Sri Lanka massacre work of "the Religion of Peace"? Hmmm?

Let us not jump to conclusions. There are fanatics in most of the world's major religions, with the exceptions of Christianity and Judaism. By fanatics, I mean the kind of "people" who would blow themselves up along with as many "infidels" as possible, in the name of their god. For some reason, Muslim extremists come to mind. But there are, in south Asia, Hindu fanatics (many of whom support India's BJP) and even Buddhist fanatics.

Sri Lanka has them all. For 30 years there was a civil war between the Sinhalese Buddhists -- the majority population in Sri Lanka -- and the Hindu Tamil Tigers (LTTE), who wanted to rule over their own little chunk in the northeast of the island. About ten years ago the Tigers threw in the turban [towel, surely! Ed.] and laid down their arms... supposedly... and Sri Lanka has enjoyed a period of piece ever since. Until today, when "somebody did something" -- a co-ordinated series of bombings of Christian (mainly Catholic) churches and luxury hotels in Colombo and the suburb of Negombo. The death toll stands at over 200, with at least 470 injured.

Lankan government officials immediately pointed the finger at "terrorists", and rounded up 13 suspects, without identifying them as followers of any particular political or religious group. The Sinhalese community was quick to blame the LTTE. But a statement by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe late today opened the door to the possibility that the attackers were, errr, not Tamil fanatics. Mr Wickremesinghe said the suspects' names were "local", but added that investigators were probing whether they had any "overseas links".

Hmmm. The attack bore little similarity to the violence of the civil war, but had echoes of mass Islamist terror attacks around the world in recent years. And the targets were not Buddhist temples or institutions of the Sinhalese-dominated government, but Christian churches and luxury hotels frequented by Westerners. Hmmm.

The Prime Minister also admitted that the country's security services had received "information" about possible attacks ten days ago! "Foreign sources" are said to have warbed the Lankans that "prominent churches" would be targeted by suicide bombers. It is not clear what precautions were taken... if any.

The reported warnings, circulated by senior police officials, suggested that an extremist Islamist group called the National Thowfeek Jama'ath was behind the attacks. Mr Wickremesinghe said the information had not been shared with him or cabinet ministers. "While this goes on we must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken," he said.

Probably just a coincidence, but within an hour or so of the attacks, The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka issued a statement condemning the attacks on the places of worship of "our Christian brothers and sisters on their holy day of Easter, as well as on the hotels in Colombo.... We mourn the loss of innocent lives due to extremist and violent elements who wish to create divides between religious and ethnic groups to realize their agenda." Again, hmmm.

Almost as quick off the mark to express his shock and sympathy was Yousef al-Othaimeen, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, who described the attacks as "cowardly", for targetting innocent worshippers and civilians. The OIC has 57 member nations. It is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hmmm.

This is (rather obviously) a breaking story. Walt will have more to say tomorrow.

UPDATED: Trump keeps his promises; panic ensues

Things have moved so fast in the first full week of Donald Trump's presidency that it's been hard for me to keep up. [Nothing to do with the Chinese New Year celebrations, then? Ed.] Across the Excited States of America and around the world, supporters and haters of The Donald [Ed., can we still call him that?] are expressing surprise (the supporters) and horror (the haters) that President Trump has moved immediately to keep the promises he made during the late election campaign. A politician who does what he said he'd do? AMAZING!

Agent 3 tells me that President Trump has done more in one week that Canada's new(ish) prime minister did in his first year. That would be because Mr Trump thinks there has been enough talk, and now it's time for action, whereas M Trudeau believes in more "conversations" -- including a "face the music tour" last week -- and no action apart from giving taxpayers' money to "disadvantaged minorities" and foreigners.

Everything President Trump has done, without exception, has aroused the ire of the usual suspects -- snowflakes, SJWs, eco-wienies, lawyers, activists and Democratic politicians. The liberals are revolting, and I mean that sincerely. "Spontaneous protests" have broken out in the streets of America's "sanctuary cities", in airports, and in the wilderness of North Dakota.

The ageing hippies camping out on private property in Dakota are incensed by President Trump's decision to greenlight the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. That decision has been warmly applauded by the folks in the oil patch, especially those north of the world's longest (somewhat) undefended border. Good time to buy Canadian oil stocks... and Transcanada Pipeline. (You're welcome.) Americans should be glad too. Why import oil from the sand niggers and terrorists when you can get it from the friendly frostbacks up north?

The protests raging today in the airports and sanctuary cities have been sparked by President Trump's executive order, announced on Friday, putting a four-month hold on the admission of "refugees" into the United States. The same order temporarily bars travellers from Syria and six other predominantly Muslim countries -- Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Iraq. Those, of course, are the sandpits from which Islamic terrorists come, in the guise of refugees and asylum-seekers, to wreak havoc in Western countries and kill as many "Christians" as they can, by whatever means possible.

The new restrictions on immigrants and refugees also apply to permanent residents who have passports from the seven Muslim countries. Any green card holders who were outside the country when the order took effect will have to be cleared back into the United States on a case-by-case basis. Google ordered its foreign Muslim employees to get back to the USA right sharpish, but several were caught in the air and detained on arrival at JFK and other airports. Chaos at the airport terminals ensured, and immigration lawyers, activists and Democratic politicians immediate organized protests and started knocking on judges' doors to help followers of the Prophet get back into the country.

At the break of dawn today, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying they plan on continuing to "enforce all of the president's executive orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people." The DHS was responding to a temporary order granted Saturday night by a New York judge staying the operation of the White House order, and releasing the dozen or so Muslims who were being held at JFK. "The president's executive orders remain in place," said the DHS statement. "Prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the US government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety."

America's staunch allies, the friendly frostbacks referred to above, immediately announced that refugees and any other travellers barred from entering the USA would be welcome in Canada... provided of course that they aren't Christians or conservatives or racists or oilpersons. Starting tomorrow, all travellers crossing the border or arriving at Canadian airports will be given a "liberal values" test to determine their willingness to embrace diversity... and vote Liberal.

Footnote: The Toronto Sun ran a poll yesterday asking its readers if they approved of President Trump's executive order banning Muslims from entering the USA. The results so far: YES - 55%; NO - 33%; not sure - 12%. You may think that Prime Minister Selfie is tone-deaf to the sentiments of ordinary Canadians. But it's not his fault. He and his liberal cronies don't read the Toronto Sun. They do read comments on the CBC website, but, alas, the CBC isn't allowing comments on any stories about immigration and "refugees". Wonder why...

FOOTNOTE ADDED 30/1/17: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which considers itself the collective voice of the Muslim world, has 57 member states. President Trump's travel ban affects citizens of only seven (7) of them. The governments of Iran and Iraq, to name two, have reacted with predictable fury. But from the leaders of the other 57... crickets! In the heart of the Muslim world -- Cairo (Egypt) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the executive order has met with a conspicuous silence.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest sites, spoke to President Trump by telephone on Sunday but made no public comment. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, whose capital, Cairo, is a traditional seat of Islamic scholarship, said nothing. What are we to make of this silence? Could it be that these leaders agree that a ban on travellers from terrorism-infected states is a good idea? Or are they merely afraid that their nations may be next?

Further reading: "In Face of Trump's Order, Some Muslim Nations Are Conspicuously Silent", New York Times, 29/1/17.