We don't want a war with Islam, says Bush

The Daily Telegraph ^ | September 20, 2006 | Alec Russell and Harry Mount

[MadIvan]

President George W Bush last night told Muslims across the world that America did not want a war with Islam as he sought international support for his policies in the Middle East.

In his annual address to the United Nations, Mr Bush was unapologetic about the invasion of Iraq, but overall the tone of his speech was conciliatory.

"My country desires peace," he told the gathering of world leaders at the UN's annual general assembly. "Extremists in your midst spread propaganda claiming that the West is engaged in a war against Islam. This propaganda is false and its purpose is to confuse you and justify acts of terror. We respect Islam."

Mr Bush's audience was packed with opponents of American policy. His most fiery adversary, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hard-line president of Iran, was not in the chamber but was due to deliver a riposte late last night.

Mr Bush, however, sought to appeal over the heads of Middle Eastern leaders with warm words in particular for the people of Iran and Syria, two of America's greatest foes. "The greatest obstacle to this future [of peace and freedom] is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons," he said in a message to Iranians.

He went on to stress that America was working towards a "diplomatic solution" to the crisis over the regime's nuclear ambitions and to insist that he had no objection to Iran having a peaceful nuclear fuel programme. His sharpest rhetoric was reserved for Damascus. He accused the regime of allowing Hamas and Hizbollah to use Syria as a base to destabilise the region, and also of becoming a "tool of Iran".

His speech covered many of the world's most pressing challenges. Announcing the appointment of a special envoy to end the violence in the Sudanese region of Darfur, he said the UN's credibility was at stake over the crisis there.

Andrew Natsios, the former head of the US Agency for International Development, is to try to help implement last month's UN resolution to send 20,000 peace-keepers to Darfur. A far smaller African force has been unable to stop the carnage and the Islamic government in Khartoum is refusing to accept a UN force. But the primary focus of the diplomacy on the sidelines of the assembly was Iran.

Jacques Chirac, the French president, irked US and British officials on Monday when he pre-empted yesterday's speeches by calling for the UN to suspend the threat of sanctions if Iran agreed to halt its uranium enrichment programme.

After meeting the French president, Mr Bush said America would only "come to the table" if Iran suspended the uranium enrichment.

"Should they [Iran's leaders] continue to stall," he said, "we will then discuss the consequences of their stalling." His speech followed a grim valedictory address by Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, who steps down after a decade in office at the end of the year.

"The events of the last 10 years have not resolved, but sharpened, the three great challenges I spoke of [when he took office], an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law," he said. ''As a result, we face a world whose divisions threaten the very notion of an international community, upon which this institution stands."

[Gum Shoe]

"Also, what is a moderate Muslim? Do they just sit by and watch while the militants do the dirty work? Do moderate Muslims even exist, or are there just militant and passive Muslims?"

A radical Muslim wants to kill you. The Moderate Muslim just wants you dead.

[Rummenigge]

It's an accident waiting to happen.

[massgopguy]

A more recent example would be Gen. Douglas MacArthur re-inventing Japan.

[William Terrell]

Islam IS the problem.

Exactly. God gave them to us so we could have Armageddon.

[Antoninus]

"We don't want a war with Islam."

Trouble is, Islam wants a war with us like nobody's business. They've declared it over and over.

At some point, we're going to need some men to lead this country....

[Antoninus]

"We do not seek war with the Japanese Empire, nor do they seek war with us."

Trouble is, our current situation is like Hull saying this to Nomura after Pearl Harbor.

[Steve Van Doorn]

When we changed Japan's religion Shinto was based around the Emperor which he agreed to work with us. Nazi Germany was a political concept it was not a religion(for most).

We do not need to go back to the Spanish Conquest of Central and South America. We have an even better example with the Chinese war against Islam. During the 70’s under Mao China labeled all Islam religion illegal.

The Chinese did exactly what you guys are suggesting round up all Islam and never hear from these people again. In the Xinjiang province Islam was the majority religion today it is the minority. Muslims had three choices hide, leave the province or died.

