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Sharia Alert from the Christian Science Monitor:
The creation of a new constitution for Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region was meant to be relatively straightforward. But instead, Kurdish Islamic parties have courted controversy by calling a greater role for sharia, or Islamic law.
"The Kurds are a Muslim nation and we have to follow Islam," says Mohammed Ahmed, a member of parliament for the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), the largest Kurdish Islamic party in the regional parliament, the Kurdistan National Assembly.
Such calls may well go unheeded by secular parties which hold 80 percent of seats in the parliament, where a cross-party committee is now drawing up a draft constitution.
However, the demands for Islamic law reflect the growing popularity of Islamic parties like the KIU and its smaller, more radical rival Komala, which was once allied with the Al-Qaeda's Kurdish offshoot Ansar Al-Islam. While unlikely to change the political power balance in Kurdistan any time soon, the Islamic parties may cultivate the ground for more radical ideas to take root.
"The KIU could become an organization that germinates radicals," says Joost Hiltermann, Middle East Project Director at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG). "People will join it and then later feel that it doesn't go far enough and then go on to join other more radical groups."
Such radicalization could pose problems for the US, which relies heavily on the Iraq's Kurds' long-standing opposition to radical Islamic groups to gather intelligence against Arab and Islamic insurgents. The US now plans to build a network of long-term military bases in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq -- known as Kurdistan.
Iraq's Kurds are ethnically distinct from Iraq's Arabs, with a separate language, culture, and history. Unlike Iraq's Arabs, Kurds have traditionally seen Islam as a personal issue.
"[Kurds] are ... unlikely to respond to the calls of a fundamentalist notion of Muslim brotherhood," Sarah Keeler, a lecturer and specialist in Kurdish issues at the University of Kent in England.
Rather than advocating loyalty to Islam over nationalism, Kurdish Islamic parties are seizing the moral high ground against Kurdistan's ruling secular parties, whom they accuse of corruption and economic mismanagement.
In that position, the KIU would be taking a page from the Hamas and Taliban playbooks, among others who have advocated political Islam as a solution to all the problems they believe to originate in secular government.
[...]
But experts say that throughout Kurdish history, ethnic identity, rather than religion, has been the main unifying force.
Famous last words: "But that won't happen here."
Posted by Marisol at July 7, 2006 9:02 AM
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instead, Kurdish Islamic parties have courted controversy by calling a greater role for sharia, or Islamic law..."The Kurds are a Muslim nation and we have to follow Islam," says Mohammed Ahmed, a member of parliament for the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU)
They are determined. Everywhere they are determined. They have greater determination to have their way than do the moderate Muslims, and certainly more than do most non-Muslims.
Posted by: Archimedes![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 7, 2006 10:29 AM
Foehammer,
"What a mess" about sums the situation up. Everywhere they get some land, they start talking about sharia. It is happening in Somalia. It happened in afgha and iraq, and we have yet to see the consequences of all this. With kurds and somalians joining the party, things can only get worse.
at July 7, 2006 11:45 AM
Arjun: I see no alternatives. We must remove our ground forces from urban centers in Afghanistan and Iraq. We should remove our troops from South Korea. The United States should bolster our borders like never before in our history.
Next, the U.S.A. should start using lethal force in the form of missiles and airplanes and bombs against weapon facilities in Iran and North Korea. There's been too much talk already. We know this dance by now. Even the Vatican has run out of patience with Islam.
Finally, Muslims should be rounded up and removed from Western shores.
It really is this clear and simple. The reasons that nothing concrete is being done, however, have everything to do with rich elitists and their banking accounts. I never thought I'd start to side with Michael Moore on some issues, but I can't argue with my own two eyes and two ears.
The Bush Administration is screwing up in letters so big, the HOLLYWOOD sign shrinks in comparison.
at July 7, 2006 11:53 AM
"The best lack all conviction
while the worst are full of passionate intensity...
What rough beast slouches toward Bethlehem
to be born?"
-W.B. Yeats: "The Second Coming"
Fanatics, unless met with greater force, can overwhelm the half-hearted.
Is the survival instinct so weak that the tyrannizing one can dominate it so easily?
(The Kurds, historically, were no sweethearts during the Armenian Genocide as This shows (click on "articles" under "Armenian Genocide"), so their tendency toward Islamic jihadist mania may not be as hard to understand as modern analysts of the current threat may grasp.)
We need to destroy the miltant Islamicists in the Kurdish Zone now, while they are still baby rattlesnakes.
Wating will only let their venom mature.
