1 Let me just remind you guys. That Saddam was bad, he had WMD. He could nuke the UK in 45 mins, just like that was a load of bollocks, so is this whole Iran and N. Korea rubbish. Finally lets remember Iran. The FIRST DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRIME MINISTER OF THE COUNTRY WAS OVERTHROWN BY THE USA BECAUSE OF NATNIOLIZING THE OIL and replaced by the very western Shah of Iran, WHO WAS OBERTHROWN AND REPLACED BY THE WESTERN BACKED AYATOLLAH KHOMENEI.

2 Jaaaaaaack Abramoff is squealing, Republicans get pwned, coooooorrupted government, gets blown up on the walls. I bet he won't live till Friday, surely he'll be dead, shot down like John Kennedy, or slave-freeing poor Abe. Soon available on über-copyrighted, spywared CDs and DVDs from Sony BMG. Also tune in for "Abramoff is going to die"-music video, 10 pm every day on NBC.

3 In other news, 99%-certainly-Christian Greek anarchists blow up car of Finlands ambassador. Greek authorities try to assure that the Finnish embassy was not especially targeted. A Finn still feeling hung over after holidays... 90% alcohol drinks are not meant to be drunk in mug sizes.

4 Yes Amaad, the whole thing with Iran is a "load of bollocks" as you eloquently put it. As Europe will be one of the first areas that Iran's nuclear warheads will be capable of reaching, you had best hope that indeed that is the case. Iran is preparing to be a Nuclear armed nation, not only are they purchasing weapon systems capable of missile defense, they're also shopping for missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to greater increasing distances. Nth. Korea is an example why Iran should not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons, "you cannot put the genie back in the bottle" and once they have them, they'll use them as a bargaining chip in round after round of negotiations, they will of course never give them up. Then you have to look at Iran's promise to prolificate nuclear technologies to all Islamic nations, not an idea anyone should relish.

5 The article is way to obscure on details. What "western European nations"? What "leading industrialists"? They're saying, "We have a leaked, sensitive document 55 pages long, but we're not telling you any of the 'detailed assessments' we have in the document. We'll just stick with generalities to freak you out." All it tells me is that if Iran is still "seeking" parts and knowledge, they don't have anything concrete yet.

6 Hey amaad, tell your mother that her last goat-blowing video sold well, but she needs to take a bath, as the goats are complaining about the smell. Finn, you're just a fucking moron and not worth the effort of a good, biting comment. I hope being a dhimmi works out for you, which it should, as you seem to like fellating muslims.

7 Amaad, The Brits wanted Mossadegh out, not the U.S. Their money was at stake, not ours. We helped them get rid of him because that was the price of their continued help in the Korean War. That doesn't make it right, but the people who own the blame for the abuse Iran took up to 1953 are the Brits, not the Americans. Where do you get this idea that the "West" backed Khomeini? Khomeini's only tie to the West prior the revolution was his short stay in France after the Shah forced him out of Iraq. France never "supported" him. They just gave him asylum.

8 Nice writng Shannon. improbulus go f**** yourself. The Ayatollah was given the support of the USA after his touching speech on 'Islamic democracy'. This suprised the Shah because he thought the USA would respect a man in a suit more. 'taken from 'the days that shook the world' BBC3

9 As for terrorism: you fail to remember its global, not islamic. There are Christian, Jewish, Black, White, Nationalistic, Communist etc terrorist groups. S0 THINK BEFORE YOU ARE PREJUDICED AGAINST MUSLIMS. IF YOU ARE DRIVEN TO HATE BY THE ACTIONS OF A FEW SO CALLED 'MUSLIMS' THEN YOU HAVE FELL INTO THE TERORISTS T

10 Afgahanistan is now a pothole in the ground beacuse of the USA not the Soviets. Soviets invaded, mujahideen rebelled, USA gave financial and political backing, soviets left, USA left, Afghanistan turns into a pothole. i think I know why the Afghani's would be pissed with America.

