Posted on 09/27/2001 6:28:34 PM PDT by mafree
Sitting amid a group of turbaned, bearded Sikhs, President Bush urged Americans on Wednesday to show tolerance after the Sept. 11 attacks provoked a backlash that appeared to include the killing of a Sikh.
Bush also met separately with a group of Muslim and Arab-American community leaders to try to convince Americans that Islam is a religion of peace. The FBI has said there have been dozens of ``retaliatory hate crimes'' aimed at Muslims and Arabs in America, including assaults, threats, arson and two murders that may have been ethnically motivated.
Meeting with the Muslims and Arabs in the White House Roosevelt Room, Bush denounced Saudi-born exile Osama bin Laden and his Islamic militant al Qaeda organization, saying they had no religious foundation and were based simply on evil.
``I have told the nation more than once that ours is a war against evil, against extremists, that the teachings of Islam are the teachings of peace and good,'' Bush said. ``And the al Qaeda organization is not an organization of good, an organization of peace. It's an organization based upon hate and evil.''
Muslim cleric Muzammil Siddiqi of the Islamic Society of North America gave Bush a copy of the Koran.
Some American Sikhs have been subjects of angry vitriol following the hijacked airliner attacks on Washington and New York because their turbans and robed clothing make them appear to some Americans like they are of Middle Eastern descent.
Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, was shot to death on Sept. 15 at his Mesa, Arizona, gas station, and police said it appeared to be in reprisal for the attacks believed carried out by Islamic militants. The death prompted India to urge the United States to take steps to prevent assaults on Sikhs living in America, of which there are about 500,000.
BUSH URGES RESPECT
Seated with the Sikhs, Bush called Sodhi's death unjust and urged Americans to ``treat every human life as dear and to respect the values that made our country so different and so unique.''
``We're all Americans, bound together by common ideals and common values,'' Bush said.
According to his spokesman, Ari Fleischer, Bush was disturbed by a comment made last week from Republican Rep. John Cooksey of Louisiana, who said, ``If I see someone come in that's got a diaper on his head and a fan belt wrapped around the diaper on his head, that guy needs to be pulled over.'' Cooksey later apologized for his remarks.
A poll released by Zogby International on Wednesday showed a majority of Americans were concerned about Muslim- and Arab- Americans. It said 42.4 percent were very concerned and 44.3 percent were somewhat concerned about Arab-Americans, and nearly identical numbers were reported for Muslim-Americans.
On Capitol Hill, Democratic and Republican leaders, flanked by persons of a variety of faiths, held a news conference to promote tolerance as well as unity against terrorism.
``The overwhelming majority of people understand that we get through hard times by turning to each other, not on each other,'' said Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
``Unfortunately, not everyone understands that,'' Daschle said. ``In the last couple of weeks, hundreds of crimes in dozens in states have been reported against Muslims, Arab-Americans, Sikhs and others.''
``Just as the terrorists betray the peaceful teaching of Islam, the people who committed these hate crimes betray our ideals as a nation,'' Daschle said.
Assistant Senate Republican leader Don Nickles of Oklahoma, said: ``I think the terrorists tried to divide America. They failed. We are united like never before.''
``Sikhs who wear beards and turbans and carry a religious ceremonial sword are not followers of Osama bin Laden, they are patriotic, law-abiding, peace-loving Americans,'' a group of Sikhs upset by the attacks against them said in a statement.
What do you think of Bush accepting a copy of the Koran? Is it good, bad, or does it make no difference to what we're trying to accomplish?Some will have a problem with it but I don't. He was just being polite.
Did Bush reply in kind and hand out copies of the Bible?
What did bother me was a picture of born-again Christian / fairly-newly-elected President Jimmy Carter in I think) Time magazine, getting a red dot on his forehead, "Accepting" (as the caption read) "the mark of a Hindu worshiper."
There's a difference.
Dan
We will not be able to win this war without the partnership and support of the majority moderate population in the middle east. It is going to be a delicate process to win back the trust that was so decimated by "bj bomber bill" clinton.
Ultimately, the moderate majority has to be given the mandate to do the policing and elimination of terrorists themselves. Radical's, such as bin laden, pose as much threat to the people in the middle east as they do to us.
What do you think of Bush accepting a copy of the Koran?
I have no problem with it.
Yeah, can you imagine the howls from the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation if he had done that.
Hell, we are so damn apologetic about being Christian, that we are by now virtually a de facto Islamic country.
Can ANYONE even IMAGINE for ONE SECOND our military changing the name of a major mission to protect the sensitivities of Christians in this country? (Didn't think so.)
We lost the first battle when our paper tiger national security allowed the 911 attack to occur.
We lost the second battle when Bush apologized for using the word "crusade" because it offended the enemy.
We lost the third battle when "Operation Infinite Justice" was dropped because the name offended the enemy.
Strike one. Strike two. Strike three.
The U.S. is out!
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