Crown Prince (of Darkness?) Abdullah of Saudi Arabia speaking after a car bomb destroyed a building in Riyadh on 21 April 2004 said "God is on our side and will help us punish the perpetrators." I am sure that the planners of the bombing said exactly the same thing before they unleashed their destruction. Bush has said that God wanted him to be in the White House. Following that logic, God wants Bush and America to wage war in Iraq and recent battles in Fallujah suggest that America is fighting a real war not skirmishes. While those in Fallujah and the followers of Sadr wage war on America and the civilian population of Iraq cloaked in the rhetoric of martyrdom and religious obligation. Sadr, a cleric, has decided to order suicide attacks and has sanctioned them through the power of his office as cleric. [Last night, islamoyankee said it better than I could. He said " Islam does not speak, Muslims do". Well those that are speaking are speaking louder than the rest of us. For example, even in an article condeming the Saudi bombing, it seems that that the only reason for the condemnation is not because killing people is wrong, but rather, that the bombing would help the Zionist cause".]
Anyway, were was I? Right. Back to God. It seems that God is taking all sides and hedging her bets. God’s a winner. And, as long as fanatics, goverments, and individuals invoke God and claim the moral authority to fight on the side of justice, this war will continue. The price is too high. I say we cut God out of the action. There are enough profitable ventures to go around. We have the most to lose and yet we are content to let others pick and chose the the game and make up the rules.
This is the biggest crisis facing the Muslim world since the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. Contrary to what the clerics and the Muslim free press say, the threat is not external. It is internal and we are refusing to fight it, hoping it will go away. Well it won’t. Its here to stay. When 15 school children were killed in a blast in the bomb blast in Iraq this week, I looked for condemnation of this atrocity from the Muslim world, but did not see any. We all whisper, while those that would kill us as easily as stepping on a roach are shouting from the rooftops.
Last night gave me hope though. Frontline interviewed Abdurahman Khadr. In the interview, Abdurahman Khadr recounts his journey from growing up alongside Osama bin Laden and his family in Afghanistan and attending the terrorist training camps there; to his capture by the Northern Alliance in Kabul after 9/11; to his work for the CIA as an undercover spy in Guantanamo and Bosnia; to his decision to leave the CIA, return to Canada and go public with his story. Sorry that this post is all over the place. I was working on one on cosmology, but recent events made me change my mind.