“The politics of the sword” brings joy to the heart of Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed. Note that the only moral compass he has is the idea that what is good for the cause of jihad is good, and what isn’t isn’t — not any absolute moral standard. This phenomenon I discuss in my book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). From AP, with thanks to David:
MILAN, Italy (AP) — Italian police were listening as the man identified as an Egyptian radical shouted with joy while watching a video of the beheading of American Nicholas Berg by his al Qaeda captors.
“Come nearer, watch closely, this is the politics you have to follow, the politics of the sword,” he advised another man as Berg’s screams rang out.
“Go to hell, enemy of God, kill him, kill him, cut it well, cut off his head,” he said.
Authorities say the statements recorded from phone taps and microphones show that Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, a 34-year-old Egyptian facing trial in Milan next month on terrorism charges, preached a radical form of Islam and the need to carry out holy war against Western elements….
In the May 28, 2004, conversation about the Berg tape, Ahmed’s co-defendant, 22-year-old Egyptian Yahia Ragheh — described by authorities as a would-be suicide bomber — questions Ahmed’s assertions.
“It’s not a sin?” he asks.
“Who said this?” Ahmed replied. “It’s never a sin … because the cause is never a sin … Are you scared? Are you shocked?”
“No no, I think it is a sin, I only think it’s a sin,” Ragheh said.
“When you enter a movement it’s never a sin because there’s a cause, the Islamic cause, all in hell … everyone finishes in hell, everyone. For those who wound Islam the end is this.”