Shit hits the fan in Fort Hood, Texas. 50 casualties.

[kronus]

"Again, in the Muslim community in the west and in the Middle East, has radical Islam been addressed or are the terrorists considered heros? I am not in the least bit trying to disrespect those that practice Islam, I am just asking a question."

All I've read seems to indicate that they are seen as a destabilizing force and not welcome.

Check out this and this interview thread of two people living in the West Bank. At some point, both explain their resentment of extremist suicide bombers and Hamas/Fatah. There are also some other interesting points made.

[Emre]

"Again, in the Muslim community in the west and in the Middle East, has radical Islam been addressed or are the terrorists considered heros? I am not in the least bit trying to disrespect those that practice Islam, I am just asking a question."

By and large, the terrorists are denounced for: (a) completely misinterpreting the Quran; (b) making peaceful negotiation difficult; and (c) giving all Muslims a bad name. Terrorists are considered dangerous extremists that do not represent the values of mainstream Islam. Again, most Muslim countries do not live under Sharia; they are democratic. And terrorism undermines the democratic process.

The one possible exception might be the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, because many Muslims do consider the Israelis to be an occupying force. But they only support Palestinian action against Israeli military targets and condemn attacks on civilians.

If you remember the aftermath of 9/11, the entire Islamic world came together to denounce the actions of the terrorists responsible. Even the Saudis and other Wahhabis sided with the USA. Even when it came to attacking Afghanistan, a majority of Muslim states officially sanctioned the action...and many of them actually permitted US forces to use their airspace and military bases.

It was only with the Iraq war that Muslims started to withdraw their support for the "war on terror." The general feeling was that the Iraq war was no longer about punishing extremists and defending America. But until that point, most Muslim states were in support.

[markseven]

mark, as i said, i can't speak for muslims but i can provide some context from my own background coming from a country that has only just managed to wipe the scourge of violent terrorism from the political and social landscape. i've seen at first hand the carnage brought about by it. if you speak to most people who a particular terrorist group purports to represent, they will denounce it in no uncertain terms, however, there is always the minority of such a group and to some extent the diaspora who will lend moral and financial relief to these terrorists because they either feel they have no one else fighting for them, they feel isolated from any democratic mainstream or purely out of fear that harm will befall them or their families. it is always the case with any terrorist group, be it LTTE, PLO, IRA, Al Quada etc. At the root of these conflicts there is always some legitimate grievance (people don't just wake up one day and decide to be a suicide bomber) but there are always groups and individuals who will use that to their own ends by escalating these issues into violence and terrorism. The bottom line is that extremism and terrorism are to be completely denounced by all sane people but it also doesn't give one license to brand entire communities of people as terrorists.

Dang, Kish you can write when you're three sheets to the wind :up:

All I've read seems to indicate that they are seen as a destabilizing force and not welcome.

Check out this and this interview thread of two people living in the West Bank. At some point, both explain their resentment of extremist suicide bombers and Hamas/Fatah. There are also some other interesting points made.

By and large, the terrorists are denounced for: (a) completely misinterpreting the Quran; (b) making peaceful negotiation difficult; and (c) giving all Muslims a bad name. Terrorists are considered dangerous extremists that do not represent the values of mainstream Islam. Again, most Muslim countries do not live under Sharia; they are democratic. And terrorism undermines the democratic process.

The one possible exception might be the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, because many Muslims do consider the Israelis to be an occupying force. But they only support Palestinian action against Israeli military targets and condemn attacks on civilians.

If you remember the aftermath of 9/11, the entire Islamic world came together to denounce the actions of the terrorists responsible. Even the Saudis and other Wahhabis sided with the USA. Even when it came to attacking Afghanistan, a majority of Muslim states officially sanctioned the action...and many of them actually permitted US forces to use their arispace and military bases.

It was only with the Iraq war that Muslims started to withdraw their support for the "war on terror." The general feeling was that the Iraq war was no longer about punishing extremists and defending America. But until that point, most Muslim states were in support.

Points well taken, gentlemen. Thank you.

