God save the Queen (from al Qaeda)
The Globe and Mail, drawing on Britain's Sunday Times, is reporting that "Al-Qaeda has named Queen Elizabeth 'one of the severest enemies of Islam'" in "a video message obtained by Britain's security service":
Whatever our disagreements over the scope and conduct of the so-called war on terror, let's remember that this is what the enemy is all about. And it must be destroyed.
In the video, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a leading lieutenant of terror boss Osama bin Laden, says the Queen is responsible for what he terms Britain's "crusader laws" and calls her an enemy of Muslims, the paper said.
The video also labels the British monarch one of Islam's "severest enemies," and warns British Muslim leaders who "work for Elizabeth, the head of the Church of England."
Whatever our disagreements over the scope and conduct of the so-called war on terror, let's remember that this is what the enemy is all about. And it must be destroyed.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
5:44 PM
2 Comments:
Yes, there are some bad actors out there (not to mention the logic of blaming the queen for anything other than raising Corgis). That said, in addition to bringing criminals like this to justice, lots of attention needs to be paid to supporting moderate Muslims - most Jordanians for e.g. Have the extreme idiots exposed for the hate mongers they are (there are a few Christians who qualify too).
By
Gary, at 11:11 PM
I agree with you, Gary. We need to be supporing moderate Muslim reform movements wherever possible. Iran, for example, where despite Ahmadinejad's populist extremism there is a vibrant reform community.
I was a pro-war liberal MMR. So are the editors of The New Republic. The problem is that we're not vocal enough, I think. Just as conservatives are dominated by the noise of the far right, so are we dominated by the noise of the far left. Although, I like to think of myself as a moderate, too.
Muslims need to see that this isn't a clash of civilizations but a civil war within Islam. Al Qaeda and the other jihadists are not just fighting America and the decadent West but the more moderate elements within Islam. So far in the war on terror, the silence coming from many moderate Muslims is truly disappointing.
Or let me say, with respect to Susan, that is isn't just a clash of civilizations. But what we need to be doing is encouraging political reforms in the Muslim world, not necessarily hoping for "an Islamic reformation" -- which, I agree, could be bad.
By
Michael J.W. Stickings, at 5:38 PM
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