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Obama, the Apostate
I’m a little surprised at those who took at face value Edward Luttwak’s piece in yesterday’s New York Times. In an astonishing article, Luttwak makes the case that a President Obama is likely to find his relationship with the Islamic world to be tense and volatile. The reason? As an “apostate” (his words, not mine), the Senator from Illinois would be subject to the death penalty under classical Shari’a law.
His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive).With few exceptions, the jurists of all Sunni and Shiite schools prescribe execution for all adults who leave the faith not under duress; the recommended punishment is beheading at the hands of a cleric, although in recent years there have been both stonings and hangings.
A brief note about the author before I get into the meat of his argument. Luttwak, a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is infamous for his article in Foreign Affairs, back in 1999, entitled “Give War A Chance.” It’s a fascinating read in which Mr. Luttwak makes the case that the best approach to warfare is essentially to ‘let it rage’ until one side defeats the other. Genocide in Darfur? Let ‘em fight it out. Warfare in Bosnia, Sri Lanka, the Congo? Better not get involved. Indeed, Luttwak wrote an op-ed in the NYT about Iraq not too long ago making basically the same argument: only by killing each others will the various parties find peace. Coming from a man who has suggested that the United Nations would be most useful if it just “helped the strong defeat the weak faster,” it was with curious revulsion that I read yesterday’s op-ed.
And, indeed, Luttwak did not disappoint. His basic premise – that Obama, the former Muslim, will be treated as an apostate in the Islamic world – is left unsubstantiated. The fact is, Obama has never been a Muslim and is not recognized internationally as such. As Islamic legal expert Ali Eteraz points out:
Religion is not hereditary as it is in Judaism. Islam is not a race. Just because a child has a Muslim father — which, again, Obama didn’t — doesn’t mean anything unless the child is being raised as a Muslim. At the time of birth, Muslims engage in a symbolic act — of saying the Call to Prayer in the child’s ear — that renders a child Muslim. If Obama’s father was agnostic/atheist, then he wouldn’t have done such a thing.
No call to prayer in the ear, not raised as a Muslim, born to an atheist father, and then abandoned to a Christian mother both by father and his family, equals not Muslim. Obama is right to say he had no religion until he became a Christian. Those who actually study Muslims see that there are millions of inter-religious marriages — between Muslim men and Hindu women for example — in which the children are being raised as pantheists, or even, Hindu. When these children grow up, they aren’t killed for being apostates (though some Muslims do thumb their noses at the father for “allowing” his children to be raised non-Muslim).
It is difficult to read, say, the Middle Eastern press, and then draw the conclusion that Muslims are just waiting to bear their teeth at a President Obama. In fact, many Middle Easterners seem positively excited about an Obama presidency. In Iran, not exactly the bastion of liberal thought, people are fascinated by the American presidential campaign and most Iranians appear to want Obama to win — including, perhaps, the Iranian regime itself. Similar reports, suggesting widespread interest in an Obama presidency, have appeared throughout the Middle Eastern press. While it would be impossible to draw any conclusions about what relations would be like with the Islamic world under an Obama administration, there are certainly no indications that such ties would be strained due to allegations of apostasy.
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16 Responses to “Obama, the Apostate”
[...] Rant/Rave – Opinion Editorials Since 2006 – Rant/Rave Main wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI’m a little surprised at those who took at face value Edward Luttwak’s piece in yesterday’s New York Times. [...]
I put this on the same shelf as a report in Wash. Tmes about what some handwriting experts say about the cindidates.
It's my ho-hum shelf.
According to the report of Larry Rohter of April 10, 2008, in The New York Times, the Obama campaign staff, when questioned about the revelation of Obama's 1981 trip to Karachi, stated: “Mr. Obama visited Pakistan in 1981, on the way back from Indonesia, where his mother and half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, were living. He spent 'about three weeks' there, Mr. Obama’s press secretary, Bill Burton, said, staying in Karachi with the family of a college friend, Mohammed Hasan Chandoo, but also traveling to Hyderabad, in India.”
These new revelations about Obama's college travels to Karachi and Hyderabad raise the question of whether Obama is a Muslim apostate, a question muzzled by Obama's constant incantation that he is a 20 year member of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. One wonders why, if Obama was always a Christian, he was “baptised” by Pastor Jeremiah Wright Jr. as an adult. The simple truth is that by Obama's own numerous accounts there are different versions of the purported truth as to whether his mother was an atheist, an agnostic, a or a deeply spiritual person who provided Obama with religious reading material from various religions. Moreover, published reports in Indonesian newspapers in 2006 and 2007 indicated that Obama's mother was a practicing Muslim, as was the entire family. In a New York Times op-ed piece of March 6, 2007, by Nicholas Kristof on Obama, Kristof wrote: “Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as 'one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.'” That piece was written during the period (described below by Paul Watson) when the Obama campaign was struggling with the American body politic's potential acceptance of an Obama who was a Muslim apostate.
Why has the press not looked further into this bundle of contradictions from the printed words of Dreams of My Father to Obama's own public statements and his campaign's inconsistent responses to press inquires. The critical question to be answered is not whether Obama is now a Christian as opposed to being a Muslim, but whether Obama was ever a Muslim, as numerous friends and teachers have unequivocally indicated before Obama announced his candidacy for President in February 2007. Obama should be called to publicly dispute the credible evidence indicating that Obama is a Muslim apostate because Obama himself, as well as his campaign website have made it an issue by publicly proclaiming, “Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian.”
Obama's previously undisclosed and unrevealed trip to Karachi and to Hyderabad are troubling in light of Obama's Dreams of My Father accounts of a Muslim heritage and the unbiased reporting of Los Angeles Times Djakarta Bureau Chief Paul Watson's on site investigation of Obama's prior practice of Islam reported in the March 16, 2007 edition of the Los Angeles Times. There Watson wrote:
” Obama's campaign aides have emphasized his strong Christian beliefs and downplayed any Islamic connection. The Illinois senator was raised 'in a secular household in Indonesia by his stepfather and mother,' his chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said in a statement in January after false reports began circulating that Obama had attended a radical madrasa, or Koranic school, as a child.
“'To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago,' Gibbs' Jan. 24 statement said. In a statement to The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday[March 14, 2007], the campaign offered slightly different wording, saying: 'Obama has never been a practicing Muslim.' The satement added that as a child, Obama had spent time in the neighborhood's Islamic center.”
Thereafter, Watson noted:
” His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama's grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both of the schools he attended.
” That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class.
“The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. 'We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played,' said Zulfin Adi, who describes himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends.
” The campaign's national press secretary, Bill Burton, said Wednesday that the friends were recalling events 'that are 40 years old and subject to four decades of other information.' Obama's younger sister, Maya Soetoro, said in a statement released by the campaign that the family attended the mosque only 'for big communal events,' not every Friday.”
Continuing to report on his investigation, Watson wrote:
“Adi said he often visited the Soetoro family at their home, a small flat-roofed bungalow at 16 Haji Ramli St. Today, he runs an Internet cafe and purified water business from the same small Jakarta house where he grew up near Obama.
“Theirs was a middle-class neighborhood, but Haji Ramli Street was a dirt lane where Obama used to while away the hours kicking a soccer ball. In the long rainy season, it turned to thick, mucky soup; Obama and his friends wore plastic bags over their shoes to walk though it, said Adi, who at 46 is the same age as Obama.
