"A longtime official at al-Sistani's office in Najaf would not deny or confirm the edicts issued in private, but hinted that a publicized call for jihad may come later."
A call for what, now? That would make it sound like it has something to do with religion -- one Religion of Peace in particular. And you know how the State Department frowns on that. "Powerful Iraqi cleric flirting with Shiite militant message," by Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra for the Associated Press, May 22:
BAGHDAD - Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric has been quietly issuing religious edicts declaring that armed resistance against U.S.-led foreign troops is permissible — a potentially significant shift by a key supporter of the Washington-backed government in Baghdad.
The edicts, or fatwas, by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani suggest he seeks to sharpen his long-held opposition to American troops and counter the populist appeal of his main rivals, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia.
But — unlike al-Sadr's anti-American broadsides — the Iranian-born al-Sistani has displayed extreme caution with anything that could imperil the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The two met Thursday at the elderly cleric's base in the city of Najaf south of Baghdad.
So far, al-Sistani's fatwas have been limited to a handful of people. They also were issued verbally and in private — rather than a blanket proclamation to the general Shiite population — according to three prominent Shiite officials in regular contact with al-Sistani as well as two followers who received the edicts in Najaf.
All spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Al-Sistani — who is believed to be 79 or 80 — has not been seen in public since a brief appearance in August 2004, shortly after returning from London for medical treatment for an unspecified heart condition. But his mix of religious authority and political clout makes him more powerful than any of Iraq's elected leaders.
For American officials, he represents a key stabilizing force in Iraq for refusing to support a full-scale Shiite uprising against U.S.-led forces or Sunnis — especially at the height of sectarian bloodletting after an important Shiite shrine was bombed in 2006.
It is impossible to determine whether those who received the edicts acted on them. Most attacks — except some by al-Qaida in Iraq — are carried out without claims of responsibility.
It is also unknown whether al-Sistani intended the fatwas to inspire violence or simply as theological opinions on foreign occupiers. Al-Sadr — who has a much lower clerical rank than al-Sistani — recently has threatened "open war" on U.S.-led forces.
The U.S. military said it had no indications that al-Sistani was seeking to "promote violence" against U.S.-led troops. It also had no information linking the ayatollah or other top Shiite clerics to armed groups battling U.S. forces and allies.
A senior aide to the prime minister, al-Maliki, said he was not aware of the fatwas, but added that the "rejection of the occupation is a legal and religious principle" and that top Shiite clerics were free to make their own decisions. The aide also spoke on condition of anonymity.
Fatwas are theological opinions by an individual cleric and views on the same subject can vary. They gain force from consensus among experts in Islamic law and traditions.
In the past, al-Sistani has avoided answering even abstract questions on whether fighting the U.S. presence in Iraq is allowed by Islam. Such questions sent to his Web site — which he uses to respond to followers' queries — have been ignored. All visitors to his office who had asked the question received a vague response.
The subtle shift could point to his growing impatience with the continued American presence more than five years after the U.S.-led invasion.
It also underlines possible opposition to any agreement by Baghdad to allow a long-term U.S. military foothold in Iraq — part a deal that is currently under negotiation and could be signed as early as July.
Al-Sistani's distaste for the U.S. presence is no secret. In his public fatwas on his Web site, he blames Washington for many of Iraq's woes.
But a more aggressive tone from the cleric could have worrisome ripples through Iraq's Shiite majority — 65 percent of the country's estimated 27 million population — in which many followers are swayed by his every word.
A longtime official at al-Sistani's office in Najaf would not deny or confirm the edicts issued in private, but hinted that a publicized call for jihad may come later....
Do the rank and file Shia really think starting up the civil war will be a good idea? Last I heard they were all excited in Sadr City that the gangs with the Ak-47s were gone.
What's the penalty for treason ?
If irrefutable proof exists, take him out.
No free go cards for imams or religious leaders.
aside from this news being bad for the infidels in harms way, i'd say this is miserable news for the republicans, who are shown to have been naive beyond belief.
will mccain develop an answer that sets the "war on terror" on the right path, that recogizes what the enemy is about?
Is there any chance that this story is an attempt by his rivals to neutralize him?
