you try and remain fair-minded but it seems as though the old saw that "the muslim faith is a religion of peace"is totally bogus....
stuck in the middle ages....probably prior to the middle ages.....this religion,the zealotry and fantacism....they seem stagnant in their evolution....
i hope the entire world wakes up and realizes that this is an international problem....
you can whine about how it`s only a few extremists that are the problem,but that is beginning to ring hollow....with the supposedly friendly saudi arabian`s providing a breeding ground for the violent wahabie`s.....
theocracy`s....cutting hands off of thieves....beating,maiming and killing women for dressing incorrectly...torture........it is what it is....
there needs to be an international push to exterminate these extremists....
somebody needs to shock these violent killers into the 21st century....
or somehow contain them..it`s hard to perceive them as anything other than a blight on civilization....humanity.....
yet so many countries bury their heads in the sand....from what i read,almost a full 2/3 of u.n. member states have failed to submit reports on implementing sanctions or identifying terrorist activities in their countries....again,the rest of the world sloughs off responsibility...
U.N.: Stigma of Terrorism Hinders Reports
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - Some countries are not reporting al-Qaida activities to the United Nations (news - web sites) as required, fearing they would be stigmatized by the presence of terrorists, the chairman of a U.N. committee said Tuesday.
Only 64 of the 191 U.N. member states — barely 30 percent — have submitted reports on what they have done to implement sanctions against al-Qaida and Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s former Taliban rulers, said Heraldo Munoz, Chile's U.N. ambassador and head of the committee monitoring the sanctions.
"Individuals or entities associated with al-Qaida are believed to be active in some way in a significant number of states that have not yet submitted a report," Munoz told the U.N. Security Council.
At an open council meeting, Munoz and nearly two dozen other speakers urged all countries to submit reports on their implementation of sanctions — and to provide names of individuals, groups and companies that should be targeted.
India's U.N. Ambassador Vijay Nambiar said the committee's work and the fight against terrorism would be "severely handicapped" unless countries provide a list of those who participated in terrorist training or other activities.
Israel's deputy U.N. ambassador Arye Mekel warned that it took only one country that didn't comply to provide "safe harbor" for al-Qaida and to enable it to regroup and attack.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said the Bush administration was disappointed at the 30 percent response rate, which he called inadequate.
"States unwilling to implement their obligations, whatever the reason, must be encouraged and, if necessary, pressured to do more," Negroponte said.
Munoz urged countries that don't have the capacity to collect and deliver information to ask for help.
"Recognition of the possible presence of al-Qaida or those associated with the network within its territory appears to be a stigma to some states," he said. "Consequently, detailed information concerning the activities of the al-Qaida network and about al-Qaida operatives and supporters, many of whom were trained in Afghanistan or in other al-Qaida associated or run activities, is not being presented to the committee."
Munoz stressed that every country was required to submit a report by April 17 — and he expressed hope that before his year-end report to the council all 191 nations would comply.
During meetings with governments, a U.N. monitoring panel has stressed "that even if that particular state perceives no threat to its own stability, the presence, however dormant, of al-Qaida related individuals may pose a threat to other countries," he said.
Since the Security Council voted in January to improve implementation of sanctions, Munoz said there have been some successes against al-Qaida including the arrest of senior leaders. However, suspected al-Qaida bombings in Saudia Arabia, Chechnya (news - web sites), Morocco, Yemen and Afghanistan in which at least 263 people were killed underscored the challenges ahead, he said.
The council shifted sanctions from the government of Afghanistan to bin Laden, al-Qaida and remnants of the Taliban in January 2002, after a U.S.-led force ousted the Taliban. All nations are required to impose an arms embargo and impose a travel ban and freeze the assets of individuals and groups on a list compiled by the council committee monitoring sanctions.
According to U.N. officials, the list includes 254 individuals and 99 groups, organizations and companies — 152 individuals and one entity with links to the Taliban and 102 individuals and 98 entities with links to al-Qaida.
Approximately $135 million in terrorist assets has been frozen since the Sept. 11 attacks but 39 countries — which Negroponte didn't name — have not yet introduced domestic legislation enabling terrorist-linked assets to be blocked.