-- -Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like a banana. Stranger things have - -happened but none stranger than this. Does your driver's license say Organ -Donor?Black holes are where God divided by zero. Listen to me! We are all- -individuals! What if this weren't a hypothetical question? [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 12:30:13 EDT From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: (no subject) I'm bulk mailing copies of three rather intense, long and sometimes eloquent pieces. Thanks for these to NickN, ClarenceW and JohnA and special condolences to SteveO, whose partner and close friend Chris was on Flight 11. First my spin. I always have advocated finding the real enemy first, uprooting its seeds, and to use caution rallying to the naive rhetoric of retaliation. Opposing barbaric terrorism utilizing essentially similar methods is lunacy. First piece below (Re: Wahhabis) really contains a great deal of background info I wasn't aware of. It may be awash with self serving misinformation. Still, I know for certain that often fundamental items of foreign importance get obscured by media and can be difficult to cross reference or verify from any other source. Be informed, yet always apply with caution: Fanaticism (whether cynical or nationistic) IS Mortally Contagious. DD f y i Martin Adler forwarded this i knew noneof this before reading the piece. if true, it helps round out the picture of what is going on ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 1:13 PM Subject: Fwd: Terror & Islam > >----------------- > >Forwarded Message: > > > >Subj: Fwd: Terror and Islam > >Date: Thursday, September 20, 2001 2:24:39 AM > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic > >Community) > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >TERROR AND ISLAM > > > >By Stephen Schwartz > > > >The question now on the lips of ordinary people throughout the West - the > >nature of the so-called "Islamic suicide bomber," is surprisingly easy to > >answer, though I fear explanations of it often go awry here in the > >democracies. I do not for a moment credit the clichés about Muslim > >fanatics promised endless delights in paradise after they have sacrificed > >themselves. > > > >First, every faith, political idea and nation in history has motivated men > >and women to willingly give up their lives in the belief that by doing so, > >whether in bombings or in other forms of combat, they will change the > >course of history; or at least win an advantage for their cause. > > > >Tamils are not Muslims, but blow themselves up in their war on the > >government of Sri Lanka. Japanese kamikaze pilots in the second world war > >were not Muslims. > > > >And that leads me to my second point: I do not believe that the > >Islamofascist ideology of Osama bin Laden and those closest to him, such as > >the Egyptian and Algerian "Islamic Groups" has any more intrinsically to do > >with Islam or Islamic civilization than Pearl Harbor had to do with > >Buddhism. > > > >Or than I.R.A. bombs in Britain and Protestants heaving bricks at > >schoolchildren in Belfast (hardly equivalent, I hasten to add) have > >anything to do with the Reformation. > > > >On the other hand, all I.R.A. bombers are probably Catholic, all Ulster > >Freedom Fighters are obviously Protestant, and all the participants in this > >and nearly all the other major anti-American terror actions of recent years > >- Oklahoma City being the obvious exception - are Muslims, or at least > >profess to represent the grievances of the Muslim world. > > > >I say profess because the stories of suicide pilots hanging out in strip > >bars and getting drunk, which have emerged in the aftermath of September > >11, do not jibe with any image of Islamic piety. Nor does the truly > >indescribable hideousness of September 11 jibe with "official" Muslim > >theology, which cautions soldiers "in the way of Allah" to fight their > >enemies face to face, without harming noncombatants, women, or children. > > > >And most Muslims, not only in America and Britain, but in the world, are > >clearly law-abiding citizens of their countries - a point admirably > >stressed by president Bush and other American leaders, much to their > >credit. > > > >Nobody on this side of the water wants a repeat of the lamented 1941 > >internment of Japanese Americans. Still, the numerical preponderance of > >Muslims as perpetrators of these ghastly incidents is no coincidence. > > > >Therefore, we ask ourselves what has made these men into the monsters they > >are? > > > >What has so galvanized violent tendencies in the world's second-largest > >religion (and in America, the fastest