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Am I The Only One?

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Welcome to the House of Lords -- Suicide Bombers Please Fill Out a Nametag

I heard an interesting interview on NPR in my car recently. Lord Nazir Ahmed, the first Muslim in Britian's House of Lords, was asked by interviewer Robert Siegel if a suicide bomber could be a martyr in the Muslim faith -- a question to which the only conceivable answer from a member of the House of Lords is "no".
ROBERT SIEGEL, host: You're saying [there is] room for describing somebody who blows up a bus in Jerusalem or Baghdad as a martyr. That might be a legitimate interpretation of that act as opposed to the same act in London.

Lord NAZIR AHMED (British Muslim): Well, you know, these are political situations and we need to deal with those injustices that are going around in our world. When we have illegal war in Iraq outside the United Nations Security Council decision, when we were told that this was about weapons of mass destruction, when we were told that this was a war against terrorism, and all of that is not true and is illegal, then I think we just need to deal with those issues as well as terrorism, as well.

Not exactly an answer to the question. Robert Siegel goes on to press the point:
SIEGEL: ...But you said that the [terrorist] bomber in Baghdad is a terrorist as far as you're concerned.

Lord AHMED: As far as I'm concerned, the bomber in Iraq is a terrorist and a bomber that is in London is a terrorist, too.

SIEGEL: And the bomber in a Jerusalem bus, as well, or no?

Lord AHMED: Well, it all depends on circumstances...

Yikes! Is it too late to un-Lord this guy?