Is The Tide Turning?
"The grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, the inspiration of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, has broken a three-year silence to back the United States military to overthrow the country's clerical regime.
Hossein Khomeini's call is all the more startling as he made it from Qom, the spiritual home of Iran's Shia strand of Islam, during an interview to mark the 17th anniversary of the ayatollah's death."
These kinds of positive stories never seem to make it to MSM's reports. We know why that is, right? Gawdforbid they make Bushitler look good, let alone the awful "Great Satan", their own country! Never do they mention the tactics of Hezbollah, i.e., putting their rocket launchers and armaments into the midst of the citizenry so that the MSM cameras can show what bad people Israelis are! We learned about that tactic from the lady in yesterday's post. What made my otherwise awful day a winner was this; [hat tip: Rush Limbaugh]
"Yes, world, there is a silent Arab majority that believes that seventh-century Islam is not fit for 21st-century challenges. That women do not have to look like walking black tents. That men do not have to wear beards and robes, act like lunatics, and run around blowing themselves up in order to enjoy 72 virgins in paradise. And that secular laws, not Islamic Shariah, should rule our day-to-day lives.
And yes, we, the silent Arab majority, do not believe that writers, secular or otherwise, should be killed or banned for expressing their views. Or that the rest of our creative elite - from moviemakers to playwrights, actors, painters, sculptors, and fashion models - should be vetted by Neanderthal Muslim imams who have never read a book in their dim, miserable lives.
Nor do we believe that little men with head wraps and disheveled beards can run amok in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq making decisions on our behalf, dragging us to war whenever they please, confiscating our rights to be adults, and flogging us for not praying five times a day or even for not believing in God.
More important, we are not silent any longer.
Rarely have I seen such an uprising, indeed an intifada, against those little turbaned, bearded men across the Muslim landscape as the one that took place last week. The leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, received a resounding "no" to pulling 350 million Arabs into a war with Israel on his clerical coattails.
The collective "nyet" was spoken by presidents, emirs, and kings at the highest level of government in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, and at the Arab League's meeting of 22 foreign ministers in Cairo on Saturday. But it was even louder from pundits and ordinary people.
Perhaps the most remarkable and unexpected reaction came from Saudi Arabia, whose foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, said bluntly and publicly that Hezbollah's decision to cross the Lebanese border, attack Israel, and kidnap its soldiers has left the Shiite group on its own to face Israel. The unspoken message here was, "We hope they blow you away."
I hope you'll go read the rest of it. It's very uplifting. I just hope he's correct, because it's about time we heard this from a Muslim!
On a personal note, I know that many of my readers are like me; you believe in the power of prayer. Yesterday, my oldest son had what they originally believed was a stroke, but it's apparently now been diagnosed as a seizure, though they still do not know the cause. He's in ICU many many miles away. It doesn't matter to a Mom how old her child is (Timothy is 38), he's still her baby...especially when they are sick. I would more than appreciate your prayers for him, I would bless you and yours until the end of time! Thank you, and blessings in advance! [P. S. Sorry for the downer at the end!]
Prayers on the way...hope he's doing better!
As for the rest of the post...I certainly agree with the idea that 7th century religious practices have a place in the 21st, but certainly not at the end of a gun, IED, macheting wielding nutjob.
I did a lot of reading today about Afghanistan and Iraq, particularly about the people as seen through the eyes of a very eloquent young man who has accepted to pick up the mantle where I left it. I suppose that the bottom line is that education (preferably not what passes for it here in America particularly) will help grease the skids for the next generation of men and women born in predominantly Islamic republics. Through knowledge will come understanding...and as this young NCO put it, "our ambassadors in camoflage will help ensure that they do not continue to hate the West and it's wicked ways out of ignorance." Our guys and girls on the ground have huge fan clubs made up of little kids that absolutely idolize them...it's the parents/grandparents that might have problems with our presence. So far, it's looking like we actually might be winning hearts and minds that will be running these fledgling democracies in 20 years.
As for the Israeli-Palestinean-Hezzbollah-Lebanese situation...I hope that Israel goes for broke here. As best as I can tell, they've bent like a reed in the wind...and done their part to make peace with their hostile Arab neighbors. They are all about peace...but when the enemy ignores the sovereignty of their borders, snatches citizens and soldiers, and slinks back across...there's gonna be a tussle. I hope that what I've been reading is NOT TRUE...and that President Bush will try to reign the Israeli government in about a week. Let them finish the job, just like we're asking the world to allow us to finish the mission in Afghanistan and Iraq.
See you on the high ground!
MajorDad1984
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Dearest Dagney, Asking for prayers is music to my ears. It could never be downer.
When I was 22, I had my first stroke. Then I became epileptic. Don't count on the doctors to ever figure out 'why' anything neurological happens. Okay? Just get the medicine in the right dose.
This process may go through many stages. He may be allergic to certain meds, and he may not. I was allergic to most of them. Then again, I am unique. lol.
After a while, if he keeps taking his meds for the rest of his life, he will be absolutely as normal as he was before. He can do whatever he did before.
He should be careful of light flashing, overheating, and he feels dizzy for Heaven's sake sit down! Always clear a space for the chance that it might be a seizure. It will be worse for you than it will for him. Chances are, he won't even remember it.
Everything is going to be fine, dear. Stuff happens. This is just one of those things that brings the family closer together. God bless Timothy, her husband, your other children, and you.
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