Al-Qaida leader Masri close to capture
BAGHDAD- The Iraqi government said on Sunday that its security forces are close to capture or killing of the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
"I can say we are very close to Abu Ayyub al-Masri and we say to him your days are numbered," said Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie.
"My message to Iraqis in Ramadan is that it is so close, we will bring you the good news of Abu Ayyub al-Masri either killed or handcuffed to be brought before the Iraqi justice system," al-Rubaie told the news conference, in which a video tape of al-Masriteaching followers how to build a car bomb was shown.
The video tape showed al-Masri in a white T-shirt was talking to the camera as he explained how to compose a car bomb.
Rubaie said that the video was found in Youssifiyah, some 20 km south of Baghdad.
If this prediction comes true I'll celebrate this Ramadan! Go get him.
In the meantime: Defining Jihad- here is an interesting Muslim opinion piece called "The Irrelevance Of Jihad".
In the last few years, and particularly since 9/11, ``jihadism'' has become synonymous with ``terrorism'' and ``jihadists'' with ``terrorists''.
Consequently, many Muslim intellectuals and public figures have gone into a defensive mode, trying to point out that the greater jihad is the struggle inside oneself to do what is morally right while armed struggle is merely the lesser jihad, secondary to the struggle to control ones base instincts.
While these may be true, it is also the case that the greater jihad, since it does not occupy public space, is of little significance in the current global debate about the use of the term jihad and its offshoots ``jihadism'' and ``jihadists''.
The irrelevance of greater jihad in public life is obvious.
Jihad has been a political term from the early years of Islam, associated as it has been with the expansion of Muslim empires and justified by the argument that Muslims had the obligation to spread the word of God to humankind. The early Muslim empires were not particularly concerned about converting non-Muslim subjects to Islam and were, therefore, tolerant of religious diversity to a greater extent than their medieval counterparts in Christendom.
However, they often used the term jihad to justify territorial expansion usually undertaken for economic or strategic gain.
Use of religious terminology to provide a veneer for secular projects is not unique to Islam.
Expansionist wars, both of the universal and sectarian variety, conducted in the name of Christianity were usually far more ferocious and destructive of life and property than those undertaken in the name of Islam.
Muslim rulers at least did not kill infidels to save their souls.
They preferred taxing them to raise revenues for the state, one reason for their lukewarm attitude towards conversion of subject peoples to Islam.
The religion of peace through Dhimmitude.
Labels: Abu Ayyoub al-Masri, al-Qaida, Car Bombing, Christianity vs Islam, culture war, dhimmitude, Jihad, Ramadan, Terrorism
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Radicalize this!
