Iraq al-Qaida Says Pope, West Are Doomed

[Bronco_Beerslug]

What's going on there, didn't we go in there and conquer these religious radicals?

----------------------------------------------------------
Iraq al-Qaida says pope, West are doomed
By ANNA JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt - An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned
Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence.

The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in
Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified.

The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."

Islam forbids drinking alcohol and requires non-Muslims to pay a head tax to safeguard their lives if conquered by Muslims. They are exempt if they convert to Islam.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, meanwhile, shops, businesses and schools shut down in response to a strike call by the head of a hard-line Muslim separatist leader to denounce Benedict. For the third day running, people burned tires and shouted "Down with the pope."

Protests also broke out in Iraq, where angry demonstrators burned an effigy of the pope in Basra, and in Indonesia, where more than 100 people rallied in front of the heavily guarded Vatican Embassy in Jakarta, waving banners that said the "Pope is building religion on hatred."

The pope on Sunday said he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his speech last week in which he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of Islam's Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman" and referred to spreading Islam "by the sword."

Benedict said the remarks came from a text that didn't reflect his own opinion.

"I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect," he said during his weekly appearance before pilgrims in Italy.

The statement of regret — the pope's second in two days — helped ease some tensions.

In Turkey, where outrage against Benedict's remarks had been swift, Catholic bishops decided Monday that no changes were necessary in his upcoming visit in November — his first to a Muslim country, Vatican spokesman George Marovic said.

Marovic said the trip was expected to go on as planned, and the bishops had discussed the details of a religious ceremony the pontiff is to lead in Istanbul.

However, State Minister Mehmet Aydin, who oversees the religious affairs in Turkey, said he expected Turkish authorities to cancel the visit if Benedict does not offer a full apology.

"We are expecting the authorities to unilaterally cancel this visit. The pope's coming to Turkey isn't going to foment the uniting of civilizations, but a clash of civilizations," he said.

The secretary-general of the Turkish HUKUK-DER law association submitted a request to the Justice Ministry asking that the pope be arrested upon entering Turkey.

The appeal by Fikret Karabekmez, a former legislator for the banned pro-Islamic Welfare Party, called for Benedict to be tried under several Turkish laws, among them obstruction of freedom of belief, encouraging discrimination based on religion, and inciting religious hatred.

A prosecutor in the ministry will evaluate the request and decide whether to open a case.

Angry reactions also persisted in other corners of the Muslim world, where many demanded more of an apology by the pope than Sunday's statement of regret.

"Muslims have all this while felt oppressed, and the statement by the pope saying he is sorry about the angry reaction is inadequate to calm the anger — more so because he is the highest leader of the Vatican," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

More than 200 Muslims staged a sit-in at a shrine in Damascus, Syria, heeding a call by the Damascus office of Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A statement issued by the office urged the pope to "openly and plainly apologize for his remarks."

Protesters also rallied in the city of Muzaffarabad, in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir. "His apology is not sufficient because he did not say that what he said was wrong," said Uzair Ahmed of Pasban-e-Hurriyat, a Pakistani political group.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI sent a letter to the Vatican in which he implored Benedict to show "the same respect for Islam that you have for the other religions," Moroccan media reported. Morocco withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican over the weekend.

Even in China, where the government exerts tight controls over religious activities, a top religious official said Benedict had insulted the nation's Muslims.

"This has gravely hurt the feelings of the Muslims across the world, including those from China," Chen Guangyuan, president of Islamic Association of China, was quoted as saying in an interview with the Xinhua news agency.

In the Middle East, where Muslims threw firebombs at seven churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the weekend, Christian leaders posted guards outside some churches.

"We are afraid," said Sonia Kobatazi, a Christian Lebanese, after Mass at the Maronite Christian St. George Cathedral in Beirut, Lebanon, where about a dozen policemen carrying automatic weapons stood guard.

___

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Aijaz Hussain in Srinigar, India, Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul, Turkey, and Slobodan Lekic in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
http://tinyurl.com/obntg

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

[...]CAIRO, Egypt - An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence.
[...]
The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."

