I agree with Mr. Philips about the ongoing turmoil in the Muslim world. Most Muslims are still not aware that their superiority in the past was very much connected to their strong adherence to Islam. Muslims worldwide are not practicing Islam as it was revealed, and this has left them corrupted, weak, and easily manipulated by enemies. Muslims nowadays are no different from the rest of the world, because they abandoned the real teaching of Islam.

Unfortunately, this problem cannot be solved by offering Muslims US-style democracy, which is a system of fluff and no substance, and has raised a lot of problems in its country of origin. It can only be solved by giving Muslims the full right to practice the Qur'an, the best manual for life.

The idea of forcing democracy on the Muslim world is like forcing Muslims to jump from the frying pan into the fire, because democracy doesn't provide solutions on how to treat spiritually deprived people. 

Congrats to IOL for making the debate more balanced and factual this time.

Nur Fatiha Kamarzaman
Medical student
Australia
Jan 5, 2006 

I think the US invasion of Iraq will eventually be a good thing for Arabs and Muslims. Muslims are the only people on earth that blame their problems on the West. For example, you don't hear China say its Israel or the Global Zionists, or America.

I am against people of all faiths dying, but Muslims are the ones who asked for this. Apparently, as long as there is no external influence to change how Muslims perceive the world, the Palestinian-Israeli struggle will never end, and we will have endless Islamic terrorism throughout the world.

I support the US efforts to improve the Middle East, because it's obvious that Muslims failed to reform themselves.

A Leadership of a country reflects its own citizens. No one Muslim country today is able to live peacefully with non-Muslims without the interference of a secular Arab leader or non-Muslim presence.

T. B.
Jan 3, 2006

To all my American and European friends, Islam fully supports democracy. But the democracy and freedom Islam represents is firstly for the good of the whole community of man (not just Muslims) then the rights of the individual.

The democracy that America wants to subjugate on the Muslim countries is not really democracy. It is to control and subjugate others.

When Americans and some European nations wake up to the war crimes their leaders have committed, it may be too late. Just like the Germans had to bury the dead in the concentration camps, the Americans and Europeans will also be forced to bury the millions of dead Muslims they will have murdered in the name of "democracy."

Muslims are not blameless. Their countries have the worst records of all. If you criticize the policies of the leader of most Muslim countries, you and your family may disappear. And that is why, after Saddam had brutalized the Iraqis for 30 years, the Iraqis welcomed anyone, including American mercenaries dressed as civilized heroes.

No Muslim nation is actually practicing Islam in it's pure form. Islam doesn't condone random killing, even if it is for an ideal, like setting up a Caliphate.  

The solution is fairly simple. Muslims must start living Islam properly, respect people of other religions, engage in civilized and respectful dialogue with them, and pretty soon everyone will see the beauty of Islam through the Muslims.

The first generation of Muslims spread Islam from Morocco to China, and from Africa to the heart of Europe. The American's can't control Iraq and Afghanistan with 200,000 soldiers. But the Muslims of the first generation influenced millions of people, from Morocco to Afghanistan, with only 100,000 people, and most of them poor farmers and traders.

So, the moral of the story is: war is not the answer.

Jami
Jan 1, 2006

May the Almighty bring an everlasting peace to this troubled world.

James Phillips used his initial piece to try and polish the US' image, now tarnished almost beyond repair by US policies towards Arabia in particular and the Muslim world in general. He tries to portray US involvement in Muslim-majority countries as being motivated by goodwill.

In the case of Somalia, which I am very familiar with, the US' fight against the spread of communism contributed to leading Somalia to the ruin it is in today, even through its so-called aid, as explained by Michael Maren, an American Jew, in his book The Road to Hell. Somali farmers, who were capable of producing far more than the country needed, were put out of business by excessive foreign aid imports.

Atrocities committed by the UN peacekeepers against Somalis were heinous.

I doubt the US, which with the backing of the United Nations failed to help Somalia back on its feet, will ever bring Iraq back from the chaos it dragged it into, for Iraq is more complex than Somalia.

The US' staunch support of dictators like Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, where people are boiled alive to secure false admissions of guilt, as reported by the UK's former ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray, discredits the US' claim that it bears the banner of democracy.

It is not only Arabia or the Muslim world, but the US that needs reform as well!

Hassan M. Aden
Arizona, USA
Dec 31, 2005

We have a clear and direct guide for democracy in the Qur'an and the authentic Hadiths of our master, Prophet Muhammad, and also in the companions of the Prophet. We need to refer back to the spirit of how they ruled the Believers. The first three generations of believers are the safest and straightest way for us.

We don't need any rulings on how to eat, chew our food, or how to live doing the mundane things in this life. Some things only take some common sense. If I live in Alaska, I don't need anyone telling me to put on an overcoat, get my drift?

Let's not take our imams and scholars as lords, as did some of the People of the Book. Listen to them with great respect and learn from them, but remember that the Prophet said that in the last days, there will be scholars who will mislead the nation. And so we are responsible for our decisions.

There is no greater guidance than the Qur'an and the example of our Prophet and his companions.

Salahud-Din Abdur-Rahim
Dec 30, 2005

If the Arab world changes according to the West, disaster upon disaster will occur in the Muslim world. The West is only full of corruption. We must always remember that it’s not an ARAB world; it’s the Muslim world, and obviously we should follow the commands of the Qur'an and hadiths. We should prevent indoctrination from the West in every way, because they are trying to make us disbelieve Islam.

There is no better way of living than that of a practicing Muslim.

We should learn from what happened to Muslim Spain. Such a great victory, yet it was lost to the West due to the pursuit of personal desires and lusts.
As a young Muslim, I think we should return to the Shari`ah, rather than turning to the West, which is like walking into hell.

Nazrana
Oct 26, 2005

I find Ramzy Baroud's comments on "the Arab peoples’ unequivocal demands for political rights, human rights, and civil liberties," a bit strange. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I can tell, Arab run countries, i.e. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taliban-run Afghanistan and Saddam's Iraq were and still are some of the most repressive places on the planet. Also, quite a few non-Arab Muslim nations are just as bad.

A dictatorship could be considered a political right, I suppose. but unless there is another definition of human rights and civil liberties, I don't find those occurring in many Arab nations, whether under the umbrella and strong arm of the US or not. Religion is the big problem in running a nation, be it Christianity, Judaism, Islam whatever. The leaders of these religions, in fact the religions themselves totally negate and are in direct opposition to "human rights and civil liberties." The law of  Shari`ah? The inquisition? What god would ever demand that type of rule?

I am against the Iraqi war. I really don't think that we, the US, need to be concerned with democracy in parts of the world were the populations are incapable of that type of government. In Iraq and I think other parts of the Muslim world, there seems to be a need to kill in the name of the Prophet. Sunnis want to eradicate Shiites and visa versa. Well, I think it's horrible, but here in the US, we have our problems. If that's their idea of a pastime, let them at it and see where the chips fall. It makes for interesting reading anyway.

John Andrews
Oct 14, 2005

Any fool can grasp and thereafter admit that the genuine purpose of US regime activity is all about resource control on a shrinking planet, and nothing about "freedom and democracy."

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