Posted by: profitsbeard at July 7, 2006 12:00 PM
I no longer think it is worth the effort in some regions, Profitsbeard. We should concentrate on getting the bastards out of our own countries.
Posted by: Foehammer at July 7, 2006 12:11 PM
Foehammer,
I regarded NK as a threat, but from what I have been reading today, they don't even have food. With Japan and Seoul stopping all food that was going there, they are in for more trouble. And kim dong knows he will be fried if he actually tries to hit SK or Japan, which he will try. The major problem that is not being addressed is the proliferation of missile tech by NK to pak and the mutual proliferation by both these to iran. The islamic bomb is no more a myth. And there is the fact that the prince of saudi arabia has toured the pakistani nuclear locations on more than one occasion. Some analysts say that pakistan got the funding for its nuclear programme from saudi arabia. (they would have gone down if it not were the U.S. aid sustaining them.) I read a lot of stuff and it scares me. When I try to tell it to people I get to be called paranoid.
at July 7, 2006 12:16 PM
Arjun: I've read the same things. This is why I know hitting North Korea is the right thing to do. You should see how the stocks crash everytime that upstart S.O.B. fires off his toys. He doesn't care if his people starve -- he's being used by the Chinese as a means of keeping the U.S. economy on the rocks and our military on high alert. In the meantime, the trade surplus is far, far in the favor of the Chinese. There is no balance and they love it that way.
NK, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia (and others I'm sure) are all in league together and should be treated with the same force. Then China needs to be smacked on the hands and told to get in line. The corporations will scream, but as it stands, greed in the United States is the main cause of all the coming misery. These corporate bloodsuckers are what's controlling policy in Washington and does anyone think that they ever visit Jihad Watch?! LOL.
They are too busy counting their coins to care about the big picture.
Posted by: Foehammer at July 7, 2006 12:22 PM
Comrades! We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all." [Nikita Khrushchev , February 25, 1956 20th Congress of the Communist Party]
Does this sound like the preaching of the Muslim clerics. Only Allah counts, the individual does not. When the individual is not free to think and free to prosper then he is either a slave or a dead man.
at July 7, 2006 12:22 PM
Yes, but when the rights of the individual go too far, it is equally dangerous. Just look at the Hippie-elite in the Dhimmicratic Party. Think those boozers, drug addicts and homosexuals and sex addicts that are hiding among them care one iota about upholding family values, maintaining a strong military, defeating Islam and protecting the Constitution? Only so far as it serves them and never further.
Posted by: Foehammer at July 7, 2006 12:27 PM
Foehammer,
China is not revaluing its currency and that is what gives it a huge surplus. And it opened the doors for FDI thereby lifting its economy. What the American and Indian companies investing there overlook is the territorial ambitions of China. And when war breaks out, we are hit economically as well for the simple reason that our companies were fool enough to take the tax holidays offered by the Chinese and set up plants there. Like yourself, I believe that the high level delegation sent by China to persuade NK to desist from testing, actually finalised the date for testing. China is cooking its own meal by stoking the fire of islam. I think that the time for islamic languages is almost passe. Cantonese speaking will be in great demand in the near future.
at July 7, 2006 12:29 PM
foehammer-
Radical Kurdish imam targetted Hellfire missiles, or, even cheaper, piano wire in a dark ally around the neck of a rambunctious 'cleric', wouldn't break the bank. And might keep Kurdistan from becoming Iran, Jr.
They'll be causing trouble somewhere if we don't stop them everywhere.
Posted by: profitsbeard at July 7, 2006 12:33 PM
Profitsbeard: I agree, they are going to be trouble, but I'm always thinking in strategic stages. Right now we are in a strategic position to smack the hell out of North Korea and Iran. We should strike while the anvil is hot.
When we curb the Islamic immigration and outlaw it in the West, then we can funnel the enemy back to shores that we already monitor better than our own countries (at least it seems to me somedays).
Then we go after the places where we can gain real allies in Muslim territories -- and that means "Islam free" allies. We most definitely should target leaders and fight fire with fire. We should most definitely use our Special Forces and espionage at every turn. We should most definitely tell the Islamic world: "If you get out of line one more time, Mecca is going to be a sheet of glass."
Basically, we need to get Medieval on these maniacs, but we do it smartly.
Arjun: You may very well be right. Chinese Muslims is a frightening proposition. I know that I never take my eyes of China for long. They have been building up their Air Force for over a decade now. This is not the action of a nation bent on simply defending itself -- they want to be able to counter American airpower in the Persian Gulf and the Taiwan Straits when they are finally ready for aggressive action and expansion.