The first paragraph and the next one contradict each other...

"Apologize for saying Muslims are violent or we'll kill you!"

Uh-hunh.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by W*GS

The first paragraph and the next one contradict each other...

"Apologize for saying Muslims are violent or we'll kill you!"

Uh-hunh.

Only to sane people.

[bendog]

Well, bin laden looks to outlast this pope, anyway.

[Rohirrim]

So, first the Muslims get upset because the Pope quotes some Byzantine emperor who says that Islam is a religion that is spread by the sword, so in protest, they shoot a nun to death and threaten to behead anyone who doesn't convert? What part of this am I missing?

[bendog]

I think you got.

And our potus thinks God told him to invade iraq to spread captialism.

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

So, first the Muslims get upset because the Pope quotes some Byzantine emperor who says that Islam is a religion that is spread by the sword, so in protest, they shoot a nun to death and threaten to behead anyone who doesn't convert? What part of this am I missing?

And to think that during Europe's Dark Ages, the intellectual heritage of the Greeks was kept alive and greatly improved upon and expanded by the Islamic world - we likely wouldn't know Archimedes, Erastosthenes, Plato, Aristotle, etc., etc. since they were lost to Europe at that time...

[sonsofkraftybob]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

So, first the Muslims get upset because the Pope quotes some Byzantine emperor who says that Islam is a religion that is spread by the sword, so in protest, they shoot a nun to death and threaten to behead anyone who doesn't convert? What part of this am I missing?

They do well "speading by the sword".....

The List of Islamic Terror Attacks Since August 1, 2006 only. All Jihadist attacks in Iraq REMOVED:

Date Country City Killed Injured Description

9/18/06 Somalia Mogadishu 5 4 At least five people are killed in a car bomb attack on the Somali president.
9/17/06 Somalia Mogadishu 2 0 A 70-year-old nun working at a childrens' hospital is shot to death by radical Muslims, along with a guard.
9/17/06 Afghanistan Kandahar 1 11 A suicide bomber kills an innocent civilian in a blast along a city street.
9/17/06 Afghanistan Helmand 2 0 Two policemen are murdered by Taliban extremists in a roadside attack.
9/16/06 Thailand Hat Yai 5 79 At least five patrons of a shopping district are killed when Muslim militants set off six separate bombs.
9/16/06 Afghanistan Kabul 3 1 Three humanitarian workers are blown apart by the Taliban.
9/15/06 Yemen Haradmut 1 0 One of two suicide attacks on oil facilities in Yemen nets the death of a guard.
9/15/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A man is killed in his home by militant Muslims.
9/15/06 Thailand Narathiwat 2 1 Two civilians are brutally shot to death by Islamic militants while traveling on a road.
9/15/06 India Watergam 1 7 al-Mansoorian terrorists attack an Indian security patrol, killing one member.
9/15/06 India Surankote 1 5 A young boy is killed when Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists lob a grenade into his family's home.
9/14/06 Afghanistan Bakwa 2 2 Religious extremists attack a police station, killing two officers.
9/14/06 India Hathiwara 1 0 A photographer is kidnapped and beheaded by the Religion of Peace.
9/13/06 Afghanistan Farah 1 0 A UN humanitarian worker is murdered by Muslim militants on a road.
9/12/06 Syria Damascus 1 14 Terrorists shouting 'Allah Akbar' detonate a car bomb and attempt to storm the U.S. embassy. A Syrian guard is killed.
9/12/06 India Thandi Dhok 2 0 A husband and wife are murdered in their home by the Mujahideen.
9/12/06 Turkey Amed 10 13 An ultra-nationalist group with Islamist ties bombs a bus stop, killing ten Kurds, including seven children.
9/11/06 India Kulgam 1 0 A security official succumbs to injuries from a terrorist ambush.
9/11/06 Thailand Yala 1 4 A Buddhist woman is gunned down by militant Muslims in her grocery store.
9/11/06 Afghanistan Khost 6 36 A 12-year-old boy is among six people murdered by a suicide bomber at a funeral for a previous victim of a suicide bombing.
9/10/06 Pakistan Wana 1 0 A tribal leader is gunned down by Islamists as he is walking home.
9/10/06 Afghanistan Gardez 3 3 A suicide bomber kills a regional official and two others.
9/9/06 Pakistan Miramshah 1 0 The local Taliban pump a 70-year-old man full of bullets and leave him with a note attached to his body.
9/9/06 India Sonwar 1 1 A taxi driver is killed, and a young girl severely injured in a Mujahideen attack.
9/9/06 India Bandipore 1 1 Islamic terrorists open fire on a fruit vendor.
9/9/06 India Doda 1 1 The Mujahideen gun down a man and seriously injure his wife.
9/9/06 India Ahlan 1 0 A civilian is killed by Islamic militants.
9/9/06 India Doda 2 0 The Mujahideen raid a police station, killing two officers and stealing weapons.
9/9/06 Pakistan Garjakh 2 0 A man murders his nephew and nephew's girlfriend for an 'illicit relationship.'
9/9/06 Indonesia Poso 1 0 A young Christian woman is killed when Islamic radicals throw a bomb at her house.
9/8/06 India Malegaon 31 297 Pakistani-backed militants are thought to be responsible for multiple bomb blasts that leave thirty-one dead and three-hundred injured.
9/8/06 India Doda 1 0 A man is kidnapped by the Mujahideen. He dies two days later from injuries suffered.
9/8/06 Afghanistan Kabul 18 30 The lives of eighteen people are snuffed out by a Fedayeen suicide bomber in a downtown blast.
9/8/06 Pakistan Barkhan 5 21 Five people are killed in the bombing of a bus station.
9/7/06 India Budbug 1 0 The Mujahideen invade a home and kill a resident.
9/7/06 Afghanistan Kabul 3 11 Three British soldiers die in a single day from attacks by religious extremists.
9/7/06 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 A young college student is murdered after converting from Islam to Christianity.
9/7/06 India Srinagar 1 0 A high school student succumbs to injuries suffered from a terror attack the week before.
9/6/06 Afghanistan Yaqubi 2 1 A sucide bomber kills a teacher and one other person.
9/6/06 Indonesia Tangkuran 1 0 A Christian is killed in a bombing attack by militant Muslims.
9/6/06 Pakistan Kaga 1 0 A 12-year-old girl is killed in her home by al-Qaeda backed militants.
9/5/06 Sudan Khartoum 1 0 A newspaper editor is kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic hard-liners after publishing an article questioning Muhammad's parentage.
