OPPOSE TERRORISM
ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM -
THE EPITOME OF EVIL
“ Terrorism anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere" - Don King
Mullah calling the faithful to prayers. |
Islamic terrorists are
stone cold killers of the worst kind. With religious zeal, they commit acts of violence that normal people
view as demented, evil and inhuman. They train their children to willfully and gleefully blow themselves apart
to kill the infidel. They glorify terrorism,
interpret the words of the Koran to condone their heinous acts and justify
their criminal behavior by calling whatever they do, “the will of Allah”.
They proselytize their
religious aberrations all over the world, urging Muslims everywhere to join
their murderous plots. They live in a
world we cannot imagine, rejecting modern values and espousing tribal mores
common to the “Middle Ages” and before. Their women and children are taught that it is Allah’s will that they
obey puritanical religious and cultural rules of behavior and live in a state
of virtual slavery. Even today, if
women fail to obey their husbands or fathers, under Sheikh Wahhab’s interpretation of
Islamic law, their patriarchs can intimidate, beat or kill them with
impunity.
Islamic Fundamentalists
also target their victims by race, religion and country of origin. In particular, they target the Jews,
Christians, Israelis, British, Americans, Russians, Spanish, Africans, Jordanians, Indonesians, etc. In addition, they target anyone else they
don’t happen to like, including other Muslims.
Although what follows is
written from an American perspective, the truths it expresses apply to every
other country on earth and to every citizen of the world who desires to live
free from the threat of Islamic terrorism.
WAHHABISM
Wahhabism is at the root of
what is today known as Islamic Fundamentalism. Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdi al-Wahhab,
a puritanical Islamic cleric, came to power in or about 1740 AD in the central
Arabian Desert. He preached that the 7th Century Prophet, Mohammad was God’s final messenger on earth and that his
words, as set forth in the Koran, contained God’s full and final revelation to
man on earth.
Sheikh Wahhab was not content to coexist peacefully with other faiths, he declared Islam to be “the only true religion” and he abrogated the
importance of all other religions and Prophets. He taught his followers that invoking any Prophet, Saint or Angel in
prayer, other than Allah alone, was contrary to Islam. In
Sheikh Wahhab’s view, "all mankind will, in time,
accept Islam and submit to Islamic rule". He branded those who resisted his ideas as
enemies of Islam, infidels who, being unfaithful to Allah, had “no right to
exist”.
During his lifetime, while praising Allah on one
hand, his armies freely murdered every Jew, Christian and dissenting Muslim
within the reach of his other hand.
Sheikh Wahhab And The House Of Saud
 King Fahd bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (right) |
Ancestors of Saudi Arabia’s
ruling Saud family fully supported Sheikh Wahhab’s methods and ideas. They formed an alliance in which the Saud
family would continue to govern the region pursuant to Islamic law and Sheikh
Wahhab would interpret Islamic law. Their combined armies then pursued expansionist wars, seizing many
villages, forcing their inhabitants to adopt Wahhabi ways and imposing Islamic law throughout the Arabian Peninsula.
Although many Saudis are
sympathetic to western interests and mindful of Saudi needs for foreign
technical assistance, financial exchange and military support, nonetheless, the presence of American infidels on Saudi soil
remains a serious point of contention for Wahhabi Muslims. To this day, most Saudis are Wahhabi
Muslims and the official Constitution of Saudi Arabia
remains the Koran.
Theocratic systems of government, dominated by Islamic Fundamentalism, also find great support in other
countries throughout the Middle East. Theocracies covet wealth and power, which are used for the pleasure and
aggrandizement of a privileged few. Under that system of government, clerics impose rigid
religious rules upon the people and the Country's armed forces compel their compliance
through the use of deadly force, all in the name of righteousness.
Wahhabism In The USA
Wahhabism’s explosive
expansion into the United States began in the 1970s when Saudi charities
started funding the American Black Muslims, Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and
Mosques, from northern Virginia to Culver City, California. According to the
news agency Safa, the Saudis have funded more than 80 percent of the Mosques
built in the United States within the last 20 years. It is estimated that since 1973,
the Saudi government has spent some $87 billion to promote Wahhabism in the US
and the Western Hemisphere. It is
further estimated that some $500 billion is floating around, worldwide, to fund
terrorist activities.
Wahhibism's Unholy Objective
Wherever Islamic Fundamentalism is practiced, its objective remains the same: "to impose Islamic law upon the world and to kill everyone who refuses to submit to Islam."