growing faith)? > > > >Can it only flow from a quarrel over a bit of land in the Middle East? For > >Westerners, it would seem appropriate to look for the roots of this > >phenomenon in a history far behind us, beginning with the Crusades. > > > >But if you ask educated, pious, traditional but forward looking Muslims > >what has driven their umma, or global community, in this direction, many of > >them will answer you simply. > > > >There is a strain in Islam that is not really very old at all, certainly > >not as old as the Crusades or even the anti-Turkish wars of in the 17th > >century: it came into being less than two centuries ago. > > > >It is violent, intolerant, and fanatical beyond measure. > >It originated in Arabia, and it is the official theology of the Gulf > >states. > > > >It is the most extreme form of Islamic fundamentalism, and it is called > >Wahhabism, its followers Wahhabis. Not all Muslims are suicide bombers, but > >all Muslim suicide bombers are Wahhabis - except, perhaps, for some > >disciples of atheist leftists posing as Muslims in the interest of personal > >power, such Yasir Arafat or Saddam Hussein. > > > >Wahhabism is the Islamic equivalent of the most extreme Protestant > >sectarianism that appeared during the Reformation in Europe. It is > >Puritan, demanding punishment for those who enjoy any form of music except > >the drum, and severe punishment up to death for drinking or sexual > >transgressions. It condemns those who do not pray as unbelievers, a view > >that never previously existed in Sunni Islam. > > > >But it is also stripped down, calling for minimal prayers, undecorated > >mosques, and, in an extremely fascinating innovation, the uprooting of > >gravestones (since decorated mosques and graveyards, you see, lend > >themselves to their veneration, which is idolatry in the Wahhabi mind). > > > >Wahhabis do not even permit the name of the Prophet Muhammad to be > >inscribed in mosques, nor do they allow his birthday to be celebrated. > >Above all, they hate the spiritual side of Islam, or Sufism, much as > >Protestants grimaced at the worship of saints and miracles in the Roman > >church. > > > >Ibn Abdul Wahhab, the founder of this totalitarian Islamism, originated in > >the part of Arabia known as Nejd, where Riyadh is today, and which the > >Prophet himself notably warned would be a source of corruption and > >confusion. From the beginning of Wahhab's dispensation, in the late 18th > >century, his cult was associated with the mass murder of all who opposed > >it. Soon Wahhabism took the form of Arab nationalism vs. the Turks. > > > >The founder of the Saudi kingdom, Ibn Saud, established Wahhabism as its > >official creed. Much has been made of the role of the U.S. in "creating" > >Osama bin Laden through subsidies to the Afghan Mujahidin, but as much or > >more could be said in reproach of Britain which, three generations before, > >supported the Wahhabi Arabs in their revolt against the Ottomans. Arab > >hatred of the Turks fused with Wahhabi ranting against the "decadence" of > >Ottoman Islam. But the truth is that the Ottoman khalifa reigned over a > >multinational Islamic umma in which vast differences in local culture and > >tradition were tolerated. No such tolerance exists in Wahhabism, which is > >why the concept of U.S. troops on Saudi soil so inflames bin Laden. > > > >Bin Laden is a Wahhabi. > > > >So are the suicide bombers in Israel. > > > >So are his Egyptian allies, who exulted as they stabbed foreign tourists to > >death at Luxor not too many years ago, bathing in blood up to their elbows > >and emitting blasphemous cries of ecstasy. > > > >So are the Algerian Islamist terrorists whose contribution to the > >purification of the world consisted of murdering people for such sins as > >running a movie projector or reading secular newspapers. > > > >So are the Taliban-style guerrillas in Kashmir who murder Hindus. > >The Iranians, being Shia, are not Wahhabis, which partially explains their > >slow but undeniable movement toward moderation and normality after a period > >of utopian and Puritan revivalism. > > > >But the Taliban are the Wahhabis' close cousins; the similarity is visible > >in the imposition of ancient punishments such as execution for morals > >offenses, and their ultra-primitive view of women, both found in Saudi > >Arabia as well as Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, both diminishing in Iran... > > > >This has nothing to do with American fumblings in the world and little to > >do with the tragedies that have beset Israel. > > > >But the Wahhabis have two weaknesses of which the West is largely unaware; > >an Achilles' heel on each