” Neighborhood Muslims worshiped in a nearby house, which has since been replaced by a larger mosque. Sometimes, when the muezzin sounded the call to prayer, Lolo and Barry would walk to the makeshift mosque together, Adi said.
“His mother often went to the church, but Barry was Muslim. He went to the mosque,” Adi said. “I remember him wearing a sarong.”
On January 16, 2007, Obama launched BarackObama.com and issued a press release stating that on February 20, 2007, he would make an announcement on his running for President of the United States, as reported by local Station NBC5 in Chicago. Following that announcement, The Kalim Post, an Indonesian newspaper carried a story about Obama's Indonesian friends clearly discussing that Obama was a practicing Muslim when he lived in Djakarta, reporting in Indonesian: ” Mengenai agama yang dianut sang senator AS, Akhmad Solikhin, wakil kepala SDN 1 Menteng, tidak yakin Barry beragama Islam. . . .menurut Tine sang guru, Barry mengikuti pelajaran agama Islam semasa sekolah.” That translates into English as: ” Concerning the religion that was followed by the US senator, Akhmad Solikhin, the representative of the SDN head 1 Menteng, was not sure Barry was religious Islam. . . . according to his teacher(guru) Barry took part in the Islam religious lesson during the period of the school.” Additionally, another Indonesian newspaper The Benjarmasin Post, in a July 9, 2006 report on Barack Obama's time in Indonesia, based upon Obama's local friends in Djakarta wrote:”Barry dulu memang beragama Islam,” which clearly translates into English: ” Barry was previously quite religious [in] Islam.”
These are important issues to the American body politic because Obama has proclaimed that he was never a Muslim during his campaigning in Iowa in December 2007. Why? Because Obama's Muslim friends in Indonesia, as well as Paul Watson, the well respected bureau chief of The Los Angeles Times have indicated that Obama once practiced Islam and these reports were based upon information discussed well before Obama became a serious, if not leading, contender for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Simply put, what does it say about the personal integrity, and candor ( i.e., honesty) of Obama the candidate who seeks the highest office in the land by misrepresentation and deception on such a straightforward issue. This is particularly important since the Obama campaign's website has a November 12, 2007 web page titled, “Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian.” Yet, the web page fails to refute the Watson report of March 16, 2007 ( although it makes reference to the Watson report of March 16, 2007, the reference is neutral and fails to dispute the personal accounts of those interviewed by Watson) or the reports of the two Indonesian newspapers of July 2006 and January 27, 2007, which reported on Djakarta residents that stated, without motive to lie, that Obama once was a practicing Muslim. Again, integrity is a huge personal attribute that is appropriately considered by the body politic. Why has Obama not responded to the dispute on a point-by-point basis when over 13 percent of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim apostate and has misrepresented his former Muslim affiliation by simply intoning that he “has never been a Muslim,” despite reputable evidence to the contrary.
The Obama campaign website makes the unsubstantiated claim: “Barack Obama Is Not and Has Never Been a Muslim. Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ.” Did Paul Watson fabricate a story about Obama's Muslim prayers at a Djakarta mosque? Were the quotations form the Los Angeles Times report of march 16, 2007, which can be accessed on the Obama website by a hyper-link false? Was the account of one of Obama's closest friend in Djakarta an utter falsehood, which hoodwinked Watson to write: “The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. 'We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played,' said Zulfin Adi, who describes himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends.” What motive to fabricate such basic historical facts did Zulfin Adi and /or Watson have at the time the report was published? I submit none whatsoever.
According to the SWAMP, the Chicago Tribune's political bog of December 22, 2007, Barrack Obama specifically denied EVER practicing Islam. Obama stated: “I've always been a Christian” and “I have never practiced [Islam].” This raise the question: Is Barack Obama an Impostor? Did Obama's answers to direct questions obfuscate the truth? Was Obama deliberately lying to gain the highest office of the land by blatant misrepresentations of material facts that his campaign considers so important that it has dedicated a good portion of its website to support the claim that: ” Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian.”
Returning to the April 10, 2008 New York Times report of Obama's San Francisco revelation of his 1981 trip to Pakistan seems to undermine the Obama website claim of November 12, 2007 that, “Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian,” as well as his personal public representation that, “I've always been a Christian” and “I have never practiced Islam.”
This is a fundamental question of personal integrity of Obama, not an anti-Muslim attack on a political candidate. Why has the news media missed the big question of whether Obama may have deliberately lied about his past practice of Islam to secure the Democratic nomination.
I know a bit more than the average American about Islam and Pakistan. Two of my four sisters were born in British colonial Karachi, India, what is now Pakistan. (My oldest sister Maureen was born in England, my twin sister and I were born in Mumbai, India years after the partition of 1947). My late father had to travel to Kashmir to rescue my oldest three sisters from a boarding school during the chaos and atrocities of early 1948 in Karachi. My family suffered greatly from Louie Mountbatten's partition of India. My grandfather was the last Mayor of Karachi under British rule. He lost almost all as a refugee who settled in Bombay.
My maternal uncle who negotiated, in 1946, the production of Chrysler cars in India that commenced in 1948, with Walter Chrysler at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York fared better, as did my father who earned his Ph.D. from Edinburgh in 1935, who relocated our family to Bombay in 1948, before me and my twin sister were born.
We lived in the centre of Bombay off Pedder Road. I was educated at Saint Joseph Convent School in Panchgani, India, as was my three other sisters before me and my twin came to the United States, where we studied as undergraduates and later in professional schools. One of the girls in our graduating class, a Muslim, became a famous Bollywood movie star, another a rock singer. My husband, who worked for a multinational corporations did a great deal of business with Middle-Eastern African and Asian countries and, in particular Pakistani and Indian companies.
One of my faternal uncles, a barrister trained at Lincoln's Inn in London remained in Karachi until 1979, principally by virtue of the fact that he was a brilliant lawyer and Ali Bhutto's barrister. He immigrated to Bombay in 1979 after all attempts to save Bhutto from hanging at the hand of the military madman and dictator Mohammed Zia failed.
When my husband and I visited Bombay in 1979 we had the opportunity to visit my uncle the barrister. He warned us of the incipiency of radical Islam through the imposition of Islamic law (Shariah) on once British Common Law countries. My husband and I ( we are both American Lawyers) could not grasp the significant point of my uncle's insightful analysis. We do now. Pakistan has been at the core of radical Islam since Zia and has drawn to it young Muslim radicals. Is that the reason Obama concealed his 1981 trip to Karachi?
East Africa (Kenya, Somalia, the Ogaden sector of Ethiopia and Tanzania), like Pakistan has become a breeding ground for radical Islam. Barack Obama's affinity for, association with, and self professed knowledge of Islam, gives one great pause because of his categorical denial of his Islamic past without specific repudiation of the scores of sources that undermine, if not totally belie, his assertion that he never practiced Islam. Is Obama to be believed, particularly given his ambitions to seek the Democratic nomination from 2006 onward? Why has the Obama campaign changed its story between Obama not being a “practicing” Muslim in its March 14, 2007 statement to Paul Watson from its January 24,2007 statement issued by Obama campaign spokesperson Robert Gibbs that: “To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago,” to change once again following Paul Watson's investigative report of March 16, 2007. Again, like the Obama denials of knowledge of the hate based, racist and Marxist ideology, which has been mischaracterized as Black Liberation Theology spewed by his Pastor Wright, Obama's various accounts of Obama's Muslim heritage, both written in Dreams of My Father and given by his campaign spokesperson, are a web of contradictions.