Islamic Fundamentalism is a
time bomb threatening our world. Its strongest
advocates are relentless and will gladly sacrifice their own lives in order to
kill others, who they believe are infidels. The question is: who of its
members are going to cross over the line and start killing people? and when?
STANDING
OPPOSED TO EVIL
Unless we actively oppose them, the terrorists will surely walk “to and fro” and “up and down” across our lands, and “turn our cities into wastelands and our hospitals into mass morgues”. Former Secy. of Defense William Cohen When Americans truly understand the threat we all face from Islamic Fundamentalism, they will actively resist its ideology and support “WOL”.
Former Secy. of Defense
William Cohen |
At this very moment Islamic Fundamentalists are plotting the destruction of our way of life and their numbers are
growing both here and abroad. Their angry teachings appeal to those who live with resentments, and especially
to the fringe elements tolerated by our free society.
Islamic Fundamentalists are living among us now and they are making a concerted effort to expand within US communities.
Religious Muslims believe in
“Zakat”, or the giving of a portion of their income to charity. But the charities that receive the most support from Wahhabi Muslims, are
schools that teach Islamic Fundamentalism. The oil revenues of the Middle East, to which the world contributes
every single day, are funding an army of conspirators who will fight to the
death and use every means possible to destroy us, our way of life, and the freedom of religion that we enjoy.
In 1999, then Secretary of
Defense William Cohen published a list of 120 US cities that the terrorists had
targeted for attack. He predicted that
unless stopped, they would turn our cities into wastelands and our hospitals
into mass morgues. For the most part,
Secy. Cohen’s words fell on deaf ears. The Press didn’t really pick up the story at the time and most
Americans were living in a bubble of complacency. They just didn’t want to hear about it.
Although the terrorists’
rhetoric, and their willingness to sacrifice their own lives to kill others, had
been steadily intensifying, worldwide, until September 11, 2001 most Americans simply did
not identify Islamic Fundamentalism as an immanent threat to their own safety. After 9/11, the terrorists' determination to harm us
in our own homeland became a reality with which we were all compelled to
contend. On that day, most Americans
came to understand that we have a problem, and we're going to have to deal with that problem by making decisions we
don’t want to make.
PRESERVING
OUR VITAL INTERESTS
By causing others to fear
them, the terrorists have placed themselves, and those around them, in grave
danger, for where diplomacy fails, the
US and other world powers are prepared to disenfranchise terrorism with
military force.
The use of military force is
not our first choice, but our last resort. It is a painful solution provoking controversy, cost, sacrifice and
the loss of innocent lives on all sides. Nobody in
their right mind likes that solution, but nobody in their right mind is willing
to accept the alternatives. Doing
nothing about terrorism is not a solution, hoping they will change their ways
is not a solution, and waiting for them to commit new atrocities is not a
solution.
A reasonable person might
ask: “How can killing the terrorists, including the ‘collateral damage’, possibly be an expression of love?”
A reasonable answer might
be: Sometimes the loving choice isn’t between “good or bad”, but between “bad
or worse”. Wouldn’t we gladly destroy a
rabid dog rather than allow it to harm our children? - even if it was our
family pet?
 Aron Ralston |
In 2003, Aron Ralston was
exploring Bluejohn Canyon in Utah when a large boulder suddenly shifted and
fell, pinning his right hand and wrist between the rock and the canyon wall (a
true story). After several days of
hoping for a miracle, reprimanding himself and trying to conceive an
alternative solution, he came to the realization that no one was coming to rescue him and that to escape, he
would have to cut off his own hand and wrist. Understanding the consequences of his actions and the pain it woud cause, he
placed a tourniquet around his arm, broke the 2 bones above his wrist, severed the
remaining flesh with his pocket knife, bound the wound and climbed, walked and
dragged himself out of that canyon to safety.
Unless we oppose Islamic Fundamentalism and prohibit the terrorists from doing what they intend to do, they will surely
attack our cities with weapons of mass destruction, kill millions of Americans, devastate our economy, destroy our way of life and
create physical and financial chaos throughout the world. Those are the vital interests our leaders
have sworn to protect.
“imagine a world without New York City,
the terrorists already have.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Since the terrorists
are determined to bring death and destruction to our shores, our use of
preemptive force is essential if we are to save millions of American lives. When our young men and women sacrifice their lives to prohibit
the terrorists from turning their threats into reality, there is no greater expression
of love.
