No probs with me looking like a fool, you’ll beat me in that one everytime !
I’m sorry mate, but that is just complete rubbish, and no matter how many snippets of cut and paste info you get off the internet you can never fully understand the absurdity of that statement!
I’m not going to argue about this with you, I think you’ve already proven that you consider yourself some sort of expert on anything you can read on the internet. Whereas my experience and knowledge comes from living and breathing Northern Ireland’s politics and ways of life for two and a half years, as well as being a Counter Terroism instructor specialising in the background of Northern Irish terrorism.
To say that they weren’t against protestants in general is rediculous! Apart from the fact that they prefer to attack primarily protestant targets, if you are protestant and walk into a catholic estate/pub/papershop and are caught out by the wrong people you’re getting dragged out the back and having your knee’s drilled out with a Black and Decker! This isn’t something that used to happen, it’s something that is still happening!
Also, just like the IRA and it’s splinter groups have recruited protestant members, AQ has also recruited and used people from different faiths for certain jobs that they are not capable of doing themselves. When it comes to the wars that these people are fighting they don’t care about background or religion, as long as you do the job given to you for the price they are willing to pay.
It’s quite literally a business to these people. Therefor, just as you said that the IRA isn’t entirely Catholic, AQ isn’t entirely Muslim by the same rational!
Also, with regard to sectarianism, there is a massive amount of it going on in both Afghanistan and Iraq. 
Basically, depending on the slant you are willing to put on it, there can be either striking similarities in the way these organisations and their ethics work, or you could say that they bear no similarities at all! It’s a matter of what your knowledge is and what you’re willing to read into the subject. 
Read a bit more about the history of the IRA and the Northern Irish conflict before you start making statements about the religious aspects, and you will see that it is just as much about the religious background as it is with AQ.
So, in essence, I stand by what I said with regards to the fact that opening a Muslim community centre near ground zero is no worse than opening a YMCA near the Europa Hotel in Belfast!
I disagree with your Roadrunner, I don’t think the comparison holds any water at all.
Well f*ck it, that means I must be wrong! What would I know compared to your vast experience of terrorism and counter-terrorism, eh?
You know I have not really engaged with this argument, I have made some posts, but by my standards I have not really tried very hard. This is because in my opinion, you and Busa are so incredibly wrong, that I can’t really be bothered to engage.
It is like arguing with people telling you that grass is green to put mammals off eating it.
I don’t even really know where to begin, it would take to long and then you would just complain when I produce information from the internet showing you why grass is actually green.
I know why grass is green cause i have seen it, I have trod on it and I have eaten it! you can’t argue against experience!
Well maybe you are right, maybe it just isn’t worth arguing against that.
Kaos, I really wish I was as clever as you are. :hehe:
I’m sorry mate, but you are seriously making no sense at all! Why are we “so incredibly wrong”? Is it literally because we made valid, structured points in our post and you really can’t take on board the fact that somebody might actually be talking proper sense? Is it difficult for you to acknowledge that some of the people on here are talking from life experience as opposed to just being able to use the Google search bar?
I give up mate. And to be honest, considering you are studying to go into a job where making valid, structured arguments based on facts rather than just your thoughts on a matter and what you can find on the internet, I think you may even need to consider either studying for something else or getting some real time in a court room listening to how the professionals do it!
Spitting your dummy out and making out you can’t be bothered to release your massive intellect for fear of causing upset to the opposite side won’t really go down too well in a court room mate!
In fact, and this isn’t exclusive to this thread, the way you dodge around direct questions and put spin on some of your replies you should just go into politics! 
I realise I may have been a little harsh in my above post!.. Nobody should be compared to a politician! 
anymore of that sunshine and i’m hitting the ban button…
wind your neck in…
smiled.
:P:P:P:P:P
smiled:).
Will give you 35 words.
You’re obviously wrong because:
The primary goal of the IRA is political in nature.
The primary goal of Al Qaeda is religious in nature.
This is why the comparison doesn’t work.
PMSL, go and tell us all why you edited that post !
