kman, there is no Islamic conspiracy, the majority of Muslims are peaceful

Submitted by Keith Williams (United States), Jan 23, 2009 at 16:25

Hi kman,

Thanks for responding to my comments and taking the time to read and give good feedback. I appreciate your comments Sir and your patience. I am begining to see where you are coming from and understand what you are saying from your point of view and references that you have shown. They do paint a dark picture of Islam and that is why I am here to show you that some of your references are a little blown out of proportion to the numbers of good deeds and points of Islam and to show that what a small number of people are doing is not indicative of Islam based on my inside knowledge of Islam. You are looking at it from the outside looking in and I am on the inside and am able to look from the inside out and the outside to give you a complete picture. If you visit some Muslims and visit some Islamic services at their Islamic centers then you would get a better assessment than just relying on the media only.

Muslims and non-Muslims benefit from these charities. There is no discrimination in those charities.

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Where is this "majority" bubble that you allude to being "peaceful"?

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Let me try and give you a little of my experience on the issue. I have to keep this bland and not give much detail to it. For example, my experience on the ground in Iraq shows that there is only a small number of the people committing terrorism mainly al-Qaeda. I was a military advisor on a small 11 man team in Iraq. We lived, ate, slept, trained, etc... with an Iraqi border police battalion. I did not want to take that kind of an assignment because I was not too trusting however; it was a very rewarding experience and an eye opener. We had problems what so ever. Do you know the kind of feeling that you get when you go home and visit your family? How safe and comforted being with family and friends? That is the reception we got. In Iraq when you are a visitor it is very dishonorable for your guest to suffer any kind of discomfort and they go above and beyond to show their love and respect and cater to your needs. We had no problems. Again, I personnally have been surrounded daily for one year with only us 9-11 fellow soldiers(one is on leave and one is coming back from leave) surrounded with over 1000 plus Iraqi and Iranian civilians and soldiers and police and we only wore a pistol with no body armor at all and we were also separated in two man teams at different points of an entry point some of us checking people, some checking baggage, some checking trucks, and two guarding our vehicles between Iraq and Iran and never once had any problems. It seemed like it could have been a very dangerous situation but every one there were peaceful and courteous going back and forth between Iran and Iraq with no issues. Many of them were from beyond Iran like India and Pakistan Uzbekistan, etc... coming all the way to Iraq to visit holy sites. This is why I tell you that what we see in the media is over blown. I been there and seen it for myself. Two times. The first time, the majority of Iraqis I saw were overjoyed with us but this second time the majority I saw were not smiling and waving just steady state and seem they were not as happy to see us. We look intimidating to them probably and we drive like crazy ready to blast anything that get in our way so i would not look so happy to see myself coming either, still there were a few happy to see us, especially the children. They are going about their business making a living for their families my friend.

After reading your comments I understand what you are saying based on the media and it does look bad but I am a witness to you that it is not like that in reality. I have seen the thousands and thousands of Muslims working and going about their daily lives working and providing and building. If we just sit back a watch t.v. we will not see that. We will see only what they want you to see. I have driven the streets of Baghdad, an-najaf, al-kut, etc... for two years every day and have seen peaceful, honest, God fearing Muslims, Christians, Jews living, working, going to school just like we do here. Especially in Baghdad where some Iraqis have mixed Christian and Muslim parents. One of my friends mother was Christian and father was Muslims for an example. That is why I can sit here and read the comments on this website and see that they are based on a misconception and not reality. That is why I can say that the majority are not doing terrorist attacks because I have been there not just seen it on t.v. or internet.

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I guess you haven't seen the demonstrations all over the planet including here that rage against Israel and promote militancy at its worst.

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This is a political issue not religious. Israel is far from folliwng any religious convictions as well as the militants fighting against them. They are fighting for control of the land. The majority of people on both sides are caught in the middle. Right now it seems that Israel has the upper hand (13 to 1000+). That might be why you don't see to many Muslims rooting for Israel right now. If the numbers were reversed then you would have a point. It is a slaughter right now and why aren't you speaking out against that? When will you? How many have to die before you say something about that? 5000, 10000, 100000? Your argument can go both ways but since the numbers are in Israel's favor and the collateral damage on the civilians is not justified and not proportionate why should the Muslims protest against the militants if they are they only thing standing in the way of complete annihilation. I don't see justification in the militants firing rockets in the direction of Israel either. The response must be proportionate and equitable. A missile shield should take care of those rockets with no problem.

peace

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