With Friends Like This...

While it's good news that Christian convert Abdul Rahman is being released and is not (currently) facing execution at the hands of the Afghan government, we still must not lose sight of the fact that he was released only as a result of tremendous pressure, and only on a technicality.

According to the AP:

An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released.

"The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," the official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

In other words, if a solid case can be made that Rahman is fit for trial and that he did convert to Christianity, the death penalty would still apply.

And this points to the fundamental problem with the War on Terror, and why I believe it is unwinnable in its current form. President Bush either fails to understand or refuses to understand who the enemy actually is. For 4 1/2 years, he's been peddling the nonsensical line that "Islam is a religion of peace." But, of course, it isn't. He contends that "a great religion has been hijacked." But, of course, as we see here, it hasn't.

This is Islam. It's common, man-on-the-street Islam. It's not a faction. It's not a minority. It's not a "fundamentalist fringe." It's everyday, "moderate," popular Islam. This is Islam doing what it does--what it's always done. For those, including the president, who wish to claim that Islam is a religion of peace, my question would be, "Really? Where?" History tells us the exact opposite is the case.

Islam is an ideology that is directly contrary to Jesus Christ. It's contrary to freedom. And it really makes no bones about that. It's fairly frank in its goals and objectives. It wants to kill or destroy anything that isn't Islam. Which is what makes the ignorance of President Bush and others who propagate the "religion of peace" blather inexcusable.

This is the anti-Taliban, "moderate" Islamic government the U.S. installed. It was one of the "moderate" clerics, well known for opposing the Taliban, who recently said ""Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die."

The fact that worldwide pressure has caused them to stick a sock in it in this one case does nothing to change what they're about. Even today Afghan Muslims are protesting their government's release of Rahman. If America thinks it can band together with Islam to fight some sort of "War on Terror," it's sadly deluded.

Related Tags: Abdul Rahman, Afghanistan, Islam, Muslims, Islamic, War on Terror, George W. Bush, President Bush, convert to Christianity, Christian convert