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| Southeast Asia |
| Bashir calls on Muslims to embrace nuclear weapons |
| 2005-10-05 |
| ABU Bakir Bashir, the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, has outlined the religious justification for terror attacks in Bali, London and New York and urged jihadists to embrace nuclear weapons "if necessary". In a chilling interview last month in the Jakarta cell where he remains after his conspiracy conviction in relation to the 2002 Bali bombings, the radical Muslim cleric also warned of a clash of civilisations that would not end until the West "accepts to be governed by Islam". The alleged terrorist leader speaks of his hopes of meeting Osama bin Laden if he is released from prison and explains the justification for suicide bombers and terror attacks. "During battle it is different. Still, the whole notion revolves around martyrdom," he says. "But in places like London and in America there must be other calculations. In battle it is best to cause as many casualties as possible." Published a fortnight ago by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, the interview was conducted by Scott Atran on August 13 and 15 at Cipinang Prison in Jakarta. Asked about his personal views regarding the bombings in his homeland, including the Bali bombings in 2002 and the Marriott bombing in 2003, Bashir praises the bombers. "I call those who carried out these actions all mujahid," he says. "They all had a good intention, that is, jihad in Allah's way, the aim of the jihad is to look for blessing from Allah. "They are right that America is the proper target because America fights Islam. So in terms of their objectives, they are right, and the target of their attacks was right also. "No, they didn't attack because they defended themselves. They shouldn't be punished." In the interview, Bashir urges parents to understand the reward their children will secure if they join the jihad against Westerners. "If the martyr's family understands Islam deeply, they will obtain many rewards," he says. "Their reward will come, if they understand. A martyr must have ikhlas (sincerity). The parent who understands this concept must be thankful to Allah. "This is the spirit of jihad that most scares the infidels. This is a moral force." Bashir also describes one of the 2002 Bali bombs as "a Jewish bomb". "That bomb was a CIA Jewish bomb. You are stupid to punish Amrozi if he really knows how to make such a bomb," he says. "You should hire him to be a military consultant, because there is no military or police person (in Indonesia) who can make such a bomb. If Amrozi really did make that bomb, he deserves the Nobel Prize. So, the death penalty is not fair." However, he argues there is little Westerners can do to avoid further conflict. Bashir also says he recently sent a letter to US President George W. Bush via the US embassy in Jakarta. "They have to stop fighting Islam, but that's impossible because it is sunnatullah (destiny, a law of nature), as Allah has said in the Koran," he says. "They will constantly be enemies. But they'll lose. I say this not because I am able to predict the future but they will lose and Islam will win. Islam must win and Westerners will be destroyed. If they refuse to be under Islam, it will be chaos. Full stop. If they want to have peace, they have to accept to be governed by Islam." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #21 Did Bashir refuse his polio shot? Just curious? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-10-05 20:21 |
| #20 They believe that Islam will rule the world and that they are doing God's will in fighting the infidels, but they are not as certain of this as they like to pretend. As with Communism, their own success is a key part of the creed, so they are psychologically vulnerable to setbacks. Defeating them in Iraq would be a huge blow to their entire belief system. Exactly the point that I've been making as well. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2005-10-05 19:31 |
| #19 I agree with the 3 Conjectures - Islam will be destroyed in any no-holds-barred war. On the demographics side, Europe and Russia are pretty vulnerable. |
| Posted by: jolly roger 2005-10-05 18:13 |
| #18 There have been NO public statements by any nuclear country that they would respond to a nuclear attack by the extermination of the ummah. Thus, I believe the MM in Tehran have been mislead by us and might very well conclude that the infidels do not have the strength to overcome Allah's will should they use nuclear weapons in jihad. We should go on record now and begin production of neutron weapons. |
| Posted by: Omavith Elmatch3392 2005-10-05 18:04 |
| #17 Tony UK... well spoken. Wretchard's idea here is that now is when we (the west) have freedom of action to choose where and how to act. Once a Nuke goes off, there is no freedom of action remaining; all that is left is to do the deed we hired the executive branch(es) for. If we loose the war on terror and the jihadis get a source for nukes, millions and millions and millions will die. Most of them being the west's enemies. We loose a city, they loose a billion people. We win, but that isn't the kind of victory we would rather have. |
| Posted by: Mark E 2005-10-05 17:49 |
