Posted on 10/23/2003 1:24:13 PM PDT by Korth
-Two-thirds of the Al Qaeda leadership is dead or captured
-The Taliban have been removed from power and a terrorist infrastructure smashed
-Saddam Hussein's brutal regime has been overthrown and an oppressed people freed
-Fledgling free societies are emerging on either side of Iran, which is also straining for modernization
-Al Qaeda has not managed to hit the U.S. in over two years (which is just amazing to me!)
-Thousands of terrorists and would be terrorists have been killed by our fine fighting forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere
-And how many other successes do we never even hear about?
I really like the way things are going since 9/11. Thank God we have an Administration that truly comprehends this evil threat!
I made a general statement, so I'm not sure where your "all of that" comment applies. But yes, you're right. I recognize that things are less than perfect with these countries. Notice my "finally!" in my previous post. But what's your solution? Tell 'em all to stuff it and we'll do it ourselves? That would accomplish a whole lot of nothing.
Like it or not, progress is being made. Maybe not as quickly as we'd like, but the folks in charge have demonstrated time and time again that they know what they're doing.
I was going to present you with the SPOTD award for your lengthy stream of vomit, summed up by the above sentence. But then it occurred to me. You're beyond help.
Just take your guns and canned goods, climb into your bunker, and seal the door.
Pessimistic blowhards like you frighten - and yet bore - me.
Speaking of shelters, have you barred the door yet?
This seems like a highly questionable choice to me, since the Moslems were forcing Christians and Jews to wear special clothing, pay higher taxes, worship covertly, forbade them to ride horses or own businesses, and generally treated them like dirt. The only reason they were even allowed to exist in any Islamic territory is because dead men can't pay taxes.
But there may have been some small purpose to the Jews moving to the Ottoman Empire; during the Islamic invasion and occupation of Christian Spain many Jews fought alongside the Muslims.
It would help if we realized who's at war with us. Radical Islam has declared war on America and Americans, there is an historical distinction there, and radical islam pervades Pakistan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. To pretend that these countries are our allies and are truly helping in the War on terror is to delude oneself. General Musharaff may very well stand opposed to terror...but he's a very small minority in Pakistan.
This is not to say that I have lost faith in the administration, I have not. Our success to date is very impressive...but I truly believe that the President has a blind spot when it comes to islam.
BTW, did you hear that our allies in Yemen plans to release 150 al-queda prisoners that it's captured and "rehabilitated" since 9-11?
Yes, although I don't call Yemen an ally.
President Bush is far more familiar with the threat than you or I.
About par for the course for both Christian and Islam nations at that time. But Islamic treatment of Jews varied from nation to nation and time to time. The Ottoman Empire for about 300 years after the expulsion was considered a golden age with Jews rising to power in that empire. On example is Joseph Nasi, a Jew, who Sultan Selim II made Duke of Naxos around 1560.
The great philosopher Maimonides life probably covers the range of Islamic treatment of Jews. He was born in Spain, then ruled by tolerant Muslims, but when young the intolerant Alomohads took over. Maimonides and his family fled eventually settling in Egypt.... where Maimonides rose to be physician to the Vizier.
Wanna know a little something about how tolerant and peaceful Islam reall is folks???
The Truth About Islam
Observations by Dr. David R. Reagan
Ever since the Attack on America on September 11, 2001, we have heard a never-ending chorus of voices from government, academia, and the media assuring us that the Islamic terrorists who attacked the Trade Towers and the Pentagon are not representative of “true Islam.” We have been likewise assured by spiritual leaders — even some Christian spokesmen — that Islam is a religion of peace, and that Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews.
“Our war is not against Islam,” we have been told repeatedly. “Our war is against terrorism.”
Central Questions
Well, what about it?
The Intolerant and Militant Nature of Islam
One of the most controversial issues regarding Islam concerns whether or not it is a militant religion. Muslims in the West argue it is peace-loving. Westerners who have experienced it in the Muslim world argue it is inherently intolerant and militant.
The Koran itself preaches intolerance toward other religions. Sura 5 contains the following command: “Take not Jews and Christians for friends . . . He among you who takes them for friends is one of them . . . Choose not for friends such of those who received the Scripture before you [Jews and Christians] . . But keep your duty to Allah” (verses 51, 55, 57). Extreme intolerance is commanded in Sura 5:33 — “[For those who do not submit to Allah] their punishment is . . . execution or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet, from the opposite sides, or exile from the land.”