11 Muslims going to America and Europe are faced with a flood of questions about Islam. People have many ways of asking these question and different motivations for doing so, but their questions are essentially as follows: Why does Islam permit polygamy? Why is a woman counted as half a man in matters of inheritance and when she gives testimony? Why does Islam “belittle” women? Is Islam a religion of terror since it prescribes jihad? Who should we believe: Sunnis or Shiites? Questions like these are what occupy their minds when they think about Islam, since the Western media has actively maligned Islam as a religion of lust and blood and nothing else. When our Muslim youth go to their countries, they often find such questions awkward and try to evade them. They might say things like: Permission for polygamy is conditional upon justice between wives and justice between wives is impossible to achieve. Allah says: “You will not be able to be just between women even if you strive to do so.” [Sûrah al-Nisâ’: 129] Whatever is conditional upon something impossible is impossible itself. Therefore, polygamy is forbidden in Islam. In many cases, Muslims will come across a strange opinion on a matter and promote it simply because it is more conciliatory. When I visited America, I found that many Muslims who did not have correct or sufficient Islamic knowledge suffered from such difficulties. They really did not know what to do. I used to tell them the following: Why should we be on the defensive? Why don’t we adopt a more assertive attitude? If they confront us one question, we should respond with ten of our own. If they ask us about jihad, we should ask them about America’s openly aggressive policies in many parts of the world, not to mention all of their covert operations. If they ask you about polygamy, ask them about the sexual promiscuity that is rife in their societies that has brought humiliation to so many women and allowed men to absolve themselves of their responsibilities towards them and towards their children? If they ask you about inequalities in inheritance, ask them about the reality in their own country where a woman earns only 60% of what a man earns for doing the exact same job. I do not mean that we should be evasive. However, it is not good for you to respond when you are in a state of weakness and difficulty where there is a danger that you might answer falsely and misrepresent Allah’s religion in order to appease someone else. You can move on to a more advanced level of discourse and demonstrate that Islamic teachings are the solution to the problems that they are suffering from. For instance, according to some assessments, there are 119 women to every 100 men in the United States. In some states, the number is more like 160 women to every 100 men. Polygamy is the solution to the problems that ensue under such circumstances, since it requires some men to assume responsibility for more than one woman and to be as just as humanly possible in doing so. We can stress how Islam teaches equality between all people. There is no preference for anyone over anyone else except by a person’s piety and virtue. This is the way to do away with the problem of racism that people in the West suffer from. The Islamic teachings about jihad are what uproots oppression and guarantees people the freedom to think and to choose their religion for themselves without being under any compulsion. Islam seeks to have people freely submit themselves to their Creator and not be placed under the subjugation of any worldly dictator, race, tribe, or nationality. There are a few points that I would like to emphasize: 1. Matters of Islamic law are established by the unambiguous texts of the Qur’ân and Sunnah. No one, regardless of who he is, has the right to change, add, or subtract anything to placate anyone’s desires or fears. When someone who calls others to Islam opts to misinform people about Allah’s rulings, he is doing a disservice to Islam. He is also deceiving people. He has no right to meddle in matters of Islamic Law that are the jurisdiction of Allah alone. 2. Matters that fall within the scope of juristic discretion and allow for differences of opinion should be presented in a balanced and objective manner by the person who is calling others to Islam. He should take circumstances into consideration when doing so. He should not select the most severe and restrictive opinion on a matter and present it to the people as if it is Islam itself, especially when he is trying to endear Islam to the people’s hearts. 3. Our objective should be to convince others of the correctness of the Islamic ruling so that they will accept it. We must employ all of our knowledge and reasoning abilities in achieving this objective. We must provide all the relevant facts. We can employ to our advantage other areas of knowledge that we find to be of benefit in convincing people of Islam. This may inlude discussions of the Qur’ân's scientific miracles, statistical information, circumstances and experiences, and rational arguments. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, this is an integral part of conveying the truth to the people. 4. We must instill in the hearts of our young people complete and total confidence in every aspect of Islam, from the most general teachings of their faith to the most specific. We must dispel any sense of weakness or deficiency that they might possibly feel at the hands of some of those who dispute with them. We do a disservice to Islam if we lead the people to believe that Islam is close to the life that they already living and that the Islamic approach to life is not much different than their own. This only makes the people feel that Islam is unnecessary for them and encourages them to turn away from it. They are, in fact, trying to escape from the hellish aspects of the lives that they are already leading. They need to be presented with an alternative. When they ask about Islam or even about something else, they are looking for a way out. They are looking for something to rescue them. Therefore, we must present Islam to them with all of its uniqueness and show them clearly how it differs from their own life experiences. In this way, we encourage them to think about Islam. We must present Islam to them in a logical manner with clear and insightful arguments. Our responsibility ends here. Indeed, this was the extent of the responsibility of Allah’s Messengers (peace be upon them). Allah says to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): “It is naught your duty but to convey the message.” [Sûrah al-Shûrâ: 48] “It is your duty only to convey the message. It is upon Us to take account.” [Sûrah al-Ra`d: 40] “So admonish them. You are but one who admonishes. You do not control their affairs.” [Sûrah al-Ghâshiyah: 21-22] It is not necessary for us to fancy that the whole world will convert to Islam at our hands. However, we must be eager to guide them and we must seek to do so in every possible and permissible way. We should perfect our way of presenting Islam to them, taking into account the age, circumstances, and level of knowledge of those whom we are addressing. We must present to them the noble Islamic values of freedom, justice, and human dignity and prove to them that Islam is superior to everything that they already know. Above and beyond all of this, we must conduct ourselves in the best, most ethical manner and present our own lives as a practical example of moral virtue. Unfortunately, many Muslims call people to Islam with their tongues while pushing them away from it with their ignoble, contradictory conduct and with their narrow-mindedness.

