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The Wrong War
The West was united after 9/11. It understood that it now faced an awesome threat from forces inspired by an ethos of blind hatred, religious intolerance, and ideological insanity. The time had come to wage a war of ideas against that threat, a war that the course of the West’s entire intellectual development had prepared it to fight, and without which the continued evolution of humanity would be impossible.
Unfortunately, the Bush Administration, itself a bastion of blind hatreds, irrational ideology, and imperialistic fantasies that would have shocked and digusted the Founding Generation, chose to instead re-fight the last war, the Gulf War. It chose to put personal vendettas, family alliances, vainglorious dreams, and short-sided economic agendas ahead of this noble and essential cause. And all the while, as this May 21, 2006 Washington Post expose reveals, the authentic enemies of freedom, of democracy, of spiritual pluralism, and of the rights of women, have continued to propagate their venomous ideology across the globe.
Mr. President, with allies like the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia, have we any need of enemies?
*****
This is a Saudi textbook. (After the intolerance was removed.)
By Nina Shea
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Saudi Arabia's public schools have long been cited for demonizing the West as well as Christians, Jews and other "unbelievers." But after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 -- in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis -- that was all supposed to change.
A 2004 Saudi royal study group recognized the need for reform after finding that the kingdom's religious studies curriculum "encourages violence toward others, and misguides the pupils into believing that in order to safeguard their own religion, they must violently repress and even physically eliminate the 'other.' " Since then, the Saudi government has claimed repeatedly that it has revised its educational texts.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, has worked aggressively to spread this message. "The kingdom has reviewed all of its education practices and materials, and has removed any element that is inconsistent with the needs of a modern education," he said on a recent speaking tour to several U.S. cities. "Not only have we eliminated what might be perceived as intolerance from old textbooks that were in our system, we have implemented a comprehensive internal revision and modernization plan." The Saudi government even took out a full-page ad in the New Republic last December to tout its success at "having modernized our school curricula to better prepare our children for the challenges of tomorrow." A year ago, an embassy spokesman declared: "We have reviewed our educational curriculums. We have removed materials that are inciteful or intolerant towards people of other faiths." The embassy is also distributing a 74-page review on curriculum reform to show that the textbooks have been moderated.
The problem is: These claims are not true.
A review of a sample of official Saudi textbooks for Islamic studies used during the current academic year reveals that, despite the Saudi government's statements to the contrary, an ideology of hatred toward Christians and Jews and Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine remains in this area of the public school system. The texts teach a dualistic vision, dividing the world into true believers of Islam (the "monotheists") and unbelievers (the "polytheists" and "infidels").
This indoctrination begins in a first-grade text and is reinforced and expanded each year, culminating in a 12th-grade text instructing students that their religious obligation includes waging jihad against the infidel to "spread the faith."
Freedom House knows this because Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi dissident who runs the Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs , gave us a dozen of the current, purportedly cleaned-up Saudi Ministry of Education religion textbooks. The copies he obtained were not provided by the government, but by teachers, administrators and families with children in Saudi schools, who slipped them out one by one.
Some of our sources are Shiites and Sunnis from non-Wahhabi traditions -- people condemned as "polytheistic" or "deviant" or "bad" in these texts -- others are simply frustrated that these books do so little to prepare young students for the modern world.
We then had the texts translated separately by two independent, fluent Arabic speakers.
Religion is the foundation of the Saudi state's political ideology; it is also a key area of Saudi education in which students are taught the interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism (a movement founded 250 years ago by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab) that is reflected in these textbooks.
Scholars estimate that within the Saudi public school curriculum, Islamic studies make up a quarter to a third of students' weekly classroom hours in lower and middle school, plus several hours each week in high school. Educators who question or dissent from the official interpretation of Islam can face severe reprisals. In November 2005, a Saudi teacher who made positive statements about Jews and the New Testament was fired and sentenced to 750 lashes and a prison term. (He was eventually pardoned after public and international protests.)
The Saudi public school system totals 25,000 schools, educating about 5 million students. In addition, Saudi Arabia runs academies in 19 world capitals, including one outside Washington in Fairfax County, that use some of these same religious texts.
Saudi Arabia also distributes its religion texts worldwide to numerous Islamic schools and madrassas that it does not directly operate. Undeterred by Wahhabism's historically fringe status, Saudi Arabia is trying to assert itself as the world's authoritative voice on Islam -- a sort of "Vatican" for Islam, as several Saudi officials have stated-- and these textbooks are integral to this effort. As the report of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks observed, "Even in affluent countries, Saudi-funded Wahhabi schools are often the only Islamic schools" available.
Education is at the core of the debate over freedom in the Muslim world. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden understands this well; in a recent audiotape he railed against those who would "interfere with school curricula."
The passages below -- drawn from the same set of Saudi texts proudly cited in the new 74-page review of curriculum reform now being distributed by the Saudi Embassy -- are shaping the views of the next generation of Saudis and Muslims worldwide. Unchanged, they will only harden and deepen hatred, intolerance and violence toward other faiths and cultures. Is this what Riyadh calls reform?
religion@freedomhouse.org
FIRST GRADE
" Every religion other than Islam is false."
"Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words (Islam, hellfire): Every religion other than ______________ is false. Whoever dies outside of Islam enters ____________."
FOURTH GRADE
"True belief means . . . that you hate the polytheists and infidels but do not treat them unjustly."
FIFTH GRADE
"Whoever obeys the Prophet and accepts the oneness of God cannot maintain a loyal friendship with those who oppose God and His Prophet, even if they are his closest relatives."
"It is forbidden for a Muslim to be a loyal friend to someone who does not believe in God and His Prophet, or someone who fights the religion of Islam."
"A Muslim, even if he lives far away, is your brother in religion. Someone who opposes God, even if he is your brother by family tie, is your enemy in religion."
SIXTH GRADE
"Just as Muslims were successful in the past when they came together in a sincere endeavor to evict the Christian crusaders from Palestine, so will the Arabs and Muslims emerge victorious, God willing, against the Jews and their allies if they stand together and fight a true jihad for God, for this is within God's power."
EIGHTH GRADE
"As cited in Ibn Abbas: The apes are Jews, the people of the Sabbath; while the swine are the Christians, the infidels of the communion of Jesus."
"God told His Prophet, Muhammad, about the Jews, who learned from parts of God's book [the Torah and the Gospels] that God alone is worthy of worship. Despite this, they espouse falsehood through idol-worship, soothsaying, and sorcery. In doing so, they obey the devil. They prefer the people of falsehood to the people of the truth out of envy and hostility. This earns them condemnation and is a warning to us not to do as they did."
"They are the Jews, whom God has cursed and with whom He is so angry that He will never again be satisfied [with them]."
"Some of the people of the Sabbath were punished by being turned into apes and swine. Some of them were made to worship the devil, and not God, through consecration, sacrifice, prayer, appeals for help, and other types of worship. Some of the Jews worship the devil. Likewise, some members of this nation worship the devil, and not God."
"Activity: The student writes a composition on the danger of imitating the infidels."
NINTH GRADE
"The clash between this [Muslim] community (umma) and the Jews and Christians has endured, and it will continue as long as God wills."
"It is part of God's wisdom that the struggle between the Muslim and the Jews should continue until the hour [of judgment]."
"Muslims will triumph because they are right. He who is right is always victorious, even if most people are against him."
TENTH GRADE
The 10th-grade text on jurisprudence teaches that life for non-Muslims (as well as women, and, by implication, slaves) is worth a fraction of that of a "free Muslim male." Blood money is retribution paid to the victim or the victim's heirs for murder or injury:
"Blood money for a free infidel. [Its quantity] is half of the blood money for a male Muslim, whether or not he is 'of the book' or not 'of the book' (such as a pagan, Zoroastrian, etc.).
"Blood money for a woman: Half of the blood money for a man, in accordance with his religion. The blood money for a Muslim woman is half of the blood money for a male Muslim, and the blood money for an infidel woman is half of the blood money for a male infidel."
ELEVENTH GRADE
"The greeting 'Peace be upon you' is specifically for believers. It cannot be said to others."
"If one comes to a place where there is a mixture of Muslims and infidels, one should offer a greeting intended for the Muslims."
"Do not yield to them [Christians and Jews] on a narrow road out of honor and respect."
TWELFTH GRADE
"Jihad in the path of God -- which consists of battling against unbelief, oppression, injustice, and those who perpetrate it -- is the summit of Islam. This religion arose through jihad and through jihad was its banner raised high. It is one of the noblest acts, which brings one closer to God, and one of the most magnificent acts of obedience to God."
Nina Shea is director of the Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901769_pf.html
Off topic, but this is an important story: example #5,469,222 of why, YES, it REALLY DOES MATTER who's on the Supreme Court:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/washington/30cnd-scotus.html
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it harder for government employees to file lawsuits claiming they were retaliated against for going public with allegations of official misconduct.
By a 5-4 vote, justices said the nation's 20 million public employees do not have carte blanche free speech rights to disclose government's inner-workings. New Justice Samuel Alito cast the tie-breaking vote. . . .
Posted by: mbk at May 30, 2006 11:04 AM
Ah yes, more of those freedoms our soldiers are dying for, eh?
Alito Shuffle
On topic...
Mega-church minister linked to paramilitary video game
by jhutson
Mon May 29, 2006 at 05:33:30 PM PDT
Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life.
-snip-
This game immerses children in present-day New York City -- 500 square blocks, stretching from Wall Street to Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations headquarters, and Harlem. The game rewards children for how effectively they role play the killing of those who resist becoming a born again Christian. The game also offers players the opportunity to switch sides and fight for the army of the AntiChrist, releasing cloven-hoofed demons who feast on conservative Christians and their panicked proselytes (who taste a lot like Christian).
Is this paramilitary mission simulator for children anything other than prejudice and bigotry using religion as an organizing tool to get people in a violent frame of mind? The dialogue includes people saying, "Praise the Lord," as they blow infidels away.
more...
http://tinyurl.com/rjla9
God, please let Jesus come back and tell these assholes what he really thinks of them...
Matthew,
Thank you for the research involved to bring that to our attention. It sounds like the Saudi government has been using propaganda on us too.
