This is really getting out of hand...From what I've read, the law has issues, but not a good way to protest. Is this a relatively new tactic, or have kidnappings always been common in the middle east http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/2765978 Report: Iraq kidnappers take French hostages Associated Press CAIRO, Egypt -- Iraqi militants have kidnapped two Frenchmen to protest France's ban on students wearing Islamic head coverings in public schools, according to a tape aired by Al-Jazeera television. The Qatar-based satellite news channel said it had received a tape from a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq showing several seconds of video footage with two men talking. Al-Jazeera did not say when it received the tape, which could not be immediately authenticated. The French Foreign Ministry said it had no immediate information. The station's newsreader said the group described the French law banning religious apparel in public schools as "an aggression on the Islamic religion and personal freedoms." The group, according to the newsreader, gave the French government 48 hours to overturn the law, without mentioning any ultimatum. The newsreader said the first hostage who appeared on the tape spoke in poor Arabic, saying, "We are being held by the Islamic Army in Iraq." The second hostage spoke French. The French law, which takes effect Wednesday, forbids public school students from wearing religious apparel and "conspicuous" signs showing their religious affiliation. That includes Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses. However, French authorities have made clear the new law is aimed at removing Islamic head scarves from classrooms. The law sparked protests at home and abroad, with many Muslims saying they felt unfairly targeted.
That would be hilarious if lives weren't at stake. The militants want to overrturn French domestic law. Maybe this will serve as a wake up call to some Western countries that there is a conflict between islamic fundamentalism and civilization: not a coming conflict, not a conflict because the US has invaded Iraq, but a current conflict over the very nature of our civilization.
This hostage stuff will wane so long as governments don't give in to the kidnappers [cough]Phillippines[/cough]. Otherwise, these jerks are just motivate to keep it up.
Yada yada. This has nothing to do with religion... Militants are irrational regardless of their religion. There are a good amount of Iraqi christians, and a very close mix of shiite and sunni Muslims as well. I suppose Christian militants are civil and rational?
When can these fools realize to stay the hell out of Iraq. I guess these people value money more than their lives.
I was gonna go visit the middle east but then I thought wait, I never actually had that thought bc it'd bc it'd be crazy. How does one become kidnapped I wonder. I'd fight like hell if some Osama lookin hoodlums came at me with some rope and cue cards. Seriously, I wouldn't go there if you payed me, unless my name was Indiana Jones or something.
So Islamic Fundamentalism and Civilization are mutually exclusive? or is it any fundamentalism. Rocket River
Uh, yeah. It does have something to do with religion. I find this such a ridiculous cop out. Islamic fundamentalists have kidnapped people in order to change policy in a non-Islamic country. They have flown airplanes into buildings and killed thousands of people. They've blow up trains in Spain and bars in Mali. They've destroyed ancient religious artifacts in Afghanistan and pizza parlors in Israel. They've blown up embassies in Kenya and Sudan and boats in the Persian Gulf. To say there is no connection to Islam is just fantasy. No, militant Christians are not civil....they're militant. But they are neither as destructive, nor as numerous, nor as globe encompassing. Nor do they have as much of a problem with civilization as we know it as the islamic fundamentalists do.
All you have clarified is what I already know - Islam is extremely complex, which is why so many people misunderstand it. I can only blame poverty for the lack of good education in a large chunk of the Middle East. Everything you mentioned, which was done by EXTREMISTS btw, is nothing compared to the destruction that your hardcore Christian president has put on Iraq and Afghanistan. But that doesn't mean it's Christianity's fault, it just means your president is a dumbass.
That's just silly. You're probably safer in Dubai than you would be anywhere else. Dubai is a gorgeous city, and anyone who's been here can attest to that.
Well you are right there, but our President is not doing it in the name of Christianity, while almost all the crap coming out of the Middle east these days is related to the Muslim religion. Also, I don't buy this "it is too complex" garbage. It is all open to interpetation, and saying it is 'to complex" is like saying that there really is not good explination, which is in essence the real issue. The Muslim faith is not "complex" it is just a way for Muslim men to control their families. Complex....LMAO !!! Why not just say it is confusing? Because it contradicts itself left and right. DD
It is complex. The posts by...can't remember right now, but the post a couple of weeks ago that explained the decentralized nature of the Islamic heirarchy DOES make it complex. Well, what about the violent Muslims on the rest of the planet? Interesting: Afghanistan was a haven for Islamic terrorists that blew up two big building in the US and killed thousands of people, blew up two embassies and killed hundreds if not thousands of people, blew up the USS Cole, blew up trains in Spain and nightclubs in southeast asia. The intervention there was completely justified and its laughable that you'd compare it with actions by the terrorist. Personally I find that disgusting. Iraq: Strange...who's doing the fighting since Saddam's army collapsed? Who is blowing up police stations and roadside bombs? Who's taking over mosque's as base camps for militant operations? The US? Uh, no. Muslim radicals? Uh, yes.