12 First of all don't talk crap up about Islam. Read between the lines of the quraan. Don't make up phony hadith. ISlam isn't bad.

13 Back to the topic point - I have serious problems with a report in the Guardian - long on claims and totally absent on details. The Guardian will eagerly play both sides of the street to stir the pot.

14 WHY SHOULD I BELIVE BUSH THIS TIME. HE HAD 'CLEAR' and 'CONCSIVE' PROOF THAT SADDAM HAD NUKES, WHERE THE F*** ARE THEY?

15 Stay on topic - don't let Amaad divert you into an idiotic argument about caparative islam.

16 Yes, the lack of specifics in the Guardian report is curious. Perhaps they're planning a series. Amaad: the source of Islam's bad press is 9/11 and 7/7, not the western media. The American MSM have bent over backwards to accommodate Islam. That's why there's a media embargo on 9/11 images. I have tried to find something redeeming in Islam, but failed. It appears to be a corrosive, third-world cult that thrives on ignorance.

17 There are good people that are Muslims, nonetheless Islam is not peaceful. Eventhough Islamofascists are a minority of Muslim they still represent Muslims in the millions. Unlike communist, neo-nazi, white supremacist etc, etc groups; Islamofascists are extremely well financed by millionaire and billionaire fellow cadres. As for the religion of peace claim by Muslims go to this website - http://www.thereligionofpeace.org - to see the true ethics of Islam. Islamofascist are not nice people and their intent is world domination with an overseeing Caliphate. Not good for unbelieving Muslims who will to choose between conversion or death or dhimmitude.

18 Oops that website is http://www.thereligionofpeace.com, not dot org.

19 Afgahanistan is now a pothole in the ground beacuse of the USA not the Soviets. How is that again? The Arabs flocked to Afghanistan like it was some third-world, donkey meat, kebab cart and hung around like a bad cumin smell. You can also look at their neighboring country Pakistan for pretty much all of Afghanistan problems, seeing as they occupied, and created their own Government in Afghanistan, and created a third-world, medieval, knuckle-dragging society where women were treated worse than goats, and "evils" such as music and art were banned. You have some huge nuts, sunshine.

