Muslims, bombing, death and destruction?

Hmm, sound like a good candidate for an Muslims Suck post.

"And yet, how many Indian Moslems were on the 9/11 planes? How many blew themselves up on the London trains? How many are we catching in America's inner cities, plotting to blow up national landmarks?

None."

Same as the number of Iraqis.

By jove, you're right! India (a liberal democracy) and Iraq (a totalitarian state with known links to terror groups AND to Al Quaeda) are EXACTLY THE SAME!

The point is that they're not. And that your assertions are based on a faulty premise.

Er, which one?

Please don't get Iraq mixed up in this. What Mitch says is right. Indian muslims have a stake in social and economic progress. Iraqis do too. As do Iranians, Pakistanis, Saudis, etc. But the difference is, under a dictator, your opinions and convictions about your stake amount to nothing. The dictators will still keep spreading chaos for their selfish purposes.

Also note that on the same day, 5 blasts rocked Kashmir. All of them targeting tourists. Kashmir's main industry is tourism, and over the last couple of years, relative peace is enabling tourists to return in large number. The blasts in Kashmir were clearly aimed at keeping them away and perpetuating the insurgency in Kashmir by shutting off their means of livelihood.

Anybody want to see my 139-page spreadsheet proving that 93% of the terrorists' donations are to Islamic causes?

I'd rather see what you allege your point to be.

Am I wrong about Indian Muslims?

Or about the potential motivations for the attacks?

Oh, do tell.

His point is that you said something, so it must be wrong and opposing it is what he does. You know these things, Mitch. Why do you even ask the question?

All I can say is India Out Of Iraq NOW!!! You are creating more Islamo-Nazi terroristist by your continued occupation of...
Oh. Never mind.
Spin this one, Clowns of the world.

Voting "yes" for the joint resolution that authorized the Iraq war were Biden, Daschle, Edwards, Feinstein, Harkin, Schumer, Clinton, and Kerry, among other Democrats. They had to be real morons not to notice that none of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqi's. No wonder the dem's can't win an election.

Zing, zing, and zing. But angryclown doesn't care if any or all of you make sense...he's just an ass and can't help himself apparently.

None of the hijackers were Afghans either.

Fareed Zakaria said it best (while even getting in a dig at Bush):

"But, since we are listing mistakes, the biggest one many opponents of the war are making is to claim that Iraq is a total distraction from the war on terrorism. In fact, Iraq is central to that conflict. I don’t mean this in the deceptive and dishonest sense that many in the Bush administration have claimed. There is no connection between Saddam’s regime and the terrorists of September 11. But there is a deep connection between his regime and the terrorism of September 11. The root causes of Islamic terrorism lie in the dysfunctional politics of the Middle East, where failure and repression have produced fundamentalism and violence. Political Islam grew in stature as a mystical alternative to the wretched reality–secular dictatorships–that have dominated the Arab world. A new Iraq provides an opportunity to break this perverse cycle. The country is unlikely to become a liberal democracy any time soon. But it might turn out to be a pluralistic state that gives minorities limited protections, allows for some political participation, and has a reasonably open society. That would be a revolution in the Arab world."

Zakaria's right, except for the fact there's plenty of evidence which strongly suggests links between Iraq and al-Qaeda.

If you don't understand that the rise of militant Islam is directly attributable to the autocracy in the Middle East, then you don't understand this war.

Muzzies just want to kill everybody....Jew, Hindu, nonbeliever, Buddhist, Shinto, Christian....

I suspect the Third World War has started and in the 20 years that it will play out, Islam will have to be dismantled by the 5/6 of humanity that ain't Islam---just to save the planet.

Clown does not get it, Iraq, Israeli, etc. are just the bleeding edges of the soon to be obvious world conflagration.

"Muzzies just want to kill everybody....Jew, Hindu, nonbeliever, Buddhist, Shinto, Christian...."

My point, of course, is that not all of them do. The vast majority of Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Malinese, Senegalese, and for that matter Bosnian and Albanian moslems live in a more or less western, liberal/semi-secular world, with some form of rule of law and economic freedom.

It's the mix of Islam and autocracy, as Jay points out, that's the problem.

Indian Muslims might or might not have a stake in the "modern" world. India is one of the poorest countries in the world. It might not be entirely obvious, but being able to feed and clothe your children is often considered as important as being able to vote. Furthermore, Indian Muslims suffer occassional persecution from the Hindu majority. While most Hindus are law-abiding citizens, they also have their equivalent of the KKK. Or did you just ignore the news about a few thousands Indian Muslims getting slaughtered every now and then in internecine riots? For anyone who has actually bothered to read the history of the area, Pakistan was created for this exact reason: to escape this persecution.

Byron,

I'll ignore the condescension; I've "Bothered" to read quite a bit about the region. It has, in fact, always fascinated me.

I'm *fully* aware of the long-standing tensions between Hindi and Bengali (and other Indian Moslems); they led to the creation of Pakistan and Bangladesh, the murder of Gandhi, and the endless squabble over the adjoining lands which has led to five wars and/or border skirmishes in the past sixty years.

But as I noted in the piece - which is *not* fundamentally a piece about Bharati history - these battles have been traditionally ethnic rather than purely religious (although like many ethnic wars, religious differences are kept front and center).

"My point, of course, is that not all of them do."

I understand your desire to absolve the 80% of Islam that isn't insane, Mitch. The problem is the 20% is driving this war, and between Gaza, Lebanon, and India they will drive the 80% under the plow of their fanatical insanity. There isn't a damn thing we can do about it. Maybe it's God's ultimate judgement. That's not for me to say.
But the Israelis are through making nice, and the Hindus are not known for their tolerance of Muslim terrorism.
Expect Bad Craziness. This world is going to get uglier.