At last, someone takes up the issue of the nearly forgotten elephant in the living room. "Candidates On Fighting Islamic Extremism," from CBS, October 23 (thanks to Twostellas):
Obama:* Says if he gets a shot at bin Laden, he will take it - with or without Pakistani permission.
* Would send in more troops to Afghanistan.
* Wants to give Pakistan $7 million to build schools, roads and health clinics.McCain:
* Says it’s a mistake to be so explicit about violating another country territory, but leaves little doubt he would go after bin Laden even if that would be necessary.
* Would send in more troops to Afghanistan.
* Supports non-military aid to Pakistan, but has put no price tag on it.(CBS) To help you make an informed decision in the presidential election, CBS News is devoting a large part of our broadcasts until Nov. 4 to telling you where the candidates stand on major issues - from the war in Iraq to health insurance to education … and a lot more. Each piece will be an in-depth look at the issues facing the 44th president. In this installment, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports on how what Barack Obama and John McCain propose to do about Islamic extremism would affect the world.
The Issue
The driver of an orange-and-white car shown in a video tape is a suicide bomber. He just barely misses an American convoy. The threat of Islamic extremists on the battlefield is so deadly, the only way to win is to shoot first.
But to Greg Mortenson, the real battleground is in the Hindu Kush, where Muslim children have no schools. For him, a classroom is the best weapon against terrorists.
"I think they fear education and literacy much more than they fear a good gun battle," Mortenson said.
Since 1993, Mortenson has been building schools in mountains so dangerous you take your life in your hands just crossing a river.
"Fifteen years later, now we have 78 schools, about 28,000 students and our primary focus is on girls' education," he said.
He is competing against religious schools called madrassas, teaching jihad to young boys who graduate to terrorist training camps. And his 78 schools are badly outgunned.
"Today, there's about 25,000 extremist madrassas with about four million mostly boys going to school, learning about militant ideology," he said.
Why is that? Does anyone know or care? Do they really think that there are 25,000 "extremist madrassas" because people don't have roads or scholarships?
"Doesn't sound like a fair contest," Martin said."It's just a drop in the bucket," Mortenson said.
A drop in the bucket against a fanatic ideology that, for a decade now, has spawned monstrous attacks on Americans.
The Candidates
There is no more visceral issue than the battle against Islamic extremism. And from the beginning, both candidates have put it at the center of their appeal to voters.
For both men, it begins with hunting down Osama bin Laden and other top terrorists - wherever they are.
"We cannot tolerate a terrorist sanctuary, and as president, I will not," Sen. Barack Obama said in May. "We must make it clear that if Pakistan cannot or will not act, we will take out high-level terrorist targets like bin Laden if we have them in our sights."
Obama makes no bones about it - if he gets a shot at bin Laden, he will take it - with or without Pakistani permission.
Sen. John McCain says it’s a mistake to be so explicit about violating another country's territory, but leaves little doubt he would do exactly the same.
"There's a guy out there in Afghanistan or Pakistan," McCain said in March. "You know his name: Osama bin Laden. And if I have to follow him to the gates of hell, I'll get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice."
The battle against bin Laden and Islamic extremism began in Afghanistan. Seven years later, the United States has 32,000 troops there, and it is still not clear which side is winning.
"Our commanders on the ground in Afghanistan say that they need at least three additional brigades - and our commanders in Afghanistan must get them," McCain said.
Both candidates say they would send in more troops.
"As Commander in Chief, I will have no greater priority than taking out these terrorists that threaten America, and finishing the job against the Taliban. That's why I've called for at least two additional U.S. combat brigades," Obama said.
The U.S. military is already planning to send four more combat brigades - about 15,000 troops - and both candidates seem likely to approve. Both also recognize that's not enough. It will take what's called "soft power."
Obama wants to give Pakistan $7 million to build schools, roads and health clinics. McCain also supports non-military aid, but has put no price tag on it.
Has either one even been asked about the evidence that the Pakistani government has jihadists in high places, and that much of the money we have given them to fight "extremists" in the past has...gone astray?
In Los Angeles, McCain said: "Our goal must be to win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of moderate Muslims who do not want their future controlled by a minority of violent extremists. In this struggle, scholarships will be far more important than smart bombs."
