pmb, I hope this thread is not deleted. Reading about wires and break-in can only be interesting for so long. And my zeal for recommending Axioms to newbies seems to come and go (they are great speakers - I love mine).

I just got around to the link you had posted earlier about fatwas and such. That was an extremely interesting page of info. I don't know how credible the opinions are, but it is very good reading. I especially liked:

***Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Open message to the 'Iraqi resistance'
Mohammed Bashar Al-Faidhy, spokesman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, addressed the 'Iraqi resistance' in an open message at a press conference broadcast by the Arab satellite channels yesterday. He stressed the point that this was the first time for the association to openly address the 'resistance'.

He started by reiterating the association's stand of supporting armed resistance against occupation forces. He said it is a legitimate right for any occupied people according to divine laws. He added that the association welcomes the peace talks between the Iraqi government and local leaders in Fallujah, Ramadi and Sammara BUT that does not imply recognition for the Iraqi interim government, and as long as the negotiations do not provide cover for the foreign presence in Iraq they have the association's blessings.

He then proceeded to the message, excerpts below:

"To our brothers in the Islamic Army of Iraq. We wish to inform you that we totally understand the extreme rage that is boiling in your hearts regarding the French decision to ban the Hijab in their schools, and we share you your dissapointment. We officially condemned the French decision at the time... However, killing the two hostages without considering the grave consequences of such an act would be harmful to our cause and would isolate us from our international support... Our goal is to besiege the Americans politically in every spot of the world and this act is not serving that goal... You can see how the agents of the occupation are already using this incident against us... It is our duty as scholars to point out to our brothers what is wrong and what is right... France as an anti-occupation country has been helpful to our cause... You might say that the French stance is not an altruistic one and that they have their own political interests that caused them to disagree with the Americans, and I am not going to say that is not true but it is also our goal to turn them against each other to serve our cause so France has a strategic importance for us... Killing the two hostages is also not helpful to the 6 million Muslims in France... I beseech you to reconsider this and to release the two hostages and to promise us not to commit any act that would harm our cause in the future... We also hope that this development would permit the French government to reconsider their decision to ban the Hijab... When we become a free country Inshallah we will pursue this goal by diplomatic means."

Basically, he is saying: My dear children, it is true that they are infidels, but we should turn the infidels against each other whenever we have the opportunity. Do not kill these two infidels, maybe another time when no one is looking.***