Personally, I can't help picturing God, Allah, Jesus and who knows who else up there cringing at how their name is being used to inflict hate and death on others.
If 85% of recently-polled military in Iraq still think they are there to retaliate for Saddam's role in 9/11 (a lie they are brainwashed with), no wonder atrocities are occurring in which civilians are being killed.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_robert_p_060530_bush_s_my_lai.htm
As for the video game, I had lunch once with a follower of that minister. She told me she would shoot her children before she would deny Christ.
I wrote this a few days ago, as I read this header, I kept thinking it is not the Saudis kids we should be the most terrified of. I wrote this, because I did not know what else to do with it all.
The 'New' South
My neighbors kid and his two friends were walking while black again, and it just so happened they were brought to ground by the cops right outside my home, directly in front of what I believe to be his own bedroom window next door. They were all sat down on the sidewalk in a row. By the time I looked outside to monitor my own kids, my neighbors kid and friends were already in the complete control of our finest.
Now, I do not know what caught the cops notice, but the fact this keeps occurring can not be coincidence. I would say this is the third time in a year I have seen this kid stopped and he and his friends sat down until they could be 'checked out'. They are all late teens, early twenties. None of them have ever been detained longer than 'necessary'.
Just another day in the ghettos of the Deep South. Never once did I feel surprised or shocked at this unfolding before me. Just calm acceptance, curious concern. Nothing more than before. My own kids I heard around back, so I lingered, just to make sure. Of what, I don't know.
The cops knew I was watching too, I did not hide it. The busy corner next to us was teaming with cars coming and going from work. A mini rush hour. These young men had been commanded into sitting in a widely spaced row, parallel to the street in front of us. A very big cop with a very big gun stood almost within their ranks from behind, standing tall above them.
I suddenly realized I had forgotten how odd seeing a group of young men 'detained' on the ground before you was. As the entire neighborhood drove by, I stood there and felt humiliated for them. I watched them start sweating profusely in the withering Louisiana sun. They didn't even let them sit in the shade on the end of the building where at least two of their police cars were parked. The police radio cackling from somewhere behind the building seemed to echo even on a busy street.
The drivers and passengers on the street definitely noticed this spectacle, no way not too. I saw some of them that were slowed and gawking were on cell phones. I knew his parents would be along shortly.
The cars going by were occupied by these guys' friends and loosely related relatives. It is not like no one knows who they are, except apparently the cops who need to be reminded every 5 months or so. As they sat there on that steaming sidewalk facing the stares of everyone driving by, I could not help but to remember how very unfair our society is, and how we have come to not feel startled by it at all. I remembered how utterly humiliating and mocking it has become.
My neighbors kid saw me standing there watching silently. He flashed me a huge grin, while simultaneously looking somewhat relieved. We are not really 'close' or even 'friendly' but our families have lived peacefully beside one another for years. I think he was just glad to see an 'adult' that was not a cop. I smiled back, and all I could remember thinking was, I hope it seemed more reassuring than sad.
From beyond my range one cops says "Ok these guys are clean, no warrants.' And I almost screamed 'I could have told you that, unless they committed a major crime since the last time you checked!' I almost did scream it involuntarily, but then the cop standing over them on the sidewalk turned abruptly and looked at me right in my eye from across the distance. The directness of it startled me some.
Him, too, he grinned at me real big, and I swear to God my skin crawled. He told them "Ok, you can get up, everything is ok." He never left my gaze as he told them, 'You fella's have a nice day.'
Standing there eye to eye with him, from maybe ten feet away, I did not know what to say. We stood there like that as these kids got up quickly and walked around me to disappear into his house. The cop nodded at me and turned around and walked away. He never looked back, I know because I watched to see if he would. I wondered how the strangeness of it did not touch something raw and vital in the back of his neck. The cars took off and I watched them leave as quickly as they had appeared, already in possession of three young black men.
My neighbor kid stuck his head out the door and asked me 'Are they gone yet?" I told him yes, and he stepped back out with his two friends close behind. Him and the other older one were grinning and talking in high pitched rueful excitement. But the youngest one was shaking so hard I could hear his body popping in odd joints. If you can imagine a perfectly chocolate kid losing all color to him, I can testify it's possible. This kid was literally quaking in his boots as the other two made light of it all. He hardly seemed to be breathing, except in tight gasps and snatches of instinct. The others sensed it, and the sudden attention looked as if it would completely overwhelm him.
They calmed down a moment, and I asked the kid, 'Are you ok son? You want me to take you home?'
He started biting his lip, and just shook his head. His shaking calmed some but he stuttered badly telling me no. The other two teased a bit more lightly, and finally he at least started breathing normally. I said nothing and they went on another minute or so. They were actually quite funny about it. Dark humor, no pun intended.
They started moving back towards the door, and I made sure by asking the youngest again, 'Are you sure you're ok, darlin', you good?'
He nods yes, and says "I'm ok; I just hate it when they do that!"
Both the others said instantly, 'Yeah.' Without another word, they were gone, closing the door.