If Islam takes hold in China, then that will only add fuel to the fire that's already burning hot.
Posted by: Foehammer at July 7, 2006 1:09 PM
Could the U.S. being in trouble?
This is one of my favorites. From Alexander Tyler. No, he wasn't writing about the United States. This quote is well over one hundred years old. Tyler was writing about the fall of the Athenian Republic.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage
at July 7, 2006 1:34 PM
from above
regarded NK as a threat, but from what I have been reading today, they don't even have food. With Japan and Seoul stopping all food that was going there, they are in for more trouble.
On the tv news today, it is being said that Korea had Hawaii as a target for its long range missles and Korea now has several missiles now on the launch pad.
Looks like it is getting to be put up or shut up time.
You need to be praying to whatever God you believe in. It doesn't look good.
Posted by: exsgtbrown at July 7, 2006 1:57 PM
americaningermany,
Yes, it is the same story everywhere. Countries are investing in China in greed. Indian cos. have done so, American cos. have done so, and now you are the one informing of Germany. I need not even say what is gonna happen.
at July 7, 2006 2:45 PM
Interesting quote, exsgtbrown; I don't agree with the (probably desired)assumptions that since NK was "tageting" Hawaii we're all in imminent peril. I think its just another ploy by NK to amp up anxieties in the US, cause more political demands to "appease this 'nuclear' power" before Seattle/Honolulu/etc. evaporates, and thus increase our financial package of appeasement to NK. Just a medium-sized fish in a small pool that wants to pretend he's a big boy. Arm Japan with "defensive weaponry" and NK's boisterous actions will diminish until he feels we are weak/distracted again.
As far as the Kurds go, we should do all we can to support a sectarian government and crush the sharia contingent: every small piece of land that falls under sharia law is one step closer to the caliphate. Ignoring any government leaning toward implimenting sharia will certainly cause us much more danger in the future.
Posted by: oregonjack
at July 7, 2006 3:41 PM
Isn't it strange (well, actually not) that every time west spends its hard earned money and their soldiers' blood to give a muslim country its freedom and they turn back and implement a Sharia based constitution? This guarantees that the country is gonna become an economic disaster & then they start hating West for their misery.
Actually I am more bothered about the stupid leaders, both western and Indian that they fail to see these obvious statistics. World statistical knowledge should be made a very basic requirement for every person wanting to contest any election in any country. They should realize that both Communism and Islam are a sure shot tool to completely destroy a country's economy.
Posted by: SafetyFirst at July 7, 2006 3:45 PM
Here's a good link to look further into the Alexander Tyler quote above - very interesting...
http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/tyler.asp
Posted by: oregonjack at July 7, 2006 4:43 PM
Why should we the west decide what is best for them,
Because Islam is a virulent, highly dangerous form childishness. Sooner or later, they’re gonna have to brought under control; maybe that time is now.
610 * 623 * 732* 1066* 1215 * 1453 * 1492 * 1683 * 1928 * 1938 * 1948 * 1996 * 2001
I mean would we allow them to decide what system is best for us?
They’re already well into that very process. It’s time to strike back for Good and Justice, at the direct expense of Evil.
Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at July 7, 2006 5:49 PM
So? Doesn't everybody like a good party?
Posted by: Bohemond_1069 at July 7, 2006 8:03 PM
LOL. The Russians are worried about NK, too. They are afraid that a NK missile intended for the U.S. might end up hitting them instead.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200607072221.htm
Posted by: arjun.sevak at July 7, 2006 10:54 PM
Arjun, can't blame them. NK couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside of the barn.
BTW, here is the link to the Times India cover I told you about:http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101060626,00.html
at July 8, 2006 11:08 AM
Bohemond,
She is a model wearing the jewellery that a Hindu bride wears on her wedding day. I looked for Time over here today, the covers are different.
Sorry about the late posting. There was a storm here and my wiring shorted. Took the electricians full day to replace it and get the electricity working.
Posted by: arjun.sevak at July 8, 2006 1:01 PM
Minus the headphones. :)
Posted by: arjun.sevak at July 8, 2006 1:03 PM
Arjun, thought as much, I've seen similar jewelery on Ebay for sale. Glad you got your electricity up. Been raining cats and dogs here too. Good to see you back.
Posted by: Bohemond_1069 at July 8, 2006 2:11 PM
Bohemond,
I did not know Texas was as dry as Arizona. Driving in these circumstances is hazardous, to say the least. Read your J/W post only now. Hope she's better.
at July 9, 2006 2:19 AM
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