What better way to trigger the US withdrawal than to have that "respected" cleric turn out to be just another jihadist, like all the rest?
And a Judas, to boot!
the only truly respected islamic cleric is one abides by the koran, which would mean kill the kuffirs. just need to wake up the elites in Wash DC to that fact.
For those like myself who think that enlisting some Muslims against others is efficacious in this clash between the Islamic world at large and the West, an individual like al-Sistani makes it all the more difficult to do so. He has been praised by President Bush as the kind of Muslim cleric the West can work with, but, unless I'm mistaken, al-Sistani is on record saying that unbelievers are indeed the equivalent of human waste. With "moderates" like this, one could ask, who needs enemies? Ah, the Muslim world. What a burden it is.
We should tell these nitwits that, if they want us to go away, they should quit shooting at us.
I'm not sure that they can wrap their 7th century minds around this concept, but it's worth a try.
The Fat Jihadi has sung!!!!! This is over. Game, Set, Match...
For all those who want to stay in Iraq, get ready for a good old fashion Shia uprising if we should try to take out al-Sistani. So what do you plan to do about this? Keep letting him issue fatwas against our troops? Are we going to beg him to stop? Kiss his feet?
We still have that Hugh plan out there....
I hope are troops are in a good defensive positions. I hope to god that our military leaders have plan for a possible Shia uprising that is backed up by Iran. I don’t trust any of these people including al-Maliki and the Iraqi government. If these folks decide to turn on us we better be ready to receive them, otherwise a lot of our troops and people will be exposed and in the open.
If we are not prepared for this, and if it does happen then Bush should be impeached if still office, but my feeling is they would do it right after the next president takes office (Esp. Obama). It would be the perfect time to inflict heavy damage on our forces and take lots of hostages. Could it be they have been preparing for this all this time?
The more I think about this al-Sistani story the more it worries me. This is not joke. Lets hope the CIA and military intelligence is doing their job.
OT:
Come and say hello to regular Spencer basher, and omniscient traditional conservative, Larry Auster:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2758015030439611172&postID=6777909148302258967&pli=1
Correction above..
are = our
This is what happens when you write before you think. I am serious however...our troops are spread out in a sea of Muslims. Our leaders still appear clueless about the nature of Islam. It just all adds up to a military disaster if there ever was one if we are not doing our homework. Hopefully, our intelligence put this story out into the open as a message to al-Sistani (and Iran) that we know what is up.
For what it's worth, I thought that the first time that Saddam's radars painted Coalition aircraft was sufficient cause to take him out, as this was a violation of the cease fire accord that his government signed. It didn't happen. Saddam knew it wouldn't happen, and how feckless was the U.N.! It took Bush the Astonishingly Ignorant, wanting to avenge Saddam's attempt on dear old Dad, and to make the Middle East safe for democracy (why not?) who took that leap of "shock and awe" faith into Islamohell. And now the U.S. has to pin its hopes on al-Sistani's tender mercies? Holy Shi'ite, what a strategy!
This is pretty hush-hush stuff, for your eyes only, top secret. But what's the problem? Just another military advisory in the 'religion of peace' war cult double speak of warfare against the infidels, ya know 'criminals', the newspeak word for Jihad. This is for their ears only, by their 'religious' clerics of total mind and body submission to Mohammad's Allah cult. Who mentioned Islam? Why the suspicion? Go back to playing with your toys, all is well, your SUV is in the garage, fast food happy meals are served, what's on TV, pick up the kids at soccer.... Why worry? Nothing to do with Islam, you silly kuffrs. Hush... go back to sleep.... and send money.
We should have pulled out as soon as Saddam was out of his spider hole, and let them all rot in their own Islam spider holes of the mind. Silly unmentionable hush hush stuff not for kuffr ears.
greatcomet,
I hope our CIA and military intelligence have improved their capabilities but I doubt it.
Sistani appeared to be the anti-Khomeini when this first started. If this story is true and Sistani has merely been biding his time then it's time we stopped wasting time getting the heck out.
Revenge is a dish that is best served cold and if this story is true then our best revenge would be to vacate the area and let the Sunnis take over again and crush the Shia as they will deserve to be crushed. They'll get it into their heads that they can do it once the US is out. They're still the primary group in Baghdad, where all the action is.