9/5/06 Pakistan Phuldayun 1 0 A Muslim man guns down his wife, a young mother, in an 'honor' killing.
9/5/06 India Sopore 1 0 The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen murder a student returning home from classes.
9/5/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Muslims gun down a man sitting in a tea shop.
9/5/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Muslim militants set fire to a house, killing a 61-year-old man.
9/5/06 Lebanon Rmeileh 4 4 Four members of a detail investigating a Christian's death are themselves killed in a bombing by Muslim radicals.
9/5/06 Thailand Yala 1 2 An older woman is killed in her home by Islamists.
9/4/06 Afghanistan Parwan 3 1 Religious extremists attack a police vehicle, killing three occupants.
9/4/06 India Kashmir 7 11 Seven Indian troops are killed in three separate attacks by Islamic militants.
9/4/06 Philippines Jolo 5 20 Abu Sayyaf militants kill five troops trying to apprehend two Bali bombers.
9/4/06 Jordan Amman 1 5 A terrorist yells, 'Allah Akbar' while gunning down a British tourist and injuring five others.
9/4/06 India Tangmarg 2 0 An off-duty soldier and his kid brother are brutally murdered by Islamic extremists.
9/4/06 Afghanistan Kabul 6 7 Six civilians are killed by a Fedayeen suicide bomber. The casualties included children.
9/3/06 Turkey Istanbul 1 0 An Imam is stabbed to death by a religious fanatic.
9/2/06 India Gani Hamam 1 0 A vegetable vendor is murdered by the Mujahideen.
9/2/06 Afghanistan Nimroz 4 10 The Taliban kill four Afghan police officers and abduct ten others.
9/2/06 Algeria Ouled Hamza 2 0 Two community guards are murdered by Islamic fundamentalists.
9/2/06 Afghanistan Helmand 3 1 The Taliban muder three police at a checkpoint.
9/2/06 Algeria Adekar 4 5 Islamic fundamentalists ambush a security patrol and kill four members.
9/1/06 India Darwashbagh 1 0 Islamic militants abduct and murder a civilian.
9/1/06 India Pulwama 1 2 A man is murdered by the Mujahideen in an attack that also injures two family members.
8/31/06 Thailand Yala 1 27 Islamists set off two dozen bombs in garbage cans, killing at least one person.
8/31/06 India Dangiwacha 1 0 Islamic terrorists invade a home and kill the daughter of a policeman.
8/31/06 India Dawoocha 1 0 The Mujahideen murder a woman in her home.
8/31/06 India Saroti 2 0 Islamic terrorists brutally murder two police officers.
8/30/06 Pakistan Wana 1 0 A 14-year-old boy is abducted and murdered by the Mujahideen.
8/30/06 Pakistan North Waziristan 2 0 Two men are beheaded in separate attacks by the local Taliban.
8/30/06 India Devar Lolab 1 1 Islamic terrorists kill a policeman and injure a civilian.
8/29/06 Ingushetia Nazran 1 0 A police officer is gunned down by Muslim militants.
8/29/06 India Budgam 1 0 Terrorists slit the throat of a 17-year-old boy.
8/29/06 Afghanistan Kandahar 2 1 A suicide bomber kills two civilians.
8/28/06 Pakistan Naushki 1 0 A mob enters the home of a barber and shoots him to death.
8/28/06 Afghanistan Leskergah 19 41 Nineteen innocents at a marketplace are blown to bits by a Taliban suicide bomber. The casualties included fifteen children.
8/28/06 Afghanistan Heart 1 0 A Turkish engineer is murdered by religious extremists while traveling on a highway.
8/28/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Muslim militants attack a man delivering donuts, killing him and then cutting off his ears.
8/28/06 Afghanistan Kabul 1 0 A second Turkish engineer is murdered in a garage by the Taliban.
8/28/06 Pakistan North Waziristan 1 0 Islamists kidnap a man, pump him full of bullets, then attach a note to his body.
8/28/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 A man is murdered by Islamic terrorists at a petrol station.
8/26/06 Ingushetia Ossetian Border 3 1 Terrorists attack a vehicle, killing three Russians inside.
8/26/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 Muslim militants ambush two pick-up trucks carrying soldiers, killing at least one.
8/26/06 Thailand Yala 2 5 Two Thai soldiers are killed by a remote-controlled roadside bomb.
8/26/06 Kosovo Kosovska Mitrovica 0 9 Nine people are injured when a Muslim hurls a bomb into a bar.
8/25/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 A 25-year-old man is murdered by terrorists as he sat in his truck.
8/25/06 Afghanistan Ghazni 2 2 The Taliban kill two local officials in an attack on a community.
8/25/06 India Doda 1 0 A woman is shot to death by the Mujahideen.
8/23/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A schoolteacher is gunned down by Muslim militants as he is on his way to teach.
