Beheading video sells big in Baghdad

[plazul]

There's an article in the news today about the popularity of a video showing the beheading of an Egyptian who allegedly planted electronic homing devices for American bombs. The video sells for the equivilent of 70 cents and it's going like hot cakes. The purchasers are mostly young men.

Some Muslim clerics have strongly opposed the terrorist beheadings but they're words are falling on deaf ears in places like Fallujah.

But before we condemn the young men who are buying the video we should consider how many Americans have visited terrorist websites to view beheadings of terrorist hostages. This morbid curiousity on the part of American citizens is a reflection of our culture of violence and I think it's even sicker than the Muslims who are buying the videos. At least they have a real ax to grind.

[capt_buzzard]

Next we will have a motion picture of Beheading. Jokes abound already in the UK.

Children see the news too. This is sick.

[anastrophe]

Originally Posted by plazul

This morbid curiousity on the part of American citizens is a reflection of our culture of violence and I think it's even sicker than the Muslims who are buying the videos. At least they have a real ax to grind.

uh, which is sicker, watching a video of a beheading, or the act of beheading someone.

lets keep our focus on the real issue. morbid curiousity is one of the 'lesser' impulses people have. it's unfortunate, but i think can be forgiven as a pretty common weakness. beheading another person is an unspeakably evil human impulse, is unforgiveable, and is not a common weakness.

i've seen the beheading videos. they provide a perspective one doesn't get from the sanitized tv news. the people committing these acts deserve to be wiped off the face of the earth, period. the billion or so other muslims should take the initiative and do it themselves, as it is doing incredible damage to their faith.

[Peg]

I just can't understand why anyone would want to see a beheading. To each his own I guess, but I still don't understand it.

[plazul]

Yeah, me either. Sorry Paul, but that kind of perspective is something I can do without. It makes me cringe to visualize it.

I don't judge the billion Muslims in the world by the actions of a few and I'm glad that some prominent Muslim clerics are now condemning the perpetrators of these gruesome atrocities.

The one thing I don't want to see happen is to turn the war against terrorism into a war agains Islam. But I think it's sort of trending that way.

[anastrophe]

Originally Posted by plazul

Yeah, me either. Sorry Paul, but that kind of perspective is something I can do without. It makes me cringe to visualize it.

imagine what it's like to have seen it, and be able to visualize it from that. there is no question it is not pleasant. but that's rather the point. what is being done in the name of God/Allah is an abomination of humanity.

I don't judge the billion Muslims in the world by the actions of a few

nor do i, it should go without saying. i believe the 999,990,000 non-violent, non-insane, non-fundamentalist extremist muslims need to take the bull by the horns and string the madmen up - because their inaction is turning this into a war against islam, however wrong that may be.

and I'm glad that some prominent Muslim clerics are now condemning the perpetrators of these gruesome atrocities.

while other madmen in religious costume are saying the school bombing in chechnya was a justifiable act. QED.

The one thing I don't want to see happen is to turn the war against terrorism into a war agains Islam. But I think it's sort of trending that way.

it isn't a war against islam per se. but it is a war on radical, extreme islamic fundamentalists, who are precisely to blame for where we are now. these lunatics believe in death to all infidels. *they* started this war, make no mistake. not us.

this goes back to the 11th century of course. it'll never be resolved.

[plazul]

One thing that Saddam's oppressive regime did was keep the tensions between Sunnis and Shiite Muslims in check.

There will be a sectarian civil war in Iraq between the two faiths and that is really going to complicate things. If we could restore diplomatic relations with Iran and calm their fears they could be a big help in containing sectarian violence and terrrorism in general.

The other thing we need to do is straighten out our *innocent bystander* friend, Saudi Arabia.

[anastrophe]

Originally Posted by plazul

One thing that Saddam's oppressive regime did was keep the tensions between Sunnis and Shiite Muslims in check.

through brutal suppression, yes. i'm not sure that's a good thing.

There will be a sectarian civil war in Iraq between the two faiths and that is really going to complicate things. If we could restore diplomatic relations with Iran and calm their fears they could be a big help in containing sectarian violence and terrrorism in general.

possibly. it depends upon the mood and whims of the particular factions in power, however. Iran has gone back and forth between ally, enemy, and 'nobody knows for sure' so many times this past century, it's a crap shoot. we could find ourselves 'friends' with a group that could turn on us - much like the US supported the taliban two decades ago, arming them to the teeth because they were in opposition to the soviets.....doh! that sure backfired.

the 'best' thing that could happen would be if Iraq were to divide itself voluntarily into several different countries. modern Iraq was carved out of the region by great britain and france - the people of the region had no say in the matter, and so the kurds, the sunnis, the shiites, and the chaldean and other christians were just lumped together without regard for former regional boundaries. we are where we are today in no small measure due to the imperialist ambitions and heavy-handedness of france and england so long ago.

The other thing we need to do is straighten out our *innocent bystander* friend, Saudi Arabia.

and they, surprisingly, are showing at least a bit of sense in that regard, with the recent 'amnesty' for terrorists who turned themselves in, and going after terrorists with force recently. let's hope it's a trend.

[plazul]

Interestingly, Kurdistan, as the Kurds like to call their region of Iraq, is doing much better that the rest of Iraq. But independence is not an option because of the Turkish factor and the territorial jealosy of the Iraqis. A southern Shiite state would be something to consider though.

However, any attempt by the US to broker such a deal would blow up in our face.