:D:w00t::D:w00t:
Cause I can’t count and it was actually 36 words… where is the embarrassed emoticon? 
ahh there it is!
AQ do not have a merely religious goal! Just as the various Northern Irish paramilitaries do not have a merely political goal! It goes back a long time on both sides, and there is way too much history behind it (mainly religious) to say that they do. The simple fact is that they are both a terrorist organisation built on religious beliefs and political goals! That is the essence of the meaning behind the word terrorist!
“Terrorism: The calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear”
What you seem to be proposing is that one has a primary political end game, and the other is primarily religious. That doesn’t make any sense, as one goes hand in hand with the other.
If AQ were primarily about a religious cause then that would mean that their end game was to have the entire world converted to and living by the islamic way of life. Whereas it is widely publicised that they are merely fighting to get the western world out of islamic countries. They’ve even said that they would end the jihad if western forces pulled out of Afghanistan and Iraq and stopped meddling in the affairs of various muslim countries.
Conversely, according to what you seem to be saying, the IRA and various splinter groups are primarily political. So, if that’s the case why don’t PIRA, INLA and the other various splinter groups let their political parties fight it out in Stormont? Why do they feel the need to attack protestant people and areas? Why are the protestant paramilitaries (UDF etc…) attacking the catholic people and areas? Is this merely a coincident that during the Orange Day Parades the catholic communities go out in force and throw bricks, petrol bombs and god knows what else at the marching parties? Surely that isn’t a political thing?! It’s all religiously motivated sectarianism!
Also probably worth mentioning that the similarities between the Irish paramilitaries and the AQ factions are strikingly similar! They both have a political goal with underlying religious ethics.
They are both indiscriminate in who they target and kill! The Irish paramilitaries are still setting off bombs in and around Northern Ireland, and AQ is constantly bombing their own villages and people in both Afghanistan and Iraq. They primarily target members of the opposite faith, yet don’t care if members of their own faith are killed in the process. Both organisations have become splintered to the point that different groups under the same religious flag/group have different end goals.
The list of similarities goes on, and yet you would say that they are entirely different from each other! Absolute rubbish! The various AQ terrorist bombers are no different from the Irish paramilitaries, with the exception that if a muslim terrorist blows themself up they are thought of as being successful, whereas if an Irish terrorist blows themself up it’s thought of as a f*ckup!
I think you’re reading way too much into all this stuff and not seeing the big picture past the percentages. People have merely said that if a muslim community centre was built near Ground Zero it would be no different to setting up a catholic community centre near the site of a catholic irish terror incident. I think that the idea and comparison is entirely valid, and if you don’t then that’s merely your point of view, which you are entitled to…
Like I said, I’m merely speaking from personal experience and a lot of training…
You know I figure you must be on a wind-up, every now and then I get caught up and end up writing a longer post but then I get half-way through and think…surely this is a wind-up? It is so bleeding obvious and so clearly dissimilar that you two must be messing about trying to see if you can make me waste my time actually writing out a post to counter you.
I am on to your game.
What game? Well avoided once again! :doze:
RR I am not against the building of the Mosque. I am entirely for freedom of religion. I did mention this at the start.
My only two points have been:
1, Comparing Al Qaeda to the IRA is pointless, they are not the same. Now if you not been on a wind-up fair enough, but I can’t get into this argument, it is just too ridiculous, the two organisations are so dissimilar that making a long post about that just seems insane and a complete waste of time.
2, The portrayal of anyone that raises a concern about this mosque as being intolerant, or worse, racist, is no better then the portrayal of anyone who was against the Iraq war as being unpatriotic.
That is all. They were my only concerns about this mosque…not that it was being built, but that the arguments against those with concerns were generally a bit rubbish.
The above is translated from Kaos talk to mean ‘I think they might be right and I’ll not post anymore just like I’ve done on some other threads when they’ve got too difficult for me to answer’.
Unlike you Busa I am not interested in scoring points with an unseen audience and I am not adverse to admitting when I am wrong.
I don’t think I am wrong here. Al Qaeda and the IRA are so dissimilar that the comparison you made is utterly worthless.