You Have Been Warned...

September 12, 2001 6:10 AM

You Have Been Warned... Lois Farakhan famously said that "God will not give Europe and Japan the honor of bringing down the United States. That honor will fall to the muslims". But Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman was more specific. Check out this article by Andrew McCarthy, an assistant professor of law at Fordham University and New York Law School, who prosecuted the blind sheik for the bombing of the World Trade Center. We were - and are - more than warned. So who is blinder?
posted by MiguelCardoso (8 comments total)

oh, c'mon: for more than 1000 years prophets always claim to know who's going to be the next one and why. every once in a while we're warned. why should we care? in fact nobody even thought of the possibility of fanatics using planes as bombs. did you?
posted by heimkonsole at 6:17 AM on September 12, 2001

oh, c'mon: for more than 1000 years prophets always claim to know who's going to be the next one and why. every once in a while we're warned. why should we care? in fact nobody even thought of the possibility of fanatics using planes as bombs. did you?
posted by heimkonsole at 6:18 AM on September 12, 2001

Read the article, heimkonsole. It has got nothing to do with prophets, but with cold, planned destruction. It does take a while to download, though. But it's a real eye-opener.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:32 AM on September 12, 2001

They have FAR from 'brought us down'. They simply took out two buildings. And I assure you their capability to take down more is going to be severly diminished in the coming days.
posted by glenwood at 6:49 AM on September 12, 2001

Louis F is of course a sort of "Muslim" and when he made his remark Japan was not a potential contestant for the role, nor was Europe, which clearly was a part of NATO etc
posted by Postroad at 6:52 AM on September 12, 2001

Even calling Farakan a muslim is a big stretch. He is a political demigogue cloaked in a thin tissue paper of Islamic pretense.
posted by username at 7:33 AM on September 12, 2001

when will we stop using religon of any sort to harm and destroy? we all need something to believe in. i am a very spiritual person, but, i don't believe that any one religion is the true way. they all lead to a common higher power. what happened yesterday was shocking and shook me to the core. the sad thing is that it goes on all the time (on a much smaller scale) in this country. we have used belief in religion as justification to terroize and kill people in this country everyday. this must stop! believe or don't, worship or don't, but please lets try to live and let live.
posted by bas67 at 9:22 AM on September 12, 2001

when will we stop using religon of any sort to harm and destroy?

The problem is you are speaking from the position of one who recognizes that each individual is given the freedom to choose. Being religious does not mean imposing one's beliefs upon someone. Being fanatical and hating a nation that holds as a basic tenet the right to one's personal freedom and religion -- that's rather different. It maligns and sullies the religion of Islam, and further creates animosity against followers of that faith.

All because of a sad, mad few.

The essay has somewhere down in the conclusion something I think should be singled out in light of yesterday's events and the actions this nation may take:


"Appeasement does not work. Fundamentalist Muslims hate the United States and deem themselves at war with it. Worse, theirs is a permanent hostility, one that cannot be altered by clever diplomacy or rhetorical flourishes. They despise Americans for who they are and what they believe. They reject basic American principles—that the authority to rule comes from the people, who freely may choose their ideals and beliefs. This being the case, the terrorists’ enmity cannot be reversed without changing the basic character of what the United States is, without destroying all that is worth preserving."
posted by linux at 10:22 AM on September 12, 2001