Does study of the roots of "violent extremism" enter into this struggle against it and attempt to win hearts and minds? Are we too politically correct even to allow ourselves to know what we're dealing with? Does McCain, does Obama have a plan for combating the Islamic supremacist ideology that renders so many of our attempts to win hearts and minds fruitless?
Does anyone even wish to know or care where this problem came from? They continue to assume that it's all about poverty, despite the fact that so many studies have shown that jihadists tend to be wealthier and better educated than their peaceful peers. Scholarships and roads will fix it. But have they even considered the possibility that some Muslims may wish to wage jihad against the West even after they receive scholarships and schools and roads and health clinics?
Is it forbidden even to raise the possibility that some Muslims will consider that an attempt to buy them off, and will hold all the more tenaciously to their ideology of violence and supremacism?
declare victory and leave Pakistan and Afghanistan, leave these miserable cretins to their own demise...and cut off all aid, monetary and military..
Obama: "* Wants to give Pakistan $7 million to build schools, roads and health clinics."
well, this has already been tried...The Muslims destroyed the roads and blew up the schools and health clinics...
McCain: "* Supports non-military aid to Pakistan, but has put no price tag on it."
Muslims love an open checkbook...
The proper thing to do is to Ban Muslim Immigration.
It is clear fact is that neither has a stated plan to deal with Islamic supremacism.
The best thing that the anti-jihadists in the American public can do is focus on the Congressional elections.
See my article on list of individuals in Congress who have been afraid to confront Jihad at:
-- Jihad and Congressional Elections - You Decide
http://anti-jihad.org/blog/2008/10/jihad-and-congress/
where the candidates stand on major issues
This news release from CBS has to be the MOST uninforming one on jihad in a long time.
Since when is getting Osama bin Laden a major issue? Who thinks he should be left alone?
How about the jihad taking place within the West? THAT is the issue I want to see them address.
They never will. It's why the winner of this election doesn't matter.
obama: dhimmi
mccain : dhimmi
any questions?
There is certainly much ignorance on both sides of the isle regarding Jihad and Islam, but the idea that the parties are indistinguishable is nonsense.
It is the Democratic Party that is the champion of the those two insidious political ideals that are destroying out country and our civilization from within. I'm of course referring to multiculturalism and political-correctness. Republicans may have bought into them to a certain extent (Bush's "Islam is peace" is the most obvious example), but theirs is mostly a defensive acquiescence, not an aggressive advocacy, like it is among Democrats.
Obama enthusiastically revealed in a filmed interview that he looks forward to "slowing the development of America's weapons programs" in order to divert more money to social programs. McCain has never said anything remotely similar.
Both may be ignorant of the nature and nomenclature of Jihad, but only one will be prepared to defend America's interests in any coming confrontation with specific Muslim states. The idea that "the winner of this election doesn't matter" is preposterous.
In Los Angeles, McCain said: "Our goal must be to win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of moderate Muslims
Groan...There are no moderate Mohammadans...
Obama wants to give Pakistan $7 million to build schools, roads and health clinics. McCain also supports non-military aid, but has put no price tag on it...
Groan...Jizya must stop...
Both candidates say they would send in more troops.
Groan...The military junkie likes nothing better than to send in the troops.
Being the most powerful man on Earth is too much power for either candidate to wield appropriately.
Of the two, it is Obama who would most likely
mess up the most.
Both of them will mess up as President...Guaranteed...
The lesser of two evils is still evil, but I will still go for the lesser.
McCain may not be a good choice, but he is the
best of the two...His scary level is about 6 on a 1-10 scale where Obama's is 9.5...a no brainer if you are awake...
"I'm of course referring to multiculturalism and political-correctness. Republicans may have bought into them to a certain extent (Bush's "Islam is peace" is the most obvious example), but theirs is mostly a defensive acquiescence, not an aggressive advocacy, like it is among Democrats."
Cornelius,
Whether it's a "defensive acquiescence" or an "aggressive advocacy", the end result is still the same. Both parties have sold us out. Their motives don't matter.
Please tell me: what will John McCain do to prevent another 9/11? Fighting in Afghanistan won't be enough. Killing Osama bin Laden won't be enough. Killing every member of al Qaeda won't be enough. The seed has already been planted.
The lesser of two evils is still evil, but I will still go for the lesser.
The choice is between a slow route to destruction and a quicker one. McCain's might be slower but he and Obama are taking us down the same path.
nobody watches CBS anyway
PMK: "Whether it's a "defensive acquiescence" or an "aggressive advocacy", the end result is still the same. Both parties have sold us out. Their motives don't matter."
