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August 02, 2005

A Global Jihad Primer

From The Christian Science Monitor, all the FAQ's answered. Some answers are obvious...

What do the militants want?

For Islamist militants, the long-term objective is an Islamic superstate, or caliphate. Narrower objectives include the end of the state of Israel and toppling secular Middle Eastern regimes like Egypt's. It is an article of faith that the US and all secular Western states stand in their way, and weakening those states is seen as positive for all their objectives.

Some horrific to contemplate...
What Is their ideal society?

They want a society that applies the Koran literally and adheres to the social practices that prevailed at the time of the prophet Muhammad. It would not be democratic in any modern sense, though there are provisions for shura, or consultation - generally interpreted to mean the leader should take advice from trusted community members. In their interpretation of Islam, women and men have defined roles, and women generally have fewer rights.

Their views stem from the Salafi movement within Islam's Sunni sect, the religion's largest. For a Salafi adherent, interpretation of the Koran stops 1,300 years ago, with Muhammad, his companions, and the three generations that followed them.


How do you drag someone out of the stone ages mentally and culturally? The mind warping power of 'religion' is snicker material when watching the train wreck that is Tom Cruise, but multiply that power times a billion Islamics, divide by the unstable element within every society, multiply that by the blood thirsty encouragement of Koranic verses twisted in the mouths of radical imams, then all dumped into the context of 7th century life...I am hard pressed to see how you begin to deal with it. But you don't let these enclaves fester in your center out of political correctness while you decide. As per my post below; when faced with the choice of a free society and a chance to come into the world as it is now, regression seems the most viable option in Islam. How sad is that? And how terrifying for the rest of us.


Posted by tree hugging sister at August 2, 2005 01:20 PM