| #16 Tony, They are not quite that irrational. They believe that Islam will rule the world and that they are doing God's will in fighting the infidels, but they are not as certain of this as they like to pretend. As with Communism, their own success is a key part of the creed, so they are psychologically vulnerable to setbacks. Defeating them in Iraq would be a huge blow to their entire belief system. |
| Posted by: Apostate 2005-10-05 17:46 |
| #15 Until we have wet-work teams roaming the globe capping each and every imam spouting the least crap about violent jihad, maroons like Bashir will continue their death-cult programming. Kinda hard for a martyr to do the same job anywhere near as effectively. More martyrs, faster please. |
| Posted by: Mr. Had Enough 2005-10-05 17:33 |
| #14 Grereth, even if the West were defeated (big if), what do you think the Russians, Indians or Chinese are going to do? They have no problem with killing vast numbers of muslims if they feel they have to. Read 'The Three Conjectures' by the Belmont Club - if Islamist terrorists can get hold of nuclear weapons on a reliable basis, then the logic of TTC means that with the first detonation of one of those weapons, the response is for total destruction of the Islamic world. The key point is that the logic of TTC dictates that Islamic Armageddon will be played out whether it is the West, Russia, India or China that is struck. Apostate, I respectfully suggest that it's far more likely that its going to end up with destruction rather than detoxification. The simple truth is that concepts such as MAD, which has kept the world safe for the last 60 years, do not figure in the mind of someone whose only goal is to kill people whose religion is the wrong type. The very worst thing that could happen to muslims *everywhere* is Jihadis getting hold of WMD. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2005-10-05 16:20 |
| #13 Good luck Apostate. You've got some hard days ahead if you intend to be part of the detox team. |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2005-10-05 14:49 |
| #12 Don't be too sure about that Grereth. Do you really think everyone born to muslim parents actually follows this horseshit religion? There are many, many quiet apostates all over the world and I am one of them. Either Islam will be detoxified into a set of cultural practices, like Judaism, or it will be destroyed like other totalitarian creeds. |
| Posted by: Apostate 2005-10-05 13:04 |
| #11 They don't need nukes, they can beat us purely by demographic and political means. The desire for nukes is merely an expression of their shame at being technologically and militarily inferior to the West. But nukes are irrelevant, because we'll never use them and they don't need them. |
| Posted by: Grereth Unoth8992 2005-10-05 11:01 |
| #10 "clash of civilisations that would not end until the West "accepts to be governed by Islam"" So if we embrace islam we get to be free of attacks from moslems? Are your brothers in islam free from attack from you? Just trying to wrap my head around the terms - it doesn't sound like the moslems really know what they want ... |
| Posted by: flash91 2005-10-05 10:44 |
| #9 yeah, yeah Bush's fault. Blah blah Its the JOOOOOOOOS! |
| Posted by: JackassFestival 2005-10-05 09:54 |
| #8 "That bomb was a CIA Jewish bomb... If Amrozi really did make that bomb, he deserves the Nobel Prize. So, the death penalty is not fair." And there it is, again. Just like 9/11 and 7/7: "There's no way a Muslim did this, but praise and glory to the Muslim who did." |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-10-05 09:37 |
| #7 A cruise missile through the jail cell window might send a message to Islam. Don't claim it, just do it. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2005-10-05 09:01 |
| #6 Heart attack, hanging in his cell, slip on the soap and cave his skull in. Just make it happen. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-10-05 08:53 |
| #5 For the "root causes" crowd, this is the islamist view in a nutshell: they have to accept to be governed by Islam Is that clear enough? |
| Posted by: Spot 2005-10-05 08:21 |
| #4 I hope he meets OBL in hell soon. Alot of typical mental gymnastics from yet another tiny leading mind of militant islam. Across the globe these freaks are on the same page in one fundamental respect. "A moral force" = those who would deliberately murder children and other civilians on a mass scale in order to dominate them by brutal coercion. Apologists and idiots need to read the last few sentences attributed to Abu BB at the end of the article and take them to heart. His ilk need to be taken out of the human equation one way or another. One needn't worry a bit about negotiating when facing Abu BB and his peers as there is nothing to negotiate. |
| Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-10-05 08:13 |
| #3 Amazing. They are getting ready to turn this vile scum back out to spread his hate. Just amazing. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2005-10-05 07:01 |
| #2 "Bashir calls on Muslims to embrace nuclear weapons" We can help out with that one... Tommy, bring up G12. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2005-10-05 06:50 |
| #1 "embrace nuclear weapons" A Magik Moment for all Muzzies: Hug a fissile core today. Hell, we should plant one, one that emits unfrickinbelievable rads, in the middle of the kaaba to make it easier. The mountain won't have to go to Mo, they'll get theirs on the hajj. Along with polio and an assortment of other fine goodies. No need to thank us. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-10-05 04:18 |