Let the world say whatever it wants about our steadfastness. There is no reason to remain steadfast when you are about to be pushed off the cliff by people you trusted.
I continue to hope this is just a false flag but if it's true then trust that has been betrayed can never be won again. Iraq should be dead to all Americans. Iraqis should be non-entities. The Kurds should declare independence and airlift all Arabs out of Kurdistan and drop them into Baghdad.
"In his public fatwas on his Web site, he blames Washington for many of Iraq's woes."
maybe he should review the woes of the Iraqis caused by the Muslim suicide bombers, kidnappers, rapists, murderers and the local religious policemen in the Iraqi towns. They are really killing the Muslims and are preventing them from advancing forward from the 7th century.
Pardon my French everyone, but WTF is a 'quiet fatwa?'
Be loud, children, be proud, because Islam is going to rise again.
In a pig's eye.
Hey al-sissy, I hear you're "underground" in iran...you had better go waaaaaaay underground fat daddy...the JDAMS WILL SOON BE RAINING DOWN ON iran!
...shortly after returning from London for medical treatment...
From the story
Next time let him be treated by the methods of his beloved "Islamic Science" in the Islamic country of his choice. Anyway, 'm sure he would be much happier with this, since it would avoid having to deal with the كفّار (kuffar) traveling to London must entail. How about we quietly by emphatically let him know that future admission to any Western country for medical treatment will be preconditioned on his avoiding mixing religion with politics? In fact, how about we so the same with the Saudis?
reposting...
...shortly after returning from London for medical treatment...
From the story
Next time let him be treated by the methods of his beloved "Islamic Science" in the Islamic country of his choice. Anyway, I'm sure he would be much happier with this, since it would avoid having to deal with the كفّار (kuffar) traveling to London must entail. How about we quietly but emphatically let him know that future admission to any Western country for medical treatment will be preconditioned on his avoiding mixing religion with politics? In fact, how about we do the same with the Saudis?
Expanding on the above idea, on the numerous medical forms and releases that have to be signed when any medical procedure is undertaken, how about including some statements at various places attesting to the contributions that Jewish scientists have made to modern medical technology (e.g., http://www.jinfo.org/Nobels_Medicine.html).
More on the above...
If medical patients benefit from ANY of the following developments in modern medicine, they should be grateful to the Jewish scientists who did the work. (If there is a similar list of accomplishments by Islamic scientists, I couldn't find it.)
From http://www.jinfo.org/Biomedical_Research.html
* The invention of local anesthesia by Carl Koller and the discovery of Novocaine by Alfred Einhorn.
* The discovery that pancreatic dysfunction is the cause of diabetes by Oskar Minkowski.
* The discovery of the ABO and other human blood groups and of the Rh factor by Karl Landsteiner.
* The introduction of the side-chain theory of antibody formation by Paul Ehrlich. His development of Salvarsan (1909) and Neosalvarsan (1911) constituted the first effective treatment for syphilis.
* The isolation and development of penicillin by Sir Ernst Chain.
* The development of streptomycin by Selman Waksman.
* The isolation of cortisone by Tadeus Reichstein.
* The chemical synthesis of cortisone for large-scale production was achieved independently by the chemists Carl Djerassi and Percy Julian+.
* The invention of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) by Charles Gerhardt.
* The discovery of prostaglandins by M. W. Goldblatt.
* The discovery of neurotransmitters by Otto Loewi. Loewi shared the 1936 Nobel Prize with Sir Henry Dale for their independent work on acetylcholine. Sir Bernard Katz and Julius Axelrod shared the 1970 Nobel Prize with Ulf von Euler+ for advanced work on neurotransmitters. Their work led directly to the development of the class of anti-depressants that includes Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil.
* Axelrod was also the co-developer, with Bernard Brodie, of the pain reliever acetaminophen (Tylenol).
* The discovery of endorphins and enkephalins by Solomon Snyder and Hans Kosterlitz, respectively.
* The discovery and characterization of growth factors by Rita Levi-Montalcini, Viktor Hamburger, and Stanley H. Cohen. Levi-Montalcini and Cohen shared the 1986 Nobel Prize for their identification and isolation of the nerve and epidermal growth factors, respectively.
