tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post8933630537510998135..comments2023-09-05T08:21:27.204-06:00Comments on Serving the People of Iraq: When Truth Becomes TotalitarianFrank Stahelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01822334061980912687noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-14248990653479196342007-05-17T18:05:00.000-06:002007-05-17T18:05:00.000-06:00Ayaan Hirsi Ali renounced Islam in 2002. Richard'...Ayaan Hirsi Ali renounced Islam in 2002. <BR/><BR/>Richard's claim that she works for AEI is a strawman, because you make a fallacious implication (that working for AEI somehow invalidates her previous life as a Muslim.) Answers.com states of "straw man" that "Its name is derived from the practice of using straw men in combat training. In such training, a scarecrow is made in the image of the enemy with the single intent of attacking it." This is what you have done.Frank Stahelihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01822334061980912687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-63317833721598292682007-05-16T16:12:00.000-06:002007-05-16T16:12:00.000-06:00Pointing out that Ayaan Hirsi Ali works at the Ame...Pointing out that Ayaan Hirsi Ali works at the American Enterprise Institute is an example of guilt by association. That place is neocon central.<BR/><BR/>An example of the straw man fallacy would be if I said her views were typical of most muslims.rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-61174378859705751832007-05-16T15:20:00.000-06:002007-05-16T15:20:00.000-06:00I'm not sure that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Muslim.Ther...I'm not sure that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Muslim.<BR/><BR/>There are tens of thousands of Muslims in New York City and very few radicals. There are 1 billion Muslims in the world and obviously, few of them are radicals.<BR/><BR/>Thus the issue isn't "Islam." Extremist Islamism is a threat to some degree, but the reason it's a threat is because the extremists are able to convince people who otherwise might not be extremist that the US and Israel are threats to their existence. When you look at what Israel does to the Palestinians and how Israel tries to claim all of Jerusalem for its own when it is a holy city to three religions, when the US invades Iraq without provocation, makes bellicose remarks about Iran without provocation, supports Israel's war against the Palestinians etc., why would we be surprised that the extremists Islamists are able to find converts and allies?Anne Rettenberg LCSWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08924529514196589677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-7185833941344522352007-05-16T14:19:00.000-06:002007-05-16T14:19:00.000-06:00You accused me of ad hominem. Now I accuse you of...You accused me of ad hominem. Now I accuse you of straw-man-itis. It makes no difference where she works. The facts are that she (and all the rest) was Muslim (most if not all still are) and what she (they) see in radical Islam is not what Islam is.<BR/><BR/>How can it NOT be critical to present that perspective to the world?Frank Stahelihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01822334061980912687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-86554051054448086832007-05-16T10:26:00.000-06:002007-05-16T10:26:00.000-06:00Not to put too fine a point on it, in the US Army ...Not to put too fine a point on it, in the US Army there is a rule of combat that says "the right of self-defense is never denied." Jihad is a similar concept, and virtually all muslims are on the same page.<BR/><BR/>Osama bin Laden knows this, he knows it is the duty of every muslim to fight back. We should also understand what jihad is all about. In last night's GOP debate, Rudy Giuliani made it clear he doesn't get it.<BR/><BR/>The people you cite would be best described as critics of Islam. Ayaan Hirsi Ali works at the American Enterprise Institute!rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-53087189166340594442007-05-16T00:19:00.000-06:002007-05-16T00:19:00.000-06:00It's amazing to me that others can't see the great...It's amazing to me that others can't see the great threat that exists to the world from radical Islam. Call it what you will, Jihadists fits very well. There are to many examples of what Islamic jihadists have done to not only those that do not believe in Islam, but to them who do. To have witnessed first hand the violence that they impose on each other is a scary thing. The Taliban in Afghanistan are a perfect example of how their only goal is to impose the unyielding beliefs on others and not allow anyone to think or state anything different. You don't have to look very far to find other areas of the world where the jihadists are exterminating anyone who doesn't convert to their beliefs. How do you defend such as these? How can you think it is not a threat? It's time that America wakes up and faces the truth of those threats.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-40251411256151488142007-05-15T12:51:00.000-06:002007-05-15T12:51:00.000-06:00Are you saying that they're all violent? or that t...Are you saying that they're all violent? or that they're only violent because of American foreign policy?<BR/><BR/>What about Noni Darwish, Wafa Sultan, Aayan Hirsi Ali, Zuhdi Jasser, Walid Phares, etc. who disagree with you--to wit that there really are two different Islams, and that the Salafi/Khumeinist (read violent) strain is not the true strain of Islam?Frank Stahelihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01822334061980912687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19488177.post-75356929194713632032007-05-15T11:45:00.000-06:002007-05-15T11:45:00.000-06:00Frank, I'm back from the "anonymous" zone. Finall...Frank, I'm back from the "anonymous" zone. Finally got around to fixing it. <BR/><BR/>It's oh-so-convenient to invent a religion called "Jihadism" and claim it's different from Islam. But there's no such religion.rmwarnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948594032787232166noreply@blogger.com