Treat Muslims with Respect, Bush Says

Yahoo! News ^ | 9-17-01

[socal_parrot]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said on Monday that American Muslims must be treated with respect after last week's attacks, saying ``the face of terror is not the true faith of Islam.''

``In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect,'' Bush said, standing in his stocking feet in the Islamic Center of Washington, a mosque in the heart of the nation's capital.

The president said he had heard reports that some Muslim American women who veil themselves are afraid to go out, fearing they will be harassed following last Tuesday's attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites).

Muslim American groups have reported a surge in anti-Muslim threats, harassment and assaults since the attacks.

``Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don't represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior,'' Bush said.

The United States suspects Muslim militants of launching the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which killed several hundred people and have left more than 5,000 people dead or missing.

``These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith and it's important for my fellow Americans to understand that,'' Bush said. ``The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam.''

Respecting Muslim custom, Bush, his White House aides and Secret Service agents removed their shoes before entering the mosque, which sits in a leafy neighborhood of the nation's capital surrounded by embassies.

At one point, the president quoted a translated verse from the Koran, saying: ``In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil.''

Police in Dallas are investigating whether the weekend slaying of a Pakistani grocer was part of a string of backlash attacks against Muslims and Arab-Americans.

An Indian man running a gas station in Arizona was shot and killed on Saturday, prompting the Indian government to urge the United States to take steps to protect Sikhs, members of a religion based in northern India, in the United States.

[Dave S]

What the heck is Bush thinking? Words like this could get him called a traitor around here.

Words like yours and Ann Coulters are an abomination and a major spit in the face to our constitution and laws. Many Arab Americans are better citizens than some of us. Certainly better than those who go around espousing fasicm. Continue to attack our own citizens and we will have lost this war and our nation.

[socal_parrot]

I guess I should have included the < /sarcasm > tag. Read the rest of the thread please.

[Dave S]

Malcolm, We’re in agreement. My point was that after reading all the public weeping and moaning from the Muslim community in this country about how unfairly they are being treated, I have to wonder why they are allowing terrorist to live among them

So are we going to arrest all the Whites in florida that allowed the terrorists to live among them. Get a brain or decide to use it.

[Dave S]

I guess I should have included the < /sarcasm > tag. Read the rest of the thread please.

Sorry, after Ann Coulters column about forcing "them" to convert to Christianity, I have been astonished by the anti Arab American hate Ive seen around here and I missed your attempt at sarcasm. Sorry.

[Storm Orphan]

BuffetU Akbar! ;^)

[cmsgop]

You Can Share My Foxhole!!!!!! LOL!!! Keep that Damm Hummas to a Minimum.......:*)In my Foxhole we have only the best....Lemonado from the Greek's......Corned Beef and Cabbage from the Irish......and "Cristal" from Puff Daddy....or is that P-Diddy!!!!!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!

[Dale 1]

So are we going to arrest all the Whites in florida that allowed the terrorists to live among them. Get a brain or decide to use it.

"All the Whites in florida"??? What does that mean? And how could that possibly relate to anything I might have said? Very Strange!

[washington10]

He is president and it is his duty to say such words. Obviously people who say they are Americans are indeed not. When there is an advocation to hate others based on their religion or skin color, they are also an enemy against the United States and what it stands for. The forefathers did not shed their blood for hateful individuals who advocated hate and opression against others. Unfortunately we are no longer the vision the forefathers set out to make. We have become vigilante mobs who are ignorant of other cultures and peoples. We jump to conclusions without knowing all the facts. Hateful attitudes have no place in a time like this.

[likeitis]

I'm with you Malcolm!

[B4Ranch]

What Rights Are You Willing To Give Away

[boris]

"Left to their own devices and if the rest of us don't make them hunker down into their shells, the Muslim population will smoke out the terrorists in their midst, themselves. I suspect they are already doing so. Not all of them, of course, but enough."

This is absurd. Every terrorist--every cell--has a support network. For each active terrorist, there may be 10 or 100 supporting "non-combatants". Left to their own devices, they will continue to silently support these murderers.

We must deport any and all enemy aliens (arabic/islamic). Then we must carefully scrutinize those who are left. Recall that one of the hijackers was a naturalized citizen--a "mole". Citizens who are enemy sympathizers are traitors.

--Boris

[reg45]

Well done GW. Only our enemies benefit if we make this a religious war.

How can we claim moral superiority? How can we claim that "our way" is better than "their way" if we murder innocent people just because they look different, or wear different clothes, or even pray differently? If we do we are no better than the ones who hijacked the airliners.

[AppyPappy]

One of my frat brothers was from Lebanon (Beirut). His anti-Muslim tirades make these look tame. And I bet he couldn't get on an airplane right now.

[likeitis]

Are most of these Muslims citizens?? Do they honor the American flag?? Would they say the "Pledge of Allegiance"??. Would they fight for the U.S. against any Muslim country?? Don't know, but do know most of our "typical" citizens, the ancestors of those who fought two world wars! I've seen a great change in Free Republic since the "feely goody" and "political correctness" crowd seem to have taken over.