* The development of Warfarin (Coumadin) anticoagulant therapy by Shepard Shapiro. Warfarin is the most commonly used anticoagulant for the prevention of heart attacks and strokes.
* The development of oral contraceptives by Gregory Pincus, Carl Djerassi, and Frank Colton.
* The development of the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, respectively.
* The development of the Hepatitis-B vaccine by Baruch Blumberg and Irving Millman. Blumberg received the 1976 Nobel Prize, in part for this work.
* The co-discovery of interferon by Alick Isaacs (in collaboration with Jean Lindenmann).
* The invention of cancer chemotherapy by Louis Goodman, Alfred Gilman, and Sidney Farber.
* The co-development of 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) by Gertrude Elion, which used in combination with methotrexate and other drugs, has led to cures for most forms of childhood leukemia.
* The discovery and development of cisplatin by Barnett Rosenberg, which has led to a complete reversal in the prognosis for testicular cancer, a malignancy that had almost always been fatal and is now nearly 95% curable.
* The revolutionizing of radiation oncology by Henry Kaplan.
* The co-discovery of oncogenes by Harold Varmus and the elucidation of their role in human cancer by Robert Weinberg, Michael Wigler, Bert Vogelstein, Arnold Levine, and others. Varmus shared the 1989 Nobel Prize with Michael Bishop for this work.
* The discovery of retroviruses and their associated reverse transcriptase enzyme by David Baltimore and Howard Temin.
* The development of AZT, protease inhibitors, and other drugs used in the treatment of AIDS by Jerome Horwitz, Samuel Broder, and Irving Sigal. AZT (Retrovir), which was originally synthesized by Horwitz for use as an anti-cancer agent, proved to be the first of the reverse transcriptase inhibitors found effective against HIV.
* The co-invention of monoclonal antibodies by César Milstein. Milstein shared the 1984 Nobel Prize with Georges Köhler for this work.
* The elucidation of the biochemistry of cellular metabolism by Otto Warburg, Otto Meyerhof, Gustav Embden, Jacob Parnas, Sir Hans Krebs, Fritz Lipmann, Herman Kalckar, Carl Neuberg, Gerty Cori, Konrad Bloch, and others.
* The invention of radioisotopic tracer techniques by George de Hevesy, Friedrich Paneth, Rudolf Schoenheimer, David Rittenberg, Martin Kamen, William Hassid, and Samuel Ruben.
* The invention of radioimmunoassay by Rosalyn Yalow and Solomon Berson, which has revolutionized clinical and research practice in such fields as endocrinology and blood banking.
* The determination of key components of the experimental basis for the double helix model of DNA by Phoebus Levene, Erwin Chargaff, and Rosalind Franklin.
* The breaking of the genetic code by Marshall Nirenberg. Nirenberg and Har Gobind Khorana shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for their independent determinations of the code.
* The co-discovery of the basic mechanisms of gene regulation by François Jacob, Walter Gilbert, Mark Ptashne, Andrew Fire, and Michael Levine. Jacob shared the 1965 Nobel Prize with Jacques Monod for their joint work on the development of the operon-repressor model of gene regulation
* The discovery of RNA and major contributions to the elucidation of its structure and function by Phoebus Levene, François Jacob, Sydney Brenner, Matthew Meselson, Sol Spiegelman, Sidney Altman, Sir Aaron Klug, Alexander Rich, Walter Gilbert, Andrew Fire, Roger Kornberg, Ada Yonath, and others.
* The co-invention of gene splicing by Stanley N. Cohen.
* The discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) by I. I. Rabi. Rabi received the 1944 Nobel Prize in physics for the demonstration of NMR in molecular beams.
* The invention of the sonogram by Robert Rines.
* The invention of the flexible endoscope by Basil Hirschowitz, which has revolutionized surgery by greatly reducing the complexity and invasiveness of many surgical procedures.
* The co-invention of LASIK eye surgery by Samuel Blum (together with Rangaswamy Srinivasan+ and James Wynne).
* The invention of phacoemulsification cataract surgery by Charles Kelman, which is the technique most widely used for cataract removal worldwide.
