This may be a stupid idea... Right now, Saddam is clearly losing the fighting part of the war and is trying like hell to win the PR part of the war. How a guy like Saddam wins a PR war is a mystery to me but he seems to have supporters (either for Saddam or anti-US). Now, he's calling for a jihad against the U.S. to further inflame the Islamic world. Well, the truth is that Saddam has probably killed many more Muslims then the U.S. has and Saddam has repressed Islam more then the U.S. has (since Shiites are considered repressed in Iraq while, as far as I know, they are free to worship and live in this country). So, as a strike in the PR war, why not get an Islamic cleric to issue a Jihad against Saddam? Surly some Cleric would do this given the fact that Saddam's killed more Muslims then probably anyone in recent history and that he's always maintained a secular government in the "muslim" world. I know that many of the protests in Islamic countries are more anti-America rather than pro-Saddam and they are occuring because of the perception that the U.S. is anti-Islam (despite the fact that there are probably as many - if not more - Muslims in this country than in any other non-Islamic state). Would this help? Am I asking too much? How many other non-Islamic countries could claim that hey have Muslims who are <i>heros</i> to non-Muslims like Shaq, Hakeem and Kareem are to so many of <i>us</i>?
Liberalism is enemy both to fascistic totalitarian but secular regimes like Saddam's (and Assad's) and the religious fundamentalist totalitarians such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. As things stand now, the Sunni Arabs, especially their television, root for Saddam. Iran is strictly neutral, for it hates both Saddam and America. In wars there is really only one criteria of winning and losing. Once Saddam's head is on a stick, the Arab media would be discredited like they were after the seven days war. The anti-US clerics who are issuing fatwas against us would be discredited as well. The Arab psyche would be shaken in a very short time.
Saddam's call for "jihad" or whatever it is he is conveying through his message is a definite sign that he is on the verge of losing this war. I still wonder if he's even alive and the whole thing is just a show to keep the rest of them from falling apart. I seem to recall Mullah "dumbass one-eye" Omar and Osama "bin hiding" Laden issuing their own proclamations of jihad more than once. These people seem to use the toughest words in their statements when they are weakening. It's progressive and they try to be scarier the more their losses pile up. Last time it was 4,000 suicide bombers. They are trying to scare the US away but we know better. It's quite a spectacle of propaganda bs their putting on over there. We should put a bullet in all of those regime peoples' heads first chance we get. They don't deserve a trial. They are guilty and if Saddam claims he is delivering the word of God...then his God is pure evil. Is his God telling him to kill all his civilians over the years to? If civilians over there truly believe Saddam is in touch with God, then I feel sorry for them because they are being duped like no other.
this belief in a religous heirarchy is mankinds greatest weakness. Certain Persons in power know this and will use it to their advantage. Get enough ignorant followers to buy into and it will lead to mankinds demise.
Texas Stroke, Exactly.....Witness the Ayatolla, Jim Jones, David Karesh, Bin Laden...etc..etc.. Religion, especially to the poor, is a powerful tool used to control the masses....only in civilized countries where religious power is checked, and people have the ability to think freely are the powers weilded by religios leaders diminished. DD
No that would be too rational. They have to continue to focus their rage on US foreign policy which supports Israel, while countries like Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia do a lot more to oppress Arabs and Mulims with their domestic policies.
Mr Clutch, Valid point, but I think Israel could use a bit of a lesson from us as well. It may be time to cut the child from the nipple if they don't make a real play for peace. DD
But haven't you heard? It's okay if an Arab does wrong to another Arab...as long as it's not someone from the West. Saddam could gas millions of Arabs and they would still be balking at a Western invasion to free the people because they buy into the stories of us wanting to colonize their country, be their rulers, and control their oil. Ignorance breeds ignorance. They never really wanted Saddam gone as long as he's around...if that makes sense....which it does not.
Agreed. But don't leave out the Holy Crusades please, where the vast majority of Christians were converted with a blade pointed at their necks. Or the modern crusades where Christians offer food to hungry people on the condition that they'll convert to Christianity. Dangerous religious hypocrisy is not the sole province of the criminally insane. I also agree with you about the ones calling for Jihad never actually participating. Also funny how the ones who call for war never participate in wars.
Batman, Jim Jones and David Karesh are Christians. Religion has always been used as a means of power. Especially in the poorer and least educated societies. I mean what better form of birth control is there then to tell people they will rot in hell for all internity for premarital sex. Ridiculous. DD
DD: Didn't mean to contradict you. Hope you didn't take it wrong. Just meant to point out that the enemy is not always so obvious (sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace). Many people who are Christian today are Christian because an ancestor made the decision at swordpoint. And even now there are Christian missionaries bribing hungry people with food if they'll join up. I completely agree with you though. Not to say nothing good comes from religion. Of course it does sometimes. But religion has long been an excuse for crimes against humanity, committed even by people today who are generally considered to be doing good works. Some of these people better hope they're wrong about Hell. Still don't get your point re: Jihad though unless you feel the same about all wars, holy or not.
absolutley. whether its a man in a rob with a cross around his neck or a man with a long beard and a white turban on his head, its all the same. its obvious all that mumbo jumbo is a sham. just look how miserable the priests and jihad guys and the religous heirarchy guys in power look. shouldnt they have some eternal joyous thing going on inside them? why do they look so stern and rigid and unhappy then? maybe cause their full of crap. yet the human race still turns to these miserable souls for directions and advice and we listen and follow...we been doing this since the beginning of time and look where its got us.
Yes its probably safe to say that more people have died in the name of god than all wars and diseases know to man.
Mr. C: I'm sure someone here can name the missionary groups that do this. My memory's bad and I'm spacing it. At least one well known, well respected group. Saw this issue debated on Bill Maher about a year ago. And lest it get blown off due to Maher's 'bias,' there was at least one conservative there defending their right to do it and reminding that whatever their agenda, hungry people were getting food. Maher's point (and others on the panel) was that the ones who didn't subscribe to the food givers' dogma weren't getting fed and, like, what kind of good deed is that. May have been Ann Coulson or whatever her name is defending them, but I really don't remember. For the record, I also defend their right to do it. Of course they have the right. It's just a decidedly un-Christian thing to do.
