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To: Spktyr
Actually, there’s the whole “as Allah wills” thing in the Koran. Basically, some of the Islamicists believe that the wearing of armor is evidence of lack of faith in Allah - for if you are doing Allah’s will, surely Allah will protect you and none of the infidel bullets/knives/swords/arrows will hit you, right?

The word some in your statement is very operative. We should not assume that all Islamic Terrorists in the future will never be wearing body armor. We should also not assume that their religion will universally forbid its use. The west eventually lost the Crusades. One of the reasons was that high end Islamic forces actually had better armor then the west. The Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitalier definitely had weaker armor then their Islamic counterparts. Then of course the Pope tried to forbid the use of the crossbow because it gave a simple peasant the ability to possibly kill a Noble Knight.

182 posted on 11/29/2008 5:33:22 PM PST by justa-hairyape
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To: justa-hairyape

Exactly so. I would not expect to see educated Islamic troops or armies to eschew armor. And certainly, not all sects believe the same thing. That said, the “village meathead” type of terr who’s been brainwashed in a madrassa since birth and has never been to the West is not likely to purchase or request armor, preferring to place trust in “in’sh’Allah.”

You are wrong about the armor issue, though. With the introduction of heavy plate armor, crossbows became obsolete against heavy Western cavalry. Plate armor was *tested* and “proofed” using crossbows with AP quarrels at point blank range.


200 posted on 11/29/2008 7:06:17 PM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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