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To: bobdsmith
The intelligence agencies need to keep a keen eye on these reporters when they get back in case they have been brainwashed into sleeper agents.

I don't think there's too much risk of that (as in "I don't think there's any risk of that").

That said, I do expect them to be extremely solicitous regarding All Things Islamic for the forseeable future -- at least when in the public eye. (In private, I'd expect them to get it out of their system by "emoting like sailors" about their ordeal.)

The real risk, IMO, is of Islamist "hunter-killer" teams, a la those chasing after Salman Rushdie (who have so far managed to murder several people for the "sin" of being associated with him, or working for/with him).

In their eyes, the "conversion" was legit, even though it was indeed coerced. It's not a "religion of faith", it's a religion of law. These guys make the Pharisees look like Libertarians.

The "converts" said the right words, in the right sequence, in the right language, thus, they are bona fide "converts", even it it was coerced. It's like hitting a window with a hammer. Even if you don't want to break the window, it's gonna break. Even if someone forces you to swing the hammer (i.e., gun to your head as you are commanded to "swing it NOW!"), the window will break.

So, in that cosmology, these guys are actual Muslims -- and, since they have recanted, they are now lapsed Muslims.

Being a "backslidden Muslim" (in hardcore Islamist circles) is NOT like being a "lapsed Catholic". The main difference is that there is a death penalty attached to your "apostacy". When a Muslim becomes an infidel, he must die. Period.

Now, it's been pointed out that it's only about ten percent of the Muslims in the world that are hardcore Islamists. So tell me -- what's ten percent of 1.2 billion? That's how many potential assassins there'll be, looking for an easy score by delivering Allah's judgement on these guys.

I expect they'll be having some heavy duty bodyguards. At least I hope they will. I wouldn't be surprised if they also have some career changes too. Frankly, with that many lunatics looking to kill you, all sorts of things start to look reasonable -- name change, plastic surgery, etc.

It's not like they'd be the first to come up against the jagged edge of TROP, after all.

697 posted on 08/27/2006 6:37:41 AM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: Don Joe; jan in Colorado; Fred Nerks
In their eyes, the "conversion" was legit, even though it was indeed coerced. It's not a "religion of faith", it's a religion of law. These guys make the Pharisees look like Libertarians.

It might be rude to do this, but this is such an important point that I think it needed to be enlarged. It really gets to one of the big differences in mindset between Christians and Muslims (or at least Islamists), IMHO...a difference we shouldn't forget.

754 posted on 08/27/2006 7:18:31 AM PDT by Gondring (If "Conservatives" now want to "conserve" our Constitution away, then I must be a Preservative!)
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