Talking of nipple rings, I feel a Spinal Tap moment coming on:

From The Union of Catholic Asian News and The Catholic Explorer.

MANILA (UCAN) -- A southern Philippine bishop has reported receiving a letter threatening him with harm if he does not convert to Islam or pay "Islamic taxes."
Bishop Martin Jumoad of Isabela sent a copy of the letter on July 19 from Isabela City, 870 kilometers southeast of Manila, to Church-run Radio Veritas in Quezon City, northeast of Manila.
In an interview with UCA News the same day, Bishop Jumoad said a student of Claret College in Isabela, capital of Basilan province, was told to give the school secretary the letter to pass to the bishop.
The bishop also reported getting text messages from Catholics saying they too had received threatening letters. "Bishop, we are disoriented and we cannot sleep. What is our reaction to this?" he reported being asked by some.
The letter had the names "Puruji Indama" and "Nur Hassan J. Kallitut" printed at the bottom and "Mujahiddin" under each name. The purported senders introduced themselves as "Muslim warriors" who "don't follow any laws other than the Qur'an," Islam's holy book. They said Bishop Jumoad should choose to convert to Islam or give jizya, Islamic tax, to their group in exchange for protecting him in the "place of Muslims."
If he refuses to convert or pay, the letter threatened "force, weapons or war may be used" against him. It warned him not to feel safe even if he is "surrounded by soldiers," and cited bombings in various cities. The prelate was given 15 days to respond, with two mobile phone numbers to contact. "If we do not receive response from you, it means you will oppose," the letter added.
A document written in the local dialect, on the letterhead of "Al-Harakatul Islamiyya," accompanied the letter. The bishop said he does not recognize the names, but has encountered the phrase "Al-Harakatul" in kidnapping incidents in Basilan involving the Abu Sayyaf, a group listed on various countries' lists of terrorist organizations. Two days later, CBCP News, the online news site of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, reported the kidnapping of Ronnie Ando, Vilma Ayson and Wilma Suharlo and two children, parishioners of St. Vincent Ferrer in Sumisip town. Sumisip is among nine parishes of Isabela prelature, which covers all of Basilan, where 96,000 Catholics form 30 percent of the population. Except for Isabela City, the rest of the province belongs to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. On July 22, provincial administrator Talib A. Barahim told UCA News from Isabela City that no one has reported receiving a ransom demand for the release of the parishioners, kidnapped from a public jeep. He said Governor Jum Akbar of Basilan, the provincial police director and Basilan mayors met the previous day and planned to make a "citizen's arrest."
"We are asking other passengers and once we know who the kidnappers are, we will talk to their families to convince their relatives to free the hostages. If they (kidnappers) refuse, we will hold their relatives" until the kidnappers free their hostages, Barahim said. The administrator added that he was aware of the threatening letters sent to Bishop Jumoad and other Catholics.

From This is London, Metro and The Telegraph
A council refused to back a military charity event for fear of offending minority groups.
Richard Chamberlain had applied for a £500 grant to help him raise cash for Help for Heroes, which cares for wounded soldiers. But Portsmouth City Council turned down the 57-year-old, saying in a letter: 'The event could cause offence to ethnic minority groups living in the community who may also have experience of injury/violence due to the war.'
After further appeals, council chiefs backed down and agreed to fully support the fun day on September 20. Steven Wylie, a senior councillor, admitted that the initial decision was an error of judgment. Which is putting it mildly.
He said: 'I would like to apologise unreservedly for any offence caused by the decision to turn down an application for funding.' "The decision was made with the best intentions, but it is clear that in the council's view there has been an error of judgment.  I am glad that I have been able to look again at the application for funding for this summer event and I can confirm that we have been able to offer the applicants the full £500 they applied for. I would like to wish Help for Heroes every success in their summer event."
The event will feature a table-top sale, a barbecue, a bouncy castle and face painting.
Help for Heroes was launched in September 2007, by a group of people with connections to servicemen or women. The charity is backed by the army's own charity, the Army Benevolent Fund, as well as the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt.  It was one of the charities assisted at the City Salute in May sponsored by Princes William and Harry.
Richard Chamberlain said: 'It's just brilliant that this thing has a happy ending.'

