Hal Lindsey Discovers Al-Qaeda Leader Living in France!

And while I’m on the subject of Christian Zionism, “prophecy expert” Hal Lindsey drops a bombshell at WorldNetDaily:

A 40-minute videotape released last week by an al-Qaida leader living in France exhorted French Muslims to rise up and punish France for what Anas al Liby calls France’s disrespect for Islam.

That would be Sheikh Abu Yahia al-Libi, also known as Mohammed Hassan. Various other news outlets covered the story, but only Hal includes the vital bit of “intelligence” that al-Libi was living in France. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, al-Libi’s whereabouts have in fact been unknown since he escaped from US custody in Afghanistan last year. The video appeared on the internet, and was produced by al-Sahab, al-Qaeda’s propaganda arm. This shadowy organisation was discussed in the Guardian last September, after a video made by one of the July 7 London bombers came to light:

Video editing and copying facilities have been discovered in raids on militant hide-outs in Pakistan, Iraq and several other Middle Eastern countries. Digital technology means an expert can receive images by email that can be used to compile a tape on a laptop computer of broadcast quality. Nobody actually knows where the tape was filmed or made. In its amorphous structure, as much idea as organisation, al-Sahab resembles al-Qaeda itself.

Well, obviously it was made in Paris. Just ask Hal. But other wingers have taken up the baton: at Atlas Shrugs, an outraged Pamela demands:

Why don’t they throw him out?

(She means al-Libi, not Lindsey) But here’s another question: why doesn’t the USA ask for al-Libi to be extradited from France? Could it be…that he doesn’t in fact live there, and Hal jumped to conclusions based on his xenophobia and shoddy journalistic standards? However, one of Pamela’s commentators is a true believer:

You know, these days Hal Lindsey does a lot of good reporting. Like, how is it that a guy with a weekly column broke this story? One would think this would have come out of Al Jazeera and then filtered through the blogs, but no, Hal Lindsey broke it.

But, whenever I link to Hal Lindsey, I never mention him by name, because he is so tainted by all his past predictions and positions.

Hal Lindsey’s “taints” are indeed of scarlet. Everyone knows about his famously duff predictions (The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon etc), but let’s not forget the other sins, such as:

a) His continued support of the bogus “Satanic survivor”, Lauren Stratford, after she had been exposed as a liar and her book withdrawn. Lindsey arranged for Stratford to have an alternative publisher, and launched attacks on the Christian journalists who had exposed her (Stratford eventually decided to reinvent herself as a Jewish Holocaust survivor instead) – see my blog entry here for further details.

b) His attempts to get his readers to invest in firm called Zion Oil & Gas. Lindsey neglected to mention a fact that was exclusively revealed by me – that his cousin was a major shareholder with the company.

And while I’m not the censorious sort, some might wonder how a fundamentalist Christian evangelist justifies no fewer than four marriages.

(Hat tip: LGF Watch)