Al Qaeda message urges Pakistanis to back militants

[Coventina]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- The people of Pakistan must back Islamic militants to counter the influence of the United States in their country or face punishment from God, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command, said in an audio message released early Wednesday.

"I believe that every honest and sincere Muslim in Pakistan should seriously contemplate ... Pakistan's present state and expected future, because the blatant American crusader interference in Pakistan's affairs ... has reached such an extent that it now poses a grave danger to Pakistan's future and very existence," al-Zawahiri said in the message, which was released on radical Islamist Web sites.

Zawahiri warned Muslims that they have a religious duty to support the jihad, or struggle.

"If we stand by passively without offering due support to the mujahedeen, we shall not only contribute to the destruction of Pakistan and Afghanistan, but we shall also deserve the painful punishment of almighty God," he said.



Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/15/pakistan.al.qaeda.message/

---

Why do people love to believe in cruel gods? What comfort does it offer? Why not believe in benevolent, peace-loving gods?