Post by iris89 on Aug 10, 2009 11:07:43 GMT -5
Members of Islam indulging in their love for violence, greed, and hate including the murder of a Christian archbishop - clearly shows their tolerance or should I say intolerance for other religions and their members. Also, showing that some members of Islam clearly adore or love to an excess violence.
By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago [03/13/2008] [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080313/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq]
BAGHDAD - The body of a Christian archbishop kidnapped last month was found in northern Iraq Thursday while in Baghdad, a car bomb exploded and killed 18 people.
Gunmen abducted Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho and killed three of his companions soon after they left Mass in the city of Mosul on Feb. 29. It was the latest in a series of attacks against Iraq's small Christian community.
Monsignor Shlemon Warduni, the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, said the church in Mosul had received a phone call from the kidnappers on Wednesday telling them the archbishop was dead. They also told church officials where they could find the body.
The Chaldean church is an Eastern-rite denomination that recognizes the authority of the pope and is aligned with Rome. The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI was "deeply saddened" by Rahho's death. "We had all kept hoping and praying for his release," said Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi. "Unfortunately the most absurd and senseless violence keeps dogging the Iraqi people, and especially the small Christian community."
In Baghdad, the car bombing took place off a bridge in Tahrir Square, a district of clothing shops just outside the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and much of the Iraqi government, a police official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. The policeman and a hospital official said 18 people died. The hospital official said 57 others were injured. There has been a resurgence of violence in Iraq's capital after several months of relative calm that followed an increase of U.S. forces last year.
...
Excluding al-Iqabi, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has recorded at least 127 journalists and 50 media support workers killed since the U.S.-led war began in March 2003.[ RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer]
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080313/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq]
Clearly, some members of Islam do not believe in what Jesus (Yeshua) said at Matthew 5:43-48,
"Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy:
44 but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you;
45 that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.
46 For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same?
48 Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (American Standard Version; ASV).
And,
Let the truth be known per John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Authorized King James Bible; AV). Here is reality:
Members of Islam seek Recognition Through Their Love of Violence - See the Proof
[source - www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/....?track=ntothtml on 03/17/2008]
Foreign fighters in Iraq seek recognition, U.S. says
Interrogations of 48 detainees to understand their motivations provide a picture of typically young, lonely recruits.
By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 17, 2008
BAGHDAD -- Young, lonely and struggling to make a mark.
The U.S. military Sunday presented a profile of foreign fighters, who are blamed for about 90% of the suicide bombings that have claimed thousands of lives in Iraq. It was based on interrogations of 48 men captured by U.S.-led forces here in the last four months, Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith told reporters at a briefing inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
Smith said most militants were single men in their late teens and early 20s recruited by Al Qaeda in Iraq, a largely homegrown Sunni Arab militant group that the U.S. military says is led by foreigners. They typically come from large, lower-income families in which they struggled to be noticed.
"Most of these young men wanted to make an impression, but paradoxically they did not tell their families they were going off to Iraq to fight for Al Qaeda out of fear of disapproval," said Smith, a U.S. military spokesman.
Smith's presentation comes at a time when the number of high-profile suicide attacks in Iraq has inched up, many of them carried out by bombers with explosives strapped to their waists.
U.S. officers stress that the number of attacks overall remains down since the military finished sending an additional 28,500 troops to Iraq in June. But Smith acknowledged that a modest rise in attacks using explosives vests, including 18 in February, was troubling.
"It is a difficult target to stop, and the only effective way is to take down the networks that feed this type of terrorism," he said.
In the latest such attack, a man blew himself up Sunday in front of a Kurdish political party office in the northern city of Mosul, injuring a guard and six civilians, police said. Two policemen were injured by a roadside bomb on their way to the scene, police said.
Fighters also have started to wear explosives vests and blow themselves up when captured, Smith said, a tactic previously used only by senior leadership.
The interviews conducted with detainees are helping U.S. forces to understand the backgrounds, motivations and recruitment of foreign fighters. Smith said most were from the Middle East and North Africa, including about 40% from Saudi Arabia.
More than half of the approximately 240 foreign fighters in U.S. custody come from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria, according to figures provided separately by the military.
Smaller numbers were recruited in Jordan, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Kuwait, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. In addition, several hundred foreign fighters are in Iraqi custody.
Most described their upbringing as religious but not extremist, Smith said. Many said their fathers were harsh and often abusive. Most reported little or no previous military experience. Before they were recruited, many worked as taxi drivers, construction workers and in other low-paying jobs. Others were students.