From The Copenhagen Post
Terrorist organisation al-Qaeda has indicated last month's bombing of the Danish embassy in Pakistan was carried out by one of its Saudi operatives - an effective PR stunt, according to one expert.
In a television interview to Pakistan's Geo-TV on Tuesday, terrorist group al-Qaeda's no. 3 man Abu Mustafa al-Yazid confirmed that his organisation was responsible for the 2. June bombing of the Danish embassy in Pakistan.
But experts say that while the news itself is no surprise, the real purpose of the televised interview was to reiterate al-Qaeda's position as a widespread, international terrorist organisation. Al-Yazid's assertion that a Saudi man from the holy city of Mecca was the suicide bomber was unexpected for many experts, who wondered why the group did not use a Pakistani for the job.
'They probably want to send the message that they aren't some little terror cell in a single country, but that al-Qaeda should still be considered an international brigade,' Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen, former head of Danish intelligence service PET, told Berlingske Tidende newspaper.
Bonnichsen said he believed al-Qaeda was currently on the defensive, but called the PR stunt 'incredibly effective'.

On this day, July 23^rd, in 1968, the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine" (PFLP) hijacked an Israeli El Al passenger jet and forced it to fly to Algiers.  The Algerian government briefly took the three hijackers (2 "Palestinians", 1 Syrian) into custody, but then quickly released them.  They kept the passengers and crew hostage for 5 weeks.  The Israelis refused to negotiate with the Algerians, believing that it would only encourage further hostage-taking.  But the U.S. government pressured Israel to capitulate, and in a pattern that was to repeat itself many times in the following decades, the hostages were freed in return for the release of convicted terrorists held in Israeli prisons.

This was the first and last successful hijacking of an El Al flight.  El Al, and to a lesser extent all airlines, were forced to enact expensive security-screening procedures to end the string of Islamic hijackings and attacks on passenger jets that occurred on an almost monthly basis in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  It was then that the draconian ban on loaded handguns and hand-grenades in airline cabins was enacted, which was followed in the 2000's by bans on bottled water, baby formula, nail polish, and shoes.

Two points worth noting:  first, the relationship between Islamic terrorist groups and Islamic governments.  The terrorists play the "bad cop", offering the cover of plausible deniability for their dirty work, allowing the Islamic government to step in and play the "good cop" and offer to help resolve the situation, when in fact they are both working together, towards the same goal: the good of the ummah and the ascendancy of Islam.  Western governments choose to accede to the Islamic governments' wishes, in order to create a "good working relationship" with our "allies" in the "war on terror"; while the terrorists are fêted as heroes and given only token punishment (if even that) by the Islamic governments.  It is a well-scripted performance with which we continue to play along, decades later.

Secondly, the PFLP was created by George Habash, a "Palestinian Christian" (dismissively referred to as "Nasrani" by the Arabs, in reference to Nazareth).  Just as we see in other "Palestinian Christians" (Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan, terror apologist Hanan Ashrawi, re-historian Edward Saïd, and the traitor/spy Azmi Bishara), there is a particular mindset that develops in Christians who live as dhimmis under sharia in Dar al-Islam; a certain loyalty is forcibly instilled in the Christians, in which their own identity is sublimated to that of their Islamic hosts'.  "Palestinian Christians" feel a kinship not with Egyptian Copts or Alabaman Baptists, but with "Palestinian" Muslims.  In a case of Stockholm Syndrome writ on a societal scale, their loyalty is to the Muslim overlords who grant them the right to exist for yet another day, Allah willing.

From the Gulf Times in Qatar:

"US man cleared of rape, but is guilty of illicit relations"

Jeffrey Imm writes at The Counterterrorism Blog:

Last week, there was an interesting development in the U.S. House of Representatives that will give Americans a clear view as to exactly where their individual representatives stand on the war of ideas in fighting Jihad.

