Sunday roundup -- Feb 10, 2008

Below the Read More! A dozen War on Terror veterans run for Congress. A British high court is deciding whether a Sharia marriage by telephone between a mentally handicapped man in Britain and a woman in Pakistan is valid under British law. Hezbollah has re-ammunitioned and the IDF fears the Lebanon truce is ending. Code Pink in its own words. Plus: How is Australia reacting to the Rowan Williams flap?

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An alternative focus of participation for those who can't get enthused over the Presidential elections is to concentrate on the Congressional races. "United we are capable of sending to Congress a squad-size element of Iraq vets to keep us on offense in the War on Terror and counter calls for defeat."

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Rowan Williams' ideas get a workout.

Three senior judges are to rule on the legality of an arranged marriage conducted in the UK under sharia law, a judgment that could have profound consequences for British Muslims.

Last week, as Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared it was 'inevitable' that certain parts of Islamic law would be introduced into Britain, the Court of Appeal was told how a 26-year-old British Muslim with learning difficulties was married over the telephone to a woman in Bangladesh. It was arranged by the man's father and deemed lawful under sharia law.

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Israel is preparing for another round of bombardment from Lebanon. Hezbollah's ceasefire has ceased to be useful. It's re-stocked and re-ammunitioned.

Hezbollah has managed to deploy large numbers of Katyusha rockets and anti-tank missiles in southern Lebanon, senior Israel Defense Forces officials have told Haaretz. These weapons in Shi'ite villages have been undetected by UN observers, the officials say.

They say the weapons have been smuggled south of the Litani River despite the increased presence of the United Nations Forces Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) since the end of the Second Lebanon War. ...

Many of the weapons were apparently smuggled in as civilian supplies. Israeli sources say Hezbollah has sent recon teams disguised as newsmen to the border.

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Will sharia be implemented in Australia? The short answer is no. Auspundits follows developments:

On the home front, some Australian Muslims are urging us to investigate Shari'a. The Opposition Leader, Dr Brendan Nelson responded quite unequivocally:

The idea that in some way you would change your basic values, culture and law to accommodate some people who feel that they don't want to see themselves as Australians first, above all else - under no circumstances would I support that.

This rejection of Shari'a (at least formally) in Australia is bipartisan. Australia's Attorney-General was equally unequivocal:

The Rudd government is not considering and will not consider the introduction of any part of Sharia law into the Australian legal system.

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