http://musliminsuffer.wordpress.com/
bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
=== News Update ===
WHY THEY FIGHT
Malcom Lagauche
December 9, 2006
All Muslims are fanatics. They hate the U.S. They are jealous of our
freedoms. They want to kill in the name of Allah. The list of reasons
why the U.S. is not looked upon in good graces in the Arab and Muslim
portions of this planet goes on and on. Unfortunately, most of the
statements are as truthful as the huge Iraqi arsenal of weapons of mass
destruction.
It seems that instead of decreasing, the amount of Islamic
disinformation being thrust upon the U.S. public is escalating at an
alarming rate. Today, tens of millions of U.S. citizens see Islam as
public enemy number one. To them, all Moslems are terrorists and they
are duty-bound to blow up Americans to gain their place in heaven with
72 virgins.
Amidst all this hatred, there is one glowing aspect that has received
little publicity. Robert Pape, associate professor of political science
at the University of Chicago, has just released a book called Dying to
Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism.
Pape’s work is astute in that he is probably the only person on Earth
who has actually chronicled hundreds of suicide missions since 1980 and
then analyzed the data, piece-by-piece, to determine why suicide bombers
perform their acts.
Lo and behold: the overwhelming majority did not kill in the name of
Allah. They carried out their missions because of occupation of
territories, or misdeeds committed, by modern democratic countries.
Pape told Al-Jazeera News:
Islamic fundamentalism is not the primary driver of
suicide terrorism. Nearly all suicide terrorist attacks
are committed for a secular strategic goal — to compel
modern democracies to withdraw military forces from
territory the terrorists view as their homeland.
Technicians, waitresses, security guards, ambulance
drivers, paramedics … few are criminals. Most are
volunteers whose first act of violence is their very own
suicide attack. The standard stereotype of a suicide
attacker as a lonely individual on the margins of
society with a miserable existence is actually quite far
from the truth.
Once you have a more complete picture you can see that
the main cause of suicide terrorism is a response to
foreign occupation, not Islamic fundamentalism, and the
use of heavy combat forces to transform a Muslim society
is only likely to increase the number of suicide
terrorists as now is happening.
Iraq is a prime example to prove Pape’s assessment. Prior to the illegal
March 2003 invasion, not one suicide attack had ever been carried out on
its soil. Today, they are commonplace. And, let’s look at who performs
the acts: mostly secular Sunni Iraqis. Few Islamic fundamentalists in
Iraq are involved in dislodging the occupiers, let alone carry out
suicide missions.
The stereotypical view of Moslems is that they want to blow themselves
up to appease Allah. However, Pape stated, "The purpose of suicide
terrorism is not so much to die. It’s to kill. It’s to kill the maximum
number in a target society."
For those who do not have Pape’s book, a 19-page paper by him (The
Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism) was published in August 2003 in
the American Political Science Review (Vol. 97, No. 3). (If you want a
copy of the report in a PDF format, please write to me and I will send
it as an attached file.)
It is compelling reading and it is laden with charts that depict
hundreds of attacks, including target, date, group, weapons, and number
killed.
As an atheist, I never bought into Islamic fundamentalism being the
cause of suicide bombings. When I looked at the facts, the results of
good old U.S. imperialism came to the forefront. Using a religion that
differs from Christianity as the cause of demeaning Arabs and Moslems is
just a smokescreen to divert attention from the real issues of bigotry,
greed, and outright affinity for war.
Lately, Christian religious right-wing sites have noticed the book. They
are beside themselves in trying to discredit Pape’s work. However, they
have a difficult task ahead because Pape’s study is laden with facts,
not merely allegations or negative stereotypes of Islam that are far off
the mark.
A few months ago, I gave a presentation about Iraq to the Atheist
Coalition of San Diego. About 60 people attended. Not one attributed
suicide missions to Islamic fundamentalism. We take the religious issues
and put them aside and, like Pape, can clearly see reasons other than
Islamic zealotry as the base.
I could write for pages about the anti-Islamic mood in the U.S. However,
a retired U.S. Marine general has already done that. I could do no
better than an apology recently published by Lt. General Chuck Pitman,
U.S. Marine Corps, Retired. Below is the text of his much-ballyhooed
statement.