RESPONSE: They do matter. An aggressive cancer is much more virulent than a non-aggressive one. With the latter, there's more time to find a cure. Meanwhile, where are the Rick Santorums and the Tom Tancredos of the Democratic Party? Why were the words "radical Islam" never heard during the Dem debates, but were heard often during the Republican debates?
PMK: "Please tell me: what will John McCain do to prevent another 9/11? Fighting in Afghanistan won't be enough. Killing Osama bin Laden won't be enough. Killing every member of al Qaeda won't be enough. The seed has already been planted."
RESPONSE: My gut instincts tell me that John McCain will be much less predisposed to political correctness in terms of domestic surveillance of mosques and other Muslim entities, even less politically correct in terms of the discourse on Islam, and certainly MUCH less inclined to capitulate American interests to terrosrist states like Iran.
I like you PMK, but as I've written before, you tend to think in absolutes.
Will McCain do enough to identify and effectively fight the Jihad? Most likely not.
Does that mean it's inconsequential who wins the election? Hell no!
... he and Obama are taking us down the same path.
Posted by: PMK
Agreed in principal. What's left is just details...
McCain's phony old-man fight against 'terror' or whatever he will call it will discredit and weaken the very forces needed for a real fight. I believe Obama will draw the line for us and harden our resolve and close our ranks just by being the latte metrosexual socialist creep he is. I want my socialism and anti-Americanism and multicultural doggerel NAKED and in plain sight - then just maybe we can diagnose and cure ourselves.
What a wonderfully-efficient, cost-effective, inexpensive way to fight the jihad: Ban muslim immigration into the West, and deport those muslims already here.
Heck, we could even cut the defense budget and taxes, both. 'sounds like a keeper.
The guy quoted in the article about building 78 schools is the subject of the book "Three Cups of Tea" While I disagree with his stated reasoning in the book of what causes extremism, I do certainly agree with his fix (educate women).
While we sit around angry, pounding away on keyboards, this guy has really done a super-human effort. So the book has some faults (what book doesn't?) It does give some insight to the problem that hasn't gone away in 1400 years.
Pick up a copy, will help explain how totally hosed the situation is.
HotSpur:
"Ban muslim immigration into the West, and deport those muslims already here."
I do pharmaceutical research. Drugs are one of the few things left that America produces. Because pharma research is mainly done by PhD's, that means it is mainly done by foreigners, including many Muslims. There are also many, many Chinese, and I guess they would have to leave as well because they are evil commies.
I am a white male in pharma reseach, and I am in the minority by far. So your suggestion is to deport those people that are contributing to one of the few productive industries we have left. That should help the economy. Of course, all the patriotic unskilled service workers and ditch diggers can stay right here.
Hope, Change & Reality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmmoKwCQbRA&eurl=http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/
Cornelius,
You call them absolutes, I am speaking in concrete terms. What is there that is concrete about John McCain's policy?
The slow cancer gives you time to find a cure but 9/11 was over seven years ago. We haven't BEGUN to even look for a cure. Why?
Why is it wrong to ask them to SHOW US?
We don't have time for parables.
This is an election. I am being asked to make a concrete choice. Have I no right to concrete information? Apparently not.
THAT is why it doesn't matter who wins.
My gut instincts tell me that John McCain will be much less predisposed to political correctness in terms of domestic surveillance of mosques and other Muslim entities, even less politically correct in terms of the discourse on Islam, and certainly MUCH less inclined to capitulate American interests to terrosrist states like Iran.
Compared to whom?
Europeans? Obama? Biden?
To say he is "MUCH less inclined" also suggests that Obama is "less inclined".
Regardless of how aggressive they are, all cancers are fatal if left untreated. Where is there any indication that McCain is going to seek to limit this cancer's metastasis?
It is impossible to know which candidate would do a better job against the jihad threat, since only one will get the actual chance to be president and we will be left wondering how the other one would have faired. [Would Gore got us mired in Iraq after 9/11? No one can answer that question.] But running through many of the posts is the statement that Obama is tainted and his liberal mindset will prevent him from doing the right thing to protect our country and wage war on those who want to kill us. This is patently silly, unless you truly believe that Democrats in general are, as the dunce from Alaska, has suggested in her speeches, anti-American. In that case the country is doomed since it seems that about half the country subscribes to these evil Democratic viewpoints and policies.
