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Muslims embroiled in world conflicts
A new study has found that of the 24 major armed conflicts taking place worldwide in 2005, more than half (13) involved Muslim governments or paramilitary groups on one or both sides of the fighting. Not being an academic, I'm not aware of the procedures for getting large amounts of money to produce "studies" like this that can be done in 20 minutes or less, thereby leaving lots of free time for drinking beer or bowling or both at once, since I'm ambidextrous. If somebody knows how it's done, shoot me an email. According to Monty Marshall and Ted Burr of the Centre for International Development and Conflict Management, among six countries with emerging armed conflicts, four are predominantly Muslim, whereas Thailand, involves a Muslim separatist movement. Daniel Allott, a policy analyst for a group called American Values, writes in the Washington Times that the study highlighted a central question: Is Islam especially prone to violence? Are habitual consumers of an entire pizza at a sitting prone to corpulence? He argues that there is disturbing proof that a far deeper culture of violence pervades much of the Islamic world. Ummm... Right. Casual observation confirms that. Y'don't even have to get overly empirical about it. Marshall and Burrs study also rated 161 countries according to their capacity to avoid outbreaks of armed conflicts. Whereas 63 percent of non-Muslim countries were categorised as the strongest prospects for successful management of new challenges, just 18 percent of the 50 Muslim nations were similarly designated. Meaning that someplace like Malawi actually has a better handle on the idea of "progress" than most Muslim countries. Those currently trading gunfire with their neighbors are likely, though it's not guaranteed, to have less of a handle than those who aren't. Allott maintains that this evaluation reveals the glaring reality that violence is a fact of life in many Muslim nations. But is Islam itself the impetus? Ooooh! It's the poorly framed question fallacy! "Is it the pizza that causes my gut to rest on my knees? Or is it the beer? Or could it be the occasional half gallon of chocolate ice cream?" He quotes a recent Pentagon analysis which found that most Muslim terrorists say they are motivated by the Qurans violent commands. The 9/11 hijackers and London bombers made martyrdom videos in which they recited the Quran while talking of sacrificing life for Allah. "Legume, there is something - I wish I could put my finger on it! - that these killers have in common!" "It's not that they're all left-handed, is it, Inspector?" "No. I don't think that's it, since many of them aren't. Mohammad Atta, for instance, was right-handed." "Are they all redheads?" "I believe most of them are brunettes." "Perhaps that's it?" "You know, Legume, you could be right!" He writes, We simply cannot overlook extremist interpretations of religion as a significant part of the problem when terrorists yell, God is great! as they decapitate their victims or blow themselves up in a crowded market. He writes that some Muslims appetite for destruction is not surprising given the ability of prominent Muslim leaders to foment hatred of the West. "Could it have something to do with their penchant for truculent rhetoric, professor?" "No, Legume. I don't think that's it. But the fact that most of them are brunettes... Now, that might be a clue!" But while experts assure us only a small percentage (perhaps 10 percent) of Muslims are willing to participate in terror, with 1.2 billion Muslims globally, thats more than 100 million jihadists ... The West must recognise these violent outbursts for what they are: calculated acts of outrage meant not to refute but to intimidate non-Muslims into not speaking up at all. Posted by: Fred 2006-12-05 |
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