Assessing Al-Qaeda (merged thread)

[OUTLAW 09]

Please spare us the extremes of the governance model, it applies when it applies and it doesn't apply in all cases. It is a bit extreme to imply that al-Qaeda is pushing for "needed" change, or that religion has nothing to do with it.

Nonsense, if you change the government in most these countries and install what you believe to be legitimate government al-Qaeda will still exist and target that government for not embracing Sharia law, if you take religion away al-Qaeda can't exist. Furthermore, you can't separate governance and Islam, the religion dictates the form of governance one should apply.

In this case you're looking at the wrong forest. This isn't about good versus evil governance, or ineffective versus effective governance, both sides in these conflicts are led by tyrants. In the real world different interest groups compete, often violently, there are few cases in the Middle East and Africa with the current state boundaries that peace is possible without the state using what we would consider excessive coercive power. In time other political arrangements may be possible, but not in the near term.

Bill---tend to disagree---if one looks at religion ie the Sunni/Shia divide there is more ongoing right now that we are not "seeing" in the West and it is all about governance.

The Sunni philosophy has been all about governance over the last 1400 years and the different forms of Sunni global community governance and believe it or not the Shia have philosophically not engaged in the conversation for whatever reasons over the last 1400 thus Iran ends up with their theocratic religious definition of Shia governance.

In some aspect the Sunni governance debate has been opened by none other than al Baghdadi and the IS with their Caliphate declaration and now the internal weakness of Islam is showing itself.

If one looks at the Sunni religious emirs---those learned scholars of the Koran and Scharia and just about any major Sunni religious leader---even down to he local level can have and can voice his opinions thus one can have up to say seven/eight or nine different interpretations of the same Islamic materials---which we are now seeing occurring---say an Jordanian view, a Qatari view, and a KSA view not to exclude the various jihadi group views.

Finally we are getting a healthy discourse on the concept of Caliphate which at it's heart is about what type of governance is to be used for the Islamic global community.

Once that is out of the way just maybe the same senior religious leaders from the above governments will turn to the interpretations of the Koran as voiced by the Salafists and the Takfiri's.

Islam needs a Reformation badly but there is no central religious leader that all Muslim's look toward for guidance.