8/23/06 Pakistan Sindh 5 11 Five members of a family, including a 3-year-old girl, are murdered in their home in an honor killing.
8/23/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Militant Muslims murder a community guard.
8/22/06 Afghanistan Gayan 5 0 Religious extremists ambush a police vehicle, killing all five officers inside.
8/22/06 Afghanistan Kandahar 2 3 A young girl and a Canadian soldier are murdered by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.
8/21/06 India Baramulla 1 0 The Mujahideen gun down a man near his house.
8/21/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A man is murdered by Muslim terrorists in his living room.
8/21/06 Thailand Yala 3 0 Three Buddhist civilians are gunned down in an orchard by Islamic radicals.
8/20/06 Ingushetia Alkhasty 2 0 Islamic militants are suspected in two nighttime attacks on police officers in their homes. One was set on fire in front of his family.
8/20/06 Thailand Pattani 1 1 Muslim gunmen fire into a truck loaded with laborers, killing one.
8/20/06 Afghanistan Panjwai 5 11 The Taliban attack a police post, killing at least five Afghans.
8/20/06 Afghanistan Helmand 3 0 Three policemen are killed by a Taliban remote-controlled bomb.
8/19/06 Afghanistan Paktika 1 0 A man is murdered by the Taliban.
8/19/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Radical Islamists shoot a plantation worker as he is riding a motorcycle to his job.
8/19/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 Islamic terrorists shoot a man to death on a city street.
8/19/06 Algeria Telagh 2 1 Fundamentalists slit the throats of two victims, then place a bomb under the bodies to kill civil workers.
8/19/06 Israel Bekaot 1 0 An Israeli is killed by a Fatah gunman in the West Bank.
8/19/06 Egypt Cairo 1 0 A Christian cobbler is stabbed to death by an angry Muslim.
8/18/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A 58-year-old man is murdered in front of his house by militant Muslims.
8/17/06 Thailand Pattani 2 0 Two men are shot off their motorbikes by Muslim terrorists in separate attacks.
8/17/06 Iraq Baghdad 3 28 Sunnis use a car bomb to kill three Shia civilians.
8/17/06 India Srinagar 3 2 Three policemen are killed in separate attacks.
8/17/06 India Wutligam 1 0 A civilian is shot to death by the Mujahideen.
8/17/06 India Budgam 1 0 In a gruesome attack, militant Muslims kidnap a craftsman and then cut off his head.
8/16/06 Ingushetia Nazran 1 1 A Russian is killed when Islamic separatists attack his vehicle with automatic weapons.
8/16/06 Afghanistan Ghazni 1 1 The Taliban murder a police officer.
8/15/06 Philippines Basilan 1 0 Abu Sayyaf is suspected in the assassination of a high school principal.
8/14/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 Islamic fundamentalists murder a pork seller.
8/14/06 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A rubber plantation worker is murderd by Islamic terrorists.
8/14/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 A 56-year-old man is shot seven times in the head by Islamic separatists.
8/14/06 India Sopore 1 0 A grenade attack on a bus stop fatally injures a civilian.
8/13/06 India Shopian 1 1 Harkat-ul-Mujahideen kill a 20-year-old woman and leave her sister-in-law critically injured.
8/13/06 Thailand Narathiwat 4 12 Islamic radicals kill a shopowner to draw police, then detonate a bomb, killing three additional civilians and injuring twelve.
8/13/06 Pal. Auth. Jenin 1 0 Islamic Jihad executes a man in front of a crowd of people.
8/13/06 Afghanistan Bermel 5 6 Five Afghan soliders are killed when the Taliban stage a terror attack on their post.
8/13/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 2 A man is killed by Muslim gunmen in a drive-by shooting while he is having tea. Two elderly patrons are wounded.
8/13/06 Philippines Jolo 3 0 Abu Sayyaf kidnappers stab a businesswoman to death and behead her son after taking them captive. A policeman trying to rescue them is killed as well.
8/13/06 Israel Shlomi 1 21 Hezbollah fires rockets into an Israeli neighborhood, killing a 70-year-old man in his home.
8/13/06 Pakistan Baltistan 1 1 A bomb hidden in a toy kills a 14-year-old girl.
8/12/06 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A policeman is gunned down by Muslim militants while on patrol.
8/12/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Islamists shoot a policeman in the back as he is leaving his house.
8/12/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 A circus owner is killed by two Muslim terrorists posing as customers.