Today extremist Muslims are back in Xinjiang province and started a jihad against China. China’s response is again to round them up and deal with them in the most brutal way possible.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=386502005

No matter how much you think this is a good idea it will never happen short of a major Nuclear attack against us.

We do have a plan and I think it is a good one. Turkey last year was forced to choose between Democracy or Shariah law. Turkey’s Judiciary tried for years to work with both but has failed last year. Turkey’s choice was Democracy. If Shariah law can not be administered then the heart of the extreme Islam is severely weakened.

Democracy is the key to our success and I think it can work.

[Steve Van Doorn]

My response is in the post above.

thank you

[monday]

"Also, what is a moderate Muslim? Do they just sit by and watch while the militants do the dirty work? Do moderate Muslims even exist, or are there just militant and passive Muslims?"

Moderate Muslims are content to overwhelm us with numbers, while Militants hate us too much to wait. They just want us all dead now.

[MeekMom]

Bush: "We don't want a war with Islam"

Too late!!!

[EternalVigilance]

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

[RobbyS]

As the pope has said, there are noble elements in Islam, but there are violent elements, and over all their way of thinking is irreconcible with modernity. Islam is irreformable. People talk about a protestant reformation? As I recall, that led to more than 100 years of religious war.

[PeterFinn]

I don't care to fight this fight. It's been going on for 1,200 years now. I want to *end* this fight once and for all.

[TexasRepublic]

I do.

[William Terrell]

As the pope has said, there are noble elements in Islam. . .

What are they and which definition was the pope using?

NOBLE:

noun: a titled peer of the realm
adjective: having high moral qualities (Example: "A noble spirit")
adjective: having or showing or indicative of high or elevated character (Example: "A noble spirit")
adjective: of or belonging to or constituting the hereditary aristocracy especially as derived from feudal times (Example: "Of noble birth")
adjective: inert especially toward oxygen (Example: "A noble gas such as helium or neon")
adjective: impressive in appearance (Example: "A noble tree")

[Killborn]

Alienating allies, killing innocent people, and endlessly multiplying your enemies for the sole reason that they share the same faith as the terrorists?

BRILLIANT!

This WoT thing is a piece of cake. We just have to bomb everything into rubble and build gas chambers! Who woulda thunk!

(right hand springs straight up) Dammit! (pushes it down)

Mien Fuhrer! I can walk!

[Gondring]

The Koran requires peace with Jews and Christians, except in war. The problem is, some Muslims believe they're already at war.

[Prime Choice]

Also, what is a moderate Muslim?

Good question...

[backtothestreets]

Shinto was indeed the official national religion of Japan that empowered much of the brutality Japan exercised in WWII. It dominated to the extent that it was the Emperor of Japan as the deity of Shinto, that had address his subjects about surrender. Neither the military nor the government had the comparable authority of their deity.

The post WWII Japanese constitution was the work of General MacArthur as overseer in the content and expressly forbids certain constitutional members of government from participating in Shinto practices.

Turkey is a democracy, but almost an abnormality on the Islamic face. What strikes me with the relationship between the Turkish government and religion, primarily Islam, is that the government has to actively monitor religions, and Islamic clerics are trained in schools where the government authors the curriculum. By law, all mosques and Muslim clerics are controlled by the government, not the other way around.

Even as a democracy, Turkey must be ever vigilant to Islamic extremists. There is a peace between democracy and Islam in Turkey, but it is a peace that has often been marred Islamic extremists attacks.

Turkey is also a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference consisting of 57 Islamic nations. Many of the key institutions of the OIC are based in Turkey. All the objectives of the OIC are to safeguard and promote Muslim interests alone. Of the five observer member nations, Russia is the largest. Russian participation as an observer nation may have been necessitated to address its large Muslim population. It could also be that President Putin of Russia wanted entry as an observer nation last year to assess the threat of the OIC from within.

My hunch is that is the Islamic organization all western civilizations are being challenged by on every military, diplomatic, and cultural front.