Associated Press – August 31, 2006:
After the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings, distraught U.S. Muslim leaders feared the next casualty would be their religion.
Islam teaches peace, they told anyone who would listen in news conferences, at interfaith services and, most famously, standing in a mosque with President Bush.
But five years later, the target audience for their pleas has shifted. Now the faith’s American leaders are starting to warn fellow Muslims about a threat from within.
Muslim leaders point to two stark examples of the new mind-set:
* A Canadian-born Muslim man worked with police for months investigating a group of Islamic men and youths accused in June of plotting terrorist attacks in Ontario. Mubin Shaikh said he feared any violence would ultimately hurt Islam and Canadian Muslims.
* In England, it’s been widely reported that a tip from a British Muslim helped lead investigators to uncover what they said was a plan by homegrown extremists to use liquid explosives to destroy U.S.-bound planes.
Dear hysterical people,
There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. If they all wanted you dead, you’d be dead.
–WKW
Polarization and fanaticism are the real enemies. And until the majority of people world-wide get that through their heads we are not safe.
Anyone, regardless of religion, that lives in poverty and desparation deep enough will be willing to die for any cuase that promises a better life for having done so.
Many muslim nations have huge populations of poor under educated people. This is the breeding ground for fanatics and suicide bombers and the like. And this is one of the many things we have to address and combat to really win a war with terrorism. When the gulf between the haves and the have-nots gets big enough violence and revolution ensue.
We have to stop wishing for a easy, or a purely military answer and address the real hard issues, the long term problems that have lead us to this juncture in time.
#2 “Is there a single country in the world where muslims are a majority or a significant minority living in peace? Not that I know of.”
Turkey. 99% Muslim.
Has there been a single terrorist attack since 911 that was not commited by muslims in the name of Islam? Not that I know of.
Comment by BdgBill — 8/31/2006 @ 4:22 pm
Someone doesn’t pay attention to the news very much. Less then a month ago, ISRAEL was bombing Lebanese civilians in order to force them from southern Lebanon. Then we have many instances of AMERICAN soldiers and Marines shooting Iraqi civilians simply because they were driving on the wrong street or had a wedding. There are RUSSIAN troops murdering, raping, and ruining Chechnya.
Oh, right, I forgot. They don’t count because they were attacks against Muslims.
BTW, BdgBill, I understand your bigotry, but the correct spelling is to capitalize Muslim. The same for Jew, Buddhist, or Christian.
Comment by Mr. H. Fusion — 8/31/2006 @ 6:20 pm
Mr H. Fusion – Since you keep so current on the news you should remember that just about 2 months ago there was not a single Isreali soldier on Lebanese soil. Hezbollah terorists (who are supported whole heartedly by the people and the government of Lebanon) decided to cross the border into Isreal and kill and kidnap Isreali soldiers.
These terrorists are cowards that hide behind women and children for protection. If you fire rockets from an apartment building into another country you can expect said apartment building to be blown up momentarily. These terrorists could have prevented the death of a single civilian by putting on uniforms and fighting like men.
I do not blame Isreal for one second for what happened in Lebanon. You can be sure that if San Diego was being shelled from Tijuana that Tijuana would be quickly removed from the map.
24. Hezbollah terorists (who are supported whole heartedly by the people and the government of Lebanon)
What’s funny is that, after the 2004 election, that’s exactly what the rest of the world thinks of Americans, that we all support Bush.
–WKW
4% of the west’s population is psychotic. With 3% under control by legal sanctions (we call these people managers perhaps). Only 1% present a criminal threat.
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/185/4/298
http://www.psychlaws.org/BriefingPapers/BP8.htm
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter4/sec4.html
I’ll bet it is more like 40% for the so called peaceful Muslims, with 10% as a criminal threat. There are examples on both sides, just 10 times as many for the arabs and no gratityude for saving millions from oppression in bosnia and iraq.