In the words of Sir Walter Scott “O, what a tangled web we weave When first we practise to deceive.” Marmion, 1808.
Can the United States of America sober up from its Obama intoxication to question Obama's categorical claim that he NEVER practiced Islam? What has happened to the healthy skepticism once the hallmark of American journalism? Like the Pastor Wright issue, this matter of Obama's claim to never practicing Islam has not been properly aired by the press, save Paul Watson and The Los Angeles Times.
Why would a college student from Occidental college in Los Angeles, California, visit two hot bed cities of fundamentalist Islamic doctrine in 1981 unless the student embraced radical Islamic ideology? Why not spend that time with his mother in Djakarta, rather than in Karachi and Hyderabad cavorting with the radical Chandoo brothers?
[...] Seraphic Secret wrote an interesting post today on Obama, the ApostateHere’s a quick excerptIndeed, Luttwak wrote an op-ed in the NYT about Iraq not too long ago making basically the same argument: only by killing each others will the… [...]
Its called traveling buddy. People do it all the time.
So the article is completely off, especially since Obam a was apparently never a practicing muslim. Also, they seem to have managed their mysoginistic tendencies with regards to Condi. No muslim dignitaries have insisted on her being stoned to death for not being escorted by a family member or wearing those slutty pantsuits that fully expose the neck and facial features.
I love it, first he was too muslim, now we have problems because he's not.
I attended Catholic services fairly regularly for a while with a childhood friend , because we wanted to go together, and she couldn't reciprocate by coming to my Protestant church services I learned to recite the prayers in Latin, and I enjoyed the ritual.
I guess that makes me a Catholic..
No, wait…
I attended an evangelical church for a while with another friend. I loved the music (still do), and the Pastor was a fun loving guy. I guess that makes me an evangelical.
No, wait…
My mother was raised as a Baptist, and my father was raised as a Mehtodist.
They attended (with me) a series of Lutheran churches as a matter of compromise and availability. That makes me a triple striped mongrel Protestant, I guess.
No, wait…..
I've attended Native American rituals honoirng nature. I must be a red-skin pagan, I fuess.
No wait….
In college, I spent a lot of time with friends from Iran, India and Israel.
I spent a lot of time with friends from Hungary, France and Denmark.
I'm still in contact with many of them.
I must have renounced my loyalty to America in favor of these other counties, I guess.
No, wait….
I spent 20 years working in the Diamond District of NYC I must have become Jewish, then, I guess.
No. WAIT.
HOLD ON THERE.
I define who I am, not other people, not friends, not acquaintances, not the places I've visited or the places I've lived.
Every exposure to something new and different has enriched me and widened my horizons of understanding.
That's why I choose to be an atheist loyal American.
That's why I appreciate what Obama's background adds to his grasp of the world and of America.
Runasim,
Wow, that is a lot of words (and I read most of them). I confess I missed the ones where it shows the Senator is/was a Muslim, though. I'd suggest leading with that information next time you post.
For my part, I promise to be more skeptical of politicians' categorical claims, as you so wisely suggest. Nevertheless, I'll still vote for the one whose policies, ideas, and worldview I most agree with.
Cheers.
Sorry, obviously I meant to respond to TruthfulLiberal, not runasim.
Yea but thats only becaues you didnt' go into politics. Once you are in the public eye everyday foibles become acid tests for who you are as a person. I've heard people pass judgement on others for shit they themselves do all the time. Its human nature to overlook the complexity of our own lives in order to define as simply as possible the lives of larger than life figures.
To aba23:
It appears that to were unfortunate enough that you attended a public school where reading was not stressed, or if it was, you failed to attain the basic reading comprehension level of an adult schooled in the English language. Perhaps English is not your native tongue.
I direct your attention to the quotes from Paul Watson's report in the L. A. Times, an example of which includes: “The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. 'We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played,' said Zulfin Adi, who describes himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends.”
Furthermore, your apparent reading comprehension skills failed to allow you to understand the following factual information, among other factual information cited by me from unbiased newspaper reporters before Barack Obama was considered a viable presidential candidate:
The Indonesian newspaper The Benjarmasin Post, in a July 9, 2006 report on Barack Obama's time in Indonesia, based upon Obama's local friends in Djakarta wrote:”Barry dulu memang beragama Islam,” which clearly translates into English: ” Barry was previously quite religious [in] Islam.” It also reported: “Semua saudara sebapak Barry ini beragama Islam.” That translates into English as: “All of Barry's family were religious in Islam.” Thereafter, it was written: “Kita dulu sering mengajak dia ke mushala dekat rumah.” Translation: “In the past we often invited him to the [Islamic] prayer room near the house.” the report had previously noted, “dia aktif ke mushala,” which translated means, ” he was active in the prayer room. “
To those of us who were fortunate enough to be schooled in the British system, we conclude that going to a mosque to pray on Friday is an act of Islamic worship. If you dispute this please misinform me of any mistakes in my logic.
Incidentally. do you know the meaning of salat and namaz?
To aba23:
It appears that you were unfortunate enough that you attended a public school where reading was not stressed, or if it was, you failed to attain the basic reading comprehension level of an adult schooled in the English language. Perhaps English is not your native tongue.
I direct your attention to the quotes from Paul Watson's report in the L. A. Times, an example of which includes: “The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. 'We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played,' said Zulfin Adi, who describes himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends.”
Furthermore, your apparent reading comprehension skills failed to allow you to understand the following factual information, among other factual information cited by me from unbiased newspaper reporters before Barack Obama was considered a viable presidential candidate:
The Indonesian newspaper The Benjarmasin Post, in a July 9, 2006 report on Barack Obama's time in Indonesia, based upon Obama's local friends in Djakarta wrote:”Barry dulu memang beragama Islam,” which clearly translates into English: ” Barry was previously quite religious [in] Islam.” It also reported: “Semua saudara sebapak Barry ini beragama Islam.” That translates into English as: “All of Barry's family were religious in Islam.” Thereafter, it was written: “Kita dulu sering mengajak dia ke mushala dekat rumah.” Translation: “In the past we often invited him to the [Islamic] prayer room near the house.” the report had previously noted, “dia aktif ke mushala,” which translated means, ” he was active in the prayer room. “
To those of us who were fortunate enough to be schooled in the British system, we conclude that going to a mosque to pray on Friday is an act of Islamic worship. If you dispute this please misinform me of any mistakes in my logic.
Incidentally. do you know the meaning of salat and namaz? Perhaps you can read my post of yesterday again and before you dispute the indisputable.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
With warmest personal regards,
Well, if “childhood friends” say he prayed in a mosque but not seriously as a boy, that may (or may not) be evidence indicating that he was a practicing Muslim. Somewhat less persuasive is the “registered as a Muslim” in the primary school information. And, I daresay, completely irrelevant is his aesthetic appreciation for the evening call to prayer.
But you're certainly onto something if “local friends” say he was religious in Islam; that would certainly support your proposition.
Now I'll have to look at all the facts and accounts that support the contrary proposition and then make a reasoned determination.