For the rational among us, lets dispense with this juvenile outlook on politics. I am a liberal Democrat, a loyal JW reader, and though I disagree with just about everything McCain wants to do, I do not believe for a second that he doesn’t sincerely want to help and protect this country and is motivated by his convictions on what is the right thing to do. The fact that we don’t agree does not make him evil, it makes him (from my perspective) wrong. Political discussion should be about trying to understand the arguments of the other side, and refute it logically.
Since it seems highly likely that we will have President Obama for a least 4, if not 8 years it seems to me that we should be more sanguine about his tenure. If you agree with my premise that he is not a traitor to his country, and despite your disagreement with his ideas and ideals, he is motivated by the what he perceives as the good of the country then consider the following: he will get the same intelligence from our intelligence establishment; he will have the same high ranking officers serving under him in the military; he will have to confront the same facts that there is an organized effort by jihadists world-wide trying mightily to harm this country. The upshot is that, in my opinion, his decisions, while potentially different than McCain’s, would not be dramatically different.
"Fighting in Afghanistan won't be enough. Killing Osama bin Laden won't be enough."
Posted by: PMK
Agreed. The near single minded focus by McCain and Obama on Bin Laden suggests they haven't really thought the problem through.
OK, let's suppose OBL is taken out, along with however many of his lieutenants you want, by whatever means. Then what? Will Al Queda then announce its dissolution? Will the Taliban close down all the madrasses or convert them to girls' schools and go back to tending goats? Will Saudi Arabia announce the indefinite suspension of Dawa? Will the Pakis in Britain announce they're tired of the cold and rainy weather and are returning home? Will Dinnerjacket announce that the Mahdi visited him in a dream and told him he should love the Jews and leave Israel alone? Will Hamas and the PLO annihilate each other in spectacular fratricide? .....
Hmmm...it appears that both McCain and Obama both need to engage brain before opening mouth.
PMK: "You call them absolutes, I am speaking in concrete terms. What is there that is concrete about John McCain's policy?"
RESPONSE: For one, one can derive from their public statements that McCain is certainly less eager than Obama to acquiesce to Iran's nuclear ambitions.
This may not satisfy your concerns about the "soft" Jihad, but it IS SOMETHING.
If you honestly think there's no difference, then vote (or abstain) accordingly. I support McCain wholeheartedly as the PRONOUNCED lessor of two evils.
dave742 -
Did you know that the very first telethon was held sixty years ago? It pitched: "The Cure for Cancer". We're waiting.
I imagine that you have a whole crew of muslims on the job, right? Doing jobs Americans won't do? Maybe, the problem is that the boys are seeking the cure through the qoran (q'oran / qo'ran / qor'an / qora'n / (whatever)) instead of through actual research.
Somehow, I can't take a scientist who believes in the q*'* seriously.
On the other hand, I am willing for a real scientist - one who renounces islam - to stay in America. The rest can pound sand. In the Middle East.
PS: What have you guys invented recently, anyway? I mean, since aspirin?
#1. NOBAMA has spouted more lies, has more questionable ties with terrorists/radicals, including Odingo and the **HOPE** that he would learn about radical islam is lost on him BECAUSE HE WOULD BE THE ONE WHO KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT ISLAM IS ALL ABOUT because he was schooled in it!
#2. My 4th choice for prez was McCain and there is nothing I can do because he got more votes from numbskulls in this USA, but he is not as devastating a choice as NOBAMA. And that goes right down to the selection of judges, to many other things concerning security and intelligence in our country and abroad. NOBAMA has voted against them way too often.
Heck, we got the majority of people who have their heads in their behinds about islam - our government, and parents, and security agencies still allow the MSA in our schools!
We certainly haven't learned from history the fact that we allowed the communists to gain control of our media, schools, and other organizations - we get such creeps as NOBAMA even being selected as candidates for any office in our government shows that way too many people have been brainwashed in that idiotology (misspelled on purpose).
oh well, I could go on - but what I see happening - in about 10-15 years, maybe sooner, we will have islam so infiltrated and brainwashed our students, our young adults, our future - helped along by the media/schools that we are going to be in a big hurt.
