'Al-Qaeda sees Canada as a legitimate target'

[Riverwind]

No, it makes YOU a lot less safe if you want to live in fear. That's your choice. Better watch out for those "radicalized" Haitians and Afghanis too. LOL!

Rubbish. Bush and his merry band of war mongers have made a career telling everyone to be afraid of Muslims. Almost everything he does plays right into the hands of Al Queda. Makes you wonder if Cheney is on Bin Laden's payroll....

[bush_cheney2004]

Rubbish. Bush and his merry band of war mongers have made a career telling everyone to be afraid of Muslims. Almost everything he does plays right into the hands of Al Queda. Makes you wonder if Cheney is on Bin Laden's payroll....

Bull puckey....America has known Islam and Muslims for many years. I grew up with the Fruit of Islam on street corners distributing Muhammad Speaks over 40 years ago. President Bush has warned against making any such generalizations about "fear of Muslims" or Islam.

Your absurd statement about ALL Muslims is much more of a stereotype.

[jbg]

..as he back-pedals very quickly from ALL MUSLIMS? What an absurd assertion to make.

Does not change the fact that Iraq has radicalized Muslims around the world and made us all a lot less safe.

I'd rather know what we're up against now, before they have the bomb, then find out later. As I've posted above, and you didn't respond to, the Muslims have been at it for quite some time.

Maybe a review of history about the Muslims is in order.

During the pre-Muslim era, the wanton and vicious habits of the desert people of the area from Egypt through Saudi Arabia is well known, and memorialized in the oral history contained in the Bible. The stories of Sodom and Gomorrah, of the binding of Isaac (by negative implication the ritual child sacrifice among neighboring peoples), the purposeless plugging with sand of water wells dug by Abraham and Isaac are but some examples. The wickedness and idolatry prevalant in these areas, along with sexual perversion and violence, existed well before Islam and the fault for them must be laid at the door, not of Islam, but of local "cultures".

Islam's extremely violent start is also well known. Their virtually unhindered spread from the Mecca area to the Atlantic and to the borders of modern India occurred largely at the point of a sword. There were, during those early years, some constructive developments. In many areas, intellectually, they were ahead of Europe, then in the "Dark Ages". They were more tolerant of Jews and Christians than Christians were of Jews and Muslims. At least "dhimmitude" allowed survival, under conditions of degradation and financial servitude.

Their predatory habits on the trade of other peoples is also well-known. One of the great impetuses for the development of shipping was the need to avoid travel through mortally dangerous Muslim lands en route to the Far East. Later, the Barbary Coast pirates and pirates off modern-day Somalia, all Musims, made theft from Europeans (and eventually Americans) and the "white slave" trade an art form. Then as now, it took the Americasns to crack down rather than pay tribute.

Since then, the Barbary Coast Pirates have morphed into OPEC (all of the money benefits the rulers, not the people), the UN, and disaster-milking. Remeber those pitiful faces on ads for charities after the Indonesia tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake? How much rebuilding do you think has really happened? Then as now, there are producers, and there are extorters and takers. After the Holocaust, an undisputed atrocity, its victims picked themselves up, and are now valuable contributors to the world wherever they live.

Did (do) they have cause to be "angry" with the butchers that killed 6,000,000 of them? Where are their suicide bombers? Where are the Americans attacking bazaars in Araby after September 11? Where's the anger of the non-Muslim world against Muslims? Instead of anger, you see the Michael Moores of the world prattling about "negotiations".

[AngusThermopyle]

I'm glad someone decided to bring up some Muslim history here. I have no doubt that the Iraq war has converted some formerly moderate Muslims to extreme beliefs. However, it's quite a stretch to blame the war for all terrorism. One merely has to do a little reading about their history to realize that they have always had a "conquest" mindset. Indeed, the Quran explicitly states that they should subjugate or destroy all non-believers. Considering this predates the war by about 1500 years I think it's safe to say that the war pissed some of them off, but certainly is not the cause of terrorism.

Terrorism did actually exist prior to 911.

[weaponeer]

Nonsense..the invasion of Iraq that created "the nightmare" started in 1991.

The Iraq War in 1991 was supported by many Muslim nations. After the war was over the US maintained a military presence in Saudi Arabia which was the trigger for the attacks up to and including 9/11. The UK and Spain were not threatened at all by these groups before Iraq.

Many Muslims condemned the 9/11 attack and accepted the need to go into Afghanistan. All Muslims were opposed to second Iraq War. The facts are obvious to anyone who is willing to look at them.

The US and western military presents in the Persian Gulf area after the first Gulf War was due to the fact that Saddam was not completely defeated militarily. A vast number of his well equipped and trained Rep Guard troops escaped, and were a threat to re-invade both Kuwait and Saudi had the western/Muslim forces left the area.

This is an example of what happens when you do not finish a war. If the UN had been smart in 1990/91, had the coalition acted together, they could have removed Saddam then, and perhaps this could have all been avoided.

The western military were in the Gulf long before 1990. The US Navy had been escorting oil tankers there for years. After the war the presents was still there, although increased with air power.

But we are avoiding the really big question;

Why do Muslims not want foreign people in Saudi, or any other Muslim country?? Why does it make them mad??

Christians do not have a holy fit if Jews or Muslims visit or live in Bethlehem, they do not blow up Muslim embassies because someone from Iran went to the Vatican. Jews do not riot in the streets because someone in China drew a silly cartoon etc...... Hindus do not kill visitors to India.....