To TruthfulLiberal:
Thank you for sharing your fascinating family background. Very impressive. Is your uncle who negotiated manufacturing of Chrysler cars part of the Tata family, who own steel mills in India? And who have now created the world’s smallest car we saw featured in the news recently?
You’ve made a terrific point about Obama’s venture into Pakistan. That must be his roommate Hasan to whom he refers in his book “Dreams From My Father.” Good to see that you pointed out the increasing Islamist influence in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. The port cities are those which were populated by Arab slave traders coming to the African coast over the centuries, so the port cities tend to be more radical.
Since you have obviously put a good deal of time and effort into your response, here is some information about which you may be partially unaware:
Obama’s first cousin Raila Odinga is a self-declared Muslim and a Luo. He is the son of Barack Obama’s father’s sister. Obama met with Odinga during a 2006 African trip and appeared in a photo supporting him during some rallies for Odinga. There appeared to be corruption on both sides of the Odinga-Kibaki conflict in Kenya.
However, Raila Odinga has a signed Memorandum of Understanding with a Muslim group to turn Kenya into an Islamic nation if he won Kenya’s presidential election. After the Kenya presidential election several months ago, it was Muslim Odinga’s supporters, Luo tribal members, who generated the murderous mob violence rampaging Kenya hacking people to death with machetes and setting a church on fire in Eldoret with Christians inside.
The MOU for an Islamic Kenya:
http://eakenya.org/newsevents/article.htm?id=8
Four years ago Kenya’s Christian ministers had to bring a lawsuit when they discovered Muslims had surreptitiously inserted shari’a law for Islamic courts into Kenya’s draft secular constitution.
Now that Odinga has been declared Kenya’s prime minister in the new power-sharing agreement with President Kibaki, one wonders what direction Kenya will take regarding Odinga’s intention. There may be further difficulty ahead for Kenya, a nation 80% Christian and 10% Muslim. I'm glad I was able to visit Kenya long ago before the increase in strident Islamists in Nairobi.
Both Odinga and Obama, as Luos, have issues stemming from their strong desire to continue the legacy of their fathers.
You’ll want to consider reading some conservative news sites like World Net Daily, and Townhall, where there’s considerable healthy skepticism about Obama’s contradictions. There's also a comprehensive grid of data on Obama at FreedomsEnemies.com.
The best to you…
Here is some information that is available on the web. It appears that Obama used Senate funds to campaign for Raila Odinga.whose campaigns have been funded by Libyan Muammar Gaddafi.
For those of us who have some knowledge of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf almost to a person thought that the Bush war against Iraq was based on oil, the Jewish vote in the 2004 elections and getting back at Iraq for the attempted assassination of George Bush the elder. Very dumb foreign policy, which was blindly followed by lap dog Tony Blair. Obama was right in that regard. Only the uninformed could not envision a Shia dominated Iraq as a puppet state of Shia Iran. Conversely, we promoted the Iraq-Iran war and watched it play out to an eight year indecisive draw. There was no need to attack Iraq, save for Bush's vision of a quick walk-over victory to cement his reelection. However, I fear Obama's opposition to the war was the right position for the wrong undisclosed motives.
Raila Odinga's meetings in Chicago in June 2006 and June 2007 with Obama should be looked into. Also, Odinga's press conference with Dick Morris and the Morris about face after ODM party leaders who were double-crossed by Odinga for party slots in mid-November, causing them to leak the MOU, should be looked into. Reportedly, Odinga who is technically an Angelican, received about $10 million from Gaddafi in late August 2007 on the condition he sign the MOU with the Muslim factions.
Odinga's campaign used aircraft and hilocopters in the December election. That was unheard of before, but Gaddafi's money made it possible. Pastor Wright is a former Black Muslim. Louis Farrakhan reportedly gets some of Gaddafi's excess petrol dollars. Is there a connection? Read the following from someone apparently well informed on Kenya .
THE FOLLOWING IS A DESCRIPTION OF A CLAIM MADE BY THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN TOUTING OBAMA'S FOREIGN POLICY JUDGMENT. IT DEALS WITH OBAMA'S OFFICIAL SENATE FACT FINDING TRIP TO SOUTH AFRICA AND KENYA IN AUGUST 2006. THEREAFTER, NEWS ACCOUNTS OF OBAMA'S TRIP ARE DISCUSSED, AS WELL AS THE REVELATION OF JANUARY 2008 THAT THE KENYAN OPPOSITION LEADER ODINGA, WHO WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF KENYA WHEN OBAMA VISITED KENYA, HAS A FIRST COUSIN RELATIONSHIP TO BARACK OBAMA – - A RELATIONSHIP NOT DISCLOSED TO THE KENYAN GOVERNMENT WHEN OBAMA OPENLY CAMPAIGNED FOR ODINGA. AS NOTED BELOW' RAILA ODINGA'S POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS HVE BEEN FUNDED BY MUAMMAR GADDAFI
ON MARCH 3, 2008, IN RESPONSE TO A CLINTON TV COMMERCIAL KNOWN AS “WHO BETTER TO ANSWER THAT 3 A.M. CALL,” OBAMA'S TOP FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR, SUSAN RICE, HELD A CONFERENCE CALL WITH THE POLITICAL PRESS AS REPORTED BY OBAMA'S HOME TOWN NEWSPAPER THE CHICAGO- SUN TIMES (http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/822489,CST-N… ), WHICH STATED:
Rice said Obama's achievements — other than legislative initiatives — include his willingness to confront the leaders of South Africa and Kenya about problems that were devastating their nations.
On the same call, retired Air Force Gen. Scott Gration, a top Obama military adviser who was glued to Obama's side during the African trip — highlighted Obama's Nairobi speech where he deplored Kenya's tribalism and corruption — a timely reminder, given the violence after Kenya's recent disputed election.
Obama slapped South African President Thabo Mbeki a day before he hoped to meet with him — and the meeting never took place.
In Kenya, the land of his father, Obama was treated as a head of state, a Kenyan despite being an American and, even then, a potential presidential candidate. He urged Kenyans to move past their deeply rooted tribalism — Obama's father was a Luo — to form a new sort of Kenyan identity. Obama very publicly criticized the administration of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki for not rooting out corruption.
There was no way Kibaki could deny the wildly popular Obama a meeting, even if he wanted to. Obama raised concerns about Kenya's lack of government transparency. Obama also appeared with opposition leader Raila Odinga — a Luo — who was running for president.
Violence erupted in Kenya in January after Kibaki and Odinga contested the election findings.
RAILA ODINGA ADMITTED TO THE BBC IN JANUARY 2008 THAT BARACK OBAMA IS ODINGA'S FIRST COUSIN: “Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has said he is a cousin of US presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Mr Odinga told the BBC's The World Today that Senator Obama's father was his maternal uncle. ” ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7176683.stm .) THIS FACT WAS NEVER DISCLOSED BY OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN, NOR OBAMA WHEN OBAMA VISITED KENYA AND FOMENTED DIVISIVENESS IN KENYA BY OBAMA'S OPENLY CRITICIZING KENYAN PRESIDENT KIBAKI IN A NATIONALLY TELEVISED SPEECH AND THEN THEREAFTER CAMPAIGNING WITH COUSIN ODINGA , AS ACKNOWLEDGED BY SUSAN RICE AND THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN ON MARCH 3, 2008. (“Obama very publicly criticized the administration of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki for not rooting out corruption . . . . Obama also appeared with opposition leader Raila Odinga — a Luo — who was running for president.