20 Amaad, It seems unlikely that the U.S. supported Khomeini prior to the revolution for several reasons: We were already invested in the Shah, and Khomeini started denouncing the U.S. shortly after he started denouncing the Shah (about 1963). Khomeini kept claiming the shah was our puppet. He was wrong, but he had no way of knowing that. The U.S. historically *hates* the notion of political disruption in the Gulf to the extent of propping up some pretty oppressive monarchies. We weren't willing to topple the shah for democracy any more than we are willing to support democracy in Saudi or Bahrain. Serious questions of revolution in Iran didn't rise in the U.S. until the latter half of 1979, and our state department was encouraging the shah to put down the massive autumn protests right up until his army fell apart and he fled the county weeks later. What you are interpreting as support for Khomeini is really just State Department double-talk. Khomeini was talking democracy, and the U.S. has to approve of democracy, even when we are working with a dictator. Compare the situation with that of Ferdinand Marcos (though the shah was a good deal more benign than Marcos.)

21 So Amaad Since the topic story (AS PER THE GUARDIAN) is about Iran aquiring missile and nuclear weapons technology from Europe and other sources - what is your opinion? Or is that too fuckin' much to ask? Thank God muslims don't play baseball - otherwise you would be giving use box scores too.

22 Hey amaad, I heard the reason that so many muslim guys are such psychopathic retards is because you all get used like girls when you're young, like your pedophile prophet mohammed (bacon grease upon him) did to poor little Aisha. I guess being used like a girl would mess a guy up, so it figures that you're all such pathetic losers who abuse women and pretty much hate everyone. Maybe you should just kill yourself to end the pain?

23 Amaad: Don't forget to give some credit to the Afghans themselves. We stay we are asked to leave. We leave it's our fault for leaving them hanging. Blaming the US for everything is counter productive. Is it not reasonable to suggest that these countries are due some blame as well.

24 Oh, poor 'as unlikely as possible', disappointment, terrible disappointment. Crummy insults, since it's always that same stuff when you people get stumped and angry. Dhimmi dhimmi dhimmi and some sex stuff, possibly because it's extremely taboo for certain fanatics and those who desperately want more of it. Me? Nah, enough nudity on various screens to not value sex stuff too much, despite lack of manual labour related to the subject.

25 You all hear amaad guys, islam isn't bad, so it must be Mennonites cutting peoples' heads off and blowing up kids and stuff. Hey amaad, is your sister still prostituting in Africa?

26 I also wanted to address the "man assumes responsibility for more then one woman" stuff. Ok men should be responsible and that's all honorable and good. However the attitude that women are helpless without men or a burden is the core problem. If your mindset is that women are incapable and a burden what do you expect? that they will be treated well. Women can and do just about anything and surely in some families the man could be called the "burden".

27 Howie nice seeing you. talk t a later time, busy. Hondo wtf. I do play baseball and soocer.

28 dave your comments are absurd. Pakistan have caught many more Al-qaeda leaders than the USA. Pakistan accept Afghani refugees. Oh and by the way most of the natural gas going to America goes through Afghanistan, turkeminestan and PAKISTAN. Finally Pakistan did not make the government. “A senior delegation from the Taleban movement in Afghanistan is in the United States for talks with an international energy company that wants to construct a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to Pakistan. A spokesman for the company, Unocal, said the Taleban were expected to spend several days at the company's headquarters in Sugarland, Texas.” “Taleban in Texas for talks on Gas Pipeline,” BBC News, December 4, 1997 (Sugarland is 22 miles outside Houston.) THE PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN IS A SHARE HOLDER IN THE CARLYLE GROUP. A SHARE HOLDER IN THE MANY OF BUSH'S GROUPS AND FORMER GROUPS. YOU GUYS SHOULD SERIOUSLY WATCH FARENHEIT 9/11. IT'LL GET RID OF THE CRAP IN YOUR BRAIN.