8/12/06 India Drogian 2 0 Two elderly people are shot to death in their homes by Islamic terrorists.
8/12/06 Italy Brescia 1 0 A 20-year-old girl is killed by her family for having a relationship with a non-Muslim.
8/11/06 India Arra 3 0 A Hindu mother and her two young children are brutally slain in their home by Muslim fanatics.
8/11/06 Philippines Pikit 2 0 Two policemen are ambushed and executed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
8/11/06 Afghanistan Spin Boldak 1 0 A suicide bomber kills a Canadian soldier in a transport convoy.
8/11/06 Afghanistan Ghazni 1 0 Religious extremists kill a man outside his home.
8/11/06 Afghanistan Ghazni 2 1 Two civilians are killed by a roadside bombing.
8/11/06 Afghanistan Nuristan 3 4 Three U.S. soldiers are killed when Taliban militants bombard their patrol with rockets.
8/10/06 Philippines North Cotabato 1 5 A bombing attack by Islamic militants leaves one dead and five injured.
8/10/06 Israel Dir el-Asad 2 11 A young mother and her 4-year-old son are blown apart in their home by a Katyusha rocket.
8/10/06 Israel Karmiel 1 0 A baby girl is killed by Hezbollah rockets fired on her family's home.
8/10/06 Israel Jerusalem 1 0 An Italian tourist is stabbed to death by a Palestinian youth.
8/10/06 India Pattan 1 2 The Mujahideen gun down a civilian and injure his wife and neighbor.
8/9/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 An elderly gas station owner is shot to death in a Muslim terror attack.
8/9/06 Ingushetia Nazran 1 13 Radicals bomb a prosecutor's house, killing his brother.
8/9/06 Pakistan Angoor Adda 1 0 An elderly man is shot to death by Islamic militants.
8/8/06 Dagestan Makhachkala 3 0 Islamic separatists bomb a government official's convoy, killing three people.
8/8/06 Thailand Yala 1 0 A rubber tapper is murdered by Islamic terrorists.
8/7/06 Afghanistan Daigh 2 0 A 70-year-old woman and her 13-year-old grandson are pulled from their home and hanged by the Taliban.
8/7/06 Pakistan Garhiyoum 1 0 A tribal leader is abducted and beheaded by Muslim extremists.
8/7/06 India Donipawa 1 0 A civilian is abducted and murdered by the Mujahideen.
8/7/06 Russia Karachaevsk 1 0 A local Imam is gunned down by Islamists for performing healing.
8/6/06 Israel Kfar Giladi 12 14 Hezbollah successfully hits a gathering of people in a community, killing twelve Israelis.
8/6/06 India Sopore 1 17 A woman is killed when Islamic terrorists lob a grenade into the street.
8/6/06 Thailand Tala 1 0 A rubber plantation worker is machine-gunned to death by Islamic radicals.
8/6/06 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A 52-year-old Buddhist civilian is gunned down by Muslims.
8/6/06 Israel Haifa 3 189 A crowded residential area is the target of Hezbollah rockets. An Israeli woman is among three dead.
8/5/06 Israel al-Aramshe 3 4 A 60-year-old Arab-Israeli woman and her two daughters are killed when a Hezbollah rocket lands in their home.
8/5/06 India Poonch 1 0 The Mujahideen capture a village head, beat him up and then shoot him in the head.
8/4/06 Israel Karmiel 2 82 Two people are killed and dozens injured by more 'Party of Allah' rockets.
8/4/06 Afghanistan Kandahar 2 2 Two children are killed when religious extremists lob an explosive into a house.
8/4/06 Israel Mughar 1 2 The mother of two young children is killed in her living room by a Hezbollah rocket.
8/3/06 Afghanistan Kandahar 21 13 A Shaheed martyr murders twenty-one innocents at a market by detonating explosives strapped to his body.
8/3/06 Israel Ma'a lot 3 0 Three Arab Israelis are killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack.
8/3/06 Israel Acre 5 92 Five Israeli civilians, including a father and daughter, are killed during a 90-minute rocket barrage on their town from Hezbollah.
8/3/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 1 Islamic militants shoot a mechanic to death and seriously injure a 5-year-old girl.
8/3/06 Tajikistan Dushanbe 1 0 An Islamist kills himself and a police officer with a grenade.
8/2/06 Thailand Pattani 1 0 Islamists kill a guard at a construction site with a bomb.
8/2/06 Israel Nahariya 1 0 An Israeli man is killed by a Hezbollah rocket while riding his bike.
8/2/06 Thailand Songkhla 3 1 Thai Islamists kill three policeman with a bomb planted along a railroad track.
8/1/06 India Srinagar 4 2 Four Indian soldiers are shot to death by Islamic militants in two separate attacks. One was outside a hospital, and the other a shopping area.
8/1/06 Afghanistan Helmand 3 1 A Taliban ambush on a NATO patrol leaves three British soldiers dead

