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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
L.W.M.
Published Letters: 6225 Editor's Choice: 5
Not AQ connected - What a Relief?
Every time something like this happens or is even discussed as a possibility in an academic setting the same things are said over and over again:
- "They aren't real Muslims." This is usually said by some well meaning Muslim or set of Muslims. Americans want to hear that. They don't want to think that a group of people identified by religion would decide on the basis of that religion to attack them. What they seem incapable of grasping, or perhaps accepting, is that the particular religion in question is susceptible by its lack of authoritarian structure to the formulation of small group opinions as to what Islam really is for that group. Once again, Islam is a religion of laymen. There is no hierarchy, There are no clergy. There is no "pope" of Islam. It is undoubtedly true that for the vast majority of Muslims living in the United States, the contemplated actions of these six men are an abomination, but that is largely irrelevant. Why? It is because for those six men what they intended to do was justified by their conception of Islam. You notice they were looking for a religious scholar who would "approve" their jihad in a fatwa. They might have looked a long time.
- "They are not connected to Al-Qa'ida." International takfiri jihadism is not an attempt to create an international "country" called "The Caliphate" under the "command" of AQ. That is a popular conception in the US government but it is incorrect. The takfiri crazies talk about "The Islamic Republic of Iraq" and similar fantasies. They imagine that the re-appearance of Muslim communities based on the early Sunna would be wonderful, but this is largely a wondrous work of imagination. The truth is that AQ is not a kind of headquarters for the jihad. It does not have to "create" such groups as the "Cherry Hill Six" in order for them to come into existence. The takfiri jihad is a set of ideas. Lawrence would have said that this set of ideas is drifting on the wind. In today's world the ideas are drifting on the winds of the internets. There is a lot of resentment among Muslims over the "injustice" of predominant Western power. There is a lot of alienation on the part of Muslims living in the West towards the oh so seductive culture that surrounds them and which is seeking (in their imaginations) to lure them away from "the path." That is what calls these groups into being. It will continue to do so. pl
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09plot.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=us
See my "Lecture on Islam" above.
http://tinyurl.com/2hs8fs
Yes, Golden Monkey Boy, the takfiri jihadi and Wahabi-Salafism are as dangerous as Christianists or Christian Dominionists and Militant Zionists. Is that lederhosen you're wearing?
Col. Lang's other blog...
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/
Definitely not a liberal or a progressive. A warrior, scholar and poet and an expert on Islam and Arabic language and culture and nary a drop of kool-aid in his diet. Just Bourbon whiskey.
Golden Boy: Why did a quarter of Muslims in America, when polled, refuse to condemn al Qaeda?
Views about terrorism are broadly shared by all segments of the Muslim American population, but the polling does find pockets of support for extremism. Overall, just 5% of
Muslim Americans express even somewhat favorable opinions of al Qaeda. Yet strong hostility toward al Qaeda varies widely – 63% of foreign-born U.S. Muslims say they have a very
unfavorable opinion of al Qaeda, compared with 51% of all native-born Muslims, and just 36% of African American Muslims.
Maybe if they were asked to condemn al-Qaeda, they would have, but the pollsters didn't ask that. Condemnation is easy. Look how easily you do it.
Golden Boy's source, Craig Winn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Winn
of Prophet of Doom!
http://www.prophetofdoom.net/
It's bad enough he's connected to Daniel Pipes but just read this:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Kuo
Craig Winn is a freaking wingnut.
Value America and the religious right
In June 1999, Kuo, described as "a veteran communications and political strategist", came to e-tailer Value America from Century Strategies, "where he served a range of clients including Microsoft, America Online, International Paper and the Cellular Industry Association." [8]
Kuo left Value America "in February 2000 when the writing was on the wall but almost a year before its eventual death." [9]
"Religion always had a place at Value America," Carrie Johnson wrote in a October 18, 2001, Washington Post article on the "Rise And Falling Out Of Value America."
"Company leaders, from founder Craig Winn to chief executive Tom Morgan, explained in Kuo's job interview that they were committed to building the online marketplace on a foundation of unwavering integrity. Winn declared that 1 percent of the company's revenue would go to charity. Eventually, a small group of executives began meeting for voluntary prayer sessions one day each week at 7 a.m.," Johnson wrote.
"The Rev. Jerry Falwell made regular visits to headquarters to ink deals with Value America and another Winn business to create a retail Web site for his flock. Former Reagan-era education secretary Bill Bennett, a mentor to Kuo and a vocal supporter of school prayer, became a member of the company's board of directors. Prominent consultant and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed journeyed to Virginia to advise Winn on his political and business ambitions," Johnson wrote.
There's more. He's a loon.
All your drivel comes from Craig Winn's Prophet of Doom! hate site. You are about as incurious and stupid as GWB. Hmmm? same initials. What does the W stand for. Nevermind. I don't want to know.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