Violence erupted in Kenya in January after Kibaki and Odinga contested the election findings.”)
CBS2 OF CHICAGO COVERED THE OBAMA VISIT( http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Barack.Obama…. ), NOTING THE KENYAN GOVERNMENT'S DISPLEASURE WITH OBAMA'S SPEECH AND CAMPAIGNING, “Sen. Obama has to look at critically about where he's receiving his advice from,” said government spokesman Dr. Alfred Mutua. “Just because somebody, somewhere wants to run for president and is using Sen. Obama as his stooge, as his puppet to be able to get to where he wants to get to.” MOREOVER, THE STANDARD'S SEPTEMBER 2, 2006 EDITION (http://www.eastandard.net/archives/?mnu=details… ) CARRIED A STORY ABOUT THE KENYAN GOVERNMENT'S PROTEST TO OBAMA'S PARTICIPATION IN DOMESTIC KENYAN POLITICS, WHICH INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING:
In a letter to the Illinois Senator, the Kenyan Ambassador (designate) to the US, Mr. Peter Oginga Ogego, termed Obama’s remarks as having been in bad taste and injurious to Kenya-US bilateral relations.
The statement said in part: “I hereby wish to communicate to you the displeasure and disappointment of the Government of Kenya, (Kenyan) Embassy in Washington DC, and majority of Kenyans, with regards to your recent utterances while in Kenya.
“Your unprovoked and uncalled for statements were in bad taste, particularly given that your visit was well arranged in advance, with full briefings given to your office in Washington DC by the Kenya Embassy.”
Ogego accused the Senator of deliberately twisting the truth about the Government’s fight against corruption to gain publicity.
“You deliberately, without real cause or reason, other than what appears (to be) to seek cheap publicity and inconsequential populism, chose to publicly attack the democratically elected Government of Kenya, in total disregard for the requisite protocol and acceptable methods to address the issues you raised, what with programmed appointments to meet Cabinet Ministers and even the Head of State, since your visit was official,” Ogego said.
ODINGA'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN WAS FUNDED BY MUAMMAR GADDAFI( http://www.eastandard.net/archives/?mnu=details… ). ODINGA SIGNED A PACT WITH RADICAL MUSLIMS AS A CONDITION OF GADDAFI'S FINANCIAL SUPPORT (http://wikileaks.cx/leak/MOU_between_Ralia_Odin…) THAT STATES IN PARAGRAPH 5(f) “NO MUSLIM RESIDING IN KENYA WHETHER A CITIZEN, VISITOR OR RELATIVE OF ANY OF THE OF ABOVE SHALL BE SUBJECTED TO ANY PROCESS INVOLVING THE LAWS OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY AND IN PARTICULAR ANY MUSLIM ARRESTED FOR OR SUSPECTED OF TERRORISM OR ANY OTHER INTERNATIONAL CRIME SHALL ONLY BE TRIED WITHIN THE BORDERS OF KENYA AND SHALL BE GRANTED A COMPETENT LAWYER OF HIS/HER CHOICE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE GOVERNMENT.” THE STANDARD OF NAIROBI REPORTED IN SEPTEMBER 2006(http://www.eastandard.net/archives/?mnu=details&id=1143957753&catid=4). ” In June[2006], Raila flew to the US, where he held talks with Senator Barack Obama, who made a triumphant visit to Kenya — his ancestral home — last week.”
BARACK OBAMA HAS MADE FOREIGN POLICY JUDGMENT AN ISSUE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. IN DOING SO THE PRESS SHOULD LOOK INTO BARACK OBAMA'S AFRICAN TRIP IN AUGUST 2006 WHEN ON OFFICIAL SENATE BUSINESS. FIRST HE PUBLICLY INSULTED THE SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT, THABO MBEKI, RESULTING IN MBEKI CANCELING A MEETING WITH OBAMA. HERE IS A LEGITIMATE FOREIGN POLICY JUDGMENT QUESTION: SHOULD AN INDIVIDUAL SENATOR CONDUCT AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY, IF THAT FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT IS GIVEN TO THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT BY THE CONSTITUTION?
IT IS INDISPUTABLE AS RECORDED ON VIDEO IN THE CBS2 OF CHICAGO REPORT ON THE OBAMA VISIT TO KENYA IN 2006( http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Barack.Obama…. ), THAT THE KENYAN GOVERNMENT WAS OPENLY DISPLEASED WITH OBAMA'S CAMPAIGNING, “Sen. Obama has to look at critically about where he's receiving his advice from,” said government spokesman Dr. Alfred Mutua. “Just because somebody, somewhere wants to run for president and is using Sen. Obama as his stooge, as his puppet to be able to get to where he wants to get to.”
THE FUNDING OF ODINGA BY MUAMMAR GADDAFI IS DOCUMENTED BY THE STANDARD OF NAIROBI, WHICH REPORTED THAT ODINGA PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN WAS FUNDED BY MUAMMAR GADDAFI AND THAT ODINGA ENRICHED HIMSELF WHILE HE WAS ENERGY MINISTER OF KENYA BY ENGAGING IN FAVORABLE OIL DEALS WITH GADDAFI( http://www.eastandard.net/archives/?mnu=details…).
THE JULY 31, 2007 EDITION OF THE STANDARD WROTE ABOUT MEETINGS IN THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN RAILA ODINGA AND BARACK OBAMA CONCERNING ODINGA'S KENYAN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, REPORTING: ” In June, Raila flew to the US, where he held talks with Senator Barack Obama, one of the candidates seeking the Democratic Party ticket to vie for the American presidency.”
THEREAFTER THE ARTICLE ON ODINGA NOTED:
While still Energy minister, Raila re-established and nurtured his links with the Libyan Government of Col Muammar Gaddafi, where again he not only did good business in oil importation, but also got substantial material support during the 2002 General Election.
Besides supporting Raila’s political cause, the Libyans also played a key role in stabilising Raila in the oil business. Reliable sources say that Libyans bankrolled the Narc campaign with some $3 million (about Sh210 million), thanks to Raila’s good contacts in the oil-rich land of Gaddafi.
There is no doubt, therefore, that if Raila becomes the ODM-Kenya presidential candidate, he can once more count on massive financial support from the North African country.
SENATE TRAVEL DISCLOSURE RECORDS INDICATE THAT OBAMA DID NOT REIMBURSE THE GOVERNMENT FOR OBAMA'S SECURITY AND TRAVEL EXPENSES FOR OBAMA'S CAMPAIGNING WITH ODINGA IN KENYA, NOR WAS ODINGA MENTIONED AS A SOURCE OF OBAMA'S EXPENSES PAID FOR BY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.
THESE FACTS CONCERNING OBAMA'S KENYA TRIP RAISE VERY SERIOUS ISSUES THAT DIRECTLY EFFECT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
SHOULD OBAMA BE CALLED TO EXPLAIN WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF CAMPAIGNING WITH ODINGA IN KENYA?
SHOULD OBAMA BE ASKED WHY OBAMA FAILED TO DISCLOSE HIS FAMILY RELATIONSHIP WITH RAILA ODINGA?
DOES OBAMA'S INVOLVEMENT WITH HIS COUSIN RAILA ODINGA MERELY DEMONSTRATE THAT OBAMA WAS NAIVE AND WAS UNWITTINGLY USED BY ODINGA TO PROMOTE ODINGA'S POLITICAL AMBITIONS?
