Saturday, April 29, 2006

An AP news story with facts!

And they got them right, too! Someone on the AP staff allowed a story describing the differences between various Middle East groups so often described simply as "terrists" by the Bushoviks. AND in clear and straight forward terms, the reporter Alfred de Montesquiou, details how this inability to differentiate is one of the core failures of Our Dear Embattled Leader and his Middle East "policy".
Scholars of Islamic movements and some Western policy-makers, however, say distinctions now must be made between hard-line Islamist organizations and "holy warrior" groups such as Osama bin Laden's terror network.

"There is a fundamental difference between Islamic groups: Most are sociopolitical reformists, others are religious extremists," said Dia'a Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on radical groups.

Hamas and Hezbollah, for example, have national agendas, he said. They want to reorganize society according to Sharia, or Islamic law.

Extremist religious movements such as al-Qaida are international revolutionaries who excoriate not only non-Muslims but also Muslims who fail to follow their views. Theirs is a holy war to spread their views among Muslims and to repel any "infidel invasion" of Islamic lands.

"Branding these two branches of radicalism the same way, as terrorist organizations, reflects a complete misunderstanding of the issue," he said.

Rashwan said the confusion was a "fatal mistake" of the Bush administration in its war on terror.

He said that to fight an enemy, one had to define it correctly: "America doesn't, and this is why it is losing the war on terrorism."
Napoleon said it more simply, "Know your enemy". And that knowledge has been key to great leaders throughout history. And it also tells us all we need to know about why ODEL is a miserable failure in his Great War on Terra.

As always, if you want to know what is really going on over there, read Juan Cole.

Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]