I blog with muslims on a Catholic forums and can tell you that those 'moderates' are not so 'moderate' and they are in full deception mode. I can only guess what they do on our campuses and we have already seen that they are getting islam (their version) into our kid's school books. Try writing to your politician about it... time would be better spent yelling outside your doors - at least the cops would be called and you know that something is being done about the noise. Our politicians are not listening and nothing is being done to stop the muslims.
A MUST HEAR AUDIO INTERVIEW:
http://michaelsavage.wnd.com/?pageId=2256
An interview with Democrat attorney Philip J. Berg, former deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania, and his lawsuit demanding Barack Obama present his original birth certificate to prove he was born in the United States and qualified to serve as president.
I just heard this interview last night and it blew my mind. This coupled with his refusal to release his college records (possibly because he applied for and got foreign student aid) would make him the biggest fraud in American history.
Can't say it's a "right wing conspiracy" when it's a democrat and former deputy attorney general who is the force behind this.....
dave742 -
Fill your hand, dave [SIC], I just smacked you up side the head. I've insulted you. Be a man.
I vote for smart bombs. Lots and lots of smart bombs. And, the sooner the better.
HotSpur:
Sorry I didn't get back to you quick enough. I was working. I don't know what "fill your hand" means. I didn't see how you smacked me upside the head, but I'll respond to your statements.
"Did you know that the very first telethon was held sixty years ago? It pitched: 'The Cure for Cancer'. We're waiting."
If that is really what they pitched, then they were lying. Cancer cannot be "cured" in the sense you probably are speaking of.
"I imagine that you have a whole crew of muslims on the job, right? Doing jobs Americans won't do?"
We have some Muslims in our company, Yes. I don't know why you say they are jobs that "Americans won't do." The jobs pay in the 6 figures, and I think a lot of Americans would like to make that much. You have to be educated, though.
"Maybe, the problem is that the boys are seeking the cure through the qoran...instead of through actual research."
The Muslims I know are very good scientists.
"Somehow, I can't take a scientist who believes in the q*'* seriously."
And you are probably not a scientist, so I don't think you have to worry.
"On the other hand, I am willing for a real scientist - one who renounces islam - to stay in America."
The scientists I know are not going to renounce their religion.
"The rest can pound sand. In the Middle East."
Yes, you already stated your position. I doubt that the US government will follow your advice, however. There was an article today how Bush will announce in Nov. that the US is even setting up a "special interests" section in Iran. Anyway, once the US economy really starts to dive, and its only just begun to do so, you might not have to kick anyone out anyway. People work here for the higher income. Once that goes away, people will leave the US, and you will be happy. This "brain drain" will accelerate the US economic decline even further, and it wwill snowball. You'll be happy, because the "evil" people will be gone. When this happens, I will follow the "evil" people and leave the US. I will be a "terrorist" then. Cool. I hope I get a T-shirt. It will be interesting to watch the US from afar when they try to build their economy on doing chores for each other while producing nothing.
"What have you guys invented recently, anyway? I mean, since aspirin?"
How about LSD?
Otherwise, not a whole lot. Pharmaceuticals are basically a scam. I make a lot of money off of it, though. My group just put an interesting compound in the clinic that works great in mice. Probably won't work on people, though. At least we cured mouse cancer. If it does anything in humans, it will maybe lengthen lifespan by 2 or 3 months. If it does that, it will make it to the market and we'll charge cancer patients $50,000 a year for it, and if you don't have insurance, you'll have to decide whether to die a few months early or go broke. Even with insurance, you'll still spend a lot for copayments. Must be nice to have cancer and lose your life savings at the same time. Good old US of A.
"Fill your hand" explanation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3AX4nw6JDg
undaunted:
Certainly not my kind of movie, but thanks for the explanation. So what happens? The guy on the hill shoots the bad guy before the bad guy shoots John Wayne?
The sad part is that the horse died. I like animals more than most people.
adobe, I heard that interview with the DAG of PA last night, too (on Michael Savage). My question is, why hasn't the RNC spent a few dollars to send someone to Kenya (it would only be a fraction of the cost of Palin's clothes) to do a due diligence on this? The answer to the question posed by the assertion is either yes or no, either Obama was born in Kenya, as alleged, in which case he is ineligible to be POTUS, or not. So instead of loudly speculating about it ad nauseum, just go find out and let us know the results. Anything else is just hot air.
I became aware of Greg Mortenson this summer when my sister-in-law told me about his work. Since then there was a post here on JW describing how the Taliban had destroyed a large number of schools in the Northern areas of Pakistan. I wonder how many of the schools destroyed by the Taliban were schools created by Mortenson and how many are left.