DISSENT
AND SUPPORT FOR OUR LEADERS
Our elected officials make
difficult decisions every single day. They must establish working relationships with international partners
whose commitments can vanish at the blink of an eye and they must also achieve
impossible military tasks while minimizing human casualties on all sides. Their ultimate obligation, however, is to
keep all Americans and their vital interests, safe from harm. When and how they spend our money and commit
our young people to war inevitably evokes deeply felt differences of opinion among Americans.
Sec. of Def. Donald Rumsfeld,
Shaikh Khalifa Sullman A-Khalifia, (Bahrain) |
Our willingness to tolerate
opposing views makes this Country an oasis of freedom in a world of
self-proclaimed tyrants. Open debates
between our leaders, a free press and public outcries against their opinions
are not signs of weakness, but evidences of a healthy democracy at work. Unfortunately, that very freedom also opens
the door wide to those living on the "far left" of our society and those motivated by special interests. When people launch personal attacks against
our leaders, berate their integrity or publicly support positions touted by
our enemies, they work against the interests of all Americans and give aid and
comfort to our enemies. Such attacks
erode our Nation’s credibility, reduce our leaders’ effectiveness and divert
their attention away from the important tasks at hand.
Our separation of
governmental powers, coupled with freedoms of religion, speech and press
provide checks and balances that limit the powers of our leaders, expose
corruption, provide punishment for those who violate their public trusts and provide us with the
power to replace them if a majority of our citizens disapprove of their
methods or results. While we may
thoroughly disagree with the directions towards which they lead us, still - in
the end, the security of our entire Country lies in their hands.
Every decision they make
provokes dissenting opinions and to be sure, from time to time they make
mistakes. Nonetheless, especially
during times of crisis, giving our leaders the benefit of the doubt and public
support instead of criticism, more often than not, best serves the interests of
all Americans. While we may thoroughly
disagree with their opinions or actions, they also move with deep convictions
and are highly motivated to do “the very best they can do” for us all, regardless
of what their critics may say or believe.
Our leaders see the world
through far more educated eyes than our own and we may never fully understand
some of their decisions. What we know
for sure is that every day our brave sons and daughters, under their command,
are suffering and dying to protect the freedoms we enjoy; that opposing forces are constantly at work
to undermine their resolve and plot their demise, yet they stand undeterred in
open opposition to all who would bring harm to our shores. Our gratitude, respect and support for them can know
no qualifications.
Insofar as our leaders
conscientiously expend our human and financial resources to preserve our vital
interests, supporting, rather than opposing, those activities usually
serves our Country best. The time and
place where open disapproval of our leaders makes a difference, is at the
ballot box.
After the threat of
terrorism has been subdued, our leaders will be in a position to negotiate our way to
peace with people who want to live in peace. In the meantime, every American should support, root for and pray daily
for the Divine guidance of our leaders and the protection and safety of our
troops under arms.
That's an inviting concept
to some, (unless you're a terrorist), but that idea gets a little sticky. If we were to do that, assuming some "collateral damage", would we be “innocent
people killing the terrorists”? Or by
doing so, wouldn’t we be more like the terrorists, “killing innocent
people”? Anyway, it won't work. A lasting peace cannot be secured through
acts of violence alone and certainly not through acts of genocide.
When we oppose terrorism
with indiscriminate force, we also nurture the seeds of resentment and inspire
deep desires for retaliation. Reigning
violence down upon the terrorists and their families causes those who survive to feel more
justified in their acts, more enraged at their enemies, more determined for
revenge, less concerned about harming the innocent and more concerned about
finding new advocates for their causes. In addition, since God created those lives, the presumption that anyone
has the right to destroy them for something they may just be thinking about
doing, is against all the rules. A
lasting peace requires additional steps beyond war; we must be able to negotiate peace with those who want to live in
peace.
Killing the terrorists alone
will not make those who survive want to live in peace, but convincing them to
open their minds to an alternative voice, will.
AN ALTERNATIVE VOICE
Terrorism Is An Ideology
To solve the problem
of terrorism, we must confront terrorism at its ideological core. We must open its believers’ thoughts to
different possibilities.
“Ahh! - But we
can’t do that”, say the Wahhabis, “because we are the protectors of Islam, and
it is the will of Allah that the infidel must stop polluting Islamic culture
and submit to Allah, or be killed.”