Christians, Muslims, and other religions have slipped into the “dark side” on too many occasions. Christians have slaughtered Muslims (Crusades) and each other (Inquisition, wars during and after the Reformation, Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia). Muslims have slain Christians/Jews/whatever in the past for not converting to Islam. Catholics and Orthodox have battled in the past. And everyone has killed the Jews (one reason they’re so pugnacious now).
These aren’t the only religious wars out there. The Pakistan/India low level conflict is inherently religious. Buddhists seem to be more peaceful than most other religions, but there have probably been wars involving them as well.
If people of the various faiths (and those of no belief or very personal ones) could leave everyone to their own beliefs, we might have a better world. I’m not too optimistic, though.
A good sign that some Muslims are joining the fight, especially as Democrats are abandoning it.
Just because they fight or terrorise in the name of Islam does not mean Islam is the culprit. Muslims do everything in the name of Islam.
“Islamic based terrorism”, as you call it, is almost always in response to Western acts of terrorism.
If Bush or Cheney have a different take, it is quite understandable. I don’t understand why ordinary folk in America do not get the truth.
The U.S. is the biggest terrorist in the world!
You need read some newspapers that covers foreign news.
#24, BdgBill
Even though Israel vacated southern Lebanon over two years ago, Israeli commandos constantly raided across the border to kidnap or assassinate Lebanese citizens. Somehow the Israeli apologists like you forget or overlook that.
Fire rockets from what apartment buildings? That is propaganda bull crap. The United Nations, Amnesty International, Red Crescent, and other human rights organizations ALL reported that Israel was deliberately targeting civilian installations without cause. They attacked United Nations outposts that reported the targeting of civilians. They blew up bridges that refugees were fleeing the violence were crossing. They destroyed the airport the foreigners were trying to leave Lebanon through.
As for fighting like men, did the Israelis fight like men? I don’t think an F-16 dropping a 2000 kg bomb on an apartment building is fighting like a man. Rolling up in a 60 ton Abrams tank is manly. I don’t think firing depleted uranium shells is manly. I don’t think blowing up humanitarian relief trucks is manly. I don’t think kidnapping and holding indefinitely thousands of civilians is manly.
I know you don’t blame Israel. Sociopaths like yourself live in such a blind state that that violence against the weak delights them. But as I pointed out before, you don’t think anything done against Muslims could ever be a terrorist act.
Let me get this straight. Pat Robertson thinks some government should “take out” Hugo Chavez … and that is a bad thing?
PS. Anyone else think Mr. H. Fusion may be a muslim?
Mr H isn’t a Muslim, he just hates Israel.
It is okay to hate Muslims or Venezuelans but it is not okay to criticise Israel? That’s the problem with debate in the U.S. Losers become sore losers.
Mr. Fusion
I have seen VIDEO of rockets being fired from apartment buildings in Lebanon. I have seen VIDEO of rockets being transported in civilian passenger cars. These rockets are not being manufactered in Lebanon, hence the destruction of bridges airports and ports that are all points of entry for these weapons.
The terrorists KNOW that the buildings they are firing from will be targeted by Isreali war planes and yet they do it anyway. Dead children are just more “martyrs” to these idiots.
When was the last time you saw terrorists distributing warning leaflets to civilians telling them to leave an area before blowing up a market or cafe?
BdgBill:
If the Nazis had distributed leafelets, would you forgive them.
PS. Anyone else think Mr. H. Fusion may be a muslim?
Comment by syngensmyth — 9/2/2006 @ 12:15 am
You say that like it’s a bad thing. By calling someone names instead of actually debating points is the best fall back of the bigoted, fascist crowd. Do you sometimes spend your weekends shouting White Power in unison with all three of your friends?
I have seen VIDEO of rockets being fired from apartment buildings in Lebanon. I have seen VIDEO of rockets being transported in civilian passenger cars.
And where might these VIDEOs be? This is the very first I have heard mention of them. BTW, seeing them in your dreams doesn’t count.
Mr. Fusion – I saw them on a little network we call CNN. I’m sure you get all your news from that bastion of journalistic excellence Al Jazeera.
Fuck all those who say that the mussulms are terorists .
Join the terorist force .blow up those who stand agains it boom boom caboom _!_