To see what we're up agaist over in the mideast, read these paragraphs from an article in the WSJ. The very last sentence is so telling of their thought process:
Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been trying to rally his countrymen around his pro-Washington stance in meetings with top religious and political leaders. But he has yet to win the backing of people in areas closest to Afghanistan, where many Pakistanis say they are ready to join a holy war against America -- and possibly their own government -- if the U.S. attacks Afghanistan.
At mosques, in shops and on the streets of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, people are expressing deep anger at the idea of a Pakistani-supported strike in retaliation for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Religious leaders called for a general strike and street protests Friday to oppose military action. On Tuesday the local branch of Jamiat Ulema Islam, a major pro-Taliban political party, held a meeting of about 100 members in Peshawar, near the Afghan border, to urge authorities not to participate in an assault.
"The reaction of the general public will be extremely severe" if there is a Pakistani-supported assault, said Abdul Jalil Jan, the branch's deputy director. If there is war on Afghanistan, then "both will fall -- America and Musharraf's government," Mr. Jan said.
Party delegates and many others in Peshawar said they condemn last week's terror attacks, but added that they believe the Israelis staged them in an effort to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment. When asked who he thinks committed the terrorism, Maulana Abdul Malik, the party's regional boss, replied softly: "The Jews." |
