Set out for Jibad in the name of Allah and for the sake of Allah. Do not lay hands on the old verging on death, on women, children and babes. Do not steal anything from the booty and collect together all that falls to your lot in the battlefield and do good, for Allah loves the virtuous and the pious.
The above is from the Q'uran, the holy book of the Muslim peoples. Notice that it clearly states that women, children and the old are to be left alone in combat? In fact all non-combatants are to spared and not harmed, this means that every man who is not in the military is NOT a target.
I say that in opening to show that Islam does not preach the death of all non-Muslims. In fact, the Q'uran states that all the children of the book will go to heaven, the children of the book being Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Bet you didn't know that, did you.
So why did Muslim Extremists target the United States on 9/11/01 and all the incidents prior to that? Simple history.
At the end of World War One, it was decided to partition the Ottoman Empire into various countries, completely destroying the only nation that spoke for Muslim interests.
France was given control of Syria and Lebanon, The United Kingdom power over Palestine and Iraq, (Palestine consisted of two entities, Palestine and Transjordan.)
Parts of the Ottoman Empire on the Arabian Peninsula became Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
In other words, the western powers destroyed a Muslim government that had existed since 1299! Effectively destroying a cultural identity, a central government, even a venue for the mediation of problems between various Muslim groups and people.
In 1948, the UN created Israel, without regard to the Palestinian people living in the region, or the impact it would have on the region as a whole.
Since 1948, the west has continually supported Israel no matter what actions it did, which forced the Arab Nations to turn to the soviet union, and give rise to the Palestinian and Muslim extremists.
To make matters worse, the US had a policy of supporting Arab governments while it benefited the US, then pulling out when the benefit disappeared. We did this in Iraq during its war with Iran, and with the Afghani rebels fighting the Soviet invasion forces.
Why has the western world been targeted by terrorists?
Because, unfortunately, the western countries have created so many of the reasons for the sectarian violence in the region, and they sit back and do little about it. It does not help when the US does not condemn Israel for actions that are clearly unwarranted or in direct violation of international law.
Why were we the target on 9/11? The real question is, why did it take so long for it to happen?
The 9/11 attack could have been prevented had the United States taken a lead in working to truly create a lasting peace in the middle east involving all the middle eastern people. Had the effort been made, there would not have been any justification for any attacks.
The attacks have been condemned by mainstream Arab and Muslim leaders, but lets face reality, it is the fundamentalist that will get the attention. It does not take much to take a situation and turn it into a reason for bloodshed, the LA riots, and the riots of the sixties bear witness to that.
It does take an effort on the part of the human race to stand up and say in one voice, this must stop.
Both sides of this conflict kill in the name of god, but, in truth, is that what God tells us to do? Go out and kill people?
Think about it, when you ask the question, why.