foot, so to speak. The first is that the vast > >majority of Muslims in the world are not only peaceful people who would > >prefer the installation of Western democracy in their own countries; the > >great majority of them loathe Wahhabism for the same reason any patriarchal > >culture rejects a violent break with tradition. > > > >And that is the point that must be understood: Bin Laden and other > >Wahhabis are not defending Islamic tradition; they represent an > >ultraradical break in the direction of a sectarian utopia. > > > >Thus, they are best described as Islamofascists, although they have much in > >common with Bolshevism. A Bengali correspondent of mine has described the > >situation touchingly: "Muslims from Bangladesh in the U.S., just like any > >other place in the world, uphold the traditional beliefs of Islam, but due > >to lack of instruction keep quiet when their beliefs are attacked by > >Wahhabis in the U.S., who all of a sudden become 'better' Muslims than > >others! > > > >These Wahhabis go even further and accuse their own fathers of heresy, sin, > >and unbelief!! And the young children of the immigrants when they grow up > >in this country, get exposed only to this one-sided version of Islam and > >are led to think that this is the only Islam. Naturally a big gap is being > >created everyday that silence is only widening." > > > >The young, divided between tradition and the call of the new, opt for > >"Islamic revolution" and commit themselves to their self-destruction, > >combined with mass murder. The same influences are brought to bear > >throughout the 10-million strong Muslim community in America, as well as > >those in Europe. > > > >In the U.S., 80 percent of mosques are estimated by an anti-Wahhabi Muslim > >source to be under the control of Wahhabi imams, who preach extremism, and > >this leads to the other point of vulnerability: Wahhabism is subsidized by > >Saudi Arabia. > > > >The Saudis have played a double game for years, more or less as Stalin did > >with the West during the second world war. > > > >They pretended to be allies in a common struggle against Saddam Hussein > >while they spread Wahhabi ideology everywhere Muslims are to be found, just > >as Stalin promoted an "antifascist" coalition with the U.S. while carrying > >out espionage and subversion on American territory. > > > >The motive was the same: the belief that the West was or is decadent and > >doomed. One major question is never asked in American discussions of Arab > >terrorism: what is the role of Saudi Arabia? > > > >The question cannot be asked because American companies depend too much on > >the continued flow of Saudi oil, while American politicians have gotten too > >cozy with the Saudi rulers. And also, if secondarily, because to expose the > >extent of Saudi and Wahhabi influence on American Muslims would deeply > >compromise many Islamic clerics in the U.S. > > > >But it is the most significant question, especially with regard to the > >question Americans are asking today: if we get rid of Bin Laden, who do we > >then have to deal with? The answer was eloquently put in a recent > >conversation by Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, professor of political science at > >University of California at San Diego, and author of an authoritative > >volume on Islamic extremism in Pakistan: "If the U.S. wants to do > >something about radical Islam it has to deal with Saudi Arabia. > > > >The 'rogue states' (Iraq, Libya, etc.) are less important in the > >radicalization of Islam than Saudi Arabia. > > > >Saudi Arabia is the single most important cause and supporter of > >radicalization, ideologization, and the general fanaticization of Islam." > >From what we now know it appears not a single one of the suicide pilots in > >New York and Washington on September 11 was Palestinian. > > > >They all seem to have been Saudis, citizens of the Gulf states, Egyptian, > >or Algerian. They were planted in America long before the outbreak of the > >latest Palestinian intifada; in fact, they seem to have begun their > >conspiracy while the Middle East peace process was in full, if short, > >bloom. > > > >Anti-terror experts and politicians in the West should take at least one > >lesson from this fact, if not many more. > > > >(Stephen Schwartz is the author of Intellectuals and Assassins, published > >by Anthem Press.) > > > >----------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community > >http://shell.spqr.net/islam/ > >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > CONTINUED TO NEXT EM. [ To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body "unsubscribe man-bytes-dog" (the subject is ignored).]