Their recruiters preyed on their desire for recognition, acceptance and friendship, Smith said.
Many detainees told their interrogators that they were first approached at their mosques. Others were approached at work and invited to attend discussions at the mosque.
These conversations would begin as a harmless discussion about Islam that over several weeks would shift to the war against U.S.-led forces in Iraq, he said.
The recruits were often shown videos of Americans purportedly abusing Iraqis and were urged to help avenge the mistreatment by killing Americans, Smith said. Insurgent strikes against U.S. forces also were shown.
Once they agreed to join the fight, most of the young men were flown to Syria and then smuggled into Iraq by road, he said. The facilitators who met them in Syria often entertained them at nightclubs and bars during the months it sometimes took to get them to Iraq, Smith said.
But when they reached Iraq, those destined for suicide missions were sequestered in safe houses with copies of the Koran and few other amenities. They complained that their Iraqi handlers looked down on foreigners, did not give them enough food and treated them harshly, Smith said.
Some spoke of their disillusionment on discovering that most of the attacks carried out by insurgents were directed against the Iraqi people rather than U.S. forces.
"Again and again, we heard this reality bothered the recruits," Smith said. "They had not come here to kill Iraqi civilians. . . . They felt misled."
Eventually, most just wanted to go home, he said. But their handlers had their passports and their money, so they felt trapped.
All 48 fighters interviewed by U.S.-led forces were men, but a growing number of suicide attacks have been conducted by Iraqi women.
U.S. officers have suggested that the insurgents are using women because they attract less attention. The insurgents may also be having difficulties recruiting foreign volunteers.
About 120 foreign fighters were entering Iraq each month at the peak of the influx in mid-2007, but that figure has dropped to about 40 to 50, Smith said.
alexandra.zavis@latimes.com [source - www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/....?track=ntothtml on 03/17/2008]
And,
Violence as usual for the violence loving members of Islam:
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago [3/17/2008][source - news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq on 3/17/2008]
BAGHDAD - A female suicide bomber attacked a group of Shiite worshippers near a mosque in Karbala on Monday, killing at least 32 people and wounding 51, officials said.
The worshippers were gathered about half a mile from the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the holiest sites for Shiites.
Karim Khazim, the city's chief health official, said the 32 killed included seven Iranians.
Police said the attacker was a woman but provided no other immediate details. Karbala is located about 50 miles south of Baghdad.
Also Monday, two U.S. soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb north of Baghdad. The soldiers were clearing a road when they were killed in the blast, which took place about 12:20 p.m., the military said.
At least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Elsewhere in the capital, Vice President thingy Cheney and Sen. John McCain vowed in meetings with Iraq's prime minister that the U.S. would maintain a long-term military presence in Iraq until al-Qaida is defeated there.
Explosions went off near the heavily fortified Green Zone shortly after Cheney arrived. Helicopter gunships circled central Baghdad, but no details were immediately available on the cause of the explosions.
The presumptive Republican candidate for president, who has linked his political future to military success in Iraq, met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shortly before the Iraqi leader began separate talks with Cheney.
Al-Maliki said he and the vice president discussed ongoing negotiations over a long-term security agreement between the two countries that would replace the U.N. mandate for foreign troops set to expire at the end of the year.
"This visit is very important. It is about the nature of the relations between the two countries, the future of those relations and the agreement in this respect," the prime minister told reporters. "We also discussed the security in Iraq, the development of the economy and reconstruction and terrorism."
McCain stressed that it was important to maintain the U.S. commitment in Iraq, where a U.S.-Iraq military operation is under way to clear al-Qaida in Iraq from its last urban stronghold of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
"We recognize that al-Qaida is on the run, but they are not defeated," McCain said after meeting al-Maliki. "Al-Qaida continues to pose a great threat to the security and very existence of Iraq as a democracy. So we know there's still a lot more of work to be done."
McCain, who arrived in Iraq on Sunday, told reporters that he also discussed with the Shiite leader the need for progress on political reforms, including laws on holding provincial elections and the equitable distribution of Iraq's oil riches.
At a news conference with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, Cheney said that given the nearly 4,000 U.S. troop deaths and billions of dollars spent on the war, it is very important that "we not quit before the job is done."
Cheney credited reductions in violence to President Bush's decision to deploy an additional 30,000 troops to the war zone. He said one of Bush's considerations in whether to draw back more than the 30,000 before he leaves office will be whether the U.S. can continue on a track toward political reconciliation and stability in Iraq.
