Charlie Stross wrote,
> I don't like Dubya, but up until today I've had the impression that he
> was handling this crisis reasonably well -- not brilliantly, but
> competently. (Which is all we can ask for of any president, really.)
>
> Then he had to go and use the C-word in a public speech: "crusade".
>
> It's there, clear as day: Osama bin Laden's whole program is to accuse
> the Americans of waging a Crusade -- a holy war against Islam, and to
> call on moslems to rally round in a jihad against the crusaders. Now
> Dubya has just stood up in front of a billion moslems and in effect
> told them that Osama bin Laden is right; that this *is* a holy war
> being waged by the christian nations against islam.
I caught the "c-word" myself. This entire conflict is being couched in
religious terms. It appears that the Administration, and most Americans,
see this as a religious struggle. Christianity versus Islam. Our Christian
State versus the "Islamic State". I fear that this will rally the Christian
together to further push their notion of a Christian Nation, just as it will
rally the Islamic nations together to further push their notion of a united
religion against the United States.
-- Harvey Newstrom <http://HarveyNewstrom.com> <http://Newstaff.com>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:40:50 MDT