Per my previous article on this subject, on May 8, 2008, Congressman Peter Hoekstra attempted to add an amendment on the "terror lexicon" to a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence bill on 2009 intelligence funding (House Resolution 5959).

Hoekstra's amendment condemned efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), and the State Department to recommend a "terror lexicon" that prohibits use of words such as "Jihad," "jihadist," "Islamist," "mujahadeen," "caliphate," etc. In this amendment, Congressman Hoekstra called for the House of Representatives to prohibit the use of intelligence funding in support of such "terror lexicon" efforts. The House Intelligence Committee voted against this amendment, and over 900 people signed a petition condemning the actions of the House Intelligence Committee that was sent to members who voted against the amendment.

But on July 16, 2008, H.R. 5959 was presented to the full House of Representatives for debate and adoption, including Congressman Hoekstra's amendment to bar the use of intelligence funding for such "terror lexicon" measures. This time the amendment passed by the margin of 249-180 (with 10 abstentions).

The amendment was incorporated in H.R. 5959 as follows:
 

"None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be used to prohibit or discourage the use of the words or phrases 'jihadist', 'jihad', 'Islamo-fascism', 'caliphate', 'Islamist', or 'Islamic terrorist' by or within the intelligence community or the Federal Government."

Per my congressional sources, the House of Representatives passed (via voice vote) House Resolution 5959 "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009," including the amendment on the issue of the "terror lexicon" from Congressman Peter Hoekstra. Efforts to send H.R. 5959 back to the House Intelligence Committee (by a motion to recommit with instructions) failed, so now H.R. 5959 represents the House's resolution on 2009 intelligence funding.

Most importantly, Americans can see how their individual representatives in the House voted (Roll Call 500) on this issue, demonstrating where their individual congressional representatives stand on the war of ideas in fighting Jihad.

During the discussion on this House Amendment 4 to H.R. 5959 (aka "Hoekstra of Michigan Amendment No. 2"), on the "terror lexicon" efforts by DHS, NCTC, and the State Department, Congressman Hoekstra stated, per the Congressional Record:

"Al Qaeda itself uses these terms to describe its fight against America, our allies, and moderate Muslims around the world. Why then would we prohibit our intelligence professionals from using the same words to accurately describe al Qaeda's stated goals?"

"Yet that is exactly what some in Washington are attempting to do. I was dismayed to learn that over the past few months, intelligence bureaucrats at the State Department, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Department of Homeland Security have issued memos imposing speech codes on how their employees can describe al Qaeda and other radical jihadist groups. They won't even be able to use the words these groups use themselves to describe themselves. These agencies within the intelligence community won't be able to use those words."

"Mr. Chairman, free speech should not be controversial, nor should candid, accurate, and fair discussion of the self-professed goals of the terrorists that attack our homeland and have sworn to kill more Americans."
"I find it more than ironic that some who have complained the loudest about politicization in the intelligence community would oppose this simple amendment to prevent the politically correct politicization of our Nation's intelligence community. We all know that political correctness can be the enemy of clarity."

"We also know that radical jihadists have made repeated efforts to stifle free speech in the West, including the murder of Dutch film maker, Theo van Gogh, and frequent death threats against authors, cartoonists, and journalists."

"Let's not give the radical jihadists a victory here by imposing a speech code on America's intelligence community."

"How will America understand the nature and the character of our enemy if we can’t use the words that they use to describe themselves and we need to come up with a whole new language that is totally out of context with the enemy and the nature of the threat that we face today?"

Congressional Representatives Who Voted Against Hoekstra's Amendment on "Terror Lexicon"

Whether or not this amendment to H.R. 5959 ultimately is part of an approved bill signed by President Bush, the greatest value of this amendment is that it gets most congressional representatives on the record on their position regarding the efforts of groups to remove any suggestion of Islamic supremacism or Jihad when it comes to "terrorism."

Those in Congress who voted against (or abstained from voting on) the Hoekstra amendment should be asked to publicly explain their position to their constituents, as their vote against the Hoekstra amendment can readily be perceived as reluctance to recognize the ideological basis behind Jihadist terrorism...