[Rohirrim]

Islam is a religion of peace.






Yeah. As in, "Rest in Peace."

[bendog]

How many lebanese died in the same time period?

Something like 30% of this country support using the US military to install neocon (pro Israel) govts in the ME.

The expansion in Israel would stop but for the dollars the ultra-orthodox give.

One can argue, rationally imo, that muslims tend to react with violence to perceived insults more than the West. However, if we want to discuss using God to justify violence, it's not a one-way street.

[mosca]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

So, first the Muslims get upset because the Pope quotes some Byzantine emperor who says that Islam is a religion that is spread by the sword, so in protest, they shoot a nun to death and threaten to behead anyone who doesn't convert? What part of this am I missing?

Perhaps Benedict anticipated the reaction coming from some of these hard-line Muslims and made his statement, knowing that they would prove his very own point.

[Smiling Assassin27]

I'm guessing we won't see any Muslim outcry over this, despite the outcry over disrespectful cartoons of their prophet...double standards suck.

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A...D7F5AD6345.htm

[bendog]

The outcry was also over the fact that it's an affront to "picture" the prophet. Blasphemy actually.

But you're right, RC's won't burn any mosques or kill anyone. Still, the treatment of JPII, or even the RCC, was hardly disrespectful.

[ant1999e]

Originally Posted by bendog

How many lebanese died in the same time period?

Something like 30% of this country support using the US military to install neocon (pro Israel) govts in the ME.

The expansion in Israel would stop but for the dollars the ultra-orthodox give.

One can argue, rationally imo, that muslims tend to react with violence to perceived insults more than the West. However, if we want to discuss using God to justify violence, it's not a one-way street.

Your an idiot.

[alkemical]

actually it's a pretty fair post.

[orangenblue2]

Wow, just imagine if everyone quit believing in magical, supernatural beings...Would we as the human race be worse off...or better

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by ant1999e

Your an idiot.

Says the genius who can't spell "you're".

Originally Posted by orangenblue2

Wow, just imagine if everyone quit believing in magical, supernatural beings...Would we as the human race be worse off...or better

We'd actually have a chance to all live together on this planet peacefully if people didn't have any reason to think their beliefs were superior to others IMO.

[alkemical]

Originally Posted by orangenblue2

Wow, just imagine if everyone quit believing in magical, supernatural beings...Would we as the human race be worse off...or better

Well considering i'm more of the 'magical' side - i think it depends on the belief that everyone can share the same 'reality'.

IMO - what would be the root cause of fundamentalist belief that would cause someone to be aggressive in their defense for their own 'belief structure'? I can see the same 'behaviour' in political beliefs and in some extensions in how people & sports are related. Why do we have this need to 'belong' to the point that we'd sacrifice our own lives in defense for one ideology or another?

I couldn't be an athiest any more than i could be a democrat or republican.

[orangenblue2]

Originally Posted by claviculasolomonis

Well considering i'm more of the 'magical' side - i think it depends on the belief that everyone can share the same 'reality'.

Not as long as people insist on "worshipping" invisible beings that have no bearing on everyone's reality. By everyone's reality, I'm talking about reality that everyone (regardless of faith or the lack thereof) that everyone can observe...