* The invention of the cardiac defibrillator, external pacemaker, and cardiac monitor by Paul Zoll.
* The invention of the Heimlich Maneuver by Henry Heimlich.
* The co-invention of the basic technique used worldwide for the controlled chlorination of drinking water supplies by Abel Wolman.
Al-Sistani, some will recall, was "nominated" in print by excitable Tom Friedman, always-ready-to-declare-his-latest-enthusiasm Tom Friedman, grand-simplifier Tom Friedman, as a suitable candidate for a Nobel Prize for Peace. That neither latest, nor greatest, of a long succession of friedmanian ludicrous remarks (not too ludicrous apparently for him to continue to ask for, and receive, $45,000 per public appearance, for a collection of shallow plongitudes and endless platitudes, but so eager-beaverly presented, that some may come away complacently thinking that they have actually "learned something"), was mocked here, and al-Sistani's listing of "najis" (unclean) things at his website -- you know, blood, sputum, sperm, feces, Infidels, dogs, that sort of thing -- must have gotten to Friedman somehow, for he promptly put a lid on his exploding enthusiasm for Al-Sistani, and we never heard from him again on the matter.
But Al-Sistani was also deeply impressive to The Man Who Never Mentions Islam, Fouad Ajami. In his "The Foreigner's Gift" (which, it has been noted here, should have been called "The Infidel's Gift" but Islam, any hint of discussing how Islam forms the Arab mind, the Arab polity, the Arab everything and anything, is never even hint-glinted at in the pseudo-poetic, and comically annoying prose (described by one amazonian review as "luscious") in which Ajami presents his works, works that apparently meet with favor, for he has been much-rewarded in this country, possibly for Services Rendered Against Edward Said, with prizes, foundation grants, all the conceivalbe Recognitions that academic flesh is heir to).
Ajami thought Al-Sistani splendid, noble, just the ticket for the Iraq Light-Unto-the-Muslim Nations Project. John Agresto, on the other hand, who has no stake in looking for splendid examples of dignified and impressive Muslim clerics, reports on what he took to be the appalling antisemitism of Al-Sistani, and for some reason that whole dignitified-bearing stuff did not cut nearly, cut in fact none, of the ice it did with the impressionable man of Shi'a background (an unbeliever, of course, but one who will not dare, for careerist reasons, to declare that he has jettisoned Islam, and steers carefully away from any comment on Ibn Warraq, or Ayaan Hirsi Ali, or many others who have bravely made their declaration openly, and have none of the filial piety that, it seems, even Arab or, as in Ajami's case, partly-Arab ("Ajami" = someone from Persia)freethinkers, find makes them unable to sever their ties from Islam, and Ajami too, cannot see through Islam, and clings to a myth, somewhere in side, of Islamic greatness, a great civilization that existed not despite, or around, or within the interstices of, but within and because, of Islam.
I saw at MEMRI recently an interview with the smiling Egyptian actor Ali Fahmi. He surprises his interviewer, with that mischevious and self-regarding smile of Arabs who in public say something that they know will be taken as extremely bold, extremely daring, when he expresses his nostalgia for the old days, the days of Good King Farouk, Melek Faruk, and deplores the coup of Naguib and Nasser that put paid to the ancien regime. He doesn't explain, however, because he can't explain to himself, what exactly it was that made the reign of Old King Farouk worth recalling, for he does not recognize that those were the days before Nasser and company forcibly seized the property of, and then pushed out, all those Jews, Italians, Greeks, and other "Levantines" (Cavafy, and Ungaretti, were both born in Egypt) who made Egypt interesting, and now, as even the Copts have been diminishing and out-migrating, it tends to the monochrome dullness toward which any Muslim country, that converts or drives out any significant non-Muslim population formerly in its midst, naturally tends. Fahmi did not recognize, is unlikely to have thought through, that before the coup d'etat of the colonels, the legacy of Lord Cromer had not yet been squandered, and part of that legacy was an awareness by intelligent Egyptians that the West was clearly more advanced, and Islam retrograde, a belief that the nasserisant colonels, "secular" but Muslim -- just as Saddam Husseein was "secular" but Muslim in the attitudes and atmospherics of his regime, and became more so whenever he felt the need -- did not share.