Vijay Kumar who is running for the Republican nomination in Tennessee's 5th district against Jim Cooper (who voted against the Hoekstra amendment)  is interviewed again at Frontpage.

Frontpage: Vijay Kumar, is an émigré from India who is seeking the Republican nomination in a Tennessee primary Congressional race set for August. He is running on an anti-Sharia platform. Visit his website at kumarforcongress.com.

(...)

FP: Is America missing something in its approach to the terror war?

Kumar: Yes, there has to be more focus on fighting the ideology of radical Islam. This is a philosophical crisis, a conflict between ideas, a conflict between reason and dogmatism.

FP: What is the best way to fight an idea?

KUMAR: Well, first you have to do what any first year military cadet is taught. And that is to define who the enemy is. They are not terrorists. They are not “the evil doers.” As a government we started off calling them everything but what they were. The enemy is Islamic totalitarianism -- Universal Jihad. Whether you are talking about Serbia, Kashmir, Chechnya, Thailand, or Israel -- all these peoples are resisting one thing and one thing only, Universal Jihad. The problem is when a nation or a leader does not get the idea before it consumes its resources or becomes demographically overwhelmed, as is the case in all of the nations who are suffering now.

The thing to understand about Universal Jihad within Islam is that they love to believe in pluralism in Europe, in the United States, in India and in all infidel lands -- they insist upon tolerance. But when it comes to places like Saudi Arabia, where they have total control, they deny basic human value to non-Muslims, and even non-Arab Muslims like a Pakistani Muslim immigrant to Saudi Arabia.

FP: What would you recommend for U.S. policy?

Kumar: American foreign policy must first begin demanding that countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan allow the same human rights to others within their societies which they enjoy when engaging the Western world. Otherwise these nations cannot be given favor, economically or otherwise, as partners in the civilized world community.

Our foreign policy at the moment rewards and funds Jihadist ideologies, therefore emboldening the idea rather than us standing upon the principles that we claim to believe.

FP: Who are our enemies?

Kumar: I would say that the true axis of evil is Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan. These three have been the primary exporters of Jihadists throughout the world.

But the most important thing is that we have to admit that demographic conquest is the most permanent form of conquest. Therefore, we must support all nations currently struggling with radical Islamic footholds within their societies. The reality is that no place in the world where radical Islam has gained demographic dominance, has it ever been extricated. And it has been its goal for over 1400 years to aggressively spread and multiply by birth or by sword. America needs to openly face up to this reality.

The Islamists are clever. They begin by first exporting their surplus population to free and open societies. Then those immigrants begin to demand ideological tolerance and conformity to their views and then use the democratic process to change the laws. Then what laws they cannot change, is followed by civil disobedience, then unrest, then Jihad, but is was always Jihad even from the innocuous beginning.

We have seen Islamic unrest in Denmark, in France, and in England and the pattern can be clearly seen. In Copenhagen, there are places where a woman cannot even walk alone on the street. There are similar Islamic enclaves in the Netherlands and in England. In England, if an Englishman marries a second woman he goes to jail, but a Pakistani can legally immigrate with his two wives, practice Sharia, and even go on welfare and it is ok.

We have to learn from the failed experiment of Europe. A large portion of Muslim immigrants have absolutely no interest in assimilating into their host societies. Tolerance in a western culture that fails to require assimilation is an open door to internal demographic annihilation. My point is that in all of history, there is a post Communist society, there is a post Nazi society, but never a post Islamic society. Wherever Jihad has displaced a society, it has remained.

We are at a point in history that domestic and foreign policy are now inextricably tied together because of immigration which it should be the foreign policy of any free society to first address the issue of internal assimilation of existing immigrants. Then, we need to enforce human rights compatibility between the U.S. and nations with citizens wishing to immigrate.

FP: What is your stand, then, on America’s immigration policy?

Kumar: We should stop immigration from any nation that practices any form of Sharia. I am not, of course, referring to instances where, let us say, dissidents, refugees or others are fleeing Sharia, want to free themselves from it, are threatened by it etc. I am referring to those who believe in Sharia and want to impose it on the host society to which they come. It is useless for America to have laws and an ideology but then allow people to come into the country who fundamentally disagree with the very ideal of America and want to destroy it. The first moral responsibility of any nation is to protect its way of life as chosen by its citizenry.

