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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: chalu2 who wrote (18599)	12/25/2002 7:55:16 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 23908

Iraqi Muslims declare holy war on U.S. 'God curse them, and they will go to hell by the hand of God' December 25, 2002 Hundreds of Iraqi Muslim leaders gathered in an "emergency session" to declare a worldwide holy war against the United States if their country is attacked, the Ottawa Citizen reported. "Let's wage jihad together to face the enemy and the infidel," said Imam Omar Hussein Asengawy, according to the Canadian paper. Chants of "Curse them" rang through a conference hall in the northern town of Kirkuk on Monday, where about 600 preachers met under the auspices of the government. The clerics warned Kurds not to side with U.S. troops, but to fight in defense of a unified homeland, the Citizen said. Omar issued a fatwa – an authoritative religious ruling – warning Muslims around the world that it is their duty to wage holy war against the U.S. if Iraq is attacked. "Allahu Akbar – God is Great – Allahu Akbar," came the roar from the clerics as Omar opened his remarks. "The wicked Americans are using everything against us," he said. "They are using weapons of mass destruction to destroy Iraq." One irate preacher, who stood to echo the chant of "Curse them," said U.S. President George W. Bush "wants to come to Baghdad and say, 'Hey Saddam, I'm in charge,' so God curse them, and they will go to hell by the hand of God." Omar, quoting from the Koran, said God "will never give victory to the infidel." He explained that Muslims can declare jihad if someone attacks their land, their honor or tries to change their religion. "Jihad has been imposed by God on each Muslim," read a banner in the conference hall. The Ottawa newspaper notes that Kurds in the northern provinces of the country are vital to both U.S. and Iraqi war plans. They occupy part of the route American troops would use for a ground assault from the north, while forming a key ethnic minority that Saddam Hussein wants to maintain. The overwhelming majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, like Saddam and his ruling elite, but their 1961 uprising for independence laid the foundation for their opposition to the ruling Iraqi regime. 'War on Islam' According to a Reuters report in November, Iraqi preachers launched fierce verbal attacks on the United States and Britain at Friday prayers, urging Muslims to rise up in a jihad against the "infidels and crusaders" and saying a war on Iraq would be a war on Islam. "Bush: Who are you, you little dwarf, to threaten [the prophet] Muhammad and the sons of Muhammad?" demanded Sheikh Bakr Abdelrazzak Samaraei at the Mother of All Battles mosque, before thousands of people. "Who are you, perverts of the world?" the sheikh said, according to Reuters. "Who are you sons of monkeys and pigs, to threaten the nation of Muhammad? Today, the preacher declared, "the jihad is a must for every Muslim. By God, we will defy you with our words and then our arms ... . By God, we will defeat you and wipe you out." Saudi jihad warriors Islamic militants in Saudi Arabia have said that Saudis are ready to take up arms to defend Iraq if the U.S. attacks the country, the BBC reported in November. A religious scholar told the BBC, on condition of anonymity, that thousands of people in tribal areas in the north and the south of the country knew how to use arms and would not stand idly by if America invaded Iraq. During the 1980s, many Saudi jihad warriors volunteered to fight the Russian army in Afghanistan. Many more, the BBC said, would be prepared to embark on jihad in Iraq if America attacks the country. worldnetdaily.com

To: chalu2 who wrote (18599)	12/26/2002 4:41:46 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

The change has to come from within - slowly. No other country can impose democracy on a nation that (for the time being) believes it is a good idea to stone to death a woman who committed adultery, just as we could not impose the "Miss World" thing on a nation who believes in hiding women's bodies from men's eyes. you cannot discount the dangers of religious fundamentalism, which seem to be fueling violence in Nigeria (Miss World Riots), in Kashmir, India proper, Pakistan (bombings of churches or church-goers), and the Phillipines. Sporadic events like this will always happen anywhere. We just started to notice them re Muslim religion, because of the heightened awareness on the topic in the past year or so. I am afraid riots and sporadic bombings here and there will always happen, and they are the internal affairs of a country. They will have to deal with it in their own way. By the way, if you take a look into the subject, you will see that Kashmir situation is a little more complex than religious fervor. how do we address this, if the root source is an indoctrinated belief that the "enemy" represents a hostile and evil culture that must be opposed I just realized that the above sentence looks awfully similar to Bush et al talking about "the axis of evil" <g> (Seriously, I am beginning to see a similarity in rhetoric here, not unlike the Soviet era cold-war doctrines on both sides.) What can be done? Start with the (correct) assumption that a significant majority of Muslims are not interested in "holy war" or any sort of war. Remember that Islam has been around for ages, and that it is now that the hostilities have begun. Also note that the attacks are not against all countries with Christian majorities, nor are there any attacks markedly religious in nature - i.e. I don't see anyone attacking Vatican, for example. What this leaves us is the undeniable fact that the main target is America & Israel, not "the western lifestyle and non-Islamic belief systems". I think we first need to answer the question "Why?" - because the US is the most powerful country, because its foreign policy in the Middle East has not be ideal, because.....?