Originally Posted by claviculasolomonis

IMO - what would be the root cause of fundamentalist belief that would cause someone to be aggressive in their defense for their own 'belief structure'?

Delusions of grandeur, perhaps...

Originally Posted by claviculasolomonis

I can see the same 'behaviour' in political beliefs and in some extensions in how people & sports are related. Why do we have this need to 'belong' to the point that we'd sacrifice our own lives in defense for one ideology or another?

IMO, it's not the same thing. Politics and sports are things that everyone can see, feel, taste, smell, etc.. Differences arise due to perception, bias, "homerism", etc.; they don't rise to the level of killing the "infidels" or "spreading the good news of JC & The Boys". The human race needs to evolve and get past these relics of yesteryear if we ever want to live in peace and harmony. Wars, in general, have their time and place. Differences over who's god is more powerful, most compassionate, most loving, most beneficent, etc., have never been and never will be a good reason for even one person's blood to be shed. That's the reality I'd like to see...

Originally Posted by claviculasomonis

I couldn't be an athiest any more than i could be a democrat or republican.

I couldn't be a believer any more than I could be a Chiefs fan...

[enjolras]

We'd be far worse off.. Religion offers a hope and a optimism that is absolutely essential for mankind to thrive. It gives our energies focus and helps us make sense out of life. It'd be tragic to lose that very important aspect of the human condition.

The problem isn't religion, its those who practice it (it's very much a 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' type of thing). For a great many 'religious' people, religion isn't about god. It's about a great many worldly things... Islamic extremists share a common trait with extremists of every ilk (be it Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, etc..). They are about control and power. They use God as a convienent stepping stone to what they really want....a world in which everyone acts and thinks exactly as they do.

That's not the fault of religion..it's the fault of broken people.

[orangenblue2]

Originally Posted by enjolras

We'd be far worse off.. Religion offers a hope and a optimism that is absolutely essential for mankind to thrive. It gives our energies focus and helps us make sense out of life. It'd be tragic to lose that very important aspect of the human condition..

I disagree. My hopes and optimism have nothing to do with religion, whatsoever. The fact that there are literally millions of human beings who not only survive, but thrive, without a belief in any religion proves that it is not "essential". My "energies" don't need a god to "focus" and life...well, it makes a hell of alot more "sense" without the religious claptrap. Other than that, I guess we would be in agreement...

[Atlas]

I don't see what the big deal is. If we all just convert to Islam they'll leave us alone. Hell, that don't sound too bad. How hard can it be??

I am now an Islam convert. I don't feel any different

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

Says the genius who can't spell "you're".

This sort of irony always makes me chuckle.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by enjolras

We'd be far worse off.. Religion offers a hope and a optimism that is absolutely essential for mankind to thrive. It gives our energies focus and helps us make sense out of life. It'd be tragic to lose that very important aspect of the human condition.

The problem isn't religion, its those who practice it (it's very much a 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' type of thing). For a great many 'religious' people, religion isn't about god. It's about a great many worldly things... Islamic extremists share a common trait with extremists of every ilk (be it Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, etc..). They are about control and power. They use God as a convienent stepping stone to what they really want....a world in which everyone acts and thinks exactly as they do.

That's not the fault of religion..it's the fault of broken people.

There's a post I can support.

Unfortunately, the people who represent the best that religion has to offer seem to be the exception these days, and people like DBruleU and errand who peddle bigotry and hate and call it "Christianity" are the rule.

[enjolras]

Originally Posted by Atlas

I don't see what the big deal is. If we all just convert to Islam they'll leave us alone. Hell, that don't sound too bad. How hard can it be??

I am now an Islam convert. I don't feel any different

I'm assuming they want you to ACT like a proper Islamic radical as well. You know... beat your wife, participate in stonings, rape your neighbors daughter because her brother commited a crime... that type of thing. Oh ya, and you have to grow a beard too (I hope it doesn't come in patchy).

The psychopathic nature of radical Islam really knows no bounds after all.