FP: What is it that led you to run for public office?

Kumar: I love this country. I did not love this country instantly. I was a leftist. To me my love for this country was like the experience of Paul on Damascus Road. That is the only analogy I can give you. It did not happen instantly. This is one of the few countries that treats human beings like human beings. It does not ask you of your caste or culture or who was your grandfather and what did he do. I did not have to present a family resume to be accepted here. Of course there are elements of racism here as it is a part of human nature but as an overall society, it is not cliché that America is truly a land of opportunity. But this society, when it makes mistakes, it allows for correction. Under other regimes, mistakes are placed under the carpet. Mistakes become blunders and blunders become theology.

I am running for Congress not because of a personal need for power. I tried already to talk to our existing politicians but, sadly, they do not appear to see the danger as I see it. Now it is up to the American people to look at my message, and decide what is right. I am just the vehicle of the message. If there was another messenger from my district representing these concerns in Congress, I would not be running. All I am asking of every American is to defend democracy, freedom, liberty and pluralism....

From Yahoo News
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who was jailed for stirring up religious hatred, has been refused permission to appeal to the House of Lords over a decision to extradite him to America on alleged terrorism charges.
Senior judge Sir Igor Judge (who will be  Lord Chief Justice from 1^st October) refused to certify that his case raised a point of law of public importance to go before the law lords, the highest court in the land.
The Egypt-born preacher from west London still has to complete serving a seven-year jail term in Britain for inciting murder and race hate.
The US authorities want him to face trial on charges which include providing support to al Qaida.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith formally approved the extradition in February.

New Duranty: BELGRADE, Serbia — The infamous fugitive, long charged with war crimes, was not in a distant monastery or a dark cave when caught at last, but living in Serbia’s capital. Nor was Radovan Karadzic lurking inconspicuously, but instead giving public lectures on alternative medicine before audiences of hundreds...

Mr. Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb president during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, went into hiding a year or so after being indicted by an international war crimes tribunal in July 1995, days after the Srebrenica massacre.

He was charged with genocide, persecutions and other crimes in connection with the killings of non-Serbs by forces under his command during and after attacks on towns throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The indictment states that his forces killed, tortured and raped some of the thousands of non-Serbs they funneled into camps set up by the Bosnian Serb authorities. In addition, he was charged with responsibility for the shelling and sniper shootings of civilians in Sarajevo during the 43-month siege of the city in which thousands were killed or wounded, including many women and children.

Belgrade remained largely peaceful on Tuesday, but there were ominous reminders of the nationalist violence of the past. The police, many in full riot gear, clashed with more than 100 nationalists who were chanting Mr. Karadzic’s name and throwing chairs from an outdoor cafe at Republic Square in the heart of downtown.

Though the police dispersed the group without too much difficulty, the action demonstrated the depth of feeling among many Serbs for Mr. Karadzic. His reputation at home, as a nationalist hero, is very different from his image abroad.

“It was a war, so he just defended our people,” said Ivan Sasic, 19, a member of the Radical Party and one of the leaders of its youth council. Though he said he favored peaceful demonstrations and did not take part in the melee on Tuesday, he also strongly opposed Mr. Karadzic’s extradition. “We feel sad,” Mr. Sasic said, “because we’re giving away a hero, a man who was a hero for us.”

Reuters: BELGRADE - Radovan Karadzic will conduct his own defence in the Hague tribunal and is convinced he will be cleared of the charges of genocide, relatives and associates of the war crimes suspect said on Wednesday...

He was one of three war crimes fugitives from the Yugoslav wars, their arrest a key condition for Serbia to move towards European Union membership. He is currently in a Belgrade prison awaiting extradition, which could come sometime this weekend.

Karadzic's lawyer in Serbia, Svetozar Vujacic, said his client was in good mental and physical condition. He was not talking to investigators, but "defending himself with silence."

