Islamism
Every Muslim must rise to defend his religion. The wind of faith is blowing. ~ Saudi Arabian revolutionary Osama bin Laden
The theocratic political ideology Islamism produces reactionaries who claim dedication to implementing Islamic law (Sharia). To this end, Islamists revolt against more moderate regimes with a will to absolute power.
Establishing the Islamic state worldwide belongs to the great goals of the revolution. ~ Iranian Muslim cleric and revolutionary Ayatollah Khomeini
Iran
Those intellectuals who say that the clergy should leave politics and go back to the mosque speak on behalf of Satan. ~ Ayatollah Khomeini
The semi-secular Pahlavi dynasty ruled Iran from 1925 until swept away by popular revolt in 1979, led by a clergy tired of being paid only lip service by the ruling Shah.
This revolution did not follow the typical pattern, in that Iran was relatively well-off economically. The Shah’s regime had become brutally repressive, corrupt, and extravagant, and so, had to go.
In the Islamic government all people have complete freedom to have any kind of opinion. ~ Ayatollah Khomeini before the Iranian Revolution
The revolution installed a Muslim theocracy with its own flavors of repression and corruption. In this revolution, the people got the government they deserved.
We will break all the poison pens of those who speak of nationalism, democracy, and such things. ~ Ayatollah Khomeini after the Iranian Revolution
Afghanistan
The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free, and proud, and fighting terror. ~ US President George W. Bush in 2003
In the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan that began in 1979, Islamists were succored by Pakistan, itself a Muslim nation, and funded by the US and Saudi Arabia. The exhausted Russians left in 1992, having gained nothing but grief from the ceaseless conflict there that had cost over a million lives, and created millions of refugees, most of whom had fled to Pakistan.
The Islamic state created after the Russians left was torn asunder by a civil war fueled by hegemony competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The home-grown Taliban began politico-military action by bringing a measure of justice to corrupt local militia leaders who were raping civilians. From thence they grew but were only able to take over Afghanistan in 1996 with support from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The Taliban were routed from power by an American-led military force in late 2001, in retaliation for the 11 September 2001 aerial attacks on US targets by al-Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist group which had been based in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The pieces of the bodies of infidels were flying like dust particles. If you would have seen it with your own eyes, you would have been very pleased, and your heart would have been filled with joy. ~ Osama bin Laden, reminiscing on the 9/11 attack which he masterminded
The Americans accused the Taliban of harboring Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the attacks. The Taliban were left friendless internationally after the US threatened to bomb Afghanistan “back to the Stone Age” if they continued supporting the Taliban.
The US-led invasion did not destroy the Taliban. In the years that followed, the Taliban bided their time, launching horrific terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, often against civilians, in an effort to destabilize the regime propped up by the Americans. As America withdrew its presence, the Taliban resurged; the Afghan government unable to contain them.
To fund their effort, the Taliban abducts women and sells them into sex slavery, for which there is a thriving market among Muslim men.
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In both Iran and Afghanistan, the fundamentalists who took power created oppressive regimes. Women have borne an especial brunt in being brutally repressed. But then, this differs little from established Islamic states. Muslim men are heretics to the teachings of Muhammad in this regard.
Be kind with the soft and gentle ones (females). ~ Muhammad
