Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RetiredNow who wrote (223383)	3/10/2005 8:09:32 PM
From: RetiredNow	Respond to of 1573820

Finally. It took Spanish Muslims just 1 year to condemn Osama. As a community, they have taken a step towards sanity and civility. In the mean time, American Muslims still have not condemned Osama, 3+ years after 9/11... thecouriermail.news.com.au Muslims issue bin Laden fatwa From correspondents in Madrid 11mar05 SPAIN'S Islamic Commission said today it was issuing a decree against al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in the name of whose network last year's Madrid train bombings were claimed. "We are going to issue a fatwa (religious decree) against bin Laden this afternoon," said Mansour Escudero, who leads the Federation of Islamic religious entities (Feeri) and is co-secretary general of the Spanish governmenmt-created commission.

To: RetiredNow who wrote (223383)	3/11/2005 1:19:25 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573820

Consider the message that the leaders of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah were sending to President Bush through their mass rally in Beirut: "Hey, Bush, you want a piece of us? Well, come and get it. Remember what Stalin said about the pope: how many divisions does he have? When it comes to divisions on the ground, pal, we've got 'em. You don't. So nobody is going to remake Lebanon without our permission and without our interests being taken into account." This message is the direct result of the invasion of Iraq and Bush's taunting. Its why the bible says that violence begets violence. Its what worries me. What is the right response to this? I would begin my answer with an assertion: What we have been seeing in the outbursts of democracy in the streets of Beirut, Baghdad, Cairo and even Riyadh is something real and authentic. It is driven both in response to particular events - like the murder of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri - and in response to a deep longing in this part of the world for a different future, particularly among young people, who know what is going on elsewhere and want their own piece of the freedom pie. "It was our Boston Tea Party," said the Lebanese political analyst Nawaf Salam, speaking of the recent spontaneous pro-democracy demonstrations in Lebanon, which Hezbollah tried to counter on Tuesday with its own pro-Syrian rally. "People feel empowered for the first time; they are feeling that their voice matters - that they can say things," added Mr. Salam, whose recent book, "Options for Lebanon," is the best road map you will find for thinking through how democracy may emerge there. "It is not yet victory, but for the first time in a very long time, people are feeling, 'I can make change.' And there is a real sense of fraternity and unity." Tienanmen Square happened 16 years ago. Was that China's Boston Tea party? They said so at the time. The spreading virus that "things can change and I can make a difference" is the most important thing happening in the Arab world today. It is symbolized by the Egyptian opposition's motto: "Enough." And everyone is watching everyone else now - and comparing. An Egyptian businesswoman remarked to me, with a real sense of envy, how free and alive and energetic the Lebanese opposition protesters seemed, compared with those in Egypt. The fact that Hezbollah had to resort to a mass rally, just like the Lebanese democracy movement's, is itself a victory for the democrats. Hezbollah clearly felt that it must prove it is as popular a force as the democratic opposition. But something tells me that those Hezbollah demonstrators who were waving the picture of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, were uncomfortable. And this is Hezbollah's weak spot: deep down, it and its supporters know that when they raise the pictures of Syria's president, they are raising the question of whose interests they have at heart. I still think its too early for this kind of celebrating. I don't trust the forces that are in play in the ME. They have been around a long time and they are strong. The Lebanese opposition tried very much to get Hezbollah to join them. In the West, that's what would have happened........Hezbollah would have joined the opposition and fought the good fight. In the ME, it doesn't work that way. That is the tell......and I think Westerners have a hard time understanding that kind of mindset. Its all about who gave you your last buck and not.......liberty, freedom and the pursuit of happiness....IMO. ted