[kishg]

Dang, Kish you can write when you're three sheets to the wind :up:

it's when i'm at my best

[Hallen]

why arre the non violent christians not greatly upset by the actions of the radical/violent sects and making a great effort to denounce them or show that they are not the norm?

by doing nothing, that is a way of condoning the actions just the same. right or wrong, the is the outward perception not privey to information to discredit them.

Um, what radical Christian groups are running around blowing themselves up, extolling murder, and training thousands of young men to be holy warriors? Yeah, there are stricter and more conservative Christian groups out there, but I don't know of any that are terrorist groups. It's a matter of perspective here. I view people who do suicide bombings, chop heads off of prisoners, and kill their own people in great numbers as radicals. I don't consider a man who insists that abortion is murder as a radical. You might find that offensive, but it isn't a radical.

I can't help but to remember back to 9/11 and all those images that were shown of Palestinians and other "Muslims" who were cheering and celebrating the destruction of the towers (most likely a minority, but it is still a stinging reminder that there is a lot of people out there that hate us for just being us). I also can't help but remember that the Palestinians voted in a terrorist group as their leaders.

There's more going on in the world than can be defined by simple analogy. The good Muslim people out there had better start acting before things get even more out of hand. The radical groups do control more than just the hills of Afghanistan. There are enough sympathizers out there to provide them with money, shelter, food, weapons, and access to information. I think those networks will keep growing for as long as the misinformation spread by the radicals is allowed to go virtually unchallenged. It is time for the peaceful to stand up and say enough! You do not represent us. You are an abomination.

For every rant put out by Osama bin Laden, true Muslims worldwide should put out statements denouncing everything he said. Yet it seems that Al Jahzeera is only good at "finding" these Bin Laden tapes while claiming that they just report the news.

I think I am mostly convinced that Islam is not a religion of hate, but that still doesn't change the reality of the situation. The situation is still bad.

[der affe]

All I've read seems to indicate that they are seen as a destabilizing force and not welcome.

Check out this and this interview thread of two people living in the West Bank. At some point, both explain their resentment of extremist suicide bombers and Hamas/Fatah. There are also some other interesting points made.

thanks kronus, both interesting reads

[kishg]

Um, what radical Christian groups are running around blowing themselves up, extolling murder, and training thousands of young men to be holy warriors?

:facepalm it was meant to be a joke.. duh..


but since you asked, look up national liberation front of tripura, nagaland rebels, KKK (yes a purportedly Christian group), Army of God, Lord's Resistance Army to name a few.. not to mention the assorted nutjobs who will go on killing sprees in "God's name".

[Alkasquawlik]

Maj. Hasan kills Americans at Fort Hood, However Obama states "I would caution against jumping to conclusions." Why is our Government so quick to jump to conclusions when Joe Wilson calls Obama as a 'Liar' and claim it as racism, but when a Muslim American who has a background of contacting Al Qaeda leaders, attending the same radical mosques as 9/11 planners, they want to get the facts before judging.

[kronus]

Maj. Hasan kills Americans at Fort Hood, However Obama states "I would caution against jumping to conclusions." Why is our Government so quick to jump to conclusions when Joe Wilson calls Obama as a 'Liar' and claim it as racism, but when a Muslim American who has a background of contacting Al Qaeda leaders, attending the same radical mosques as 9/11 planners, they want to get the facts before judging.

Because members of various American armed forces jumping to conclusions and assaulting coworkers with Arabic-sounding names is a less favorable set of repercussions than Joe Wilson being accused of anything after being a disruptive dick.

1) You're grasping at straws.
2) I thought you had more foresight and common sense than this. It's obvious.
3) Lay off the Fox topical entertainment channel.

[Stephen]

^ where the hell have you been?

[kishg]

2) I thought you had more foresight and common sense than this. It's obvious.

where did you get that idea ?

[kronus]

^ where the hell have you been?

Being skullfucked by school. No time for internets forums, but I have an hour of downtime today so I came to troll r3v :3

[Stephen]

lol. gotcha

[kronus]

lol. gotcha

what, did you miss me?

[Hallen]

what, did you miss me?

Not really.

Kishg, you really need to understand that we can't read your mind and sarcasm just sounds like words when written down. If you want to make a joke, please say it out loud to yourself first to see if it makes sense. I don't care if you are in a public library. Say it. I'm sure the people around you will let you know if it is funny or not. :nice::p