Muslims dispute Zarqawi over killing innocents

[allemand]

19 May 2005 13:19:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Edmund Blair

CAIRO, May 19 (Reuters) - Many Arab Muslims on Thursday dismissed the religious justification for killing innocents given by al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, saying it was not the Islam they knew and any resistance had rules to protect civilians.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi defended the killing of innocent Muslims in suicide bombings against U.S. forces in a message on a Web site. He said Muslim scholars permitted such conduct for the sake of jihad, or holy war.

"This is a deviant notion and Zarqawi, with all due respect, is not an expert on Islamic jurisprudence. His views are illegitimate," said Saudi Islamic researcher Youssef al-Dayni.

"These people killed in Iraq are innocent and his description of them as martyrs is of no benefit. He is only trying to find justifications for his terrorism," said Bahraini Shi'ite Muslim cleric Sheikh Ali Salman.

More:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19659644.htm

A Speech by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi from the Information Department of al-Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers – Wednesday, 05/18/05
By SITE Institute
May 18, 2005

A 74 minute audio message was released today allegedly from al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, providing an ideological justification for the killing of civilian Muslims as collateral damage in the fight with American forces. There is no indication as to the exact date of the recording of this message, however during the course of his speech, Zarqawi mentions the death of Pope John Paul II, which would mean that it must have been recorded some time between April 2, 2005 and yesterday.

According to Zarqawi, “Killing Muslims who are acting as a shield is not the most preferable option, but is necessary if you must kill them to get at the enemy. If you do not kill the Muslim shield, the enemy will kill the Muslims anyway.” He uses scholarly and religious arguments as grounds for placing the preservation of Islam as higher than the sanctity of Muslim life, as “restoring the religion is more important than restoring the soul.” Zarqawi notes that since the topography of Iraq is very much unlike that of Chechnya and Afghanistan, and enemy troops are highly concentrated within cities, especially in Baghdad, “it is imperative for the mujahideen to confront the enemy in direct combat.” The lack of guerilla warfare as a viable option, then, necessitates the insurgency to “concentrate our suicide operations, to shake up the presence of the enemy in these cities and compel him to get out of the cities and go to places in which the enemy can be sniped.” Regardless of killing woman and children in the bombings, Zarqawi states that “My killing Muslims… is defending ourselves. The purpose of this is to defend the whole nation from the enemy.”

Concerning the Shi’a, Zarqawi describes them as abetting the Americans in fighting Muslims, besides initiating attacks against Sunnis themselves. Zarqawi states: “the cross-worshippers themselves said it is a crusaders’ war and they came to Iraq killing and humiliating Muslims with the help of the Shi’a… these hateful Shiites are trying, by any means showing their care about the Iraqi blood, to discredit the mujahideen to make the world see them as bloodsuckers.” Also, Zarqawi mentions Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi not objecting to the French issue of “Chirac preventing Muslim women from wearing hijabs,” and further, highlights the lack of media attention paid to Muslim scholars and martyrs such as Abu Anas al-Shami, rather, reserving such praise for “when Pope John John Paul died…”

http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications47405&Category=publications&Subcategory=0

[nine30]

1. Good

much of Zarqawi's support came from the average muslim from the muslim world. I can see a rift developing.

[Kagemusha]

2. Developing?...

It was a pre-existing chasm. I guess nobody noticed.

[yurbud]

5. Zarqawi sounds an awful lot like a fictional character

like Osama, he makes pronouncements precisely when Bush needs him.

[allemand]

6. Well, at least Osama bin Laden thinks that he is his "emir" in Iraq

"I believe that the mujahid emir, dignified brother Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and the groups affiliated with him are good and from the group that fights according to the orders of God. God sufficeth them. (...)

We in the al-Qaeda organisation warmly welcome their union with us. This is a great step toward rendering successful the efforts of the mujahideen to establish the state of right and annihilate the state of injustice.

We hope that God will accept and bless this step. It should be known that mujahid brother Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is the emir of the al-Qaeda organisation in the Land of the Two Rivers.

The brothers in the group there should heed his orders and obey him in all that which is good.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4129173.stm

[yurbud]

7. As I said, LIKE Osama, his pronouncements come when Bush needs them

Could you ask for a better enemy than one who issues public threats (like right before the election) or beheads someone (like right after Abu Ghraib scandal broke) whenever you get in a PR jam?

[DulceDecorum]

3. If you fail with terrorist chickens, try the three legged man.

“They invested for years in chicken farms in Georgia, which is the best way of laundering money. It is very difficult to track the movements of chickens. You can always claim that there were losses in a given year and that ten million chickens died. Go prove it.”
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=inthenews2903&Category=inthenews&Subcategory=0

Sun Mar 13th, 2005 at 12:50:10 PDT
Two years ago, CBS "60 Minutes" linked a chicken farm in Georgia to terrorists. Turns out the source of the organization: SITE or Search for International Terrorist Entities, is a bogus front funded by pro-Bush War on Terror backers.
<snip>
A little Googling revealed that SITE, is an "news" organization with all the credibility of Talon News.
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/3/13/155010/007

May 19, 2005
Why are ISPs forced to carry terrorist web sites?
.... When I e-mailed burst.net asking why the company hosted such a site, here is the response I got from a Sean Rosler, who identified himself as being with System Administration.
"BurstNET DOES NOT voluntarily host the azzam.com web site. It has either been removed from our equipment (It hasn't) or has been left untouched by gov't official request. (My emphasis). It was formerly hosted here, was under government investigation, and was/will be removed as soon as the govt allowed us to do such. It would have been removed the instant we found out about it, had we not been instructed by the ‘powers that be' to leave it untouched ... We are a Jewish owned corporation, do you really think we want to host such crap?"
Folks, concerned Americans deserve explanations on this one. Why is the government apparently requiring these companies to continue hosting these sites? Let's contact the media, our elected officials and demand that we get some answers.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/530866253?ltl=1116524966

02:00 AM Feb. 25, 2005 PT
A Justice Department spokesman told Frontline it didn't have enough staff to monitor the internet 24/7.
That's where Internet Haganah and other private-sector organizations step in. The Washington, D.C.-based Search for International Terrorist Entities Institute, or SITE, is considered a definitive source on Islamic terror groups. Clients of the organization's fee-based intelligence service include the FBI, Office of Homeland Security and media groups around the globe.
"It is actually to our benefit to have some of these terror sites up and running by American companies," said SITE's co-founder and director, Rita Katz. "If the servers are in the U.S., this is to our advantage when it comes to monitoring activities."
http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,66708,00.html

[allemand]

4. Thank you for that information about the "SITE Institute".

There are many reports about that Zarqawi tape. And I think that Zarqawi would find a way to issue a denial if it wasn't him speaking on that tape.

Alleged Al-Zarqawi Tape Defends Deaths

Thursday May 19, 2005 2:01 AM
By MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - An Internet audiotape posted Wednesday, purportedly by al-Qaida-in-Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, justifies the deaths of fellow Muslims in attacks against U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies by saying that jihad - or holy war - dwarfs all other concerns.

``God ordered us to attack the infidels by all means ... even if armed infidels and unintended victims - women and children - are killed together,'' the speaker said. ``The priority is for jihad so anything that slows down jihad should be overcome.'' (...)

In the tape, the speaker denounced Shiites, accusing Shiite militias operated by parties that are now part of the government of assassinating Sunni Muslim figures, kidnapping Sunni women and seizing mosques since the U.S.-led invasion two years ago. (...)

Shiites are ``collaborating with the worshippers of the cross,'' who invaded Iraq, corrupted the country and violated holy sites, the speaker said. ``This is all taking place under of a state of apostasy among the rulers of this nation.''

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5015771,00.html

[yurbud]

8. Does presence of Zarqawi, real or fictional, justify our invasion?

of a country that didn't attack us or pose any kind of threat to us?

If he is there, does it necessarily follow that he is leading the bulk of the insurgents rather than it being primarily people disgruntled about being occuppied and having their oil stolen?


Is it so hard to put yourself in someone else's shoes for a minute?