IS THIS EVIDENCE OF POSSIBLE ETHICAL LAPSES BY SENATOR OBAMA?
DID OBAMA'S CONDUCT AMOUNT TO INTERFERENCE IN A FOREIGN ELECTION FOR A FIRST COUSIN WHILE ON OFFICIAL SENATE BUSINESS?
WAS BARACK OBAMA ACTING AS AGENT PROVOCATEUR FOR RAILA ODINGA?
DID OBAMA HAVE HIS TRAVEL AND SECURITY EXPENSES INCURRED IN CAMPAIGNING FOR HIS COUSIN ODINGA PAID FOR BY AMERICAN TAXPAYERS?
DID OBAMA'S CONDUCT IN KENYA AS A SENATOR CONSTITUTE MISUSE OF FEDERAL FUNDS?
DID OBAMA'S CONDUCT IN KENYA IN AUGUST 2006 DEMONSTRATE GOOD OR BAD FOREIGN POLICY JUDGMENT IN DEALING WITH AN ALLY GOVERNMENT?
WHY DID OBAMA CONTINUE TO ASSOCIATE WITH AND SUPPORT RAILA ODINGA IN 2008 AFTER THE ODINGA PACT WITH FUNDAMENTALIST MUSLIM FACTIONS WAS EXPOSED IN NOVEMBER 2007?
IS THIS THE “CHANGE” IN THE CONDUCT OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY THAT WILL MAKE US SAFER AS A NATION?
IS OBAMA ELECTABLE IN THE GENERAL ELECTION GIVEN HIS ASSOCIATION WITH ODINGA AND ODINGA'S CONNECTIONS WITH MUAMMAR GADDAFI AND FUNDAMENTALIST MUSLIM FACTIONS IN KENYA?
WHAT WAS OBAMA THINKING AS A SENATOR ON A FACT FINDING TOUR OF KENYA TO DELIBERATELY INTERJECT HIMSELF AS A PARTISAN IN DOMESTIC KENYAN POLITICS?
The following also sheds light on Obama's ties with radical Muslims who covet control of the port city of Mombassa, the former capital of British East Africa:
HERE IS WHAT THE WELL RESPECTED KENYAN JOURNALIST, PETER KIMANI, WHO IS THE MANAGING EDITOR OF THE NAIROBI BASED KENYAN NATIONAL NEWSPAPER, “THE SATURDAY TIMES” WROTE 0N JANUARY 1, 2008 IN AN ARTICLE STYLED ” A PAST OF POWER MORE THAN TRIBE IN KENYA'S TURMOIL” THAT CAN BE FOUND ONLINE AT : http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/a_question… :
The New Year could be the start of a long annus horribilis for Kenya, which faces its most uncertain days in a generation. Already last week's General Election, which saw President Mwai Kibaki officially re-elected as the head of the PNU (Party of National Unity), has triggered violence across the country that has claimed over 200 lives.
Among the casualties are 35 women and children burnt in a church in Eldoret, about four hours northwest of Nairobi, where they had sought refuge to escape election violence. Others who escaped the inferno were bludgeoned to death by warriors from the Kalenjin tribe.
* * * * * *
Not spontaneous anarchy
What is unfolding in Kenya may be anarchy but it has also been choreographed long before the first ballot was cast. Beyond picking its name from the Ukraine's Orange Revolution movement, the ODM election strategy was overseen by Dick Morris, the disgraced political strategist once investigated for tax evasion in the US, and who was alleged to have been instrumental in fomenting revolution in Ukraine and Mexico.
Presenting Morris in Nairobi late last year, Odinga announced that the American would serve as his chief campaign strategist. He had to beat a retreat after local media exposed Morris as the Republican who moonlighted for the Bill Clinton campaign before being fired for allowing a prostitute to eavesdrop on his conversation with the former American president. That was the last that was heard publicly of Morris, although he is listed to have donated 165,000 Kenyan pounds to the ODM campaign kitty in pro-bono services.
THEREAFTER, THE KIMANI ARTICLE POIGNANTLY NOTED:
The rest of the script was played out after last week's General Election. Rigging claims were used to the hilt by the ODM to plant seeds of doubt in their supporters to prepare them to reject an unfavourable outcome and foment unrest that would set in motion a “people power” revolution.
ODM supporters dramatised the rigging claims, killing three policemen deployed to administer the polls in Eldoret on the eve of Election Day. They were lynched by youths who claimed they had been sent by the government to prepare ground for rigging, as a vehicle belonging to the Electoral Commission of Kenya was torched.
Odinga himself would march to a city hotel on the same night to make similar claims of poll rigging accompanied by a partisan local media that must share the blame for the social conflagration that threatens the very future of their country.
Odinga supporters rejected the poll outcome even before it was announced, with Kibera residents, one of Africa's largest slums and the stronghold of the opposition chief, going on the rampage, looting and killing those perceived to be supporters of Kibaki's, who were seen as conspirators “stealing the election.”
IT SHOULD BE FURTHER NOTED THAT PETER KIMANI IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTERNATIONAL WRITING PROGRAM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA .
INTERESTINGLY, OBAMA, ACCORDING TO A REPORT PUBLISHED IN THE JANUARY 7, 2008 ONLINE EDITION OF TIME MAGAZINE (SEE: http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/01/obam… ), ENTITLED “OBAMA'S OTHER LIFE” FORMER CHICAGO TRIBUNE REPORTER JONATHAN ALTER WROTE: ” On January 3, the day of the caucuses, he had a conversation with Bishop Desmond Tutu, who had flown to Nairobi to see if he could begin negotiations with the factions. In the days since his Iowa victory, Obama has had near-daily conversations with the U.S. Ambassador in Kenya or with opposition leader Raila Odinga. “
THE IMPACT OF THE VIOLENCE WAS ALSO NOTED IN THE JANUARY 16, 2008 ONLINE EDITION OF NEWSWEEK (SEE: http://www.newsweek.com/id/94789 ), ENTITLED “THERE WILL BE BLOOD,” WHICH REPORTED ON THE VIOLENCE AGITATED BY HUSSEIN KHALID, A PERSON: (1) ASSOCIATED WITH BARACK OBAMA MEETINGS IN KENYA WITH PURPORTED “COMMUNITY LEADERS” WHO WERE PRIMARILY LEADERS OF MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS, (2) A PERSON IDENTIFIED BY NAME IN BARACK OBAMA'S AUGUST 27, 2006 SPEECH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI, THE HEAD OF MUSLIMS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (MUHURI). THE NEWSWEEK ARTICLE REPORTED ON THE VIOLENCE IN THE KEY CITY OF MOMBASSA, BY REPORTING:
The coastal city of Mombasa, which saw some of the worst violence in the days immediately after last month's disputed elections, was today the site of a citywide sit-in that devolved into chaos when police attacked rallygoers, including children. Most stores were closed, their metal shutters rolled down to protect against looting, and just a few cars breezed by along the usually traffic-choked streets. People were still shopping for water and onions to offset the effects of tear gas when four trucks of policemen arrived in full riot gear demanding that the group disperse. The protesters wouldn't budge.