The Koran also expresses an intolerant attitude toward any person who decides to reject the Islamic faith or convert to another religion. Such persons are to be executed (Sura 9:12). In the Hadith (the oral tradition of Muhammad’s sayings) it says “Whoever changes his religion, kill him” (Hadith 9:57). These commands are practiced in all Islamic Fundamentalist countries today.
With regard to militancy, the Koran not only condones it, it commands it:
Fighting is prescribed for you, and [some of] you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not (Sura 2:16).
Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war (Sura 9:5).
Fight in the way of Allah . . . and slay them [the unbelievers] wherever you find them and drive them out . . . and fight them until . . . religion is for Allah (Sura 2:190-193).
Muhammad is quoted in the Hadith as saying, “The sword is the key of heaven and hell. A drop of blood in the cause of Allah — a night spent in arms [war] — is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer. Whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven, and at the day of judgment, his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim.”12
The Imperialistic Nature of Islam
From its inception, Islam has been committed to what it calls jihad — a word meaning holy war. The duty of Muslims is to subjugate or destroy “infidels” — the term the Koran uses for all non-believers.
In the Muslim viewpoint, the world is divided into two regions — those areas controlled by Islam, called Dar al-Islam (meaning the House of Islam) and those called Dar al-Harb (the House of War). The Koran commands Muslims to fight non-Muslims until they exterminate all other religions, leaving Islam as the one and only religion in the world (Suras 2:193 and 8:39). Muhammad is quoted in the Hadith as saying, “I have been ordered to fight with the people until they say, none has the right to be worshiped but Allah” (Hadith 4:196).
Regarding terror, Allah orders Muslims to terrorize non-Muslims on his behalf: “Strike terror (into the hearts of ) the enemies of Allah and your enemies” (Sura 8:60). Allah then assures his followers that he will assist them: “I will instill terror into the hearts of unbelievers. Smite them above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them. It is not you who slay them, it is Allah” (Sura 8:12, 17).
Concerning jihad,14 the Koran guarantees Paradise to those who fight for Allah (Sura 4:74). It promises instant Paradise for those who die in battle (Suras 9:111 and 47:5-6). Dying for Allah is presented as better than living: “And if you are killed or die in the Way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than all that others may amass [of worldly wealth]” (Sura 3:157).
Martyrs are promised a sensual and luxurious life in Paradise (Sura 52:17-22). According to Al-Ghazzali, one of Islam’s greatest teachers, when a martyr reaches Paradise, he “will marry 500 companions, 4,000 virgins, and 8,000 divorced women.”15 Commenting on this statement, Randall Price, biblical teacher and Middle East expert, observed that the Islamic Paradise is “just the kind of place that adolescent, unmarried men, isolated through their lives from the opposite sex by rigid cultural standards, would die for.”16
Fundamentalist Goals
The Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran was the modern day Islamic spokesman who revived Muhammad’s vision of world conquest. He taught that the re-establishment of Israel was a Satanic miracle allowed by Allah because of the lukewarmness of the Muslim masses. He called for a renewal of true Islam to accomplish three purposes:19
Notice the first priority was the transformation of secular Islamic countries into religious states ruled by the Koran. Then would come Israel and the world.
In a proclamation made by Osama bin Laden in 1998, he listed the same goals and prioritized them in the same order.20 He then identified the United States as the prime obstacle to the achievement of these goals. Accordingly, he called on Muslims everywhere “to comply with Allah’s order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it.”
It is important to note that the eradication of Israel is not the top priority. Nor is Israel viewed as the major obstacle to world conquest. I emphasize this because many Americans are saying that the key to winning the war against terrorism is to dump Israel. More and more, on radio talk shows, I hear people saying, “Let’s cut Israel loose. Let the Arabs have it. Then they will leave us alone.”
That is utter nonsense. Israel is not the cause of Islamic terrorism toward the West. If Israel were to disappear tomorrow, Fundamentalist Islam would still be determined to destroy America as part of its plan to take the world for Allah. And if we were to abandon Israel, the Muslim world would interpret it as an act of cowardice, proving our word is meaningless and that we truly are, as they say, “a depraved society devoid of values.” Our abandonment of Israel would only whet their appetite. Islamic Fundamentalism cannot be appeased. It must be defeated.
What is a good measure though is the old addage "you will know them by their fruits". What has Islam contributed to this world other than suffering? Islam is like the Borg. You are perfectly happy once all of your individualism is removed and you submit to the chorus of thought. Through mob-like militant advancement goals are achieved; but in the end Islam removes the humanity of the follower.
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