Chew on This...

The following is the transcript of a tape by a young man who has converted to Islam. That he is an American is unimportant. That he is slightly inarticulate is unimportant, also.
Two things about this speech disturb me.
1. The belief system described is not just ant-American. It is anti-everyone.
2. The content will be ignored. We will focus on the fact that Azzam was once an ordinary American.

These people will show no quarter, will honor no treaty, and accept no less than the utter annihilation of every way of life which is not their own. The "War on Terror" cannot be fought on the same terms as any war ever fought before. These people are not going to worry about the rules and laws of civilization as they fight this war. We will never deter this element with sanctions or political pressure. We must understand as a nation that in order to civilize the planet, in order to provide for posterity, in order to protect those famous inalienable rights, we MUST seek out and destroy all radical fundamentalist organizations that even imply that terrorist tactics are acceptable. But we won't.

We will instead focus on the "human interest" side of Azzam's story. We will talk to teachers and friends and uncles who knew him as an average guy. There will be more 9-11 scale attacks. There will be more conversions. More and more of the landscape of the planet will look like Beirut in 1988.

Read the following transcript. Understand that this young man speaks of his own free will. Understand that we face a very dangerous foe. They are dangerous because they BELIEVE. No one is more dedicated to his cause than the man who is willing to die for what he believes is right. Ask any WW2 vet.

TEXT TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO CLIP INTERVIEW WITH "AZZAM THE AMERICAN



Interviewer:

"You are an American who has joined a movement for waging war on America and killing large numbers of Americans. Don't you in any way feel you are betraying your people and country?"

Mujahid 'Azzam, the American:

"First of all, the allegiance and loyalty of a Muslim is to Allah, his Messenger, his religion and his fellow believers before anyone and anything else. So, if there is a conflict between his religion and his nation and family, then he must choose the religion every time. In fact, to side with the unbelievers against Islam and Muslims is one of the acts that nullifies one's Islamic faith and there's a verse in the Qur'an (recites a verse from the Qur'an in Arabic) you will not find any people who believe in Allah in the last day loving, loving those who resist Allah and his Messenger.

"Even if they were their fathers or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred or their clan. As such he has written faith in their hearts and strengthens them with spirit from himself. So, some of the early Muslims fought and killed their closest relatives during battle, prompting the revelation of this verse. And, even our Prophet Mohammed, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, er, fought, uh, and after a lot of defeat the Quraish tribe, to which he belonged. when it fought to impede Islam's propagation, sought to impede the message of Islam, rejected the message of Islam, and sought to impede its propagation. And some of the staunchest enemies of Islam were from among his closest cousins like Abu Jahl. Thus, Allah's religion takes precedence over all else: Wealth, status, family and nationality."

Interviewer:

"OK, how do you respond to the Muslim clerics and governments around the world who say that you are a small fringe group of extremists, unrepres"

Mujahid 'Azzam, the American:

"Well, they would say that, wouldn't they? These Crusader pawns are the ones who don't represent Islam and Muslims, despite their claims to the contrary. And they know very well that the Mujahidin stature has increased substantially among the Muslims after September 11, and the events that followed, which poses a direct threat to their continuing hold on power. This argument of theirs is especially well liked by their masters in the White House and 10 Downing Street, who apply it not just to us, but to all Muslims who reject Crusader domination. Uh, but the truth in evidence is on our side. Open the Qur'an, open the books of Sirah, the prophetic biography, and Ahadith, the prophetic teachings. Open the books of Fiqh, jurisprudence, both modern and ancient and you will find our position well supported. Jihad isn't something that al-Qa’ida made up. Ruling by Islam law wasn't started by the Taliban. Hamas didn't invent the concept of martyrdom. Uh, where we differ from these defeatists and hypocrites is that we don't believe that these divine orders and principles are open to negotiation and compromise.

"I'd like to tell these people, this is our religion. If you don't like it, that's your problem. But don't tell me that you're the true Muslim and I'm the extremist. You know, the same clerics and people who call us violent extremists and outcasts and endlessly repeat that Islam is a peaceful faith, permit or even encourage their followers to join the American and European militaries and intelligence agencies and the armies of the idle kings in the Muslim world and take part in the killing of thousands of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. So in effect, they're saying that for the Muslim to kill unbelievers in defense of Islam and Muslims is unacceptable, and if he does so, he's an extremist. While for the same Muslim to kill fellow Muslims in the name of America and so-called freedom and the supposedly civilized world is just fine and dandy and he will be practicing moderation.

"Look at this logic. These are evil, uneducated, ignorant, backwards people who should not be speaking on behalf of Muslims, much less talking about what is true Islam and what is not and accusing others. We are defending those who have no defender. We are holding fast to genuine Islam at a time when it's under siege from all sides. And we're standing up to confront an enemy that has intimidated governments and international organizations with fear. It's only natural that the governments and individuals who stand the most to lose from the defeat of the crusaders and Zionists will seek to hide our true nature and goals from the Muslim majority that is desperately looking for a way out of the nightmare that these traitors have imposed upon them for decades.

"We have strong support from within all sectors of Muslim society and from within all Islamic groups. This is what terrifies the enemies of truth and causes them to resort to this sort of accusation. It's wishful thinking on their part. It's like they're telling themselves, 'Maybe if we repeat the lie often enough, it will come true.'"