Just then my neighbor pulls up in a rapid dart, and comes up the same sidewalk her son had just gotten very familiar with, and in a rush asks me, 'Did those cops just have my baby out here again?' The worry is cleaved into her face.
I tell her, "Yes, and you will be happy to know he still does not have any warrants. He is inside." I pointed to her front door.
As she passed me, she stopped, and in her naturally soft voice and tone she said to me, "I hate it when they do that!" We just stood there staring at each other strangely.
I said, 'Yeah.", and nodded. She hurried inside shaking her head.
I looked at the cars going by. I could hear my own kids from the back in a wild conversation about 'cops and bad guys'. I watched the hot sun warm a perfect sky and my gaze lingered on the little pink house across the street, where an ancient, tiny woman lives. A police car pulled up to the stop sign beside it, and then leisurely passed my line of sight, going further up the street. Just another day in the neighborhood.
The scene appeared deceptively volatile, even while visibly returning to a normal calm. I felt queasy with tension. It was as familiar to me as the scent of the bayous. I walked inside my own house and once I locked myself into the bathroom, I cried for my nation.
She told me she would shoot her children before she would deny Christ.
Posted by: DiAnne at May 30, 2006 03:42 PM
She may not have to.
Matthew,
Thank you for the informative article. I actually have, in the past, been faced with the argument that Muslims (in general) believe in eliminating those they consider infidels. I argued that the Muslim religion does not teach violence and killing.
It is very good to have the information you shared. As you have said before, there aren't that many things that are black and white.
The really scarey part to me is that the leadership of our country appears to have close relationships with the Royal Saudi family. And that our leadership here at home has allowed some dominionist cult leaders claiming to be followers of America's most prevalent religion to infiltrate a major American political party and have input on major national policy decisions.
Bone chilling.
And as always, it made me think.
There is NOTHING Godly about whoever is behind this.
There is NOTHING Godly about whoever is behind this.
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at May 30, 2006 04:59 PM
Amen to that.
Can I get a witless?
I should have posted this yesterday...
Memorial Day 2006
Iraq Veterans Against the War | Statement
Monday 29 May 2006
Iraq Veterans Against the War will spend this Memorial Day in its true meaning of remembrance and not in decadent celebrations of the three-day weekend, barbeques, discount sales events, and flag-waving which has come to replace the image of fallen service members in the minds of most Americans.
We can not, will not, and must not forget those who have fallen from our ranks, and the ranks of previous generations, as we are they and they are we.
No matter what your political affiliation, views of the war or personal convictions, the sacrifice of all those who wear the uniform is undeniable. Instead of celebrating this weekend, let's take this time to reflect on what personal sacrifice really means.
Those men and women (over 17,000 of them) who return home from war maimed, missing limbs, or sustaining other major injuries have had their lives permanently changed and will forever struggle to have a normal life. As service members, we have lived with the constant anxiety of threats to our lives, have had our morals and consciences tested over and over, and have watched the lives of our friends and innocent Iraqis ripped apart. We will be scarred by those memories forever. The families who have been presented with a gold star know the depth of sacrifice that accompanies a lifetime of awakening without a dearest loved one.
We as Veterans are left with a mere reflection of our lost brothers and sisters in arms. Let us use this reflection to call ourselves to action this Memorial Day, and let us renew our vigor to continue our work to end this current war.
As a nation, many of us enjoy this day without questioning an administration that formulates a war plan based on lies, sends soldiers in harm's way without proper equipment, fires military personnel who question ill-prepared plans, and castigates civilians who, by speaking out, use and honor the very freedom those service members swear to protect.
On this Memorial Day, join with IVAW to demand:
Bring all troops home NOW!
Take care of those troops when they get home!
Reparations for Iraq!
One Soldier's Story on Memorial Day
By Garett Reppenhagen
The Progressive
Thursday 25 May 2006
Memorial Day is a painful reminder of our failed mission in Iraq.
Like every solider in today's armed forces, I chose to serve my country. I knew I'd most likely see combat, and I accepted that possibility as part of my duty to my country.
I was proud of my service as a peacekeeper in Kosovo, and honored to have served beside so many courageous men and women in Iraq.
During my time in Iraq, I saw the effects of war firsthand - the ravaged buildings, the lives horribly cut short and the haunted look of trauma that lingers in people's eyes.
I saw the fear, the sadness, the abject tragedy that even now I can't find words for. What I saw in Iraq will haunt me for the rest of my life.
My experiences there changed my view of this war. Before I was deployed, I - like many other Americans - thought that military intervention was the only way to protect America's security. But after I spent some time in Iraq, I came to question our reason for being there. I came to realize that this war is not making America a safer place.
If anything, it's made us less safe than before.
And as the conflict slides into civil war, the safety of the men, women and children of Iraq falls deeper into jeopardy. The Bush administration now forecasts a US military presence in Iraq through 2008, which is far longer than the initial estimates touted so loudly in the run-up to the war.
Meanwhile, it's become increasingly apparent to many Americans that, in Iraq, a military solution is no solution at all. According to a March 2006 Gallup poll, 60 percent of Americans view the war in Iraq as a mistake.
