Al-Zawahri asks for mutual exchange of respect

While the U.S. military – backed by the threats and grandstanding of our politicians – continues to attack Iraqi cities and otherwise occupy the countryside, Bin Laden’s top lieutenant issued what strikes me as one of the most logical statements heard in foreign relations this year.

Egyptian-born Ayman Al-Zawahri urged the American people to deal with Muslims "with respect and exchange and based on an exchange of mutual interests."

He went on to say that they will continue fighting the United States until Washington changes its foreign policies. He said that invading Iraq was only an introduction to what the Muslim nations might be subjected to by the U.S.…

Although his statement included some mockery and what were clearly threats, his main message (that you attack our innocents and we will attack yours) seems as clear and consistent as human motivations get.

At some point our arrogant leaders will have to accept that they cannot supplant other nations’ histories and belief systems by force. These men and women we call “terrorists” are soldiers just as our own; fighting to protect their way of life, just like our soldiers are…

We assume that our votes hold little consequence and make selections based on single issues or notions of commonality. These so-called terrorists are holding us responsible for the actions of our leaders – just as we hold the innocent civilians of Iraq responsible by destroying their cities and killing their neighbors, all in the name of our gods over theirs.

My advice to our leaders? Listen to people who disagree with you. Find out why before you assign “wrong” to difference.  And, if you’re going to parade God out to justify your decisions, consider acting a little more Christ-like and a little less like a warrior in the Crusades.

Comments

[BillyKess]

This guy is al qaeda's second man.

This is one of the people who helped plot, or at least supported the 9/11 attacks.

I don't care what he says now.

I recall seeing images... a brown haired young man, in a light blue shirt with a reddish tie... falling from the 90th floor of tower one.

People falling out of a burning sky and this was long before we went into Iraq. If we made so many enemies now, where are they? They aren't attacking us here, THANK GOD. And this is because we wiped out, and we're continuing to wipe out - their capability to do so.

This guy, Al-Zawahri, he is nothing more than a terrorist. This guy actually praised the 9/11 attacks. He is in no place to even negotiate.

Happy Holidays...

Billy

[Erik]

If I may, I don't think the author is praising Al-Zawahri. I think the thought is to consider mutual respect and mutual interests. Al-Zawahri is certainly a criminal and a murderer. That does not change the fact that we need not agree to find mutual interest and peace.

[Moi]

Thanks, Erik. And, I totally understand why Billy would react that way. One of the tenants that made this war possible (and the all-too-similar one our old dance partner Russia has been waging for a decade against Chechyna) is the moniker "terrorist."

We may remember the CEOs and janitors and fire fighters who died in those falling towers. But, the people on the other side of the ocean remember the wedding party we blew up, their neighbors who we slaughtered with bombs falling in the middle of the night, a nation "terrorized" for decades by a regime of tyrants we trained, the torture and abuse of their citizens - first at Abu Ghraib and now (check out today's New York TImes) at Guantánamo.

What I'm saying is that the most dangerous idea in this or any war is that one side is Right. It's war. Everyone is killing, everyone is wrong. You pick a side - you don't have the justification of god or moral certainty or Right. Both sides kill innocents. Both sides are led by men heady with power. Both sides ignore even the simplest logic from the other side. It is war. Not This War. All war.

Terrorist is a word once reserved for lone acts of criminals that we have applied to new armies. You don't have to like them, respect them or accept them to understand that they are fighting for their families and their way of life just like we are. When we write them off as mere criminals, we're missing a fundemental truth and any real chance at peace ...

[Billy Kess]

But Al-Zawahri is a terrorist. He is Osama's next in command and Osama was behind 9/11. (Yes, we get accused of bringing up 9/11 a lot) and that is because it is a textbook example of what these people, these terrorists, are capable of. There is an evil about them and the way they operate. Again, 9/11...

Flying passenger jets into occupied skyscrapers. Deliberately targeting innocent people. Not people who signed up for military, not people with any sort of "agenda" but regular people in civilian clothing who were there working and were killed just because they were Americans.

That is terrorism. That is how the enemies are.

Saddam Hussein used mustard gas on his own people in the 80's. This is also fact. Not to mention, yes, his people were terrorized. If they dared vote for someone else, they had their hands cut off. News anchormen were whipped and beaten whenever they made any 'mistakes' while doing the 'news'.

I am not going to say this was justification for invading. I support the efforts against terrorism, and this is an entirely different issue - but the point I am trying to make here, is you can't compare USA to these islamic terrorists. Not at all.

God bless America - the only nation that drops pamphlets down warning citizens to get out before we bomb. The bad apples at Abu Grhaib and Guantanamo - do not represent the entire U.S. military or America at all.

Children will die in wars. It's unfortunate. But the US does not target children. An Islamic terrorist would not think twice before tossing a grenade into a school bus filled with kids.

There is a darkness about them. A very evil stench to them. And I am not branding all Muslims. I know most of them are good people who just want to live their lives and not bother anyone, but these terrorists of Islam - and Al-Zawahri is one of the biggest ones.

Billy