We saw a glimpse of living under such ideologies in Afghanistan rule under the Taliban and in the early years of Saudi Arabia. King Abdul Aziz fought battles against the Akhwan without which Saudi Arabia would have turned into a replica of Afghanistan under the Taliban.

The difference between AQ mentality and even the worst systems we have in the Middle East is that AQ believes in extracting what they term evil from society. That could be any person that thinks differently even in the slightest way. It is an absolutest type of ideology that will impact every individual under their control. There has been one system that took such absolutism approach and resulted in the massacre of millions, that is the Khmer Rouge. People were targeted as intellectuals, which meant execution in some cases, just for wearing glasses. Compare that to the AQ examples that Ratherdashing provided. It is extreme social engineering that only a fool would want for his nation, or any nation for that matter, to live under.

Do not get me wrong the Middle Eastern governments need to improve a great deal, but the AQ option is insanity.

Would Al Qaeda be less oppressive than the rulers in power now?

Would the Iraqi people better be better off under occupation by Al Qaeda than the Americans?

Not if you liked to shop for vegetables. Click the link below only if you can stomach a little lasciviousness.

Cucumber laws and brutality

Besides the terrible killings inflicted by the fanatics on those who refuse to pledge allegiance to them, Al-Qa’eda has lost credibility for enforcing a series of rules imposing their way of thought on the most mundane aspects of everyday life.

They include a ban on women buying suggestively-shaped vegetables, according to one tribal leader in the western province of Anbar.

Sheikh Hameed al-Hayyes, a Sunni elder, told Reuters: “They even killed female goats because their private parts were not covered and their tails were pointed upward, which they said was haram.

“They regarded the cucumber as male and tomato as female. Women were not allowed to buy cucumbers, only men.”

I do not believe the people would be better off under occupation of AQ. It would be nice if the people were under nobody’s occupation.

I think the US has killed more Muslims…However if we calculate all the Muslims who are put to death under sharia law or just plain country law then Muslims probably have killed more Muslims. Also I honestly do not believe Americans think “How many Muslims can we kill!” I think they think in terms of “How many lives were lost!”. That is one of the differences of US and AQ. AQ thinks in terms of “How many Kuffars can we kill!”

There is always a better solution and AQ is not the answer…a better representative government would be a better solution.

Would the Iraqi people better be better off under occupation by Al Qaeda than the Americans?

Who has killed more Muslims? Al Qaeda or the United States?

The United States has made mistakes handling the Iraq war, and many Muslims dissagree with American foriegn policy, but the actions of Al Qaeda are very evil.

Thank you for your response.

I think independent groups could benefit from funding especially if nothing is moving with funded projects. Not everyone can volunteer their time for the needed efforts for free and quite frankly time is money….

Terrorists are resorting to sheep scams?

It wont hit support, these types can over look anything to support their war.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23384-2004Jun7.html

A smuggler can make about $2 million on a single truckload of cigarettes. A truckload contains 800 cases, or 48,000 cartons.

“People go shopping for a bargain,” Billingslea said. “Why pay $75 for a carton of cigarettes when I know someone down the street who will sell me a carton for $15 less out of the back of a car?”

The first large-scale cigarette trafficking case tied to terrorism was prosecuted in North Carolina in 2002. A federal jury in Charlotte convicted Mohamad Hammoud, 28, of violating a ban on providing material support to terrorist groups by funneling profits from a multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling operation to Hezbollah.

Yes. Regardless of whether the US policy is right or wrong in the Middle east, the perception in the Arabic street is it hypocritical at minimum and some view it as anti Arabic/Islamic. This includes the support for Israel, War in Iraq and support of dictatorships. Most people will not pickup arms or join terrorist groups, but it does provide a massive recruiting field for AQ and other organizations.

I think the US started to pay attention to this issue following 911 by putting more pressures on governments like Saudi to moderate (take this one to the positive side) However, the Iraq war also added more negativity. Not just the invasion, but some of the stories that followed like the Abu Ghuraib pictures and the cases of rape by soldiers. Those were in my opinion more disastrous as public relations issues than the invasion itself.

Regarding Humane rights organizations funding, I really do not think the issue is money in this case. I think it is an issue of access within the countries in the region. This requires continued support from the US and European countries for governments to moderate. I truly believe that most people of the Middle East do look up to the US way of life and freedoms in a positive way. You see that reflected in the consumption of similar goods and entertainment that is highly Westernized. I think if the US and others provide public positions on individual freedoms in the Middle East in a way that citizens can understand it, it will go a long way in solving many issues. This as regional policy has to be done in a wise way, as not to alienate allied regimes.

Putting more pressure on Israelis and Palestinians to resolve their issue will also be great. I really think this can be resolved with the right focus. So far the US had a start then stop policy in this regard. I remember when Bush first took office, he indicated that he is not making this a major foreign policy issue and only gave it strong attention 7 years after he took office.

Of course I do not have all the wisdom to put such a plan, but there are professionals that can build such strategy.

Organizations that really do need to raise money to affect postive change in the environment like (Independent Human Rights Organizations) can’t do so effectively because of 1. Inhumane rulers/dictators and 2. Such strong restrictions in place by countries like the US and others.