Turkey and Iran articles

Two articles in the Chicago Tribune (6/10/08) caught my eye. Page 16-17, Section 1. Titles are "Scarves unveil Turkey’s turmoil" and "U.S. presence is your biggest problem, Iran tells Iraq".

These two articles sum up some of the problems that are present within Islam today. Some of these issues are the basis for the open warfare that is taking place. The article on Turkey demonstrates the struggle to keep Islam out of the political area. Turkey is having difficulty keeping Islam at bay, even with the strict laws designed to keep the government secular. "For Islamists, democracy, expressing the will of the people, is the road to power, but it is a one-way road, on which there is no return" "Their electoral policy has been classically summarized as "one Man (men only) one vote, once". (Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, Page 111)

This is why I am watching closely with how the election of HAMAS works out. Between Turkey, Iraq and HAMAS, these will demonstrate how well the Islamic world can handle this issue.

The second article (Iran talking to Iraq) demonstrates the classic Islamic law of killing the ‘occupiers’ of Muslim land. This law is one of the stronger laws of Islam. Please note that the fact that the invasion of Iraq having or not having been justified is irrelevant in this discussion. Islam is a one-way street. The penalty for leaving Islam is death. (For men) No going back. Once land is Muslim, it cannot revert back to being non-Muslim. (At least in the eyes of Islam. Another way of looking at it: If Germany had been Muslim in 1945, the ‘occupation’ would have triggered a worldwide obligation to kill Americans, British, French and Russians.

These issues alone are worth waging war over. Many wars in the past have been fought over far less important issues and a number of other issues of equal importance are also present. (Like the payment of Tribute.)

These reasons are why it is so important that the U.S. continue to wage conventional and unconventional warfare in the Middle East. They are not only worth fighting. The issues at stake must be decided in our favor before global terrorism is eliminated.