rewch
Well-known member
firstly you've mashed the page width with saddam's mosque...
secondly have to agree with the islamic head of state issue...especially given that a large proportion of muslims think that the saudi royal family is itself heretical & or essentially illegitimate...which is even more true for any of the dictatorships...i think the fundamental issue here is the hypocrisy of the western world vis a vis egypt (pseudo-democratic, essentially secular=good arab state) or syria (non-democratic, essentially secular=bad arab)...egypt has chosen to accept the umbrella of western patronage & syria is demonised for its opposition to same...i don't see a difference between mubarrak & al-assad & i suspect most arabs don't either...substitute allawi for mubarrak & what do you have? iraqi insurgency...
to us the higher echelons of the republican party & the administration have the flavour of rabid crusading christian nutters...how much stronger would this flavour be to an arab/muslim?
as to the khalifa in many respects this is an essentially nostalgic atavism akin to little england fondness for the british empire & raj...who would the caliph be? given that the last one died rather a long time ago...don't think even bin laden/zawahiri have come up with a proposal for that...other perhaps than a rhetorical one...
secondly have to agree with the islamic head of state issue...especially given that a large proportion of muslims think that the saudi royal family is itself heretical & or essentially illegitimate...which is even more true for any of the dictatorships...i think the fundamental issue here is the hypocrisy of the western world vis a vis egypt (pseudo-democratic, essentially secular=good arab state) or syria (non-democratic, essentially secular=bad arab)...egypt has chosen to accept the umbrella of western patronage & syria is demonised for its opposition to same...i don't see a difference between mubarrak & al-assad & i suspect most arabs don't either...substitute allawi for mubarrak & what do you have? iraqi insurgency...
to us the higher echelons of the republican party & the administration have the flavour of rabid crusading christian nutters...how much stronger would this flavour be to an arab/muslim?
as to the khalifa in many respects this is an essentially nostalgic atavism akin to little england fondness for the british empire & raj...who would the caliph be? given that the last one died rather a long time ago...don't think even bin laden/zawahiri have come up with a proposal for that...other perhaps than a rhetorical one...