The past three years of war in Iraq have cost us too much - in resources and, most tragically, in human lives. More than 2,440 US soldiers have been killed to date, among them a number of my friends. In addition, countless thousands of Iraqi civilians have also lost their lives in this conflict.
As the death toll rises each day, I wonder how much more we can afford. How high must these numbers go before we decide that staying the course is far too expensive?
I don't pretend to speak for all veterans, or for all US soldiers. But as someone who served in Iraq, I believe that it's now my duty to bear witness. As Americans, we have a duty to voice our dissent, to stand up in protest when we disagree with our government's actions.
And despite what some may say, the fact that America is at war does not diminish this responsibility. If anything, war enhances the need for engaging in debate. Dissent is what makes democracy live and breathe. It's what keeps our democracy from being more than just another slogan.
On this Memorial Day, I dissent.
I have a name for the "God" who leads people to negate the worth of human beings and do whatever it takes to leave the game with the most money:
Daddy Warbucks.
This outrage just in:
After weeks of silence on the issue, it was announced today that President Bush has decided to bow to the demands from right-wing extremist groups and hold a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House to reiterate his support of the Federal Marriage Amendment. Fred Barnes reported in the conservative Weekly Standard, in newsstands today, that the Rose Garden press conference is scheduled for Monday, June 5th, a day before the Senate is expected to vote on the Constitutional amendment.
Before President Bush announces his renewed support for the FMA, call the White House and let him know that discrimination has no place in the U.S. Constitution. You can reach the White House comment line at (202) 456-1111.
The American people can now officially feel confident that their priorities are not what this President or this Congress are concerned about. Unfortunately, we have leadership in Washington that cares more about writing discrimination into our Constitution than they do about solving the problems of real Americans.
It is a disgrace that President Bush has yet again caved to extremists and continues to push their priorities rather than focusing on the issues that matter to the American people. President Bush will stand in the White House Rose Garden, a place often reserved for occasions of unity and justice in our country’s history, and instead use it as a backdrop to push discrimination against a group of Americans. The President has once again shown that far-right extremists are deciding the agenda for our country.
This news comes after weeks of intense pressure by leading right-wing extremists groups calling on President Bush to immediately speak out on the Federal Marriage Amendment. These groups attacked the White House when the only voices speaking out on the Amendment were First Lady Laura Bush and Mary Cheney’s comments against the extremists pushing the FMA for political purposes. Now, President Bush has decided he needs to tell them exactly what they want to hear.
Please, take a moment now to contact the White House and tell the President to stop using the Constitution as a political weapon to appease his radical base. You can reach the White House comment line at (202) 456-1111.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to equality.
Sincerely,
Joe Solmonese
President
Petitions in South Dakota could result in voter initiative that could halt the abortion ban
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/053006WA.shtml
Otherwise, SD will have abortions even in case of rape. My husband just drove through part of SD and says there are billboards every so often from the anti-choice crowd.
71 journalists killed in Iraq.
Iraq needs journalists.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1786522,00.html
Like military, they are getting harder to recruit. Where will be get our news?
Gore: Bush is Renegade Rightwing Extremist
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1786442,00.html
If Gore (& we) had known in 2000 what we know now.. I must say some of us suspected it but I don't think anyone knew how bad it would be.
Growing Echo of Vietnam in Iraq
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003027062_iraqnam29.html
Iraq War: Killing Cover-up
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/272001_marinesed.asp
Both papers also report demonstrators near Olympia WA being pepper-sprayed as they protested transfer of military equipment through their port
It is unfortunate that the writer of this article did not choose to provide necessary background for those completely unfamiliar with Islam.
Actually, the danger is the Wahhabism -- a strain of Islam prevalent in Saudi Arabia. It should be called by that name – not Islam. It is an extremist, seriously twisted view of Islam. It is NOT representative of much of the rest of the more traditional Islamic schools of thought which claim a much larger portion of the believers and which do not teach such radical jihadist ideas.
And they attack other Islamic schools which are not conservative enough to suit their views. (See historical bit below.)
Think of it as the Phelps guy in Kansas relative to Christianity. No one in their right mind would call him a representative Christian. He’s a nutcase who has raised a whole family of nutcases that use a perversion of Christianity to do what he wants to do – which is to hate people.
------
You can read more about Wahhabism here...
From a BBC article:
In fact, the term is properly used to describe an Islamic revivalist movement which sprang up in the Arabian peninsula in the 18th century.
Like many revivalists in the course of Muslim history, Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahhab, the founder of the movement, felt that the local practice of Islam had lost its original purity.
~snip~
The modern Saudi state is founded on the 18th-century alliance between the Wahhabi religious movement and the House of Saud - the family that has ruled the Saudi kingdom since its creation in the 1930s.
