Posted on 12/27/2003 2:22:40 AM PST by sarcasm
ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said in an interview published on Saturday that he had information before Christmas about a ``precise'' threat of a terrorist attack on Rome and the Vatican planned for Christmas Day.
Berlusconi said in the interview with the Libero newspaper, conducted on Christmas Eve, that he had precise intelligence that there were plans to hijack a plane above the Vatican.
No one was immediately available for comment at the prime minister's office. The Vatican said it had no immediate comment.
Could that be something the Islamofascists meant when they said they would attack the "head of the snake"? I was thinking that they might have meant the West Coast of the U.S. Others think the terrorists were threatening the President. But now I am wondering if they meant they were going to attack the Pope in Rome. Think about it -- one of the historically most important cities in the West and the head of a big branch of the "enemy" religion of Christianity. That would be the ultimate attack on the West in general. An attack on Christmas would add to the symbolism.
Islam is a political movement as much as a religion
--an imperialist, terrorist, aggressive political movement that has declared war on the West.
To the extent that it is a political movement, Islam must be considered to be entirely a political movement and not a religion, and, as such, it cannot be tolerated, even in the West, committed as it is to freedom of religion.
The people of the West must clarify their thinking on this subject, and the sooner and the clearer, the better.
The people of the West have fallen into a dangerous delusion. So committed are they to "freedom of religion"--both the concept and the phrase--that they cannot comprehend the inconvenient truth that Islam is a political movement that presents itself as a religion, and consequently the people of the West find themselves paralysed and unable to deal effectively with Islam, and they have thus rendered themselves helpless and defenseless against the imminent threat that Islam poses.
The people of the West have brought themselves to this predicament.
Muslims recognize this Western conundrum and exploit it to the maximum.
The sooner the people of the West face this reality and confront the Muslim threat, the better for all concerned.
Islam must be recognized as an aggressive, imperialist political movement, comperable to the expansionist Japanese Empire and Nazi Germany, of the 20th century. It must be confronted as such.
The people of the West must recognize the fact that Islam cannot and must not be given the same treatment as, or recognized as the equal of, other religions. Islam is entirely different. This must be recognized.
No one can control--nor should any attempt to control--the beliefs of anyone else. However, aggressive, imperialist, terrorist political movements cannot be allowed to thrive, and advocacy of them, support of them, and participation in them can and must be prohibited.
Belief in the history, tenets, or dogma of Islam is of little consequence. It must also be recognized that not all Muslims are interested in the political aspects of Islam or wish to participate in or support the political movement. However it is impossible to know the depth or extent of this nonparticipation.
Nevertheless, inasmuch as the political and religious components of Islam cannot be seperated from one another, Islam must be considered a political movement, for the purposes of dealing with it and confronting it, and not a religion.
The people of the West must recognize this--and now.
The terrorists are like rabid dogs. Striking out at everyone and everything. Nobody has done more to promote peace in the Middle East than John Paul II, yet the blind hatred which motivates these people leads them to lash out indiscriminately.
| The terrorists are like rabid dogs. Striking out at everyone and everything.
bin Laden wants to foment the "clash of civilizations." He thinks this is a good idea. He's nuts. On behalf of a people who are mostly living in the 7th century, he is going to lead them to war against multiple nuclear powers. If he takes out the Sistine Chapel, with all the works of Michaelangelo and so on, he will succeed at one thing: the Yurps will finally hear the wake-up call ringing. |
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
I think whacking St. Peter's is quite calculated. OBL probably sees the Vatican as the closest thing Christianity has to a "Mecca," and destroying it has high symbolic value to him.