Radical Muslims are already calling the site of Osama bin Laden’s ocean burial the ‘Martyr’s Sea’, according to one of Britain’s leading Islamic scholars.
The US said the decision to drop bin Laden’s body into the North Arabian Sea was taken to avoid creating a shrine for the slain Al Qaeda chief.
But Abdal Hakim Murad, Muslim Chaplain at Cambridge University, claimed yesterday that the move could backfire on the Americans.
And just where did this dumping in the deep take place? Not all that damned far from Mecca; isn't that interesting?
So they not only did this, they then announced where. Bloody genius, I tell you!We're probably lucky the Vinson didn't get orders to detour to the Red Sea for the funeral.
Hmmm, that's odd. I pulled up a Mapquest map of Saudi, and discovered that it doesn't show Mecca. al Madinah, but not Mecca; maybe they don't like unbelievers seeing where the place is? And, scrolling a bit north, I find that Jerusalem is labeled Yerushalayim.
6 comments:
Yerushalayim is an anglicization of the Hebrew.
I think the problem there is that you used MapQuest.
Then again, I see Mecca just fine - as Makkah, which is doubtless The Current Preferred Rendering For People Who Care About That.
(Though as you zoom out, you get normal English names; Jerusalem as Jerusalem.
As Anonymous said, when you zoom in you get the "native" name; Saudi names in Arabic [with Roman in a few cases as well], and Jerusalem in transliterated Hebrew.
Athens becomes Athinai, if you scroll over to Greece, and Beirut is Bayrut.)
Ok, I didn't know it did that: changed the spelling depending on how far you zoom.
And yeah, going in a bit further than I did before, there's Mecca. Does seem odd it wouldn't show up in the lower-zoom view. Ah, well, now I have to do some extra zooming at times to see what I see.
Trashcanistan? Wait, what?
Caliphornia?
I like the idea of a Martyr's Sea. It should be marked on all our nav charts. That way, whenever a U.S. man of war passes through the area, they could render appropriate honors. (Now all hands not on watch man the rail, starboard side. Stand by to drop trou. Execute. Now all hands, on my count, urinate. 3, 2, 1, execute. Stand by to recover. Recover. That is all.)
MichigammeDave
CPO(SS), USN, Retired
Post a Comment