The fantasy that supports
Wahhabism’s convoluted conception of “God’s will”, induces foolish and frustrated young Muslims to
believe that committing suicide is their ticket into heaven; that when they kill themselves in the act of
murdering the infidel, they become “martyrs in the defense of Islam” and “all
of their sins are forgiven”. In
addition, continue Wahhabism’s false prophets, since murder/suicide pleases Allah, Allah will reward them openly with
untold wealth, their families and friends will be welcomed into heaven, and 72 virgins will be waiting there to
escort them into heaven and fulfill all of their sexual desires.
To those unfortunate
individuals who believe that story, such promises represent a future “to die
for”. To more enlightened thinkers
however, including the vast majority of Muslims, that fantasy is absurd on its
face. Actually, most Muslims believe
that all mankind descended from Abraham, that non-Muslims are entitled to worship without interference, and that the
Koran condemns suicide and the killing of innocent people.
The objections of rational thinkers are not directed toward
those good and religious Muslims whose belief in Islam is strong, but toward those fanatical few who would compel others to accept Islamic rule, or die. "WOL" condemns the ideology that
encourages murder and suicide, makes false promises to innocent minds and exalts false prophets who, hiding behind
religious garments, are dripping with vengeance, and excuse their malevolent deeds by calling them,
“the will of Allah”. Their errors in the premise lead them to errors in
their conclusions.
The only permanent solution
for terrorism lies in providing an alternative voice to the stream of hatred and lies
to which young people, under the vice-like control of Wahhabism's religious fanatics,
are being exposed on a daily basis. Wahhabi fanatics are “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. They ruthlessly induce their young to
sacrifice their lives in a vain attempt to rid the world of people who hold
religious or political beliefs, different from their own. In the absence of an alternative voice, the
only message to which those impressionable minds have access extols the virtues
and rewards of murder and suicide.
Teaching the terrorists to
love themselves and others is the only permanent cure for terrorism; and teaching their children and their
children’s children to love others instead of hating them, will end their cycle of terror and secure love’s permanent and lasting effect upon the earth.
Love and education are the
only powers on earth that can soften the terrorists’ hearts and destroy their
unfathomable desire to harm themselves and others.
There Ae No Valid Excuses For Terrorism
Those who attempt to
disentangle the terrorists’ twisted mentalities or search for valid reasons to
explain their unconscionable acts, are seeking sane answers from an insane
premise. One who attempts to explain away the terrorists’ inhumanity by finding fault with everyone except the terrorists, is a fool.
Eradicating poverty would not stop the murderer’s inclination to kill others to get what he wants. The poor have
always been with us. Being poor is
relative and a condition of our own perceptions. The world has many poor people who don’t engage in
terrorism. The poorest people in the
world feel rich if they are surrounded by love and the richest people in the
world feel poor, if they are not.
People, whose education is
limited to violence and the delusion that they will be rewarded in the
afterlife for committing acts of murder and suicide here, need access to an
alternative voice. Whoever loves others
understands peace and love to be life's sweetest rewards, and that they exists here and now
for all to enjoy.
The thoughts of those who
truly love others are consumed with making life better and safer for themselves
and their loved ones, not in killing themselves and bringing death and
destruction down upon their families.
The Apolitical Nature Of Religion
By its very nature, religion
is apolitical and non-violent. No
legitimate religion on earth ever attached Divine authority to acts of bigotry,
genocide, murder or suicide.
To the extent that deviant
mentalities cloak themselves in religious garments, make prayers in holy
places and impute their twisted views upon the inspired words of true
religious leaders, they distort the purity of those religions. Historically, individuals who have behaved
in that manner were, in fact, consumed by greed and infatuated with an
ego-driven sense of their own importance.
The people who founded the
world’s greatest religions all lived in turbulent times and suffered
persecution. They were humble people who
advocated peace, not war, and did not urge their followers to harm others merely
because they supported opposing religious views. Their objective was to convert, not to destroy those with different
convictions.
Followers of Sheikh Wahhab believe
that killing the infidel will advance their religious agendas, but violence
is opposed to legitimate religious objectives.
Islamic terrorists embrace
an evil agenda and the only way to defeat evil’s manipulation is to assert the
power of truth and love louder, longer and stronger than hatred’s proponents can spin
their poisonous webs around their young.
