[Rhodes22-list] Terrorism vs. Radical Islam

[Roger Pihlaja]

Brad,

OK, but Islam was also the shining light of civilization & culture for
nearly 500 years after the fall of the Roman empire, so it's not as if Islam
caused these people to become stupid.  While there is a radical Islamic sect
as you've indicated, the vast majority of Islam advocates peace.  Consider
the violence let loose upon the Islamic world by supposedly peaceful
Christians during the crusades.  Does that mean that Chistianity advocates
violence?  I think the key is to bring up the standard of living & increase
opportunities in the Islamic world.  This will get rid of the root cause for
terrorism.  But, how we get from the current instability & chaos to the
vision is a matter for debate.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

----- Original Message -----
From: "brad haslett" <flybrad at yahoo.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Terrorism vs. Radical Islam


> Roger,
>
> You forgot to mention that all those accomplishments
> took place prior to the rise of Islam.  I could care
> less how many times people pray, to whom, or in what
> direction, I'm an agnostic, but when your religion
> tells you to kill all who don't believe as you,
> there's a problem.
>
> The leaders of that area, Saudi Arabia being the
> worst, could care less what happens to the millions of
> their citizens.  (I used to train with the Saudi Air
> pilots, Americans, and have heard all their stories
> about the flights to LAX to re-whore the harem.  In
> fact, I saw a Saudi 747 parked at the private terminal
> in LAX last week.  Hmmm.)  Anyway, I digress.
>
> Iraq has the best chance of any nation in the region
> to join the modern world.  They have an educated
> middle class, and the wealth (oil) to build a
> self-governing society.  It won't be easy and it will
> require our help.  The Shah of Iran, despite his
> faults, oversaw rapidly improving conditions for his
> population. They haven't progressed much under the
> Mullahs unless you count a nuclear bomb progress.
> (Another story for another day - a good friend of mine
> at work was the roommate of the son of the Shah at
> Reese AFB in Texas.  His return to Iran and eventual
> citizenship in the USA is a heartwarming immigrant
> story.  Again, I digress.)
>
> If, and this is a huge IF, Iraq can become a stable
> and peaceful nation in the region with rising
> prosperity for its citizens, it will provide a
> catalyst for other governments to become more moderate
> and raise their own standard of living. Taking a
> chance on dying and perhaps the 40 to 60 virgins
> (whatever) not being there won't seem nearly as
> attractive when you can enjoy some of the comforts the
> 21st century, running water for example.
>
> The war was declared on us a long time ago.  We
> ignored the first twenty attacks.  Now that one has
> happened on our own soil and killed 3000 innocent US
> citizens, what are we doing?  Debating how to fight a
> more sensitive war and asking why the French aren't
> returning us a favor.  Huh?  You'll notice France
> isn't taking any chances with them.  Have you followed
> the news on how they are treating their own
> substantial Muslim population?
>
> Brad Haslett
> "CoraShen"
>
> --- Roger Pihlaja <cen09402 at centurytel.net> wrote:
>
> > Guys, I hear what you are saying about the attitudes
> > of Muslims on the street towards the United States.
> > But, I have a hard time declaring this a war against
> > Islam.
> >
> > We're talking about the Fertile Crescent here, the
> > cradle of civilization.  The folks in this area of
> > the world were building great engineering marvels
> > like the Ziggurat Pyramids, aqueducts, the Hanging
> > Gardens of Babylon, & living in big cities when my
> > ancestors in northern Europe were barely out of the
> > stone age living in thatched huts.  These folks have
> > a culture that goes back several millennia & gave us
> > some of the 1st known written languages, the legal
> > code of Hamurabi, as well as great literature such
> > as the epic of Gilgamish.  To think that these
> > people with their long tradition of engineering
> > excellence, creativity, & scholarship would not be
> > able to produce their own chemical & biological
> > weapons given the amount of time & resources
> > available is ridiculous at the very least & tends to
> > smell like some sort of racial bias.  Anyone who
> > discounts their capability does so at their own
> > peril.
> >
> > I think a lot of our problems with the Muslim world
> > stem from our relationship with Israel & with a
> > general frustration with the continuing bloodshed &
> > chaos in the region.  Whether it's fixable is not
> > clear at this point.
> >
> > Roger Pihlaja
> > S/V Dynamic Equilbrium
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>
>
>
>
>
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