canada.com— An al-Qaeda strategist has warned Canada to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan or face terrorist attacks similar to 9/11, Madrid and the London transit bombings.
Oct 28, 2006View in Crawl 4
"Al-Qaida" does not mean "the list," or anything like it.It means "the base" or "the foundation" (in the architectural sense) or, more loosely, "the strong thing upon which something large rests" or, even more loosely, "the start of something big."The people who founded al-Qaida (including bin Laden, of course) originally called their group "al-Qa'idat al-Jihad," which means "the foundation of the holy war." The abbreviated name "al-Qaida" came into use a little later.Arabic is a very poetic, highly figurative language. Saying that a nuanced term like "al-qaida" means "the database" or "the list" betrays nothing but an overwhelming ignorance of Arabic.
That is simply untrue. The name "Al-Qa'idat al-Jihad" can be traced back to 1988, when the founders of the group (bin Laden, Mohamed Loay Bayazid and others) first met to discuss founding an organized Islamist militant group.In the spring of 2002, some news sources reported that al-Qaida had changed its name to "Al-Qa'idat al-Jihad," but those reports were inaccurate. "Al-Qa'idat al-Jihad" and "al-Qa'ida" are the long and short names for the same nearly-twenty-year-old organization.
@mirzmaster: I'm trying to put what happened into context. The Inquisition was a horrible thing by our standards but none of us have lived in a society which was utterly crushed by an enemy only to fight back and drive them out. People in power took advantage of the situation to exact revenge on groups and individuals who they viewed as traitors. It was a manifestation of the dark side of human nature. The blame lies solely with the perpetrators and those who ordered them to do it. None of us can judge those people because we cannot say that we would not do the same if we felt betrayed by some of our fellow countrymen after decades of war.There is no doubt that so-called heretics were killed before and after but that is neither here nor there or related to the Inquisition. Some of those people were indeed heretics while others were martyrs trying to reform the church. Today was the anniversary for the beginning of the reformation btw.
I don't know what will happen, if they will even do it...but I personally think that they would attack Southern Ontario, or Southern Quebec. It would leave a mark attacking the most populous places in Canada. Ottawa, Toronto, or Montreal just seems more vulnerable to me. And what's the point, we didn't do nothin!!!!!
"We shouldn't be in that country. Waste of resources, and all we accomplished is gaining our very first enemy. Very nice Harper."Clearly far to many people have forgotten just exactly why it is that Canada sent troops into Afganistan in the first place !Does 9/11 ring a bell?Does anyone else remember the fact that the Taliban refused to give up Bin Laden?Is anyone suggesting that we should just ingore this crime?Perhaps then, by the same logic,( or lack of )..perhaps our Grand-Parents should have just let the Nazis do what they wanted.After-all,the Nazis weren't a threat to Canada..it wasn'st our citezens who were herded into death camps etc.The people who belive that Canada should not be involved in the war on terror are the very people who will scream the loudest when their rights & freedoms are at risk !
jo9100Oct 29, 2006
Everyone... Harper is doing just like Bush... they're creating terrorism by attempting to fighting it. Bad right... bad conservatives... go NPD!
cl1mh4224rdOct 29, 2006
This account has been closed by the user
jessehkOct 29, 2006
Sensationalist scare tactics designed to sell newspapers and subscriptions.
anonym41414Oct 29, 2006
"Al-Qaida" does not mean "the list," or anything like it.It means "the base" or "the foundation" (in the architectural sense) or, more loosely, "the strong thing upon which something large rests" or, even more loosely, "the start of something big."The people who founded al-Qaida (including bin Laden, of course) originally called their group "al-Qa'idat al-Jihad," which means "the foundation of the holy war." The abbreviated name "al-Qaida" came into use a little later.Arabic is a very poetic, highly figurative language. Saying that a nuanced term like "al-qaida" means "the database" or "the list" betrays nothing but an overwhelming ignorance of Arabic.
camster91Oct 29, 2006
i don't feel so safe anymore
anonym41414Oct 29, 2006
That is simply untrue. The name "Al-Qa'idat al-Jihad" can be traced back to 1988, when the founders of the group (bin Laden, Mohamed Loay Bayazid and others) first met to discuss founding an organized Islamist militant group.In the spring of 2002, some news sources reported that al-Qaida had changed its name to "Al-Qa'idat al-Jihad," but those reports were inaccurate. "Al-Qa'idat al-Jihad" and "al-Qa'ida" are the long and short names for the same nearly-twenty-year-old organization.
aristotle0dudeOct 29, 2006
@mirzmaster: I'm trying to put what happened into context. The Inquisition was a horrible thing by our standards but none of us have lived in a society which was utterly crushed by an enemy only to fight back and drive them out. People in power took advantage of the situation to exact revenge on groups and individuals who they viewed as traitors. It was a manifestation of the dark side of human nature. The blame lies solely with the perpetrators and those who ordered them to do it. None of us can judge those people because we cannot say that we would not do the same if we felt betrayed by some of our fellow countrymen after decades of war.There is no doubt that so-called heretics were killed before and after but that is neither here nor there or related to the Inquisition. Some of those people were indeed heretics while others were martyrs trying to reform the church. Today was the anniversary for the beginning of the reformation btw.
johnson1994Mar 5, 2008
I don't know what will happen, if they will even do it...but I personally think that they would attack Southern Ontario, or Southern Quebec. It would leave a mark attacking the most populous places in Canada. Ottawa, Toronto, or Montreal just seems more vulnerable to me. And what's the point, we didn't do nothin!!!!!
zebo28Apr 13, 2008
"We shouldn't be in that country. Waste of resources, and all we accomplished is gaining our very first enemy. Very nice Harper."Clearly far to many people have forgotten just exactly why it is that Canada sent troops into Afganistan in the first place !Does 9/11 ring a bell?Does anyone else remember the fact that the Taliban refused to give up Bin Laden?Is anyone suggesting that we should just ingore this crime?Perhaps then, by the same logic,( or lack of )..perhaps our Grand-Parents should have just let the Nazis do what they wanted.After-all,the Nazis weren't a threat to Canada..it wasn'st our citezens who were herded into death camps etc.The people who belive that Canada should not be involved in the war on terror are the very people who will scream the loudest when their rights & freedoms are at risk !