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Your attempt to characterize and our concerns as being against all Muslims is typical but wrong. In the instance that the radical Islamics use jihad, it most certainly means Holy war. Can we focus on that certain faction of Islamics instead of broadening the scope of things to a realm we are not addressing?

I mean, they are actually saying that is what it means, so maybe you better go and educate them! Oh those silly Muslim terrorist guys don't even know what jihad means!

Somalia Islamic militants call for jihad

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press WriterSat Dec 23, 8:55 AM ET

Somalia's Islamic militants Saturday called on foreign Muslim fighters to join their holy war against Ethiopian troops after days of fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to engulf this volatile region.

Muslims are brothers and help each other, Sheik Yusuf Indahaadde, national security chairman for the Council of Islamic Courts, said in the capital, Mogadishu. We have a right to call our brothers and sisters to help us in this holy war, he said.

The Islamic forces have declared they want to bring the country under Quranic rule and vowed to drive out troops from neighboring Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation that is providing military support to Somalia's U.N.-backed government. Ethiopia denies its forces are fighting, saying it has sent only military trainers.

The clashes could mean a major conflict in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, which has one of the largest armies in the region, and its bitter rival, Eritrea, could use Somalia as the ground for a proxy war. While Ethiopia backs the internationally recognized government, Eritrea backs the Islamic movement.

In Kismayo, a strategic seaport captured from the government by Islamic militia in September, residents saw several foreign Arab fighters disembarking from ships this week.

Hundreds of people have been killed since fighting broke out Tuesday. Sporadic gunfire and shelling could be heard Friday around Baidoa, the government's only stronghold, although fighting appeared to taper off. But four Ethiopian attack helicopters and about 20 tanks were seen headed for battle, witnesses and a government official said.

Thousands of Somalis have fled their homes as troops loyal to the two-year-old interim administration fought Islamic fighters who had advanced on Baidoa, about 140 miles northwest of Mogadishu. Islamic militiamen control Mogadishu along with most of southern Somalia.

Special forces who are highly trained in guerrilla warfare are now ready to attack Ethiopians, wherever they are in Somalia, Sheik Ibrahim Shukri Abuu-Zeynab, a spokesman for the Islamic movement, told The Associated Press.

He also said the Islamists late Friday peacefully captured the Ethiopian border town of Tiyeglow, which is believed to be a main entry point for troops from the neighboring nation.

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi vowed Saturday that his government will defend the people it is responsible for and Somali sovereignty. He called on the Islamic fighters to return to negotiations.

They will be responsible for any consequences that may result from rejecting our call, he said.

Government officials said more than 600 Islamic fighters had been killed during four days of clashes. Islamic militiamen said they had killed around 400 Ethiopians and government fighters. Neither claim could be independently confirmed.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called on both sides to cease the hostilities immediately and to resume the peace talks, his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement released late Friday.

Somalia has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, plunging the country into chaos.

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I just wanted to point that out. I just don't think in these times that they mean it any other way, no matter what the other definitions are.

He's pointing out the distinction between the two instead of labeling all Muslims as terrorists and pi$$ing off the whole middle east like the Bush admin did, and like you just did with your post.

A moderate muslim is a muslim who is willing to coexist peacefully with people of other faiths and who are comfortable with the democracy of the U.S. So you see, they don't need to be "won over." To the fundamentalist muslim, a moderate muslim is a sell out who has watered down their faith.

Basically what Obama is doing is elevating himself to the benevolent peacemaker, declaring he is going to choose is words wisely and have us all believe that he alone can win over the "moderate muslims" when in fact it means absolutely nothing. This just more Obama posturing for the media. The funamentalist muslims (the ones that need to be won over) will never be won over because in their own mindsent they are holding true to their Islam teachings.

When the possibility of far-reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity exists, people of conscience have a solemn responsibility to inquire into the nature and scope of these acts and to determine if they do in fact rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity. That is the mission of the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity. The first session will be held October 21-22 in New York City. This tribunal will, with care and rigor, present evidence and assess whether George W. Bush and his administration have committed crimes against humanity. Well-established international law will be referenced where applicable, but the tribunal will not be limited by the scope of existing international law.

The tribunal will deliberate on four categories of indictable crimes: 1) Wars of Aggression, with particular reference to the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. 2) Torture and Indefinite Detention, with particular reference to the abandonment of international standards concerning the treatment of prisoners of war and the use of torture. 3) Destruction of the Global Environment, with particular reference to systematic policies contributing to the catastrophic effects of global warming. 4) Attacks on Global Public Health and Reproductive Rights, with particular reference to the genocidal effects of forcing international agencies to promote abstinence only in the midst of a global AIDS epidemic.

The Commission's jury of conscience will be composed of internationally respected jurists and legal scholars, prominent voices of conscience, and experts and monitors in relevant fields. The tribunal's legitimacy is derived from its integrity, its rigor in the presentation of evidence, and the stature of its participants. Representatives of the Bush administration will be invited to present a defense.

Prior to the meeting of the Commission, teams with sufficient expertise will prepare preliminary indictments in each of the four areas, setting forth the scope of the Bush administration's actions and how they contravene legal and moral norms for international behavior. At the meeting of the Commission, there will be four prosecution teams that organize the presentation of the evidence. This evidence will be documents as well as eyewitness testimony by victims and observers of the crimes alleged. The formal proceedings will be held in a public venue and all attempts will be made to publicize and broadcast its deliberations internationally. The Commission's jury of conscience will come to verdicts and its findings will be published.

The holding of this tribunal will frame and fuel a discussion that is urgently needed in the United States: Is the administration of George W. Bush guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity? The Commission will conduct its work with a deep sense of responsibility to the people of the world.

The Commission is sponsored by the Not In Our Name statement of conscience, joined by the following individuals and organizations:

This board will return to a dead state too

The stupid rules have made these boards a place where only crickets chirp. Its sad that people are so childish and cannot discuss things like mature adults. This is why these boards will remain a snoozeville, because some people are not capable of mature conversation and get insulted by anyone who does not believe exactly like they do, but if you like it dead here...by all means enjoy the silence.

I watched a TV broadcast; it evoked thoughts in my mind. The thoughts irritated me. I FELT uneasy and I THOUGHT I could print the same on this board and why. This is, after all, still America despite the speech police and this is, after all still the liberal board.

I couldn't disagree more. I think Obama is going to be torn apart if he is the nominee, more so than Clinton would. Really, I just do not like the guy. I think he is totally arrogant, along with his wife

, and I do not believe for a minute that he is honest. Of course, Clinton isn't either. They're both lousy.

Yes, Ron Paul is out of the race...that's what I said, loooool. In my opinion, he was the only person who ran that would be worthy of the presidency.

cuddle session for the cameras he can whisper it into Bush's soft, pink shelllike ear.

Yes, during a time when all NON-MUSLIMS

Somalia Islamic militants call for jihad

This board will return to a dead state too