Fanatics: They find in Islam an excuse to kill us

The sad events in Iraq provide a graphic demonstration of differences between Americans and Muslim fanatics.

A few Americans, acting on their own, mistreated Iraqi prisoners — presumably, captured combatants. This evoked national shame, congressional hearings, criminal charges, courts-martial and indignant outcries from nations around the world.

A group of Muslims, representing the al-Qaida organization, cut the head off a captured non-combatant and did so before a video camera. With the body of the young American lying in a bloody pool, they held the head up for the camera.

Their victim, Nicolas Berg of Philadelphia, not only was a civilian but had gone to Iraq in hopes of helping to rebuild the country. His business was working on cellular towers.

The Muslims who killed him vowed to continue to slay innocent Westerners until the coalition of nations involved in the war on terror capitulates.

The airwaves have not exactly been filled with condemnation of these butchers by other countries, even the countries that attacked the United States for the misdeeds of an aberrant few.

Nor are the world’s Muslim leaders imploring the killers not to do it again.

As they committed their grisly act, they shouted “Allahu Akbar,” indicating that they were murdering for the sake of God.

This would not be the God known by most Americans, even though Muslims, like Jews and Christians, trace their roots to Abraham.

The Arabs are said to have descended from Ishmael, the illegitimate son born to Abraham and a handmaid before Abraham’s wife bore Isaac. The Islamic religion was started about 600 A.D. by an Arabian named Mohammed. He wrote the Quran, the Muslim bible, claiming the Lord gave him its contents.

The religion was spread to other continents by the sword until it was stopped — notably, in the Battle of Portiers, or Tours, in France, in 732.

The Quran describes non-Muslims as infidels, and Muslim extremists who harbor bloodlust find ample justification for slaughtering us, as they did Nick Berg and as they did to 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Even though our religious tradition is one of peace and mercy rather than violence and hatred, Berg’s killing helps to bolster the hypothesis that our war against terror is necessary.

No one yet has suggested an alternative other than sitting idly by and allowing the Islamic jihadists to kill us at will.

Published in Editorials on May 13, 2004 11:56 AM