Instead, they sat down, held up placards that read JUSTICE BE OUR SHIELD AND DEFENDER and started singing the Kenyan national anthem. But before they could finish, police began lobbing canisters of tear gas. Police chased protesters nearly a mile before they scattered. Hussein Khalid the 29-year-old program coordinator for Muhuri, a Muslim human-rights organization was one of those present. Khalid and about 15 others took refuge on the shaded steps of Mubarak Mosque, where they washed their eyes with bottled water and called other groups of protesters in the city on their mobile phones to see how they were faring. “We will do this until our right to choose our leader is given to us,” said Khalid. “It is not for politicians to sit and discuss how they are going to share power. That's why we had elections.”
Mombasa, Kenya's capital until 1905, is a well-known vacation destination for foreign tourists attracted to its Indian Ocean beaches, fresh seafood, seemingly laid-back Swahili culture and good access to safaris. But post-election violence, which has broken down largely along tribal lines, with people from Raila's Luo tribe fighting the dominant Kikuyus, saw around 30 killed in Mombasa. (The death toll nationwide now exceeds 600.) The city is particularly important to Odinga. In a country where an estimated 78 percent of its 37 million people are Christian, Mombasa's residents are mostly Muslim. The majority of those Muslims are said to have voted for Odinga, a Christian who tapped into their feelings of marginalization and disaffection with what is perceived as Kibaki's anti-Islam stance. That religious dimension, not typically a fault line in once-stable Kenya, was on display Wednesday. “We cannot leave Kenya like this,” Sheik Khalifa Mohamed, the organizing secretary of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya told NEWSWEEK at his office in Mombasa. “It will be the beginning of dictatorship in Kenya if people do not keep fighting now. Kibaki was not elected, and he is not the winner.”
THE ODINGA MOU WITH THE FUNDAMENTALIST MUSLIM FACTIONS MAY HAVE HUGE FOREIGN POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES. IF IMPLEMENTED, THE COASTAL REGIONS WOULD COME UNDER AUTONOMOUS ISLAMIC CONTROL, AS WOULD THE AJAR AND NORTH EAST WHICH BORDERS VIRTUALLY LAWLESS SOMALIA, WHICH HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO A CIVIL WAR SINCE THE EARLY NINETIES AMONG THE ISLAMIC COURTS, THE WARLORDS AND THE TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT OF ABDULLAHI YUSUF AHMED, WHICH EXISTS ONLY THROUGH THE ETHIOPIAN AND AMERICAN MILITARY ASSISTANCE' SUCH AS THE MARCH 3 ADMITTED UNITED STATES STRIKE ON DHOBLE. THE IMPLICATIONS OF ISLAMIC CONTROL OF THE KENYAN COAST CAN HAVE ENORMOUS CONSEQUENCES ON AFRICA AND THE WEST. FOR EXAMPLE, IF KENYA'S SECOND LARGEST CITY OF MOMBASSA, WHICH REPRESENTS THE JEWEL OF EAST AFRICA BECAUSE OF ITS DEEP WATER PORT KILNDINI. MOMBASSA, WHICH TRANSLATES TO “ISLAND OF WAR” HAS BEEN OCCUPIED OVER THE LAST TEN CENTURIES BY ZANZIBAR, OMAN, WESTERN INDIAN STATES, PORTUGAL, AND GREAT BRITAIN. IT IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT IS THE JUNCTION OF THE KENYAN RAILROAD SYSTEM BUILT BY THE BRITISH EAST AFRICA ASSOCIATION. IT IS ALSO THE TERMINUS OF THE UGANDA RAILWAY, WHICH FUNNELS A LARGE AMOUNT OF LAND LOCKED AFRICA'S MINERALS AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES TO THE SEA. THE STRATEGIC VALUE OF MOMBASSA TO EAST AFRICA AND AFRICA'S LAND LOCKED, BUT NATURAL RESOURCES RICH, INTERIOR, IS SELF EVIDENT TO THOSE WHO KNOW THE REGION. IF RADICAL ISLAMIC RULE, CONSISTENT WITH THE MOU SIGNED BY ODINGA, COMES TO FRUITION, THAT RESULT COULD HAVE DIRE CONSEQUENCES ON UGANDA AND OTHER AFRICAN NATIONS. SEE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE GEO-POLITICAL POSITION OF UGANDA, ANOTHER FRAGILE, BUT MINERAL RICH, NEIGHBOR OF KENYA. UGANDA IS BORDERED BY THE WAR TORN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO TO THE WEST, SUDAN TO THE NORTH, AND KENYA TO THE WEST. UGANDA RELIES HEAVILY ON THE BRITISH BUILT UGANDAN RAILWAY THAT RUNS FROM MOMBASSA'S DEEP WATER PORT TO THE INTERIOR OF UGANDA. JUST THIS WEEK, ON MARCH 4, 2008, THE KENYA PORTS AUTHORITY ASSURED UGANDA THAT PORT OPERATIONS IN MOMBASSA AND THE ENTIRE RAILWAY TO UGANDA WERE SAFE. SEE: http://www.kpa.co.ke/contentAll.asp?pcat=&cat=p…. HOW SAFE WOULD THE KILNDINI HARBOUR PORT IN MOMBASSA BE IF AUTONOMOUS RULE AND FUNDAMENTAL ISLAMIC POLICIES, CONSISTENT WITH THE ODINGA MOU, WERE TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY A PRIME MINISTER AND BUNGE ( PARLIAMENT) CONTROLLED BY ODINGA? IN FACT, WHAT IS THE LIKELY FATE OF KENYA'S DEMOCRACY NOW THAT THE POWER SHARING AGREEMENT BETWEEN ODINGA AND PRESIDENT KIBAKI HAS EFFECTIVELY RENDERED KENYA AS A COUNTRY WITHOUT A LOYAL OPPOSITION TO MERGED KIBAKI AND ODINGA FACTIONS. IS THIS A RESULT THAT BARACK OBAMBA DESIRED OR EXPECTED WHEN HE SPOKE GLOWINGLY OF PRESIDENT KIBAKI'S POLITICAL RIVALS IN NAMING BETTY MURUNGI, KEN NJAU, JANE ONYANGO, MAINA KIAI, MILLY ODHIOMBO AND HUSSEIN KHALID, BY NAME IN HIS NATIONWIDE TELEVISED SPEECH TO KENYA.
THE JANUARY 15, 2008 ONLINE EDITION OF INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY DISCUSSED OBAMA'S TIES TO ODINGA (SEE: http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcon… ) CRITICALLY REVIEWING OBAMA'S CONNECTION WITH ODINGA. THAT ARTICLE ALSO EXPLORED OBAMA'S CONNECTION WITH JEREMIAH WRIGHT, JR. AND OBAMA'S CONNECTION WITH RAILA ODINGA AND THE VIOLENCE INSTIGATED BY ODINGA FOLLOWING THE KENYAN ELECTION. THAT ARTICLE – - PUBLISHED BY A RESPECTED BUSINESS NEWSPAPER RAISED SERIOUS ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN IGNORED BY THE NEWS MEDIA FOLLOWING THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, RAISING SERIOUS QUESTIONS AS TO THE INTELLECTUAL INTEGRITY OF THE POLITICAL BEAT WRITERS AND NETWORK NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.
