Critical Response to P.M. Tony Blair's Foreign Policy Address

This is my response to selected excerpts from a foreign policy speech which British Prime Minister Tony Blair
delivered March 21 of 2006. I have inserted the excerpts as block quotes. My comments are interspersed, along with evidentiary material also in blocks. Bold font & color emphasis is mine. Click this link to read the official transcript of the speech. Quotations from Islamic sources are also hyperlinked so that the reader can verify them and explore the texts.

"There is an interesting debate going on inside government today about how to counter extremism in British communities. Ministers have been advised never to use the term "Islamist extremist".
It will give offense. It is true. It will. There are those - perfectly decent-minded people - who
say the extremists who commit these acts of terrorism are not true Muslims. And, of course, they are right. They are no more proper Muslims than the Protestant bigot who murders a Catholic in Northern Ireland is a proper Christian. But, unfortunately, he is still a "Protestant" bigot. To say his religion is irrelevant is both completely to misunderstand his motive
and to refuse to face up to the strain of extremism within his religion that has given rise to it."

What is the scriptural Christian doctrine concerning murder? In what Book, Chapter & verse did
Jesus Christ sanctify or exemplify conquest, genocide and terrorism? What! You can't find any? Was Muhammad, the founder of Islam, a true Muslim? Does not the Qur'an, which he recited, mandate and
sanctify conquest, genocide and terrorism? What! You haven't read it? Better late than never!



You seem to view terrorism as an innovation. In 623, Muhammad dispatched his companions to make ghazwat on camel caravans. Later, he turned to Jewish & Christian settlements. He sent extortion
letters and followed up with his army. Click that link, then click the link in the quote. Read all of Sahih Bukhari Vol. 4, Book 52. Then you will understand that Muhammad set the standard for the conduct of
mujahideen. Jihad, genocide & terrorism are intrinsic functions of Islam!

"This terrorism will not be defeated until its ideas, the poison that warps the minds of its adherents, are confronted, head-on, in their essence, at their core. By this I don't mean telling them terrorism is wrong. I mean telling them their attitude to America is absurd; their concept of governance pre-feudal; their positions on women and other faiths, reactionary and
regressive; and then since only by Muslims can this be done: standing up for and supporting those within Islam who will tell them all of this but more, namely that the extremist view of Islam is not just theologically backward but completely contrary to the spirit and teaching of the Koran."

What are the "ideas" of terrorism? What 'poison' 'warps the minds' of Muslims? Who wrote this speech? Was he going to Hell or coming out? Perhaps he should quit listening to President Bush and start reading the canonical books of Islam, where he would learn that the evils of which he complains are sanctified &
mandated by Allah and exemplified by Muhammad. 'At their core'? They are at the
very core of Islam!

Jihâd (holy fighting in Allâh's Cause) is ordained for you ; fight them until
there is no more Fitnah and the religion (worship) will all be for Allâh Alone ; I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes. It is not
for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he had made a great slaughter (among his enemies) in the land.

How in Hell can a reform minded Muslim overcome the clear mandate of the Qur'an for global conquest, genocide & terrorism? How does one Muslim convince another that the perfect, complete & final revelation of Allah's will does not mean exactly what at says and that Muhammad's life & conduct ain't the perfect role model for all Muslims in all generations? Does any ignorant fool believe in the mythical 'moderate' majority of Muslims? How then did HAMAS win a majority of seats in the P.A. legislature? Why is Usama bin Laden the most popular man on the Arab street? Why are there, at present (after more than a month on the web and links on several moderate Muslim blogs) only 61 signatures on the Moderate Muslim Majority Rejects Terrorism petition? Hundreds of thousands signed petitions condemning the cartoons, fewer than one hundred have signed a petition renouncing terrorism. That is not an optimistic sign.

"The roots of global terrorism and extremism are indeed deep. They reach right down through decades of alienation, victimhood and political oppression in the Arab and Muslim
world. Yet this is not and never has been inevitable. The most remarkable thing about reading the Koran - in so far as it can be truly translated from the original Arabic - is to understand how progressive it is. I speak with great diffidence and humility as a member of another faith. I am not qualified to make any judgements. But as an outsider, the Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, rather as reformers attempted with the Christian Church centuries later. It is inclusive It extols science and knowledge and abhors superstition. It is practical and way ahead of its time in attitudes to marriage, women and governance."