"He is going to have a legal team in Serbia but will defend himself during his trial at The Hague," Vujacic told Reuters.

"He is convinced that with the help of God he will win."...

On Wednesday, he requested and got a haircut and shave.

"He looks like his old self, a bit aged," Vujacic said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9ui-ebDu_8

Take a good look:

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1818.htm

Few can be unaware of that right, one guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, of all Americans to wear nipple rings free of  government interference, no matter what airport security machines are set off by those rings, and fewer still need to be reminded of the divine right of American women to similar accoutrements or below-the-waist bling, such as the Isabella, the Fourchette, and, let's not forget, the ever-popular Nefertiti.

Thus deeply disturbing, not to mention unconstitutional, is the behavior of officious officials demanding the removal, by means of pliers, of innocent  items that happen to set off the undiscerning machines to which we entrust so much of our airport check-in security. .

Jane Mayer ("The Dark Side") and other cri-de-coeur cassandras  have been proven right; we Americans are well on our way, in our hysteria over Muslim terrorism, to a police state. I can practically hear the Gestapo rapping on my kitchen door right now.

The Telegraph (with thanks to Alan): Libya 'retaliates' after Swiss charge Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son Hannibal

Col Gaddafi's government has recalled some of its diplomats from Switzerland, reduced flights between the countries, stopped processing visa requests from Swiss citizens, demanded the closure of Swiss firms in Libya and detained two Swiss citizens.

Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has formally complained about the moves to her Libyan counterpart and has advised citizens not to travel to Libya.

Swiss International Air Lines said Libya has reduced its flights between Zurich and Tripoli from three per week to one.

The airline's spokesman said: "The notice from Libya was very surprising and short notice."

Libya also announced a similar cut in Geneva flights with Libyan airline Afriqiyah.

Col Gaddafi's youngest son Hannibal, 32, and his wife Aline were arrested last Wednesday after an incident in a five-star hotel in Geneva.

He was released on bail two days later after posting bail of 500,000 Swiss Francs. His wife, who is nine months pregnant, was taken to hospital during police questioning.

The couple were charged with assaulting two of their staff, a Moroccan man and a Tunisian woman, with a belt and coat hanger. The woman was hospitalised.

Mr Gaddafi, whose real name is Motassim Bilal Gaddafi, and his wife deny the allegations. They had arrived in Geneva on July 5 for the birth of their child.

Switzerland have dispatched a diplomatic delegation to Tripoli to provide the Libyan authorities with more details about the arrest and "to prevent a crisis between the two countries", the Swiss foreign ministry said.

Libya is the largest provider of oil to Switzerland. Hannibal Gaddafi has had previous run-ins with the law. In 2005, he was convicted by a French court for striking his pregnant companion in a Paris hotel. He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and a 500 Euro fine.

He also was at the centre of a separate commotion in 2004, when Paris police stopped him for speeding on the Champs Elysees and his bodyguards attacked several officers...

Have Hannibal lectured on behavior appropriate in Western lands -- no coat hangers used to torture staff, for example -- just as he is escorted to a plane, and carefully told he must never return to Switzerland and, what's more, that the government of Switzerland, though not itself a member, will urge the members of the E.U. to treat him -- the lectured but likely unchastened Hannibal -- in similar fashion.

"Money can buy everything....except civilization."

New York Daily News (with thanks to Jeffrey Imm):

WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda allies running terror camps for tots on the Afghan-Pakistan border are using video of a boy “martyred” in combat to recruit jihadis.

The apparently lifeless body of the child, an Uzbek boy younger than 11, is the focus of the grisly half-hour video by the Islamic Jihad Union — a radical Uzbek group practically indistinguishable from Osama Bin Laden’s network, according to U.S. officials.

"In a fierce battle in Waziristan between the soldiers of Allah and the friends of Satan, Abd al-Rahim was wounded by an arrow," says an Uzbek narrator, referring to a bullet or shrapnel.

Waziristan is part of the Pakistani tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other thugs stage attacks on U.S. and allied forces.

