• Syria's al-Nusra Front – ruthless, organised and apparently friendly
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[URL]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/10/syria-al-nusra-front-jihadi[/URL] What a bizarre mindset they got. Lots more in article, an interesting read. [quote]The [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/al-qaida"]al-Qaida[/URL]-affiliated commander in charge of the oil company in Shadadi, eastern [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria"]Syria[/URL] – a lean, broad-shouldered man who is followed everywhere by a machete-wielding bodyguard – was explaining the appeal of jihadi rule to the people of the newly captured town."Go and ask the people in the streets whether there a liberated town or city anywhere in Syria that is ruled as efficiently as this one," he boasted. "There is electricity, water and bread and security. [I]Inshallah[/I], this will be the nucleus of a new Syrian Islamic caliphate!" The al-Nusra Front, the principle jihadi rebel group in Syria, defies the cliche of Islamist fighters around the Middle East plotting to establish Islamic caliphates from impoverished mountain hideaways. In north-eastern Syria, al-Nusra finds itself in command of massive silos of wheat, factories, oil and gas fields, fleets of looted government cars and a huge weapons arsenal. The commander talked about the services al-Nusra is providing to Shadadi's residents. First, there is food: 225 sacks of wheat, baked into bread and delivered to the people every day through special teams in each neighbourhood. Then there is free electricity and water, which run all day throughout the town. There is also al-Nusra healthcare, provided from a small clinic that treats all comers, regardless of whether they have sworn allegiance to the emirate or not. Finally, there is order and the promise of swift justice, delivered according to sharia law by a handful of newly appointed judges. "God has chosen us to provide security to the people, and we do it for nothing," he said. "We have vowed to sacrifice ourselves to serve the people. If we leave, the tribes will start killing each other for the oil and the loot. We had to show force in dealing with the tribes. Even now, one to three people are killed every day because of feuding over the oil. We also protect the silos of wheat. All the silos are under our protection. "All this wealth," he said, "is for the Muslims."[/quote]
This group has recently come into control of an area. They seem fine now. But under Islamic law, how long until the executions begin for apostasy, or until women are stoned to death for being raped? Not to imply that this is a singular feature of Islam - It's often no different under Christian theocracies, and especially in Africa. All I'm saying is that even after reading the article, I'm not at all convinced that they'll seem so benevolent a year or two down the line. The last line in the excerpt, "All this weath... is for the Muslims." particularly troubles me. [editline]11th July 2013[/editline] My primary issue with any sort of theocratic rule is this: It answers to nobody but god. Therefore reason need not govern it.
Why can't people just do what's right for humans, not for god.
[QUOTE=Amplar;41409239]Why can't people just do what's right for humans, not for god.[/QUOTE] because humans don't know what's right for them
[QUOTE=Eltro102;41409256]because humans don't know what's right for them[/QUOTE] How can we know that God does?
That's not all that fancy. I mean it's probably better than being beaten around by the Syrian Regime, but that's only for a while. All they need to do is to run out of enemies until they change.
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