"The roots of global terrorism and extremism are indeed deep." Blessed right they are: deep in the Qur'an, as cited above; and thouroghly embedded in Surahs 8, 9, 47 & 48 thereof, not in alienation, or social conditions!


" The most remarkable thing about reading the Koran - in so far as it can be truly translated from the original Arabic - is to understand how progressive it is."... "It extols science and knowledge
and abhors superstition. It is practical and way ahead of its time in attitudes to marriage, women
and governance." What in the eternal fire is progressive about sanctifying and mandating conquest, genocide and terror as cited above?!' Science'?! 'Knowledge'?! What is practical about marriage to four wives plus all the slaves you can handle? Women are to inherit only half as much as their brothers, and two female witnessesare required to equal the testimony of one man.

"Today, in well over 30 or 40 countries terrorists are plotting action loosely linked with this ideology. Its roots are not superficial, therefore, they are deep, embedded now in
the culture of many nations and capable of an eruption at any time." The ideology is Islam, and it is rooted in theQur'an, which defines it, and the Hadith, which exemplify it.

"The different aspects of this terrorism are linked. The struggle against terrorism in Madrid or London or Paris is the same as the struggle against the terrorist acts of Hezbollah in Lebanon or the PIJ in Palestine or rejectionist groups in Iraq. The murder of the innocent in Beslan is part of the
same ideology that takes innocent lives in Saudi Arabia, the Yemen or Libya. And when Iran gives support to such terrorism, it becomes part of the same battle with the same ideology at its heart."

Have you figured out what the link is yet?!

"This is not a clash between civilisations It is a clash about civilisation. It is the age-old battle
between progress and reaction, between those who embrace and see opportunity in the modern world and those who reject its existence; between optimism and hope on the one hand; and pessimism and fear on the other. And in the era of globalisation where nations depend on each other and where our security is held in common or not at all, the outcome of this clash between extremism and progress is utterly determinative of our future here in Britain. We can no more opt out of this struggle than we can opt out of the climate changing around us. Inaction, pushing the responsibility on to America, deluding ourselves that this terrorism is an isolated series of individual incidents rather than a global movement and would go away if only we were more sensitive to its pretensions; this too is a policy. It is just that; it is a policy that is profoundly,fundamentally wrong.



And this is why the position of so much opinion on how to defeat this terrorism and on the continuing struggle in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Middle East is, in my judgement, so mistaken."

The clash is between predator and prey: between Muslims Hell-bent on conquest, pillage & rapine and innocent prey being tortured, murdered, dispossessed and raped as in Darfur. The contest is Islam vs. civilisation!!!

"What happens in Iraq or Afghanistan today is not just crucial for the people in those countries or even in those regions; but for our security here and round the world. It is a cause that has
none of the debatable nature of the decisions to go for regime change; it is an entirely noble one - to help people in need of our help in pursuit of liberty; and a self-interested one, since in their salvation lies our own security."

"To do this, we must fight the ideas of the extremists, not just their actions; and stand up for and
not walk away from those engaged in a life or death battle for freedom. "

How do we fight those ideas without identifying them; without listing, enumerating and evaluating such concepts as predestiny, fatalism, supremacism, intolerance, exclusivism and demonic mandate to conquer
and subjugate on a global scale?

"Two years later the same ideology killed people on the streets of London, and for the same reason. To stop cultures, faiths and races living in harmony; to deter those who see
greater openness to others as a mark of humanity's progress; to disrupt the very thing that makes London special would in time, if allowed to, set Iraq on a course of progress too."

Terrorism is a tactic, not an objective, not an enemy. The objective is conquest!! The enemy is Islam!!

"The extremism is not the true voice of Islam. Neither is that voice necessarily to be found in those who are from one part only of Islamic thought, however assertively that voice makes itself heard. It is, as ever, to be found in the calm, but too often unheard beliefs of the many Muslims, millions of them the world over, including in Europe, who want what we all want: to be ourselves free and for others to be free also; who regard tolerance as a virtue and respect for the faith of others as part of our own faith. That is what this battle is about, within Islam and outside of it; it is a battle of values and progress; and therefore itis one we must win."

