Posted on 10/23/2003 1:24:13 PM PDT by Korth
President George W Bush went to Bali, site of the worst terrorist atrocity since the September 11 attacks, yesterday to praise Islam as a religion of liberty and tolerance.
Mr Bush's trip was an attempt to tackle anti-American sentiment in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation.
At a press conference in Bali, where 202 people were killed when Islamic extremists linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network blew up two packed nightclubs a year ago, Mr Bush said: "Terrorists who claim Islam as their inspiration defile one of the world's greatest faiths.
"Murder has no place in any religious tradition."
Mr Bush said he wanted to correct what he felt was a misconception that the war on terrorism was a cover for a war against Islam or that Americans thought all Muslims were terrorists.
He paid tribute to the victims of the Bali bombings and praised his host, President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, for hunting down terrorists.
Three of the Bali bombers have been sentenced to death but critics have accused Indonesia's secular government of failing to explain the dangers of radical Islam to its people and to tackle militancy at its roots, especially in radical Muslim boarding schools.
Owing to security concerns, Mr Bush spent only four hours on the resort island and chose to remain at a hotel five minutes' drive from the airport where his meetings were held.
Flights were postponed throughout his visit and as he spoke, just yards from the Indian Ocean, warships could be seen patrolling offshore. Five thousand heavily armed police and troops backed up by sniffer dogs and bomb squad units were deployed.
The brevity of his trip underlined how much more dangerous Indonesia and South-East Asia have become since the boom era of the 1980s and early 1990s. When Ronald Reagan visited, he stayed three nights in Bali, hosted by the dictator Suharto.
Mr Bush made a point of meeting leaders of two moderate Muslim organisations which represent about 50 million of the 210 million population.
They pointed out that American policies in the Middle East were a root cause of terrorism and asked him to listen more to the rest of the world. "We told him US foreign policy should seek a new paradigm if the US wants to be respected by the world community and be safe," said Syafii Maarif, head of one of the groups, Muhammadiyah.
"It was an open and lively meeting which we did not expect."
Thousands of protesters - including Mrs Megawati's sister - gathered at an independence monument in the centre of the capital, Jakarta, to demonstrate against Mr Bush's visit,
Mr Bush arrived last night in Australia, the last stop on his six-day, six-nation tour.
That's right. And folks here don't seem to comprehend that a lot of the Al Qaeda terrorists that have been captured/killed have been thanks to predominantly Muslim governments (Pakistan, Yemen, Indonesia, even Saudi Arabia - finally!). The President knows what he's doing.
These dudes definitely need to be taken out. They are the cancer that is destroying Islam from within and making it a danger to the rest of the world.
I remember an article a while ago about an ultra-orthodox Muslim sect. They lived well and peacefully in modern society and the women did not wear burkhas. They said they were following the letter and intent of the Quran, and had the passages to back it up. Now if only these guys could get that massive Saudi funding that is going to the Wahhabis.
You gotta be sh*tting me, right? The Ottoman Empire was the most vicious, most barbaric, most anti Christian group of killers that ever existed. The Ottomans tried to attack and destroy Western Europe via the major naval battle of Lepanto, but fortunately were destroyed by the Christian fleet under Don Juan. Found on that Ottoman fleet were over 15,000 Christian slaves, who were forced to row the the Islamic warships against their own countrymen. Christians would flee Christian Europe to live with the Muslims? hahahahahahaha
I don't know if that's better or worse than being a slave in a Christian country ruled by a different denomination. Those were barbaric times, and slavery was the norm.
Yeah, George, 99.9999% of Muslims are giving the rest a bad name.
Most of these Jews sailed to Rome, where they were welcomed by the Pope. I'm curious as to where you got this information from?
Peaceful Muslims need to get off their collective butts and start actively working to stop these fanatics or stop calling themselves peaceful.
But then again I didn't see too many Christians crying out when Charles Taylor was instituting Christian despotism in Liberia.
Where the h@ll do you folks get your history from? There were no "denominational wars", as you call them, until after Martin Luther's revolt in the 16th century. In the 700 - 800's the Roman Empire was split between East and West, and the East was already being slowly gobbled up by the invading Islam. In fact, during this time frame the Islamic hordes invaded France and Charles Martel had to organize his armies to toss them out. Your 'history' is terrible.
I guess I just don't buy it. I don't remember the U.S. going out of its way to boost the public image of German efficiency or Japanese culture during World War II. I see no reason to treat a religion whose mullahs preace hatred and intolerance as sacrosanct.
The way things are now, the "peaceful and tolerant" elements of Islam are the fringe, and the bigoted jihadists are the mainstream on the global arena.
Just take a quick look at how many Islamic organizations vehemently denounce the Islamic regimes and Islamic terrorist organizations. Good luck in finding anything more stern than a tepid and highly-qualified objection...usually issued only months after the fact.
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