Ali Fahmi is an actor, and not expected to have understood completely what, or why, that ancien regime had its many douceurs, all of them related to the absence of, or constraints put upon, Islam.
But what is Fouad Ajami's excuse not to have begun, at this point, after forty years in this country, in which he has had honors heaped upon him, and has had all the conceivable leisure one would need, to analyze clearly the role of Islam in the political, economic, social, intellectual, and moral failures of the Arab countries? Instead he contents himself with boozy pseudo-poetic remarks, about "this tragic land" or "these tragic people" -- allows adjectives to describe situations of hopelessness or horror, but never sits down to analyze.
That "Dream Palace" for example, is never connected to history-haunted Islam, the Islam that provides a mythical past of much misunderstood (for it was hardly a product either of Muslims alone, and certainly not of Muslim Arabs alone), and much exaggerated, "greatness."
He may appear whenever he feels like it in U.S. News & World Report, or The Wall Street Journal. If you want an Arab who will say nice things about the West, and about Israel -- and who doesn't -- Fouad Ajami is your man.
But if you now want and need something more, something that will explain to you why the continued American presence in Iraq is ill-advised, because we can achieve our ends better not by holding Iraq together, or Iraqis from being at each others' throats, but by exploiting pre-existing fissures so as to divide and demoralize the Camp of Islam then Ajami is no longer your man. For apparently, Ajami does not want to divide and demoralize the Camp of Islam, Ajami would not welcome an endless Sunni-Shi'a fight, Ajami wants the best for the Muslim world, and so do we, but we, who have no filial piety, and no desire to defend Islam, think that the best thing that can be done for Muslims is to weaken the hold of Islam on their minds.
His last column in U.S. News, for example, managed to be all about Iraq and America in the Middle East, without mentioning Islam.
It's the Subject That Isn't There. And Ajami -- who must care about the opinions of those whose opinions should be cared about -- shows us his drawbacks and limitations. He can recover, but only if he begins to think about, and write about, Islam and the Arabs, and not merely about "the Arab predicament" or the "Dream Palace of the Arabs." There's still time for him to be more demanding on himself, and to see things more clearly.
Meanwhile, if the story above is true, and Al-Sistani has been quietly promoting Jihad against what Ajami calls "the strangers" but who are best described as "the Infidels," one hopes that Ajami will publicly withdraw his declared enthusiasm for Al-Sistani.
Ajami is not incapable of recognizing mistakes. He has written that at this point his criticism, a decade ago, of Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations" (the phrase is from Bernard Lewis, and much of the analysis was, unattributed, from Adda Bozeman) now seems wrong. (Ajami still doesn't see that Huntington, however, was wrong in his positing more than a half-dozen different and competing "civilizations"; a more accurate formulation would note that there is Islam, and then there is all that is non-Islam).
But he has yet to write an analysis of what Islam, that Total Belief-System, does to the minds of men, including those men who so fascinate Ajami, "the Arabs." Like Patricia Williams, and so many others, he's always been heavy on the personal narrative (memories of Beirut cafes, when all the world and pan-Arabism was young, that sort of thing), always once-over-lightly on analysis. "The Arabs" -- their predicament, their Dream Palace -- cannot be made sense of if Islam is left out.
One wonders if he will manage to redeem all those high hopes, and finally come to truly deserve all those prizes, those rewards, that spectacular rise through the ranks of academe he has already achieved. Nothing can prevent him from continuing to put on his productions of "Hamlet" without the Prince, but posterity will be kinder if he manages to rethink his comfortable stagecraft, and stages his play in a way that makes, for the audience, intellectual and moral sense.
"Ye (Arabs) are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong." (Qu'ran 3:110)
Allah didn't say that the Arabs are the brightest of peoples, perhaps not wanting to offend against Mohammad's exquisitely refined sense of his own magnificence. The former Cassius Clay knew better.
"I am the greatest!" ~ Muhammad Ali
so how is the war against radical islamists and al qaeda going in iraq? wait a minute, the shittes and this sistani have nothing to do with al qaeda. and al qaeda wants nothing to do with them. yet these people are still radical and love to kill infidals. but to hear from the clueless and bush and state department, osama bin laden and al qaeda invented radical islam. all we needed to do was capture those two and suddenly the whole of the muslim world will be love, flowers, peace, and happiness. my these 60's hip neo cons are due for a rude awakening.