His story is told in the book "Three Cups of Tea"
More on the Obama ineligibility thing. It is ridiculous that this subject should even be coming up. Actually, the correct procedure SHOULD be that candidates for the presidency should be certified for eligibility by their respective organizations, by means of appropriate court-verified documentation, BEFORE their names are even permitted to be placed in nomination. A minimal background check and certification of a kind used for security clearances should also be undertaken. No verification/certification, no nomination. Why isn't there already in place a procedure for doing these?
Posted by: dave742 at October 24, 2008 2:12 PM
Nice work there. You spent a nice sized paragraph lauding your education and the abilities of fellow Muslim scientists and then proceed in the next paragraph to call your entire field a scam.
I take it that you don't work on the marketing end?
The degree of your self-loathing is quite amusing.
Spencer 2012
awake:
No, I don't work in marketing. I'm a chemist. I don't loathe myself. I'm stuck in a bad system (capitalism), and I do the best I can under that system. The way it works now, 95% of the money spent for researching drugs is wasted. In a good system, we could do a whole lot more.
daud742 -
I think I smell a lab rat.
My guess is that your kind of research involves publishing papers that no-one reads in exchange for a place at the public teat. Somehow, I am comfortable with you and your muslim boffins packing your test tubes and returning to the Middle East. If, perchance, you ever produce something useful - we will purchase what we need. (If we haven't already developed a better substitute here.)
Yeah, my guess is that your lab's success is the kind measured in ongoing federal grants.
HotSpur:
"your kind of research involves publishing papers that no-one reads in exchange for a place at the public teat"
I do not work in academia. I work for a pharmaceutical company. Remember when I said that?
"Yeah, my guess is that your lab's success is the kind measured in ongoing federal grants."
Once again. I work in a pharmaceutical company. We do not get federal grants. BTW, do you know where most of the real research gets done? In academia. They do all the groundbreaking work (off the public teat), and when they come up with something that looks good, they hand it off to the pharma companies and they make the profit. The public sector gets the work done, the rich people make the profits, and the poor people in Kansas support the system.
daud742 -
What I was speaking of: 'cure' - it's like when you have a headache, you take a pill ... and it goes away.
I think I'll write a paper on it. There's money in it (so I am told).
"I'm stuck in a bad system (capitalism), and I do the best I can under that system."
Posted by: dave742 at October 24, 2008 3:44 PM
Oh boy, here it comes. The oppressive capitalist system that poor Dave, by way of some mysterious force, cannot escape. The pharma baddies, hiding in the shadows, obviously blocking passage of their prized chemist, preventing his escape through emigration from the dungeons of the US to the utopian paradise abroad.
daud742 -
Academia is the public teat. Where have you been?
Now here's a great endorsement:
CAIRO — America's Muslims have welcomed former secretary of state Colin Powell's criticism of Republican smear campaigns propagating that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was a Muslim in disguise.
"[They are] a real morale booster," Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR)'s Chicago office, told the Chicago Tribune on Friday, October 24.
"With many politicians looking the other way out of political expediency, here was someone who called truth to power."
What if Obama is Muslim? Powell
Endorsing Obama for presidency, Powell, a Republican, has criticized Republican candidate John McCain's smear campaigns against the Democratic aspirant....
Read entire piece:
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1224694260128&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
Common political thinking is "If it ain't Osama or Al Queda, it ain't terrorism"
For instance, I've heard Rush & other pundits say a hundered times that there has been NO acts of terrorism in the USA since 9/11...all due to the leadership of President Bush, of course.
I guess the Chapel Hill driver and all the others were just "rouge" Muslims, perverters of a Religion of Peace.
McCain and the winner-to-be Obama promise more of the same.
