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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2005/20051006_2959.html
President Urges Muslims to Denounce Violent Extremism
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2005 – The war on terror is focused on Islamic radicalism, not Islam, President Bush emphasized today as he called on Muslim leaders around the world to denounce what he called the terrorists' "murderous ideology."
Extremists who claim to murder under the banner of Islam "are not just enemies of America or enemies of Iraq," the president said during a major speech here before the National Endowment for Democracy. "They are the enemies of Islam and the enemies of humanity."
Many Muslim scholars already have publicly condemned terrorism, citing Chapter 5, Verse 32 of the Koran, Bush noted. That passage states that killing an innocent human being is like killing all humanity, just as saving the life of one person is like saving all humanity, the president explained.
Similarly, Bush noted that an imam in the United Arab Emirates said after the July 7 terror attacks in London that whoever carried the attacks out "is not a Muslim, nor a religious person."
Bush praised the United States' Muslim allies around the world who are defying Islamic extremism.
"Everywhere we have engaged in the fight against extremism, Muslim allies have stood up and joined the fight, becoming partners in a vital cause," he said. Among them are Afghan troops in combat against Taliban remnants and Iraqi soldiers sacrificing to defeat al Qaeda, he said.
Bush urged other Islamic leaders around the world to take a stand against extremism.
"The time has come for all responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends and defiles a noble faith," he said.
The terrorists' ideology -- whether it's called "Islamic radicalism" or "militant jihadism" or "Islamofascism" or something else -- is very different from the religion of Islam, Bush said. "This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision," he said.
It's a vision of a totalitarian empire that "denies all political and religious freedom" and will use any means necessary to achieve it, including terrorism, subversion and insurgency, he said.
In following that vision, extremists "distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Jews and Hindus, and also against Muslims from other traditions, who they regard as heretics," Bush said.
And, as often as not, it's innocent Muslims who fall victim to these radicals, he added.
Bush noted the irony in Osama bin Laden declaring himself a leader for the Muslim masses. "Bin Laden said his own role is to tell Muslims, quote, 'what is good for them and what is not,'" the president said.
"And what this man, who grew up in wealth and privilege, considers good for poor Muslims is that they become killers and suicide bombers," Bush said. "He assures them that this is the road to paradise, though he never offers to go along for the ride."
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Transcript of President Bush's Speech
Streaming Audio and Video of President Bush's Speech
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2005/20051006_2952.html
September Weapons Haul in Baghdad Largest Since May
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2005 – Iraqi and coalition troops operating in and around Baghdad seized 31 weapons caches in September, constituting the largest monthly haul of ordnance in that area since May, when 54 caches were uncovered, military officials reported.
Coalition forces patrolling Baghdad's Radwiniyah district on Sept. 28 were approached by an Iraqi citizen who told the soldiers about a large weapons cache. The soldiers found 175 sticks of dynamite, 109 grenades, 149 rockets, mortar and artillery rounds, two rocket launchers, 46 anti-personnel mines and 20 pounds of TNT.
U.S. soldiers acting on a tip from another Iraqi citizen seized a weapons cache hidden in western Baghdad on Sept. 25. The soldiers, from Company B, 1st Battalion, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, collected 85 mortar rounds, 14 rockets, two artillery rounds, and three mortar tubes.
The cache also contained eight rocket-propelled-grenade launchers with 144 RPGs and 30 RPG chargers, three anti-tank weapons, 20 hand grenades, bomb-making materials, two machine guns, two assault rifles, and 75 pounds of ammunition.
Another Iraqi tipster helped Iraqi army soldiers seize two terror suspects and an anti-Iraqi forces weapons cache during a Sept. 24 operation in Baghdad. That weapons cache contained 84 mortar rounds and one mortar tube, five rockets, three RPG launchers with 18 RPGs, and a bag of small-arms ammunition.
Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers patrolling the Mansour district of central Baghdad on Sept. 21 found a cache of weapons after coming under fire from terrorists hiding in a building. The Iraqis stormed the building and found 35 mortar rounds and rockets, one mortar tube, 27 rocket-propelled grenades, three roadside bombs, and five cell phones. Iraqi forces killed five terrorists during the firefight.
On Sept. 17, U.S. soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team, patrolling in the Radwiniyah area of western Baghdad found one of the largest caches of the month after local citizens told them about a field of buried weapons.
The unit uncovered the cache, then expanded the search and found two more stockpiles of weapons and ammunition in the same area. The two caches contained 63 RPG rounds, 23 RPG motors, 904 RPG fuses and primers, 33 rockets, 35 mortar rounds, two mortar firing tubes, 80 mortar fuses, and five crates of TNT. One terror suspect was captured at the site and taken into custody for questioning.
(From a Multinational Force Iraq news release.)
Related Site:
Multinational Force Iraq