Twisted Proverb
Osama bin Laden’s “Peace to whoever follows guidance”

by Raymond Ibrahim
Private Papers

Whenever Osama bin Laden addresses the West he always prefaces his message with the simple statement, “Peace to whoever follows guidance.” What exactly is bin Laden’s purpose, and what exactly are Americans and Europeans to understand by this simple statement?

After Muhammad had converted most of Arabia to Islam by the power of the sword, he set his sight on his neighbors including the Byzantine Christians to the north and west (known in the Arabic sources simply as “the Romans”).

It is in this context of war and rumors of wars that bin Laden’s oft-quoted proverb — “Peace to whoever follows guidance” — was first made. Addressing the Christian emperor, Heraclius, Muhammad sent the following terse message in the year 628:

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Heraclius, the Roman emperor. Peace to whoever follows guidance. To the point: Embrace Islam and you shall have peace [al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk 8:104-105].

In Arabic, “Embrace Islam and you shall have peace” is simply a two-word pun: Aslam taslam, which most literally means “Submit, have peace.” In fact, perpetual warfare — that is, jihad — has been the true legacy of Muhammad’s ominous missive to the Christian emperor. After Heraclius refused to submit to Islam, an infinite barrage of jihad campaigns erupted, for centuries, until Constantinople, the seat of Christendom, was finally conquered by and incorporated into the Abode of Islam in 1453.

via-Victor David Hanson

Romney: ‘I’m the conservative Republican’ - Examiner.com

- Examiner.com: "WASHINGTON - Eager to position himself as the most conservative GOP presidential hopeful, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney accused Sen. John McCain Monday of being “disingenuous” on gay marriage.

In an interview with The Examiner, Romney described himself as more conservative than Republican rivals McCain, R-Ariz., and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on a variety of issues. “We’re in a different place on immigration; we’re in a different place on campaign reform; we’re in a different place on same–sex marriage; we’re in a different place on the president’s policy on interrogation of detainees,” Romney said.

“I’m a conservative Republican, there’s no question about that,” he said. “I’m at a different place than the other two.”"

Federal investigators questioning six Middle Eastern men removed from flight at MSP: "5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that federal investigators and airport police are questioning six Middle Eastern men who had to be escorted off of a plane Monday afternoon at Minneapolis/St. Paul International.

U.S. Airway officials tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS' Aviation Expert Bob McNaney that Monday while Flight 300 was preparing to take off from Minneapolis to Phoenix, a passenger passed a note to a flight attendant saying they noticed 'suspicious behavior,' among the men.

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(2006-11-20) — According to a newly pre-released secret Pentagon document, the U.S. military is considering three options for dealing with the situation in Iraq, dubbed ‘Go Public, Go Home and Go Mecca.’

The unnamed Pentagon official in charge of leaking national security secrets to the Washington Post said it’s possible that the U.S. could adopt some combination of the three.

He summarized the strategy options as follows:

1. Go Public: Consistently leak top-secret Pentagon strategy deliberations to the news media as a way of neutralizing the unfair “element of surprise”, and of building trust by being more transparent with the enemy.

2. Go Home: Remove the only reason for terrorism by bringing all U.S. troops back home, and also allowing all U.S.-trained Iraqi troops to emigrate to the U.S.

3. Go Mecca: Deal “head on” with the heart of the conflict, by amending the U.S. Constitution to bring it into compliance with Islamic Sharia law.