ENEMY WITHIN AND WITHOUT

Lar of Galen: I’m a firm believer in religious freedom, but allowing an enemy to build a training camp in your neighborhood is insanity.

BREAKING: On 14th Anniversary Of 9/11 Giant Crane Falls On Mecca’s Grand Mosque, 65 Dead –Update: Video, Pics Added…Update: Heavy Rains, Lightning Strike On The Mosque…Update: Death Toll Rises To 101, At Least 180 Injured, Crane Belonged To Bin Laden Family…

Wow.

Via Newsweek:

A crane crash at the Grand Mosque in Mecca left as many as 65 dead and 80 injured on Friday, according to the Saudi Civil Defense Directorate. Strong winds caused the crash.

Rescue workers from the Civil Defense department and Saudi Red Crescent and Health Affairs are on the scene.

Because of Muslims’ annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which can bring as many as 3 million people to the holy city around this time of year, the mosque was particularly crowded on Friday. It is unknown how many people were inside at the time of the incident.

Update:

Update:

Heavy rains were reported and this picture shows a lightning strike which looks like it hits the base of a crane:

Update:

Death toll is upped to 101, with at least 180 injured. It was during the busiest time of the week, just beforeFriday prayers.

According to the Daily Mail:

The crane belongs to a German crane company operated by the Bin Laden family’s consortium, who are heading the expansion of the Holy Mosque.
Saudi BinLaden Group was founded by Osama’s Bin Laden’s billionaire father Mohammed and the sprawling construction conglomerate runs a large amount of major building contracts in the Sunni kingdom.

Pictures taken before the disaster show the crane being struck by a bolt of lightning and authorities are in little doubt extreme weather was to blame.
The crane fell into the east side of the mosque, with the top section of the structure crashing into the roof.

'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here
in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us. He shall
be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage
to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or
origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet
an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided
allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else
also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the
American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the
English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a
loyalty to the American people.'

Theodore Roosevelt 1907