The debate over the trajectory of the western sociopolitical system and its strained relations with Islam is the most pivotal of our time. Muslims are in one of the most difficult phases of their history when malicious attacks including allegation of terrorism are being made on Islam and Muslims all over the world. The malicious campaign against Muslims is politically motivated. The world is obsessed by Islam. Anti-terror measures are ruining lives of Muslim youths. If you go around arresting young Muslims, you are going to find that you are going to ostracise this community. Young Muslims don’t need to be ostracized, they need to be engaged. According to the Arch Bishop, Rowan Williams, acceptance of some facets of Sharia not only “seems unavoidable”, but could actually improve social cohesion. Muslims should be able to choose to have marital or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia Court. Such courts should therefore be incorporated into the British legal system as a constructive accommodation with Islam. Schools are being asked to help “win hearts and minds” in the battle against violent extremists on both sides. British born Imams should go into schools to supplement the teaching of RE, PSHE and Citizenship so that all pupils can learn about the Holy Quran and Islam in the context of a multicultural society. OFSTED must make sure that their services should be fully utilised by the schools, otherwise, it will be waste of public money.
The British Establishment is wrong to assert that Imams and Masajid have been radicalising Muslim youths. The roots of extremism are in the British society and schools where institutional racism is at its peak. The racism within schools has got little media coverage. The school attended by 7/7 bombers in a part of Leeds known for its history of racial tension between British Asians and native Brits. Leeds council was so worried about the violence that it had to call in Foundation for Peace, a government funded peacekeepers who were used to keep Catholics and Protestants from killing one another in Northern Ireland. True message of Islam should be promoted because British media and society have always portrayed Islam in a negative way since Crusades and the siege of Vienna in 1683. School Curriculum should be used to convey a deeper understanding of Islamic faith, history and culture. Prison is not the answer of those who are vulnerable to, or are being drawn into violent extremism unless they have clearly committed an offence.
The greatest challenge to humanity is learning to live in a crowded and interconnected world that is creating unprecedented pressures on human society. The rector of Oxford’s largest Anglican Churches has called a Muslim call to prayers from the main Masjid “un-English”. This is a clear case of intolerance. Gibraltar is a British colony. Five Pound currency note has a queen image on one side and on the other side there is an image of the Muslim Conqueror with a sword in his hand. There is more hatred of Muslims seduced by the Western media, education system and church leaders like Bishop Nazir Ali. Catholic nuns have worn veils for centuries, with no public controversies arising. There is no reason why any girl’s school uniform can not now be modified to include a veil. Wearing a veil to school or to work must be a matter of choice for all.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
Iftikhar -
Maybe it's just me, but I'm comfortable going around arresting young muslims. And, deporting them.
"Must be nice to have cancer and lose your life savings at the same time. Good old US of A."
from above
A couple of comments: I'll never understand why people who seem to hate it here so much don't just leave. Especially if they make a 6 figure salary and can go wherever. Unless it's that they can't make that kind of money anywhere else? It's also interesting that a big portion of that spent "life savings" probaly winds up in the pockets of pharmaceutical "researchers" who make 6 figure salaries.
On the other hand you could have cancer in a socialist country and never would have to worry about having had a "life savings" to lose. Yeah, I guess that would be better. (sarc)
Substitute the words "America" and "American" for "Britain" and "British" in "Iftikar's" comment and you can see the path we are heading towards - a lot faster than we realize.
Iftikhar: are you really trying to say that young Moslems are being put into jails despite committing no crime, that they are put in jail from sheer "racism"?
There is no excuse for violence. "Vulnerability"? Surely an acceptable reaction to perceived "racism" would be to leave the country. After all, their parents emigrated to England. People change countries really quite often. Perhaps they could find a pleasant Islamic country which would allow them to immigrate? Then they would have no reason at all to be extremist. But if England is the only place they can bear to live, why not work out WHY it is the only bearable place, and get on with life and enjoy what England offers and be grateful.
You make these Moslem youths sound like spoilt brats. I have sympathy for Moslems in, say, Darfur, but not England. They are surely the lucky ones.
"This is a clear case of intolerance."
Posted by: Iftikhar at October 24, 2008 5:49 PM
Islam is a clear case of intolerance.
Muslims are in one of the most difficult phases of their history when malicious attacks including allegation of terrorism are being made on Islam and Muslims all over the world.
Posted by: Iftikhar at October 24, 2008 5:49 PM
What "allegation of terrorism" are you speaking of? When terrorists openly admit to blowing up stuff and killing people, even rejoicing in it or bragging about it, when there is hard evidence for it, when it is captured on film, it's not just an "allegation." Sorry if it brings you discomfort when your Muslim coreligionists act so badly. But instead of being so self-centered on your embarrassment that you feel you must shift the blame to victims of terrorist bombings, beheadings and mayhem, why don't you spend your time cleaning your own house of the terrorist vermin giving you such a bad name?