The true voice of Islam is that of Allah, transmitted to Muhammad through Gabriel, and recited by
Muhammad as preserved by the traditions of his companions and recorded in the Qur'an. The ayat which mandate and sanctify Jihad; which sanctify genocide and terrorism are the true voice of Islam!!
Those vices are what Islam is; what Islam does.


We can have peace or we can have Islam. I choose peace, without reservation and without remorse.
What do you choose?

2:216. Jihâd (holy fighting in Allâh's Cause) is ordained for you
(Muslims) though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing
which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you.
Allâh knows but you do not know.

8:39. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allâh) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allâh Alone [in the whole of the world ]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allâh), then certainly, Allâh is All-Seer of what they do.

9:29. Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allâh, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allâh and His Messenger (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islâm) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

8:67. It is not for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war (and free them with ransom) until he had made a great slaughter (among his enemies) in the land. You desire the good of this world (i.e. the money of ransom for freeing the captives), but Allâh desires (for you) the Hereafter. AndAllâh is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

Read about Muhammad's practice of genocide in Sahih Bukhari 5.59.512 and Abu Dawud 38.4390.

3:151. We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they joined others in worship with Allâh, for which He had sent no authority; their abode will be the Fire and how evil is the abode of the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong­doers).

8:12. (Remember) when your Lord inspired the angels, "Verily, I am with you, so keep firm those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes."

See also: 33:26-27 and 59:2 for further confirmation of terrorism. See Sahih Bukhari 4.52.220
wherein Muhammad braggs about his practice of terrorism.

LETTER TO THE JEWS OF KHYBER



In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful From Muhammad, the Prophet of Allah who is like Moosa (Moses A.S.) a prophet and messenger and he testifies to what Moosa (A.S.) had brought. 0 people of Torah, has Allah not stated in the Torah that "Muhammad (Sal Allaho Alehe Wasallam) is a Prophet of Allah. The people who will be with him, shall be harsh towards the enemies of Allah. And amongst themselves, they shall be kind and loving. They shall bow and prostrate before Allah. And they shall seek His bounty and goodwill".


I ask you to swear by Allah, who sent Torah for you and who made your forefathers eat 'mann, and 'Salva' and dried sea for them and rid them of the tyranny of pharaoh. It is not written in Torah that you should believe in me?


After the explanation about me in the Torah, do guidance and transgression become apparent?
Therefore I invite you towards Allah and His Prophet.'

Seal: Allah's Prophet Muhammad

Sahih Bukhari

Volume 5, Book 59, Number 512:

Narrated Anas:

The Prophet offered the Fajr Prayer near Khaibar when it was still dark and then said, "Allahu-Akbar! Khaibar is destroyed, for whenever we approach a (hostile) nation (to fight), then evil will be the morning for those who have been warned." Then the inhabitants of Khaibar came out running on the roads. The Prophet had their warriors killed, their offspring and woman taken as captives. Safiya was amongst the captives, She first came in the shareof Dahya Alkali but later on she belonged to the Prophet . The Prophet made her manumission as her 'Mahr'.

18:86. Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water. And he found near it a people. We (Allâh) said (by inspiration): "O Dhul-Qarnain! Either you
punish them, or treat them with kindness."

4:24. Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those (captives and slaves) whom your right hands possess. Thus has Allâh ordained for you. All others are lawful, provided you seek (them in marriage) with Mahr (bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) from
your property, desiring chastity, not committing illegal sexual intercourse, so with those of whom you have enjoyed sexual relations, give them their Mahr as prescribed; but if after a Mahr is prescribed, you agree mutually (to give more), there is no sin on you. Surely, Allâh is Ever All­Knowing, All­Wise.

4:11. Allâh commands you as regards your children's (inheritance); to the male, a portion equal to that of two females; if (there are) only daughters, two or more, their share is two thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is half....

2:282. O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a fixed period, write it down. Let a scribe write it down in justice between you. Let not the scribe refuse to write as Allâh has taught him, so let him write. Let him (the debtor) who incurs the liability dictate, and he must fear Allâh, his Lord, and diminish not anything of what he owes. But if the debtor is of poor understanding, or weak, or is unable himself to dictate, then let his guardian dictate in justice. And get two witnesses out of your own men. And if there are not two men (available), then a man and two women, such as you agree for witnesses, so that if one of them (two women) errs, the other canremind her....

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