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Bill O'Reilly: Moderate Muslims must fight fanaticism

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Moderate Muslims
must fight fanaticism

So let me get this straight. We know that for 25 years Saddam Hussein tortured, murdered and brutalized his people. Then, in three weeks, coalition forces removed him and his thug pals from power. Then, a few days later, thousands of Iraqis took to the streets and beat themselves silly in a bloody display that made slasher flicks look tame.
Do I have this right?

Now, you might think that these self-abusers would take a few days off from pain. After suffering so long through the horrors of Saddam, why not relax a bit and smell the sand dunes? I understand that the display was done in the name of religion, but I think any deity would cut his devotees some slack here. Taking the torture chamber to the streets so soon after the brutal Iraqi dictator was deposed might be seen as, well, somewhat nuts.

And therein lies the problem. The U.S. faces a situation in which it is trying to reason with people who believe that the Rolling Stones had it nailed when they recorded "Let it Bleed." The Bush administration wants to convince fundamentalist fanatics that Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are the way to go. But unless the new Bill of Iraqi Rights contains provisions whereby you have the right to pulverize yourself with a hammer, things may get dicey.

The Daily News ran a front-page photo of bloody guys running around the city of Karbala. In addition to beating themselves silly, many of the demonstrators loudly demanded that the Americans leave immediately so they can impose more such celebrations on the entire country.

The tragedy is that most Iraqis think that kind of display is as loony as most Westerners do. But the adamancy and irrationality of fundamentalist Islam is so intimidating that the majority of clear-thinking Muslims are fearful of speaking out. Thus, the fundamentalists can impose a system of government that brutalizes people in the name of religion. The Taliban did this, and so did the mullahs of Iran.

The U.S. and Britain cannot allow this to happen in Iraq. Fundamentalist Islam is an enemy of human rights. It is a danger to the world and the primary reason the U.S. was attacked 9/11. Even in the politically correct world in which we live, decent people should be outraged that governments exist where women are treated as dogs and people of other faiths are considered infidels to be killed with impunity.

Where is the worldwide outcry against fundamentalist Islam? Why is this violent culture deemed an acceptable form of behavior? Most Muslims are not fundamentalists but are being demonized because of this fanatical sect. That is unfair and unjust; it would be like saying David Koresh is the poster boy for Christianity. But moderate Muslims must lead the charge against the fanatics because non-Muslims are far too frightened to do so.

It should be clear to everyone by now that the entire world is threatened by the likes of Osama Bin Laden and his followers. There is no discussion here. These people will use any weapon they get their hands on to kill little kids and everyone else they see as not following the true path.

The U.S. is going to have to confront the bloody faces in Karbala sooner or later. If the Bush administration does not, they will turn Iraq into another Taliban operation by using murder and terror. These people are worse than Saddam.

Fundamentalist Islam is a worldwide threat that cannot be reasoned with. Freedom of religion does not include the imposition of brutal methods to regulate a barbaric code of conduct. America did indeed free the Iraqi people from terror, but another kind of terror is lined up to step right in. It had better be dealt with quickly.

I'm sure the U.S. government is on top of this, I trust they'll do something competent.

O'Reilly is 100% correct.

I'm not a big O'reilly fan, but he's on the mark on this.

seems to me that people want what they want because they don't know any better ways.

Who are we to tell them that their "barbaric" professions are wrong? But what needs to happen is they have to be tolerant of others who wish not to participate or have other viewpoints.

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Originally posted by Cynthetiq
But what needs to happen is they have to be tolerant of others who wish not to participate or have other viewpoints.

That would be FANTASTIC, Cynthetiq, but a 'radical' muslim doesn't tolerate other viewpoints or religions. Hence the problem.

wow, Mr. O'Reilly makes a lot of sense in this commentary. I'm stunned...

Maybe O'Reilly should have thought about this stuff BEFORE the war started. Sure, we can keep these guys under control now, while we're in there with our big guns. But when we go away, who's to say what'll happen in Iraq.

Well..even for Bill O'Reilly is there a diamond in the ruff.

Usually Bill is full of shit and masterfully trying to blow smoke up my ass......

but that was a very well thought out and rational statement.

Well, don't you think there is a RIFT between the fanatical neo-conservative muslim (wahabi and other salafis) and the rest of the muslim world. They don't exactly talk to each other and have been figthing, and are still fighting, since those no-classical movements gained financial power (through Saudia Arabia) and influence in the last 30-40 years. This is nothing new. What the US NEEDS to do is to restrict the Saudi regime aility to finace all those Wahabi and salafi mosques and islamic schools, to stop them financing terrorist groups, basically to finally take their responsabilities against their "old friends" and restrict their financial might. The rest of the mainstream muslim world will keep its fight but it can't do it alone.

Quote:

Originally posted by richunter
Well, don't you think there is a RIFT between the fanatical neo-conservative muslim (wahabi and other salafis) and the rest of the muslim world. They don't exactly talk to each other and have been figthing, and are still fighting, since those no-classical movements gained financial power (through Saudia Arabia) and influence in the last 30-40 years. This is nothing new. What the US NEEDS to do is to restrict the Saudi regime aility to finace all those Wahabi and salafi mosques and islamic schools, to stop them financing terrorist groups, basically to finally take their responsabilities against their "old friends" and restrict their financial might. The rest of the mainstream muslim world will keep its fight but it can't do it alone.

I completley agree. I hope that the majority-good Muslim world realizes that their religion is being hijacked. We had a handful of ex-cia cohorts and the willing Palestinans, Saudis and Afghanis they trained, organized and supporting terrorism against civilians as a way to achieve positive political change in the modern world. And that is not wise.

The Saudis are very focused on keeping their wealth. I believe that they may have wanted the superior US technology, to precisely attack Iraq, a direct threat to their existance in the world, more than Israel.

We must not forget those liberties that we were promised by the constitution in this post 9-11 world. I know there will be changes and we will have to sacrifice alot of rights in the new millenium, but let's not forget those basic rights.

my 2 cents