KENYA WAS A PEACEFUL, STABLE, BUT FRAGILE DEMOCRACY SINCE ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM THE UK IN DECEMBER 1963. ODINGA'S FATHER WAS JARAMOGI OGINGA ODINGA, THE FIRST VICE PRESIDENT OF KENYA, WHO IN 1966 SPLIT FROM JOMO KENYATTA, THE FIRST KENYAN PRESIDENT. SEE: http://www.eastandard.net/archives/?mnu=details… , FOR THE STORY ON RAILA ODINGA'S PART IN A 1982 COUP AGAINST THEN PRESIDENT DANIEL ROI. JARAMOGI HIMSELF WAS OUSTED BY KENYATTA FOR PLOTTING A COUP. SEE: http://www.eastandard.net/archives/july/sun1107… . OBAMA'S ACKNOWLEDGED FIRST COUSIN. ODINGA'S FARTHER WAS , LIKE JOMO KENYATTA, REPUTED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE INFAMOUS MAU MAU MOVEMENT THAT PLAGUED COLONIAL KENYA IN THE FIFTIES THROUGH TERRORISM. THE MACHETE WAS THE WEAPON OF CHOICE FOR THE MAU MAU. THE MAU MAU MURDERED AND MUTILATED SCORES OF WHITE SETTLERS AND BLACK KENYANS AND BECAME INFAMOUS AS A TERRORIST MOVEMENT. RAILA ODINGA'S FARTHER JARAMOGI WAS A MARXIST AND A CONTROVERSIAL KENYAN POLITICIAN LIKE HIS SON. RAILA ODINGA IS AN ANTI-WESTERN POLITICIAN WITH A FANATICAL TRIBAL FOLLOWING. HE IS SOMEWHAT OF AN ENIGMA IN THAT HIS ANTI-WESTERN ATTITUDES HAVE OVER TIME BEEN TRANSMOGRIFIED FROM PRO-COMMUNIST TO SUPPORT OF AND ALLIANCES WITH MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALISTS.
RAILA ODINGA, WAS EDUCATED IN EAST GERMANY AND NAMED HIS SON FIDEL, AFTER FIDEL CASTRO. ODINGA'S FARTHER, JOMO KENYOTTA, TOM MBOYA, AND OBAMA SR. WERE ALL REPUTED TO BE PART OF THE MAU MAU MOVEMENT IN THE FIFTIES. THE MAU MAU MOVEMENT WAS FIRST GENERATION TERRORISTS THAT MAIMED AND MURDERED WHITE SETTLERS IN THE RIFT VALLEY FROM 1952 UNTIL 1960. INTERESTINGLY, THE MACHETE HAS MADE A COME-BACK THE ODM (ORANGE DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT) OF RAILA ODINGA. RAILA ODINGA AGITATED HIS FANATICAL FOLLOWING AND RADICAL ISLAMISTS TO MASS VIOLENCE AND ANARCHY FOLLOWING THE DECEMBER 27 KENYAN ELECTION. THAT VIOLENCE SERVED AS A MEANS FOR RAILA ODINGA TO EXTORT CONCESSIONS FROM THE KIBAKI GOVERNMENT, INCLUDING RESTORING THE POSITION OF PRIME MINISTER – - FOR RAILA ODINGA – - AND SEVERAL “PLUM” MINISTRIES FOR THE ODM AND ITS FUNDAMENTAL ISLAMIC ALLIES, AS WELL A MAKING CHANGES IN THE KENYAN CONSTITUTION. RAILA AND BARACK OBAMA MAY HAVE PROMOTED THE ODM AS THE CORRUPTION REFORM PARTY, BUT RECENT STORIES IN THE STANDARD INDICATE THERE IS A FEEDING FRENZY WITHIN THE ODM TO SECURE POSITIONS WITHIN THE NEW GOVERNMENT THAT WILL BRING THE GREATEST RETURN ON INVESTMENT BY WAY OF KICK-BACKS AND DIVERSION OF NGO AID.
PRESIDENT KIBAKI IS A PRACTICING CATHOLIC AND KIKUYU, THE TRIBAL RIVALS OF THE ODINGA AND OBAMA LUO. BUT ALMOST FOUR OF FIVE KENYANS ARE EITHER ANGLICANS OR ROMAN CATHOLICS. THE KIBAKI GOVERNMENT IS PRO-WESTERN. IT HAS BEEN A STRONG ALLY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ISLAMIC JIHAD. WORKING IN CONCERT WITH THE ETHIOPIAN ARMED FORCES AND THE US MILITARY IT HAS SEALED OFF ITS BORDER WITH SOMALIA. CAN WE EXPECT THE SAME KIND OF KENYAN COOPERATION UNDER THE POWER SHARING ARRANGEMENT ENTERED INTO BY KIBAKI AND ODINGA? THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS FAR MORE SIGNIFICANT TO THE VITAL INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES THAN WHICH KENYAN POLITICAL PARTY CONTROLS THE ENDEMIC GRAFT IN KENYA.
To Truthful Liberal:
Thanks for the news update about Mombasa. I’ve been interested since visiting it more than 30 years ago. Most of the residents are Muslim due to the 1800’s Arab slave market in Mombasa, which was a predominant slave trading city. (And one can only guess for how many centuries before that) The influence of the ivory trading, for which thousands of Africans in the interior were captured or slaughtered, can still be seen in Mombasa’s simulated ivory-tusk double archway over its main street.
I believe in the years ahead if Kenya becomes a Muslim nation, we’ll have Barack Obama’s influence in the Raila Odinga election matter to blame for that. If Obama hadn’t been running for president, it’s doubtful that America would have intervened so strongly in the matter.
I also believe Odinga when he signed the agreement that he is a Muslim. For Newsweek to call Odinga a Christian is a disgrace. Regardless of what Odinga once may have been, I believe he’s a Muslim, as are so many other Luos and those of Obama’s family in Africa. Aayan Hirsi Ali refers to them as such too.
I think I understand that your analysis throughout is generally in caps. If not, please advise. Great questions you’ve posed that should be addressed. Yet few in MSM want to be involved with this controversy.
The Sidney Poitier movie of Robert Ruark’s novel, “Something of Value,” gives the Africans’ side of the Mau Mau movement. I understand that Ruark’s novel, although fiction, presents many true-life events and thinking directing the story. Amazon has some valuable comments the book.
BTW, Obama’s version of Christianity isn’t really Biblically based. In a newspaper interview, he said he doesn’t believe Jesus’ words in John 14:6 when Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.” He doesn’t believe in eternal judgment (if there were no eternal judgment for sin, Jesus Christ wouldn’t have had to come down to earth), and he doesn’t know if he’s going to heaven. These are basics that Christians of even a few years standing would know and believe.
Also, Rev. Wright is not the only one to use the term “G—d—–.” Seven years after Obama says he went down the aisle and accepted Christ at Rev. Wright’s church, his book Dreams From My Father was published where he wrote “g—d—-“ numerous places. Some were to repeat what others had said. At least one instance so far in what I’ve read of Obama’s taking God’s name in vain, which violates the Ten Commandments, was Obama’s own take on things. I believe his Christianity is an emotional response and an embracing of a social gospel. A true Christian with the Holy Spirit would not have dared to use such language in a book. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Whether he was baptized or not, he does not appear to be walking with the Lord. However, he seems to have fooled many African-Americans about this by telling them he’s “a committed Christian.” Obama’s insistence that he has “a deep faith” while displaying such shallowness on such an important life matter indicates to me how he will handle important policy matters in the presidency….in the same shallow misguided manner.
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