~snip~
They represent a radical fringe, rather than the Sunni mainstream.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1571144.stm
---------
from the metareligion site:
~snip~
The Wahhabi movement is considered the most conservative of all Muslim sects in its refusal to accept any revision of Quranic Law. It is essentially a purification of Sunni Islam that regards the veneration of images, ostentatious worship, and luxurious living as evil. Its goal is to return to the ideal, fundamental form of Islam of the era of the first four caliphs following the Prophet; it teaches that all additions to Islam after the third century of the Muslim era are false and should be rejected. Members describe themselves as Muwahhidun (Unitarians), those who firmly uphold the doctrine that God is one, the only one, Wahid. The Wahhabi view of Islam asserts that all who do not adhere to its beliefs are infidels, including mainstream Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Wahhabis practice an extreme form of Puritanism; they limit themselves to simple short prayers, worship in undecorated mosques where even the name of the Prophet cannot be inscribed, and refuse to celebrate his birthday. Many Islamic scholars and organizations have published denunciations of Wahhabism as a rigid minority sect intolerant of other forms of Islam. For one such article published by the Islamic Supreme Council of America, see http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/RadicalMovements/radicalism.htm
The Wahhabi Movement was founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the eighteenth century. In 1744, Abd al-Wahhab was exiled from his native city, Uyayna, because of his controversial preaching from his book Kitab al-tawid or Book of Unity . During his exile, he went into the northeast Nejd and converted the Saud tribe. Once the Saudi sheik was convinced that it was his religious mission to wage holy war, jihad, against all other forms of Islam, he began the conquest of his neighbors in 1763. By 1811, the Wahhabis ruled all Arabia, except Yemen, from their capital at Riyadh. The Ottoman sultan attempted to crush them by sending out expeditions, but to no avail. However, the Sultan met with success when he called on Muhammad Ali of Egypt, and, by 1818, the Wahhabis were driven into the desert. In the Nejd they reassembled their power and from 1821 to 1833 gained control over the Persian Gulf coast of Arabia. Their subsequent domain steadily weakened; nonetheless, a third triumph came for the Wahhabi movement when Ibn Saud advanced from his capture of Riyadh in 1902 to the reconstitution in 1932 of nearly all his ancestral domain under the name Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism remains dominant to this day. Members of the Wahhab family continue to hold prominent positions in Saudi Arabia because their ancestors helped the Saudi ruling family unify its kingdom in 1932. Wahhabism has also served as an inspiration to other Islamic reform movements, from India and Sumatra to North Africa and Sudan.
read more here...
http://www.meta-religion.com/Extremism/Islamic_extremism/wahhabism.htm
The Saudi situation is not a surprise to me. I follow the Israeli issue somewhat closely and know that the Arab nations will say one thing in English and another in Arabic. There should be no new revelations here. Why would we think that the Saudis (a good friend to the Bush family, but not to Americans) would act any differently than they have in the past? Is it an epipheny that Royalty will do whatever it wants? I don't think so. The Saudis in order to keep their power need to create an external enemy (sound famililar?).
As Americans we have to hold our government responsible for their relationsip with this hate mongering family.
Impeachment? No. Impalement!
by Will Durst
I don’t know about you guys, but I am so sick and tired of these lying, thieving, holier-than-thou, rightwing, cruel, crude, rude, gauche, coarse, crass, cocky, corrupt, dishonest, debauched, degenerate, dissolute, swaggering, lawyer shooting, bullhorn shouting, infra-structure destroying, buck passing, hysterical, criminal, history defying, finger pointing, puppy stomping, roommate appointing, pretzel choking, collateral damaging, aspersion casting, wedding party bombing, clearcutting, torturing, jobs outsourcing, torture out-sourcing, election fixing, women’s rights eradicating, Medicare cutting, uncouth, spiteful, boorish, vengeful, jingoistic, homophobic, xenophobic, xylophonic, racist, sexist, ageist, fascist, cashist, audaciously stupid, brazenly selfish, lethally ignorant, journalist purchasing, genocide ignoring, corporation kissing, poverty inducing, crooked, coercive, autocratic, primitive, uppity, high-handed, domineering, arrogant, inhuman, inhumane, inbred, inept, insipid, incapable, incompetent, ineffectual, insolent, insincere, know-it-all, snotty, pompous, contemptuous, supercilious, gutless, spineless, shameless, avaricious, noxious, poisonous, imperious, merciless, graceless, tactless, brutish, brutal, Karl Roving, backward thinking, persistent vegetative state grandstanding, nuclear option threatening, evolution denying, irony deprived, consciously depraved, conceited, perverted, peremptory invading, thirty-five day vacation taking, bribe soliciting, hellish, smarty pants, loudmouth, bullying, swell headed, ethics eluding, domestic spying, medical marijuana busting, Halliburtoning, narcissistic, undiplomatic, blustering, malevolent, demonizing, Duke Cunninghamming, hectoring, dry drunk, Muslim baiting, hurricane disregarding, oil company hugging, judge packing, science disputing, faith based advocating, armament selling, nonsense spewing, education ravaging, whiny, insane, unscrupulous, lily livered, greedy (exponential factor fifteen), fraudulent, delusional, CIA outing, redistricting, anybody who disagrees with them slandering, fact twisting, ally alienating, betraying, chickenhawk, sell out, quisling, god and flag waving, scare mongering, Cindy Sheehan libeling, smirking, bastardly, voting machine tampering, sociopathic, cowardly, treasonous, Constitution shredding, oppressive, vulgar, antagonistic, trust funding, nontipping, tyrannizing, peace hating, water and air and ground and media polluting (which is pretty much all the polluting you can get), deadly, traitorous, con man, swindling, pernicious, lethal, illegal, haughty, venomous, virulent, mephitic, egotistic, bloodthirsty, yellowbelly, hypocritical, Oedipal, did I say evil, I’m not sure if I said evil, because I want to make sure I say evil . . . EVIL, cretinous, slime buckets in the Bush Administration that I could just spit.
