No. 1 reason to leave Iraq:

[reBel_gyrl]

from the Koran, page 19, lines 186-189:

"But if they desist, then verily God is gracious, merciful. Fight therefore against them until there be no more civil discord, and the only worship be that of God: but if they desist, then let there be no hostility, save against the wicked."

Does that sound, to anyone else, like if we leave, this will be over?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. That "save against the wicked"

leaves a lot of wiggle room.

I've given up looking to holy writings for any level of consistency or prediction.

[reBel_gyrl]

4. I know, so does "the only worship

be that of God" because .. well, whose "God"? still though, I thought it was interesting.
And if they are so very against "the wicked" how is it that these nations tolerate people like Saddam? Would he not be considered "wicked", even by those he ruled? I'm just starting learning about this stuff, so I welcome your input and ideas.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. There is but one God

God is of the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims, the Hindus (Brahmin-read the Upanishads), the Zoroastrians. This passage from the Qur'an is apt, and I think reflects the feelings of the average Iraqi. No, it is not the feelings of the fundamentalists, but then the Christian fundamentalists have a warped view on the teachings of Jesus, too.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. No

eom

[mike_c]

3. save "against the 'great satan'...."

For some of the hardcore fundamentalists there really is an ideological battle involved, but even that has its roots deep in U.S. foreign policy-- "save against the wicked" still leaves room to fight against oppression and imperialism no matter how the U.S. packages them for export. But at its very worst, e.g. at the level of large scale terrorism ala 9/11, this is not a clash of nations, and cannot be pursued in that context without enlarging upon the grievences the U.S. has already inspired throughout much of the world. Right now we are only making things worse. Remember the definition of insanity.

[ArkDem]

6. Book of Armaments

Armaments, chapter two, verses nine to twenty-one.
And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow
Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy.' And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu...

And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three
shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.
Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe,
who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.'