"They couldn't find doctors, and under these conditions it wasn't possible to treat his wound. So, our young mujahid, Abd al-Rahim, reached martyrdom," the narrator says as the camera pans over the dead boy's face shrouded in a white cloth.

The video was obtained from the terrorism research service SITE Intelligence Group.

The ghastly film follows Abd al-Rahim and a dozen young boys in camouflage shirts and black headbands reading "There is no God but Allah" as they train with rocket-propelled grenades, pistols and Kalashnikov rifles.

The dead boy was "a translator between the native fighters and the mujahideen," the video says. Al Qaeda is littered with Uzbeks who marry into local Pashtun clans for protection. Many were slaughtered last year by their Pashtun hosts for abusing women, sources have said.

For abusing women? Nah. Sounds like the cover story.

NATO and U.S. military officers told the Daily News it’s rare to find juveniles on the battlefield.

Last week, a boy in a suicide vest killed himself and two Afghan soldiers in Helmand province. In early June, NATO troops "caught two IED trigger persons who were later released due to their age, ten and under," said Army 1st Lt. Nathan Perry.

In May, Pakistani troops raided a compound they claimed was used to train kids as young as nine for suicide bombings in Afghanistan. But a U.S. special operations document referred to the army raid as a "ruse."

A ruse? Either they just pretended to raid the compound, or, they raided the compound as a ruse for something else...either way, it doesn't sound like the Pakistanis were concerned about the children.

Reuters: GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden's driver overheard the al Qaeda leader saying he was happy about the death toll in the September 11 attacks and thought the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was shot down, according to one of the driver's interrogators.

The evidence by Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent, was meant to support the case by prosecutors at the Guantanamo Bay war crimes tribunal that the driver, Salim Hamdan, was close to al Qaeda's leadership.

Hamdan, a Yemeni father of two with a fourth-grade education, is the first Guantanamo prisoner to face trial before the controversial tribunal at the remote base on Cuba. He faces life in prison if convicted.

"Bin Laden was happy about the results and he (Hamdan) heard bin Laden say he didn't expect the operation to be that successful," said Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent. "He only thought 1,000 to 1,500 people would perish so he was happy with the results."

Soufan also said Hamdan told him about a conversation he overheard when he was driving bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, after the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The two men were looking at a magazine which described the flight routes of the September 11 hijacked planes, Soufan said.

"If they didn't shoot that fourth plane it would have hit the dome," Soufan said bin Laden told Zawahiri, according to Hamdan's account.

"I assumed ('the dome' meant) either Congress or the White House," Soufan said. "Hamdan said he did not know what they mean by the dome."

United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field. U.S. officials have never said it was shot down but there was speculation about the issue at the time.

Describing the relationship between the driver and the al Qaeda leader, Soufan said bin Laden had given Hamdan some marriage advice, suggesting he go back to Yemen and find a women from a "pious religious family," and when Hamdan returned with a wife, bin Laden held a feast in celebration.

"It shows a close relationship, an affinity," he said.

Hamdan is being tried in a court for terrorism suspects created by the Bush administration after the September 11 attacks. His innocence or guilt will be decided by a jury of U.S. military officers who are fighting the war on terrorism.

The tribunal system has been loudly criticized as unfair by human rights groups and defense lawyers.

Prosecutors have portrayed Hamdan as a driver and bodyguard for the fugitive al Qaeda leader who had access to the Islamic militant group's inner circle. Defense lawyers say he was just a hired hand in the motor pool who never joined al Qaeda.

On the third day of trial, Soufan, a prosecution witness who interrogated Hamdan, said bin Laden knew the September 11 hijackers and spoke highly of them.

"He praised them and their courage and he asked God to accept them as martyrs," Soufan told the six-member jury.

Hamdan was able to identify some of the top al Qaeda leaders in photographs and a suicide bomber who struck the guided missile destroyer USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.

Prosecutors showed jurors a series of videos and pictures. Soufan identified bin Laden and Hamdan standing together.

In one, Hamdan was carrying a machine gun.

"Who gets to be that close to Osama bin Laden?" prosecutor John Murphy asked.

"People he trusts ... with his life, it appears," Soufan said.