Posted on 05/30/2004 11:37:20 AM PDT by sarcasm
Are you Muslim or Christian? We don't want to kill Muslims. Show us where the Americans and Westerners live," Islamic militants told an Arab after a shooting rampage against Westerners in Saudi Arabia.
The four gunmen, aged 18 to 25 and wearing military vests, grabbed Abu Hashem, an Iraqi with a United States passport, in front of his home in the Oasis compound in Khobar, but they let him go when he told them he was a Muslim.
"Don't be afraid. We won't kill Muslims - even if you are an American," he quoted them as saying.
The Oasis compound, where suspected al-Qaeda militants held about 50 foreigners hostage, was the last target in a rampage that struck oil firms and residential compounds in the oil city of Khobar, where at least 17 people were killed over two days.
Saudi military commandos rescued most of the hostages yesterday after storming the building where the militants had seized them.
Some of the hostages, mostly Westerners, were taken to hospital and others to hotels, but most were too shaken to speak to journalists. There were reports that the gunmen had killed several hostages, but details were unclear.
Some of the foreign residents interviewed said they wanted to leave the oil-rich Gulf state, which has waged a year-long campaign against militants loyal to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.
Abu Hashem, the director of a Saudi firm who has been in Khobar for six months, said he wanted to move to Bahrain.
He said the four gunmen had been polite and calm. "They gave me a lecture on Islam and said they were defending their country and ridding it of infidels," he said in an interview at the Qusaibi hotel.
"The gunmen were so polite. I cannot comprehend this politeness they showed me because I am a Muslim."
While talking to the gunmen he saw the bloodied body of a Swedish cook who worked in the compound, Abu Hashem said. He had been shot dead. An American, a Briton, an Egyptian, two Filipinos, an Indian, a Pakistani and nine Saudis, mostly security men, were also killed on Saturday, security sources said.
A purported al-Qaeda statement claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has repeatedly vowed to rid the Arabian peninsula of "infidels".
Abdulsalam Hakawti, a 38-year-old Lebanese financial director, was at home with his wife and two-year-old son when he heard someone storm through the door of his villa in the Oasis complex. They ran upstairs with one militant in hot pursuit.
"Asalam Alaykum," Mr Hakawti told the militant, using the traditional Muslim greeting.
"[The gunman] told me, 'Our jihad is not against Muslims, but against Americans and Westerners'. He asked me to show him which villas had Americans and Westerners."
Mr Hakawti, who escaped last year's deadly suicide bombing at a housing compound in the capital Riyadh, said he told the young bearded gunman, dressed in a T-shirt and navy trousers, that he had only been in Khobar for three days.
There has been a string of attacks in Saudi Arabia in the past year, including suicide bombings and shootings. "These militants have robbed us of any feeling of security," said Abu Yasser, a 42-year-old Jordanian whose Oasis villa became a refuge for several terrified neighbours.
"This is home - I have been living in this country for 40 years and I would not leave. The country has changed, but I won't leave - all my family is here," he said.
Well, this is Saudi Arabia, so only the authorites have guns. I guess they can invade at will and leisurely hunt down Christians at their own speed. There's nobody around to stop them as nobody else is armed.
Now if they tried this in my state, they would get blown away before they got past the front porch of half the houses.
Sheeple season is officially open and poachers are in country folks........"demand"....... that your congresscritter and local polidiots close our borders, stop illegal immigration and deport all illegals NOW !
"ALLAHU AKBAR!" is the Muslim call to murder.
Our polidiots are owned by multinational corporations, who have paid them good money to keep the borders wide open.
"the bloodied body of a Swedish cook who worked in the compound, Abu Hashem said. He had been shot dead. An American, a Briton, an Egyptian, two Filipinos, an Indian, a Pakistani and nine Saudis, mostly security men, were also killed on Saturday"
Well, at least the terrorists practice diversity.
Looks like the Saudis got the worst of it though. Sounds like a painful wakeup call, because radical Islam has its roots in S.A.
You're awfully optimistic. Considering it's been less than three years since the WTC was attacked. I bet there's still more support for the WOT in red areas of the country than there is in Manhattan.
I still care wrote: "Well, at least the terrorists practice diversity."
And they were nice and polite, too! Such gentlemen are hard to find these days...
The Saudi government is really the Saudi Royal family, which is divided into factions. The current ruling faction wants the Americans there, other factions want them gone
I have a strong feeling that the reason that three out of four of the terrorists "escaped" is that they were people who could not be touched -- such as sons of Saudi Princes
You're absolutely right, sad to say. If you stood on the corner of Broadway and Cortlandt Street in Manhattan today and asked people who they're planning on voting for, you'd be lucky to find 30% intending to vote Bush after filtering out the tourists.
For those unfamiliar with Manhattan streets, here's a photo of the corner of Broadway and Cortlandt taken on September 19, 2001:
It's exactly one block from the WTC.
To me, the issue is quite clear. We must seek out and destroy these subhumans at every opportunity. We should vastly expand our human intelligence (free up the CIA to do what it should), track these terrorist cells down, and exterminate the jihadiots. I'm really not interested in seeing them imprisoned--they need to be killed. Bottom line: if we kill enough of them, either there won't be enough left to be a threat, or those that are left will realize jihad is hopeless.
Additionally, this is a culture war with religious overtones. They clearly believe in their cause. If we don't also believe in our cause, we COULD be defeated. They cannot beat us on the battlefield, but they CAN win through subversion, sabatoge, and other clandestine methods (and we, frankly, can beat ourselves if we lose faith). I only hope most Americans realize this is OUR generation's World War II, and we must be steadfast until we achieve victory!
CHRISTIAN Persectuion -- where's the outrage?
PERSECUTION.org
http://www.persectution.org
PERSECUTION.com
http://www.persecution.com
Where's the outrage? Uh, there isn't any! We fought a war to protect drug-running, Islamic terrorists in Kosovo, but we sit idly by when Sudanese Christians are exterminated. I really don't understand it, but the Bible DOES say Christians will be persecuted for His name.
Christians are really quite harmless. In fact, we are required to support our leaders, pay taxes, and obey the law as long the government allows us to serve our Lord. To me, the very fact that so many vehemently despise and/or fear Christians proves Christians are right. The truth is, Christians ARE a threat, because the light illuminates the darkness in men's hearts, and NO ONE likes their evil revealed to others!
Seriously, Saudi money isn't worth the risks.
They financed Wahhabism, let 'em stew in it.
I second that. A small to medium sized city taken out might get their attention, but sometimes I wonder. The congresscritters are all too much in debt to big biz to open their eyes to little things like oath of office or constitution.
Reminds me of a Bill Maher commentary I saw once. He was carrying on about how the Saudis require women to wear bee-keeper suits. He said everyone says, "it's just their religion, we should tolerate diversity". But he said if it were African Americans who were required to wear bee-keeper suits, Jesse Jackson's head would explode and Al Sharpton would call a press conference. (This was last summer on HBO.)
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