"It would be a mistake now to be so eager to draw down the force that we risk putting the outcome in jeopardy," said Cheney, on an unannounced visit to Iraq. "And I don't think we'll do that."
Violence has dropped throughout the capital with the U.S. troop buildup as well as a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
The U.S. military has said attacks have fallen by about 60 percent since last February.
McCain, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was accompanied by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Republican Lindsey Graham, two top supporters of his presidential ambitions. The weeklong trip will take McCain to Israel, Britain and France.
Police said they found the bodies of three members of a U.S.-allied group fighting al-Qaida in Udaim, 70 miles north of Baghdad. Members of the mostly Sunni groups have been increasingly targeted by suspected al-Qaida members seeking to derail the recent security gains.
A bomb in a parked car in Baghdad's central Karradah neighborhood killed three civilian bystanders and wounded nine, police said, while a separate roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad killed one and wounded three others.
___
Associated Press writers Bushra Juhi and Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report. [source - news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq on 3/17/2008]
And,
Violence as usual for the violence loving members of Islam:By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago [3/17/2008][source - news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq on 3/17/2008]BAGHDAD - A female suicide bomber attacked a group of Shiite worshippers near a mosque in Karbala on Monday, killing at least 32 people and wounding 51, officials said. The worshippers were gathered about half a mile from the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the holiest sites for Shiites.Karim Khazim, the city's chief health official, said the 32 killed included seven Iranians.Police said the attacker was a woman but provided no other immediate details. Karbala is located about 50 miles south of Baghdad.Also Monday, two U.S. soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb north of Baghdad. The soldiers were clearing a road when they were killed in the blast, which took place about 12:20 p.m., the military said.At least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.Elsewhere in the capital, Vice President thingy Cheney and Sen. John McCain vowed in meetings with Iraq's prime minister that the U.S. would maintain a long-term military presence in Iraq until al-Qaida is defeated there.Explosions went off near the heavily fortified Green Zone shortly after Cheney arrived. Helicopter gunships circled central Baghdad, but no details were immediately available on the cause of the explosions.The presumptive Republican candidate for president, who has linked his political future to military success in Iraq, met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shortly before the Iraqi leader began separate talks with Cheney.Al-Maliki said he and the vice president discussed ongoing negotiations over a long-term security agreement between the two countries that would replace the U.N. mandate for foreign troops set to expire at the end of the year."This visit is very important. It is about the nature of the relations between the two countries, the future of those relations and the agreement in this respect," the prime minister told reporters. "We also discussed the security in Iraq, the development of the economy and reconstruction and terrorism."McCain stressed that it was important to maintain the U.S. commitment in Iraq, where a U.S.-Iraq military operation is under way to clear al-Qaida in Iraq from its last urban stronghold of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad."We recognize that al-Qaida is on the run, but they are not defeated," McCain said after meeting al-Maliki. "Al-Qaida continues to pose a great threat to the security and very existence of Iraq as a democracy. So we know there's still a lot more of work to be done."McCain, who arrived in Iraq on Sunday, told reporters that he also discussed with the Shiite leader the need for progress on political reforms, including laws on holding provincial elections and the equitable distribution of Iraq's oil riches.At a news conference with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, Cheney said that given the nearly 4,000 U.S. troop deaths and billions of dollars spent on the war, it is very important that "we not quit before the job is done."Cheney credited reductions in violence to President Bush's decision to deploy an additional 30,000 troops to the war zone. He said one of Bush's considerations in whether to draw back more than the 30,000 before he leaves office will be whether the U.S. can continue on a track toward political reconciliation and stability in Iraq."It would be a mistake now to be so eager to draw down the force that we risk putting the outcome in jeopardy," said Cheney, on an unannounced visit to Iraq. "And I don't think we'll do that."Violence has dropped throughout the capital with the U.S. troop buildup as well as a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The U.S. military has said attacks have fallen by about 60 percent since last February. McCain, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was accompanied by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Republican Lindsey Graham, two top supporters of his presidential ambitions. The weeklong trip will take McCain to Israel, Britain and France. Police said they found the bodies of three members of a U.S.-allied group fighting al-Qaida in Udaim, 70 miles north of Baghdad. Members of the mostly Sunni groups have been increasingly targeted by suspected al-Qaida members seeking to derail the recent security gains. A bomb in a parked car in Baghdad's central Karradah neighborhood killed three civilian bystanders and wounded nine, police said, while a separate roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad killed one and wounded three others. ___ Associated Press writers Bushra Juhi and Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report. [source - news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq on 3/17/2008]Courtesy of Your Friend in Christ Iris89