?
Someone who wants to reverse course from the Clinton foreign policy can’t be all bad.
An inflection point?
A preference cascade?
Real Hope & Change?
OMG! Leading from the FRONT????????????????
BTW did you notice that the song “Happy Days Are Here Again”, came out in 1930, when Hoover was President? I guess stealing from your opponents was popular in FDR’s day too.
My guess is this guy is a tool of the Islamists (wittingly or not, doesn’t matter) aimed to create chaos and/or bring the government down so they can step in. If he isn’t he’ll be dead shortly.
James @ 21 stole my thunder and summed it up nicely.
9 to go.
9- “If Perot hadn’t run, using the war hero and getting 18.9% of the vote, we would have been spared Clinton.”
Every big-name loser has run so the winner could win. It’s a very cruel trick.
And I don’t appreciate your comparing a Mohammedian hegemon (a HegeMoh) to a healthy Communist HegeMao. You’ll be glad for the latter one day in order to stop the previous menace.
Imagine… free education, new roads and bridges… You didn’t build that – BUT YOU WILL.
OT – EPA releases more than 2,100 emails from agency chief Lisa Jackson’s ‘alias’ account http://preview.tinyurl.com/d4qqopt
Horner should add the search terms “moratorium”, “BP”, “top kill”, “cap and trade” and all emails from “May 26, 2010 To May 31, 2010″ to his FOIA request!!!
CHU LIED, DOLPHINS DIED!
Given that Ms. Jackson is leaving the EPA and needs a new job, might I suggest that she be appointed to the embassy in Beijing, where she can breathe small particulates firsthand! Perhaps she can do to China’s economy what she has done to America’s
.
And the first person criminally indicted in the BP oil spill, Kurt Mix, is preparing for battle in federal court. http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2013/01/federal_judge_delays_ex-bp_eng.html
With all the world watching, he fought to “plug the damn hole” during that time period May 26 to May 31, 2010.
Does anyone out there think maybe the insurgents are preparing an ambush for Obama et al.?
That they are combat hardened veterans?
That they have proven worthy of the Grace of God?
That they can “loose the fateful lightning of their terrible swift swords”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yop62wQH498
Did she sing “…’til there is sun”? You mean like there is in Kuwait City, Annie?
There is an adage that fits here, “Be careful whose toes you step on today, they just might be connected to the ass you have to kiss TOMORROW!”
Sometimes it is best to not let the anti-colonial attitudes of your father blind you to your duty as you seek to punish BRITISH PETROLEUM.
Thinking of would be saviors, I’m reminded that the last “official” Jewish Messiah was Simon bar Kokhba. I think that most earthly “saviors”, then and now, end up pretty much the way old Simon did.
Pakistani Supreme Court issues orders for arrest of Prime Minister:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/court-orders-arrest-of-pakistani-prime-minister-amid-mass-protests-a-877632.html
article contains a suggestion that would make a lot of sense: Quadri may be financed and supported by the Pakistani military. This would explain why he has so much instant support and no fear of assassination, such as happened to Bhutto as soon as she returned. If this is indeed the case, then expect a military coup soon, deposing civilian government, followed by a puppet government headed by Quadri to maintain the illusion of civilian control and religiosity. Of course it will be The Generals who are back in true control of everything.
Quadri will be the pious and supposedly honest face of the new martial law regime. And maybe that’s the government that places like Pakistan deserve.
Pronouns like thee, thy, thou, thine, and ye is “hard” and “distracting”.
Learn to love the thees, thys and thous. They are there for a reason.
If you have studied almost any modern language besides English, you have probably encountered the “familiar you”. In Spanish the “formal you” to be used with business contacts, superiors, teachers and elders is “Usted”. The “familiar you” to be used with family, friends and other intimate acquaintances is “Tu”. In French the two “yous” are “Vous” and “Tu”. In German it is “Sie” and “Du”. In Italian it is “Lei” and “Tu”.
And so, when talking to your friend, or your child, or your sibling, or your beloved you would use the intimate form of the pronouns – always. To do otherwise would be an act of putting a distance or a formal coldness between the two of you.
Well, guess what? English actually DOES have a set of these intimate second person (you) pronouns, just like every other language. We just got lazy and stopped using them.
I love thee.
I cannot live without thy love.
Thou art everything to me.
Thine kisses art sweet.
Oh my children, I love all of ye.
Now, look at that “difficult”, “hard to read” scripture and understand what you will be doing if you take those pronouns out and switch them to the formal “you”. God always speaks to us in the INTIMATE CASE. And, He lets us address Him in the intimate case, too. Look at the Lord’s Prayer. THY Name. THY Kingdom. THY Will. Do you want to speak to God not as “Abba”, but as you would a judge? Do you want God to speak to you not as His child, or His brother or His spouse, but as a stranger? While He is straining to love you, do you really want to address Him as if He is a total stranger?
Yeah, words are hard.
/stolen without permission or link to original/
8. wretchard
perhaps because the populations in Africa were more demanding our help, and anyways were weaker than the Arab populations. The Sahel Blacks have always been the first Arabs’ preys, as slaves, as subjugated by the islamists.
In spite of the US billion dollars for training the Tuaregs as loyal soldiers, who were ment to fight the terrorists in Sahara, they could never become reliable. Some were Gadhafi Mercenaries, and opportunity, Libyabreak down, made them ally with AQMI. (also why the US had/has doubt on France succeeding into the mission, that they watch from a certain distance, nonetheless with sympathy))
http://thinkafricapress.com/mali/causes-uprising-northern-mali-tuareg (english)
http://www.slateafrique.com/84955/armee-malienne-ne-parvient-pas-combattre-les-touaregs-mnla-sanogo (french)
a good analyse of the stakes by a expaert in Africa policies
-http://www.realpolitik.tv/2013/01/operation-serval-communique-de-bernard-lugan/ (french)
so long the Tuaregs problem isn’t settled in northern Sahel, they will clash with Mauritania, Algeria, Mali. They need a autonome government and a free ride across Sahara.