Monday, January 04, 2010

Al-Shabab Threatens the Modoggie Man

Longtime readers will remember Lars Vilks, the Swedish artist whose creative genius gave birth to “profeten Muhammed som rondellhund” (“the prophet Mohammed as a roundabout dog”) and thereby got the artist into a lot of trouble with the Religion of Peace (see the bottom of this post for the full chronicles of the Modoggie Saga).

The fatwa against Lars Vilks has been dormant for more than a year, but — as I predicted at the time — the mujahideen are not done with Lars Vilks. Now, flush with their near-success in taking out Kurt Westergaard, the Somali terrorists of Al-Shabab have threatened Mr. Vilks.

According to The Local:

Somali Threats Against Swedish Illustrator

Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who sparked outrage with caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a dog, has received threats via telephone from Somalia.

The infamous ModoggiePolice in Helsingborg in southern Sweden are taking seriously the threats made against Vilks, which come just three days after Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard was subjected to an axe attack at his home in Denmark.

The first of two phone calls to Vilks came on Monday morning. A subsequent check by the Swedish artist revealed that the call originated in Somalia, where the Islamic militant group al-Shabaab has gained increasing influence in the war torn country.

Al-Shabaab is also believed to have ties to al-Qaeda.

In the last month, al-Shabaab supporters who reportedly used to live in Denmark have killed at least 22 people, including three ministers, in a suicide bomb attack carried out in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

According to Vilks, the man who threatened him spoke Swedish.

“The man, who spoke accented Swedish, asked me if I knew about what happened in Denmark and to the artist Kurt Westergaard. I said I certainly did,” Vilks told the Helsingborgs Dagblad newspaper.

“The man then explained that they were out after more and that they would soon come for me. I told them they were welcome,” said Vilks.

According to Patrik Peter, a spokesman for Swedish security service Säpo, the incident is being investigated by local police.

“It may be that the police will ask for our help in which case we’ll obviously do what we can,” Peter told the TT news agency.
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The Helsingborg police have refused to comment on the incident.

“I have no comment whatsoever on how our investigation of the threat is being carried out,” police spokesperson Göran Hassel told TT.

Westergaard was one of the Danish artists who drew cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad for Denmark’s Jyllandsposten newspaper. Westergaard’s drawing portrayed Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.

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I’d like to take this opportunity to repost the Modoggie that was specially created by Lars Vilks for this blog:

Lars Vilks’ Sobieski
“Jan III Sobieski Confronts a Rondellhund at the Gates of Vienna”

This delightful image is one of the archival treasures here at Gates of Vienna.


For previous posts on Lars Vilks and the Roundabout Dogs, see the Modoggie Archives.

Hat tip: TB.

3 comments:

Zenster said...

Much as with the Somalian pirates, who hail from coastal villiges like Haradhere, Eyl and Bossaso, the leadership of al-Shabaab most certainly have roots somewhere in that country as well.

Let's just say that if those roots were suddenly yanked up and the ground thoroughly salted in those places, there might be some sort of "disincentive" effect. One thing is clear, the near-total lack of consequences for Somalians with respect to both piracy and terrorism is a de facto reward.

As with most forms of behavioral conditioning, some degree of corporeal pain is usually required in order to reinforce the perception that certain types of conduct are no longer deemed acceptable. To date, no such suffering on any sort of scale has been imposed and the ongoing piracy and terrorism continue unabated.

What is so precious about some backwater African cess pit's "national sovereignty" that civilized nations need to feel any compunction about eliminating sources of global terrorism from within their borders?

PatriotUSA said...

What a wonderful illustration!
These stinking mussie pigs are
being completely emboldened by
what has gone on since the mullah
obamaham became president. His
Cairo speech did nothing but
encourage such behavior and actions against those who are brave enough to criticize and
publish the truth about Islam.
Granted,this is surely not entirely
the mullah obamaham's fault but
He has not helped matters one bit.
Most of the world(except the voters
of this country)knew Obama would
be a whimp and an appeaser if
elected, especially when it came
to Islam and Muslims.

To hell with all these mussie
moham pigs.They all need to be
dispatched to 'paradise' where
they can have their way with
those 72 dogs they are expecting.
I feel sorry for those dogs!

Zenster put it very well:
"What is so precious about some backwater African cess pit's "national sovereignty" that civilized nations need to feel any compunction about eliminating sources of global terrorism from within their borders?"

Papa Whiskey said...

Let all heed the words of the late great Jeff Cooper, father of the Modern Technique of the Pistol (emphases original):

"Apart from the odds that you will be killed anyway if you submit to threats of violence, it would seem – espcially in today’s world of permissive atrocity – that it may be your social duty to resist. ... If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore what he must be taught to fear is his victim. ...

"George Patton told his officers, ‘Don’t worry about your flanks. Let the enemy worry about his flanks. It is high time for society to stop worrying about the criminal, and to let the criminal start worrying about society. And by society I mean you."