Ted Re..TIME: What is it that turns a middle-class kid from Kuala Lumpur into a jihadi? He's not despairing. He has a comfortable life. Now he's suspected of trying to bomb a mall in Indonesia? A Catholic from Italy would never go on a mission for the I.R.A.
CHANDRA: The feeling of despair is much greater and more widespread for Muslims; it cuts across class lines.
MUSTAFA: Muslims believe in life hereafter, in heaven and hell as described in the Koran. So if a Muslim sacrifices his life he believes he will be rewarded. They are preparing for the next life. They want to die as martyrs.
AKBAR: The poor socioeconomic conditions of so many Muslims make heavenly afterlife a very attractive proposition. For Muslims, jihad is not just cleansing the inner spirit; it is also a call for a holy war which has been heard since the beginning of Islam. There's a saying by the Prophet: "Paradise comes under the shade of swords." This is not an invitation to kill. It is an invitation to die. Only martyrs are guaranteed paradise. Jihad is a signature tune of Islamic history. And the call for a true jihad has always evoked a response all over the world.
And these idiots wonder why the western world, specifically america, is against fundamentalist islam. Heres a clue. Stop the jihads.
As it is, there is hardly any democracy in the Muslim world, which is one of the terrible problems afflicting it. And most dictatorships have the protection of the West because of the cozy relationship between power and oil.
Bingo, democracy should revolutionize the relationships, and enhance Americas reputation, not hurt it.
I feel that the Muslim world is a decade away from its own French Revolution, except that this upsurge is going to be led by various shades of Islamists, thanks to the policies of leaders like Bush. France and Germany understand this, which is why they have taken the stand they have taken. What Bush does not understand is that you cannot exercise power without understanding the limits of power.
He has his analogies mixed up. The west needs power, such as a democratic arab society, to keep the islamic fundamentalists at bay. At any rate, Gw will try to install democracies based upon western fundamentals, such as Turkeys, before the Islamists get enough power to install theirs. How Germany and France could possibly want the arab world to install more islamic societies such as the Taliban in Afghanistan, who actively preach jihad against the west, is beyond me. Even the partial islamic society in Iran is under attack, and likely to be westernized, so I don't see a big push to islamic societies. Iraq is the start of a containment policy,to not let the clerics get too much powe, just as the cold was, and in the end, islamic societies will opt for western style democracies, because a western style democracies have proven, they can meet the societies needs. Once proven, it is likely the rest of the arab world will embrace democracy as their salvation, just as over 100 other nations have done since WWI.
After the coming invasion of Iraq there is going to be tremendous outrage in the Muslim world. Every sort of argument will be used to increase the outrage against America. The moderates are going to be pushed away.
They used the exact same argument when we went into Afghanistan. It hasn't happened yet. |