Impeachment? Hell no. Impalement. Upon the sharp and righteous sword of the people’s justice. Make it a curtain rod. Because it would hurt more.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0527-30.htm
I'm with Will...
The first case and the ultimate reason that the US Supreme Court has been set up to make anti-whistleblower laws less friendly to whistleblowers has been made. It's a kick in the pants to whistleblowers and Americans everywhere.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Critics_say_court_ruling_leaves_whistleblowers_0530.html
Think CEO's at Enron need more tax breaks. Read this and then grab your punching bag!
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Dems_say_oil_execs_Bush_Admin_0530.html
I just got the new Dixie Chicks CD from a former Republican from Florida who is celebrating tonight because he & his wife just got their Canadian passports.
I heard about Haditha most of the way home - the cover-up, the involvement of higher ups, the attempt to pay off the families while still trying to deny it happened. If I was younger I'd head for Canada too (or somewhere). I feel a certain sense of guilt paying taxes when such a large proportion goes to killing.
Here is something I was sent by another former Republican & it was cc'd to the widow of a former MN Governor who probably ran for US President more times than any other candidate: Needless to say, she does not approve of this administration.
This also sounds kind of like upper midwest humor.
Subject: Checking the oil
A lot of folks can't understand
how we came to have
an oil shortage here in our country.
~~~
Well, there's a very simple answer.
~~~
Nobody bothered to check the oil.
~~~
We just didn't know we were getting low.
~~~
The reason for that is purely geographical.
~~~
Our OIL is located in
~~~
ALASKA
~~~
CALIFORNIA
~~~
OKLAHOMA
~~~
TEXAS
~~~
UTAH
and
WYOMING...
~~~
Our
DIPSTICKS
are located in
Washington, DC...
Dwahzon
Thanks for the info about Wahabism - had read about that before but thanks for the good reference.
Other random thoughts:
Saudi Arabia has also become more polarized in the rich-get-richer, poor-get-poorer sense. Some engineers, etc. who were educated in the west came back home to find no jobs or that they would be underemployed. Some did also turn to radical religion. Some of the 9/11 hijackers & Bin Laden himself are pretty well educated.
There also seems to be a misconception that alot of the middle east is poor and backward. In the 80s or so, it became clear that certain places like the United Arab Emirates are impossibly rich. I think our economy is growing at about 3 per cent per year at most, in most articles I read on the subject, & China at around 10 percent. UAE - 16 percent. I've posted the link for "The World" resort a couple of times, in Duba. Just Google visuals for Dubai and you won't believe the skyline. Google "The World" and watch the promotional videos. It opens in 2007. It is a system of man-made islands that form "the world" - you can buy an island and make it any city or country you want - the paradise of your dreams.
That's one part of the middle east. Then there is Iraq, where the Marines pay off a family with $2500 after killing his family member who was an innocent civilian. That is alot of money in parts of Iraq.
This weekend when Kabul, Afghanistan erupted in riots after the truck supposedly went out of control and hit a bunch of cars and civilians were killed, Hamid Karzi asked for an investigation.
Now tonight I just heard that following Haditha and other killings of civilians (but especially Haditha), the new head of the Iraqi government is calling for an investigaton.
The problem is that the Iraqi government cannot under law investigate the American mliitary. Only the American government can do that.
The other irony is that the US maintains that the Afghanistan and Iraqi governments we have "liberated" are supposed to start showing more independence and chutzpah. Well I don't think calling for investigations is the kind of thing that was intended.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/28/113028/335
BushWatch: What we don't see on television.
(Sometimes I go to Daily Kos, but friends who "live" there send me the most amazing diaries - this one makes me mad.)
Omg! This is really upsetting to go along with Matthew's thread topic. (Religious hate is the common thread.)
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/05/30.html#a8502
Posted by Matthew Carnicelli at May 30, 2006 10:52 AM
Posted by: karen at May 30, 2006 07:17 PM
Precisely why I've stopped believing in patriarchal organized religions.
You can put a good spin on the "peacefulness" of either Islam or Christianity, but there is no denying that their followers in Saudi Arabia and right here in Los Angeles will do everything possible get me exterminated.
Ally no longer in San Francisco
BBC: US To Make Haditha Probe Public
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5032214.stm
Bush didn't even know about it when he was first asked by a reporter.
I stumbled on this media information. John McCain in 2003 headed the commerse committee. I wonder if he still did in 04. I wonder if he still does now, particularly with an 08 run planned. This could be a major conflict of interest.
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=56&switch=true&DGPCrSrt=&DGPCrPg=36
Looks like Bush will release results of the investigation of massacre at Haditha - in 2008.