Many U.S. citizens actually believe all the lies and illogic used by
Pitman. To my readers who reside outside the U.S., this is not an
exaggeration. In day-to-day conversations on the radio and television,
and in the print media, I see and hear the same statements.
This "apology" is standard fare for hundreds of "conservative" websites.
The one I took this text from is called http//freedom.greatnet.us. It
was followed by an editor’s note that read: "We set the Arab people
free, but they are far too blinded by their false religion to appreciate
freedom. Instead they choose the captivity of Satan." This is common
thought in the U.S., not an aberration.
For good and ill, the Iraqi prisoner abuse mess will remain an issue. On
the one hand, right thinking Americans will harbor the stupidity of the
actions while on the other hand, political glee will take control and
fashion this minor event into some modern day massacre.
I humbly offer my opinion here:
I am sorry that the last seven times we Americans took up arms and
sacrificed the blood of our youth, it was in the defense of Muslims
(Bosnia, Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait, etc.).
I am sorry that no such call for an apology upon the extremists came
after 9/11.
I am sorry that all of the murderers on 9/11 were Islamic Arabs.
I am sorry that most Arabs and Muslims have to live in squalor under
savage dictatorships.
I am sorry that their leaders squander their wealth.
I am sorry that their governments breed hate for the US in their
religious schools, mosques, and government-controlled media.
I am sorry that Yasir Arafat was kicked out of every Arab country and
high-jacked the Palestinian "cause."
I am sorry that no other Arab country will take in or offer more than a
token amount of financial help to those same Palestinians.
I am sorry that the USA has to step in and be the biggest financial
supporter of poverty stricken Arabs while the insanely wealthy Arabs
blame the USA for all their problems.
I am sorry that our own left wing, our media, and our own brainwashed
masses do not understand any of this (from the misleading vocal elements
of our society, like radical professors, CNN and the NY TIMES).
I am sorry the United Nations scammed the poor people of Iraq out of the
"food for oil" money so they could get rich while the common folk
suffered.
I am sorry that some Arab governments pay the families of homicide
bombers upon their death.
I am sorry that those same bombers are brainwashed thinking they will
receive 72 virgins in "paradise."
I am sorry that the homicide bombers think pregnant women, babies,
children, the elderly and other non-combatant civilians are legitimate
targets.
I am sorry that our troops die to free more Arabs from the gang rape
rooms and the filling of mass graves of dissidents of their own making.
I am sorry that Muslim extremists have killed more Arabs than any other
group.
I am sorry that foreign trained terrorists are trying to seize control
of Iraq and return it to a terrorist state.
I am sorry we don't drop a few dozen Daisy cutters on Fallujah.
I am sorry every time terrorists hide they find a convenient "Holy
Site."
I am sorry they didn't apologize for driving a jet into the World Trade
Center that collapsed and severely damaged Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox
Church -- one of our Holy Sites.
I am sorry they didn't apologize for flight 93 and 175, the USS Cole,
the embassy bombings, the murders and beheadings of Nick Berg and Daniel
Pearl, etc...etc!
I am sorry Michael Moore is American; he could feed a medium sized
village in Africa.
America will get past this latest absurdity. We will punish those
responsible because that is what we do.
We hang out our dirty laundry for the entire world to see. We move on.
That's one of the reasons we are hated so much. We don't hide this stuff
like all those Arab countries that are now demanding an apology.
Deep down inside, when most Americans saw this reported in the news, we
were like--so what? We lost hundreds and made fun of a few prisoners.
Sure, it was wrong! Sure, it dramatically hurts our cause, but until
captured, we were trying to kill those same prisoners. Now we're
supposed to wring our hands because a few were humiliated?
Our compassion is tempered with the vivid memories of our own people
killed, mutilated and burned among a joyous crowd of celebrating
Fallujahans.
If you want an apology from this American, you're going to have a long
wait!
You have a better chance of finding those seventy-two virgins!
Chuck Pitman, Lt. Gen., US Marine Corps (Ret.)
Semper Fi
source:
http://www.malcomlagauche.com/id1.html
===
-muslim voice-
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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW
