Once again, Americans lead the way:
Wonderful.
This picture provided by the Islamic Jihad in the West Bank town of Jenin said to be taken with a mobile phone by Palestinian inmates at the Israeli prison of Megido in nothern Israel, shows the torn pages of a copy of the Quran, Islam’s Holy book. The image was alledgedly taken Tuesday June 7, 2005 , according to Islamic Jihad representatives, Israeli soldiers tore three copies of the Quran while searching Palestinians and their possessions on Tuesday morning. Israel denied the charge and claimed the pictures were staged. (AP Photo)
It’s almost irrelevant now, whether the Isreali soldiers did this or not. The reckless actions of US policy makers set the stage for this allegation; Muslims worldwide are ready to believe that the US and its allies commit acts of desecration and are prosecuting holy war because of US pro-torture policies. In 2006, we must fight to remove from office any and all politicians who support this nasty war and all its associated tragedies. This is the only way we have to make things right in the world. It didn’t happen in 2004, the GOP stole the election. Their ouster in 2006 must be by such large margins there will be no way it can be stolen.
I hear you Lapin, this is bad news. Fools have no concept of blow back.
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The other side’s consolidated their talking point to:
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Tactic 1:Equivocation
“What about the abuses committed by the prisoners? Can we take the allegations seriously?”
Tactic 2:Dismissal
“How can anyone get that upset about a book?”
Until we can show how @$$rape, dogs, Quran abuse, beatings, sleep deprivation and forced restraint is worse than beheading, we’ll be pandered to.
Very few breaks, this story has more red flags then the Kremlin on May Day. The pictures come unsubstantiated, from the most biased of sources, and the timing -right on the heels of the US Koran desecration flap- is also very suspicious.
In short, this sounds like propaganda, and until a neutral party confirms the story, I’m going to be taking the story with a grain of salt.
Well, there you are. As usual I agree. In fact, since you will now be making my points for me, I expect to be able to significantly reduce my presence from now on. 😉
That’s my point exactly. It doesn’t matter one whit whether or not these allegations are true, just like the Newsweek allegations. True or false, they will be spread around the globe and quickly. The only proof needed to support the allegations are the pictures of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Muslims know what it means for men to be forced to be naked with other men. Muslims know the symbolism of a black dog barking at the end of a leash. Muslims, especially Iraqis, Afghanis, Chechens, Saudis, Yemenis, Syrians, they now know that Americans are capable of these things. Those acts and the policies that supported them have erased any plausible deniablity that Americans and their allies have in regards to abuse of Muslims and their religious principals.
I agree…the whole setup is kind of preposterous — troops searching inmates in a prison, a Koran gets torn, but somehow a cellphone with camera slips by? Granted, I’ve never been a prison inmate, but since when are prisoners allowed to keep cellphones? (well, there are the prisons Republicans like Chuck Colson go to, but you get my point)
And the picture seems rather high quality given that it was taken (allegedly) with a cellphone. I can’t even get a decent speaking connection on my cellphone.
But I also get Lapin’s point about how US activities open the door for these kinds of accusations, whether baseless or not. Unwittingly (because most of the Bush “war on terror” seems to be witless), the US has given groups like Islamic Jihad an easy-to-assemble propaganda kit.
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Un-Islamic Festivities and Large Crowds ¶ Iran qualifies for World Cup 2006 in Germany.
USE SOCCER TO CREATE FREEDOM IN IRAN
TEHRAN June 8, 2005 – Iran beat Bahrain 1-0 to earn qualification for next year’s World Cup, sparking mass celebrations across the Islamic republic. Huge crowds of delighted residents took to the streets, as the capital and other big cities erupted into a deafening cacophony of car horns, firecrackers and cheering.
“This is one of the most beautiful days of my life, because we have made 70 million people happy,” said veteran captain Ali Daei. “We have a lot of plans to prepare our game for the World Cup.”
The football mad Islamic republic has been behind the national squad, with President Mohammad Khatami watching the match and, according to a football federation official, offering each of the squad an Iranian-made saloon car worth 13,000 dollars.
Huge crowds took to the streets across Tehran — and some supporters of the eight presidential candidates standing in Iran’s presidential elections next week took the chance to do a bit of campaigning. “Who cares about the elections?” laughed one young woman. “We’re going to the World Cup!”
Authorities allowed a few dozen women to join the 70,000 crowd at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. The ban on women attending soccer matches has been gradually eased in recent years although so far special permission has been limited to sportswomen and female journalists.
Large crowds with festivities in Tehran – “Un-Islamic”
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos
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I was truly surprised no one picked up on this news item except for rba when I woke up this morning. I’m convinced the choice in policy to have cultural exchange programs and sporting events, is a vehicle that leads ultimately to the downfall of totalitarian regimes like the old Soviet Union, China, East-Europe and the apartheid regime in South-Africa. In the case of the latter, the boycott in the last phase proved to hasten the process further.
For regimes in Cuba, North Korea and Iran, a foreign policy to force openings, open windows will lead to democracy and freedom. The boycott of Cuba and further tightening of economic and cultural boycotts of these nations has led nowhere. Most likely it has prevented internal change toward democracy and has been counterproductive.
Oui aka @dKos as creve coeur and new creve coeur
WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooTrib aka lost treasure of dKos