Love is indeed the most
powerful force on earth. It can
dissolve intolerance, hatred, violence, greed and religious bigotry, and expose
those objectives as the unworthy pursuits that they truly are.
HOW CAN LOVE DESTROY THE HATRED OF THE WORLD?
ANSWER: BY DEMONSTRATING TO ALL RECEPTIVE HEARTS,
THE REASONS WHY WE SHOULD "LOVE
OUR ENEMIES"! ! !
"It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic can be found." John Nash
Hate mongering is, in
reality, an individual advocacy. Even
within the same tormented family, some will hate and others will not, some will
kill while others cannot and some will sacrifice their own lives while others
wouldn’t even consider such an act. To
dissolve this adamant of hatred, learning to forgive and "love our
enemies" is a sure and, in fact, the only antidote.
DO TERRORISTS RESPOND TO LOVE?
Absolutely!! All humans respond to love. It is human nature to want to live, to love,
to prosper and to be appreciated. It's
against all human nature for people to want to kill themselves. People who believe they want to kill
themselves are experiencing a delusion.
Mentalities that are
self-destructive (for whatever reason) are suffering from a deprecating self
worth. They don't place a high enough
value upon their own lives. They don't
love themselves as much as God loved them when He gave them life.
For centuries, people with deep religious convictions have been born into
the servitude of Islamic Fundamentalism. They have been
forced to submit to a theocracy that places their desires and their destinies into the hands of others. To
one who has never known freedom, such servitude might appear normal, however,
the control exerted over the masses when the powers of Church and State unite
is not normal because, under that system, the people are deprived of
free choices.
All people yearn for
freedom. Many followers of Wahhabism have
thrown their lives away for what they mistakenly believed was “God’s
will”. Their deep desire to serve God
made them vulnerable to compelling, but fatally misguided, doctrines.
Followers of Sheikh Wahhab’s vision
will escape their delusions, regain their sense of reality and discover the
true value of their lives when their desire to love and be loved becomes
greater than their hatred, and their desire for revenge.
IS IT UNLOVING IF WE USE FORCE
TO PROTECT OURSELVES ?
No! “Those who do not remember the
past, are doomed to repeat it” Santayana Love
begins at home! An act of self-defense
is not unloving, even if it results in harm to those who are attempting to harm
us. Self-preservation is a law of
nature. Every creature on earth will
put up a mighty struggle to sustain its own life and will usually fight to the
death if its life is threatened. Nature
universally triggers this reaction in order to preserve every species and
protect them from extinction.
IS IT UNLOVING FOR OUR COUNTRY TO USE VIOLENCE
AGAINST THREATS OF VIOLENCE?
No!! "A threat ignored is a
threat unleashed." Neil
Cavuto We would not truly love our families, our Country or our friends if we
refused to do so. Those who utter deadly threats against
our Country also threaten our lives, our families' lives and our way of
life. Waiting until their threats
become reality is not a solution. Acting after our loved ones have been harmed is not an
option. It is not unloving for us to
use deadly force to protect our families and our Country against
threats that are deadly serious.
ARE NON-COMBATANTS EVER LEGITIMATE TARGETS?
Absolutely not!!! That is why terrorism, nuclear weapons and
other weapons of mass destruction are not legitimate weapons of war - the
innocent are their inevitable targets.
IS IT WRONG TO HATE AN ENEMY THAT WE ARE
COMPELLED
TO STOP WITH DEADLY FORCE?
Yes!!!! Hating our enemies only harms us and
stopping the enemy with deadly force is also not a final solution.
“the true object of war, is peace.” Sun Tsu (500 B.C.)
War’s ultimate effect on each of our lives
will rest with the degree of animosity that we either imbibe or refuse to
embrace.
If we sincerely strive to
forgive our enemies and live in peace, if we refuse to hate or be motivated by
a desire for revenge, then even when human events compel us to defend our own
lives, our Country or the lives of others with deadly force, our participation
in those events will remain devoid of the hatred that devours our
souls.
Of course, the cessation of
overt hostilities is a necessary step in the path towards peace, but to secure
a lasting peace, all sides, including the terrorists, must agree that loving
each other is a better solution than killing each other. Convincing our enemies to put down their
arms, and doing so ourselves, is our obligation to our children and our
grandchildren.
Compelling future
generations to inherit our hatreds and our wars through the transmission of our
zealous rage, false interpretation of religious mandates or false sense of
honor or tradition is self-serving, unreasonable and unconscionable.
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