After Osama bin Laden reappeared on the world’s television screens on the sixth anniversary of 9-11, commentaries focused on his newly blackened beard and his changed message. But more important was the reaction of a Saudi cleric.
In an open letter, one of bin Laden’s most prominent Saudi mentors, the preacher and scholar Salman al-Oadah, publicly reproached bin Laden for causing widespread mayhem and killing.
“How many innocent children, elderly people, and women have been killed in the name of Al Qaeda?” asked al-Oadah in a letter on his Web site, Islamtoday.com, and in comments on an Arabic television station.
“How many people have been forced to flee their homes, and how much blood has been shed in the name of Al Qaeda?”
Although al-Oadah and other senior Muslim scholars condemned the 9-11 attacks, until now they had refrained from direct criticism of bin Laden.
Now, with al-Oadah’s new frontal assault on bin Laden, there is no longer any ambiguity.
Serious dialogue with competent political leaders in the West could have accelerated this voyage of discovery by al-Oadah. No doubt.
The open letter to bin Laden has received considerable publicity in the Arab media, including the Al Jazeera network and Islamonline.com, and has already elicited angry reactions from Al Qaeda supporters.
I’ll bet you enjoyed reading about this in your local newspaper or seeing it discussed on network TV. Right?
THIS man is much more dangerous than Bin Laden. A relatively sane Islamists. Avoid the extreme and achieve world domination in smaller steps.
Yes, very dangerous.
Hey, I thought all the killing was Bush’s fault?
Only as a feel-good proverb among the Friday night crowd of wimps at the American Legion Bar.
>>Hey, I thought all the killing was Bush’s fault?
Most of it is. The overwhelming majority.
It could be, that after all the negative sentiment, Bush has made his point… that being if you screw with the USA you will get an insane unrelenting reaction beyond belief until you are pummeled into defeat, regret and a change of heart. This could be a turning point.
#5 …you will get an insane unrelenting reaction beyond belief
e.g. “stay the course”?? 😛
JimR – or, you know , it could be that someone’s mentor is saying “Wow, you’re an idiot – how is killing innocent people ever a good thing?”
Which, you know, I could say to you in response to your comment.
Mike, I honestly don’t know what to make of it at this point. The ultimate answer 20 years in hindsight might be…
“hey, don’t knock it, the mad man saved us”, or
“we were stung by 9/11, but if we had just moved away from the nest instead of hitting all the nests we could find with a stick, burning them, and stomping on the ashes… the end result would have been the same”,
or “we rule dudes”, or…?
As for “stay the course”, for yearsBushwhacker has been looking for a 6′ rubber dingy in an ocean, while running full throttle in his oil tanker and running aground at every turn. All I’m saying is maybe he got lucky and ran over it. 🙂
#7, Gregory, you could say that to me, but then you would be losing out on the sarcasm.
Iv said it about the USA, and I will say it against Laden…
Clean up your HOME before you start cleaning up the REST of the world.
#10. Interestingly, before 9/11 there was a real debate within the Islamist movement as to whether they should go after the “near enemy” (ie the secularist governments of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan etc) or go after the “far enemy,” the US.
MikeN >>Hey, I thought all the killing was Bush’s fault?
Why would you think such a thing? I don’t know anyone how says anything like that.
Are you, perhaps, one of those guys with a conservative brain who can’t grasp nuisance?
So, when someone (correctly) points out that the Iraq war has fueled Islamic radicalism, you think we’re saying that only Bush is to blame?
This denouncement reminds us that there would have been other ways to deal with 911 — ways that wouldn’t have killed some many untold people and led to American being loathed by so much of the world.
Even before 911, the Taliban were highly marginalized, even in the Muslim world. I think only two countries recognized them — both allies of the USA. In my observation, the vast majority of Muslims condemned the attack.
With the great sympathy that 911 created, it would have been easy to totally isolate Afghanistan then we could have cornered bin Laden and arrest him using police action, minimizing innocent deaths.
Instead, thanks to Bush, we have something like a million deaths in response to the loss of our 3000 … with no end in sight and serious plans to bomb yet another country.
Good grief what a mess these neo-cons have created.
>>Are you, perhaps, one of those guys with a conservative
>>brain who can’t grasp nuance?
Isn’t the inability to grasp nuance the sine qua non of the (neo)conservative brain?
#2, MikeN
Hey, I thought all the killing was Bush’s fault?
Yup. That is your problem. Whenever you start to think you screw up again. It is only mostly Bush’s fault.
To #3 god, you are nothing but alow life scum bag who I would love to meet in person, punk, coward, liberal fag.
>>Isn’t the inability to grasp nuance the sine qua non of the (neo)conservative brain?
I was referring to this study: http://tinyurl.com/3yvxlm
Apparently your brain’s ability to adjust to change tracks with political affiliation.
#3, god,
RE #16,
Ya, me too. But I’d buy you a beer.
This is a little strange. A respected religious leader condemns another for actions contrary to their religious beliefs. So instead of platitudes, we are wary.
I don’t follow any “religious” practice, yet I do have some admiration for one who has the courage to follow their convictions, especially when it comes to peace.