Listened to the only American reporter left in Anbar Province, the most dangerous - a very young-sounding embedded reporter from USA Today.
She was interviewed by Steve Inski of NPR. Then they had a retired military guy who went there in 2004 & drove through with a regular SUV. Now he can go nowhere, it's so dangerous. He maintained that the Iraqi govt needs to get troops to retake Ramadhi, so that would mean another bloody Fallujah. Sounded like their new leader intended to do just that, plus at least a couple thousand US troops are coming from Kuwait.
Just saw the Comcast headline that Afghan govt wants to prosecute the military who drove a convoy (accident or not) into civilian vehicles and now 20 people are dead.
It hasn't been since high school that I heard bloody news like this.
Paper confirms Bush, Blair were to announce troop reductions
RAW STORY
Published: Wednesday May 31, 2006
Signals reductions made unlikely by violence
A Los Angeles Times article Wednesday assesses the situation in Iraq, asserting that hopes for an Iraq pullout are fading -- and reports that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush postponed a planned announcement of troop reductions in Iraq.
The report is the first to confirm a RAW STORY report May 22 which said that Bush and Blair were expected to announce a "phased withdrawal" plan which would cut US forces in Iraq by 30,000 and nearly halve British troops.
"British Prime Minister Tony Blair hinted at that realization last week when, after a meeting with Casey, he said he expected insurgents to "test" the new Iraqi government "very, very strongly" in coming months," the LA Times Louise Roug and Peter Spiegel report. "Blair and President Bush, meeting at the White House last week, postponed an anticipated announcement on troop reduction."
The LA Times reports that resurgent violence in Iraq has dimmed the prospect of significant troop reductions.
"The Pentagon's hopes of making substantial reductions in U.S. troop levels in Iraq this year appear to be fading as a result of resurgent violence in the country, particularly in the Sunni Arab stronghold of Al Anbar province, military officials acknowledge."
The US announced Tuesday that it would move 1,500 "backup" troops from Kuwait to Al Anbar, in Western Iraq.
more... http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Paper_confirms_Bush_Blair_were_to_0531.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says, and he predicts that the fighting will end before the Bush administration leaves office. - June 2005
Actually DiAnne, the former Marine officer was making the point that it needed to be the Iraqi government and army that re-took control from the insurgents and he described what had happened -- how they took over.
He was there in mid-2004 and was able to drive a civilian SUV around and walk around unarmed with no problem whatsoever. At that time, the Sunni sheiks went to the provisional government and said if you let us put Sunni's on the police force along with Shi'ites, we'll be able to maintain the peace. At the end of 2004, Fallujah happened and the insurgents who did escape went down the road to Ramadhi. They didn't like the arrangement that the sheiks had made and started assassinating them and the dentists and doctors and judges and lawyers. That, along with blowing up 60 army recruits standing in line, put an end to the peace in Ramadhi. Mr. Bing said that the entire middle class just left Ramadhi for safer parts. And he recounted how on his most recent visit a couple weeks ago, the situation has so completely changed.
His point was that the US army doesn't really have a place in this. That it was the Iraqi government that now had to manage this situation -- had to deal with these people and let them know that Sunni's and Shi'ites will co-exist. Steve Inskeep asked about whether or not that might be difficult -- if the Sunni members of the Iraqi government were a little bit shaky yet.
Here's the link to the NPR audio on it and the description:
Morning Edition, May 31, 2006 · Former Marine Bing West talks with Steve Inskeep about the efforts against insurgents in Ramadi. Bing has been to Ramadi nine times since 2003. He returned from an assignment there last week, reporting for the online magazine Slate.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5441269
Dwahzon
Thanks for the elaborated version & link.
It was a separate BBC story earlier where the new Iraqi leader said his 3 priorities were Security, Security, Security & wanted to focus on the same area covered by NPR.
I switch between BBC & NPR on the way in - BBC coverage starts same time as Morning Edition, but after BBC, I catch the rest of NPR.
Taking Ramadhi would not be easy & there is no way Iraq will do it alone. Does not sound like there is any way now for an immediate troop drawdown. The NPR commentator asked some relevant questions about that, I thought.
I wondered because there was no reference at all to troops coming from Kuwait in the NPR story.
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 2 hours, 41 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two Iraqi women were shot to death north of Baghdad after coalition forces fired on a vehicle that failed to stop at an observation post, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Iraqi police and relatives said one of the women was about to give birth.
A car entered a clearly marked prohibited area near coalition troops at an observation post but failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory warnings, the U.S. military said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
“Shots were fired to disable the vehicle,” the statement said. “Coalition forces later received reports from Iraqi police that two women had died from gunshot wounds ... and one of the females may have been pregnant.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13057629/from/RS.4/
Dwahzon,
Thanks for the additional info on the specific sect of Islam (may be one of several) that is teaching and advocating extermination of what they consider to be infidels. I learned alot yesterday, and knowledge always helps alot out in the field.
There are always the splinter groups in organizations (including religious) that will end up hanging themselves if given enough rope. We have people of other faiths arguing and splintering over whether or not it's okay to play a piano in a Christian church service. So stupid, but that seems to be the way the nut cracks.
I learn so much here!