Sistani is anti-Khomeini--however, it's a stricly personal thing. They both agree that kufr and Sunnis are trash.
in which many followers are swayed by his every word.
That's getting pretty close to idolatry, Mohammad watch out, you have competition...
Thanks, Hugh, for the post above about Friedman, Ajami et al. I always profit from reading your assessments, as I did with this one. I can't help liking Ajami personally. He seems to be a cultured, gracious man but I couldn't quite put my finger on what I sensed was wrong about him. You did.
I have always been "GLAD TO SEE AJAMI" on TV,Print,or the Internet because he "SEEMS" to be "OUR GUY", the CREDIBLE MIDDLE EASTERNER who sees things through OUR PRISM,yet ,TRUTH BE TOLD,Ajami could be a PROFESSIONAL 'TAQIYAH' ARTIST.Sometimes an author of Fiction (based on Current Events)GET'S IT RIGHT; for example ,there is a current bestselling novel, the latest in a continuing series by Author Daniel Silva,in which the JIHADIST TERROR MASTERMIND is an AJAMI-like character ,in France, who is in constant demand to do TV Analysis.
McCain wants to stay there another 5 years. Where does all this money come from and what have we won?
It never seems to end with these Islamist leaders, but let's try to all be optimists and hope some miracle happens where all Islamists someday simply stop believing that the intentions and the will of the Creator are transmitted to Its creation through the words and thoughts generated from the Qur'an. The jugular will have been cut and everyone can watch the Beast actually dying. Hooray!! The nightmare is over, and what a wonderful world this will be ...!
If things keep going the way they seem to continue doing, year after year, one day the first nuclear terroristic expression will occur, and this will be a sad day for sure. Cheer up though because now the reason will exist where all the leaders of Islam will be rounded up, all violent ones will die fighting for Islam, and after a couple years the Islamist Beast will be so battered and wounded as to be considered dead.
I don't think anyone has actually spelled out to the Islamist leaders that if they keep up this rhetoric, eventually something will happen, and the response will be that they will be the first to go.
They actually believe they can win if all hell breaks loose.
I think an American General, of considerable Rank, Tricked out in full Combat Gear. should pay Sistani a personal visit. Inform him of just how many will be entering Paradise and the speed they will be arriving. If he wishes to make such an unpeacefull gesture.
The old Skunk is out marking his territory. Grandpas days are numbered. Considering how revered this old Skunk is, a legacy of sending the flower of Muslim Youth to certain Paradise would be right up his alley.
Make this Skunk question the strength of his sent. Being isolated and all. All the other players being pretty much neutralized. Just having a face to face with an Infidel of Great Standing may make his Blood Pressure go straight through the Roof. Solving everyones problem in a really nice Bloodless way.
flowerknife us, a military general yes; they only respect strength, and rational conversation is nonsense to them.
To every Islamist leader who one day sounds off like Sistani, with words someone should speak words that put fear in his heart.
Five years from now or ten years, when the first terroristic expression happens history will record exactly when and why Islam died.
...
"McCain wants to stay there another 5 years. Where does all this money come from and what have we won?
Posted by: Exposing Islam "
it isn't going to happen, just like in Viet Nam, when the Democrats were in control, they will pull the same stunt...they will not approve of money to support the war...effectively disarming the troops and directly snatching victory from the US...I remember that PINKO Walter Cronkite describing the battle of HUE as a huge American Defeat...for the record 216 US troops died , about 650 South VIetnamese troops died, but over 5,000 enemy troops died. As the the North Vietnamese began to withdraw, it was clearly a defeat for them, but thanks the the MSM protrayal of a US defeat and the contant rantings of the AntiWar crowd in the US, ( which the North VIetnamese General Tin said inspired his troop into further attack against the American...Look! we are winning), it appeared to be an American defeat..when in fact, the battle of Hue was a victory and a big one.
Now,in Iraq, thanks again to the MSM, the antiwar crowd, and the Democrats, the same thing is happening again.