“We are not afraid of being named terrorists … But I want to ask, is someone who detonates one kilogram a terrorist while someone who detonates tons in Arab and Islamic cities not a terrorist?”
— Shakir al-Abssi, leader of the Lebanese-based Fatah al Islam, an al-Qaeda offshoot
This is a standard trope not only of the Islamist far-right but also the “socialist” far-left: Bush and co. are “the real terrorists.”
True, Bush, Cheney and the rest are odious figures. But to anyone following the news these days, Mr. Abssi’s remark is beyond fatuous. It’s even grimly hilarious. This murderous thug was a close associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia — the very forces who continue to detonate bomb after bomb after bomb in the Arab and Islamic cities of Iraq, targeting Muslim civilians.
It’s like I argued in this post: The al-Qaedists pose as defenders of Muslims, but this is simply PR. Excellent PR, you might say — it landed this person on the front page of the NY Times. But no informed Western liberal (or disaffected Muslim, for that matter) should give this line credence. Abssi and his gang are among the worst oppressors of Muslims.
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