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Miley Cyrus' VMAs Scandal -- the Muslim Connection Exposed!

What does Miley Cyrus' raunchy, twerk-eriffic performance at the MTV Video Music Awards have to do with Muslims?

Seemingly nothing -- unless you're Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

Also read: Justin Timberlake Defends Miley Cyrus: 'It Was the VMAs, What Did You Guys Expect?'

Donohue weighed in on the topic of the week on Thursday, comparing reactions to Cyrus' performance and the controversy over the upcoming Miss World pageant in Indonesia next month.

In comments distributed on Thursday, Donohue that some Muslims have called for the cancelation of the pageant because it "is only an excuse to exhibit women's body parts."

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Miley Cyrus' VMAs Scandal -- the Muslim Connection Exposed!

Also read: Miley Cyrus' VMAs Performance Defended by Adam Lambert: 'Cut Her Some Slack'

Which, in Dohonue's estimation, is a lot more female-friendly than Cyrus' foam-fingered display

"Last Sunday, at the MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus simulated masturbation with a giant foam finger, grabbed her crotch, rubbed herself against a man old enough to be her father, pretended the man was performing anal sex on her, and walked around in a nude latex bikini. Her mother loved it. So did her manager. Millions of young girls and guys loved it as well," Donohue wrote.

Also read: Foam Finger Inventor Says Miley Cyrus 'Degraded an Honorable Icon'

Comparing the reaction to Cyrus' show to the uproar over the Miss World pageant, Donohue concluded, "Who are the real feminists? Miley's fans? Or the Muslims? If debasing women is the yardstick, the Muslims win."

Lest anyone get the idea that Donohue thought that canceling the Miss World pageant is a good idea, he added, "We don't have to agree with those who want to ban beauty pageants to know that their concerns are not trivial, especially in a day and age when Miley (and her dutiful mother) may be lurking right around the corner."

The amphibious transport dock ship USS San Antonio (LPD 17) departs Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia October 31, 2012 in this handout photo supplied by the U.S. Navy November 1, 2012. REUTERS/James DeAngio/U.S. Navy/Handout

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sixth U.S. warship is now operating in the eastern Mediterranean, near five U.S. destroyers armed with cruise missiles that could soon be directed against Syria as part of a "limited, precise" strike, defense officials said late on Friday.

They stressed that the USS San Antonio, an amphibious ship with several hundred U.S. Marines on board, was in the region for a different reason and there were no plans to put Marines on the ground as part of any military action against Syria.

One of the officials said the San Antonio's passage into the Mediterranean was long-planned, but officials thought it prudent to keep the ship in the eastern Mediterranean near the destroyers given the current situation.

"It's been kept there as a precaution," said one of the officials, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The San Antonio transited through the Suez Canal on Thursday from the Red Sea, and received new orders on Friday to remain in the eastern Mediterranean, near the destroyers, according to defense officials. It is one of three ships that are carrying 2,200 Marines who have been on a six-month deployment in the region around the Arabian peninsula.

The Obama administration released evidence on Friday that it said demonstrated the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against civilians. It made clear on Friday that it would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the "brutal and flagrant" attack that it says killed more than 1,400 people in Damascus last week.

Officials cautioned the operation under discussion involved a limited, precise set of targets that would be of a short duration, unlike the broader campaign against Libya in March 2011.

The U.S. Navy generally keeps three destroyers in the Mediterranean, but kept two additional destroyers there at the end of their deployments as the situation evolved in Syria over the past week.

The five destroyers are each carrying an estimated three dozen or more Tomahawk missiles for a combined total of about 200 missiles, according to defense officials.

Byron Callan, analyst with Capital Alpha Partners, projected that a limited Syrian strike would use about 200 to 300 Tomahawk missiles, compared to about 221 used in the Libya operation.

Defense officials said a more narrowly targeted operation against Syria could involve even less missiles.

They cited a debate within the Obama administration about striking the right balance between a limited cruise missile attack aimed at delivering a message about chemical weapons, and a broader attack that could be seen as a strong insertion of the United States into the Syrian civil war.

Military and civilian officials have expressed the need for caution to avert a cascading military conflict that could have repercussions throughout the region. Some officials have cautioned that even an attack on military helicopters could be seen as part of a U.S. campaign to disable the Syrian military.

Retired Admiral Gary Roughead, who served as chief of naval operations during the 2011 strikes on Libya, said any strike on Syria would have to be targeted precisely to do the maximum amount of damage to Syrian military headquarters and other key sites - and to avert the possibility of retaliatory action.

"If you're going to try to shape events, you really need to hurt them," said Roughead, now a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. "You would have to do something that would diminish the effectiveness of the Syrian military and that would be their command and control, perhaps their leadership, and then their ability to control air space."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Another U.S. warship heads toward Syria

Officials say the USS San Antonio received new orders to remain in the eastern Mediterranean.
'Limited, precise' strike strategy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel hit out at Russia and China over their stance in the Syrian crisis, saying in an interview published Saturday that their action weakened the United Nations.

"It is very regrettable that Russia and China have refused for some time to come to a common position (with Western partners) on the Syrian conflict. This considerably weakens the role of the United Nations," she said in an interview with regional daily Augsburger Allgemeine.

Russia and China have vetoed three resolutions that would increase pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the conflict in March 2011.

The two countries are also against a current push by the three Western permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, Britain and France -- for a resolution that would allow military action against Syria over a chemical weapons attack which the West blames on the regime and the regime blames on the rebels.

In a separate interview to be published on Sunday in Welt am Sonntag weekly, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urged Russia to reconsider its stance.

"Those who look away despite the use of chemical weapons ... encourage their use. That is why we are calling on Russia to send a signal along with the international community," he said.

Merkel reiterated that the use of chemical weapons in Syria had "broken a taboo" which "cannot remain without consequence".

However, she categorically excluded German participation in any military action without prior approval from the international community.

"Germany cannot participate in any military intervention without a mandate from the United Nations, NATO or the EU," she said.

"Therefore, there is no question of any participation by the Federal Army at the moment," added Merkel, who is seeking reelections for a third consecutive term in a September 22 vote.

A poll published Thursday showed German public opinion firmly against military action by the West in Syria, with about six in ten people opposed to any possible strikes and only about a third in favour.