China Confidential
Foreign Reporting and Analysis Since April 2005
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Obama's Jihad From Jakarta to the White House
Foreign Confidential....
The Indonesian-language edition of Barack Hussein Obama's autobiography, Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, is titled Menerjang Harapan: Dari Jakarta Menuju Gedung Putih--Indonesian for Assault Hope: From Jakarta to the White House, or, more popularly, Jihad: From Jakarta to the White House.
An American Expat in Southeast Asia broke the story almost a year ago; but the fawning mainstream media have ignored it. Atlas Shrugs refocuses attention on the story and provides insightful commentary. Click here to read it.
In the process of renaming Obama's book, the Indonesian publisher not only inexplicably eliminated the word audacity, but apparently combined the Indonesian words for assault, or attack, and hope--menerjang harapan-- to convey the message of a hopeful struggle for power--an assault on Washington--in a way that would appeal to masses of Muslim readers, including anti-Western militants. The Indonesians have interpreted the coinage as jihad.
An American Expat explains:A correct translation of the title of Obama's book would have been "Keberanian Harapan: Pemikiran Untuk Meraih Kembali Impian America" which translates into "Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming The American Dream". However, the title for the Indonesian translation of Barack Obama's book is "Menerjang Harapan: Dari Jakarta Menuju Gedung Putih" which translates into "Assault Hope: From Jakarta to the White House".
The problem with direct translations is that often times they never make sense. The words "menerjang" (assault or attack) and "harapan" (hope or expectation) make sense when used separately, but used together, the term "menerjang harapan" makes no sense in Indonesian. But while the term makes no sense, it does however present a mental picture to the native Indonesian speaker, the imagery of a "hopeful assault" a "struggle for victory" or to put it more bluntly, a "jihad", or as the Indonesians see it, Obama's "jihad" for the White House. For the native Indonesian speaker, this figurative language creates a mental image whereas the translation of the book's title can actually come to mean "Jihad: From Jakarta To The White House".
It does not get much more frightening and absurd than this: Nearly seven years after the jihadist Al Qaeda attacks of 9/11, the presumptive Democratic candidate for President of the United States is associated with jihad--Islamic holy war--in a positive way--to jihadists. How sick is that?
In light of apparently authentic documentary evidence that Obama is a dual US-Indonesian citizen--his troubling "Barry Soetoro" school registration certificate in Indonesia lists his citizenship as Indonesian and his religion as Muslim--the astonishingly audacious White House hopeful, The Anointed One, also known as The Candidate of Change, clearly owes the American people an explanation about this latest obamanation. Did he approve the title change? When did he know about it? What, if anything, did he do to prevent or correct it?
How could Obama's publisher, Crown, a division of Random House, have allowed the Indonesian publisher to get away with a ... terrifying ... title twist? Publishing lawyers are appalled....
Troubling Ties
Obama has yet to come clean about his school certificate, even though Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, is a hotbed of Islamist terror and separatism. The US is not ready--nor should it ever be ready--for a dual-citizen Commander-in-Chief with possible political and legal ties to a county that US military forces may one day have to attack in order to wipe out Al Qaeda-associated bases and cells.
The Audacity of Hope is Obama's second book. Crown paid him an advance of $1.9 million against royalties for three books in all. The advance is non-refundable provided Obama delivers the books pursuant to the terms and conditions of his contract with Crown.
The title of The Audacity of Hope was derived from a sermon delivered by Obama's former pastor and adviser, Jeremiah Wright, who has infamously blamed--and damned--America for 9/11. He has also published Hamas propaganda, and honored Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a notorious anti-Semite and America-hater.
One wonders: will Obama's third book be called Conquest of America?
POST SCRIPT: Obama was born a Muslim according to Islamic religious law, which traces religious identity through the father (in contrast with Judaism, which traces Jewish identity through the mother). Obama's Indonesian classmates recall that he practiced Islam; and his African relatives have described him as a Muslim. Obama's Kenyan cousin, opposition leader and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has sided with Islamists seeking to impose Islamic law in Kenya.
Russian General Threatens Nuclear Strike on Poland
Instead of partnering with Russia after the Soviet crackup, the US sought to change the status quo by strengthening and expanding--instead of disbanding or phasing out--the Cold War creation, NATO.
An oil-rich, resurgent Russia is now hitting back, and actually threatening a nuclear attack on a former Soviet satellite that is now a US ally.
AP reports:A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported
The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.
Poland and the United States on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations. Moscow, however, feels it is aimed at Russia's missile force.
"Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent," Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff, was quoted as saying.
He added, in clear reference to the agreement, that Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them." Nogovitsyn that would include elements of strategic deterrence systems, he said, according to Interfax.
At a news conference earlier Friday, Nogovitsyn had reiterated Russia's frequently stated warning that placing missile-defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic would bring an unspecified military response. But his subsequent reported statement substantially stepped up a war of words.
Sunday, 17 August 2008
If ever there was a time for intelligent, effective diplomacy, it is right now, while a most dangerous dynamic can seemingly still be controlled. US-Russian relations have deteriorated to an alarming degree.
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