if you believe ahead of time that all muslims are the same, will have exactly the same attitudes towards all other muslims, that they all accept the shrines to marabouts that dot the deserts, that they respect the works of sufi saints and their shrines, i too have a bridge for sale in east lansing. it is a very large bridge, spanning a vast sea: on one side the inhabitants are called sunnis, on the other shiites. they all pray 5 times a day; but in between the prayers, the missiles continue to fly, and the missels continue to burn.
there is another answer,though, that i really want to give. there is no such thing as "western" propaganda. if i could read all statements so easily, i would have no trouble establishing the convincing nature of reports. instead, abdul, we have to read through reports, try to interpret, to see what is credible, even when framed in reprehensible terms. i believe the reports on n mali are often exaggerated; but i do not believe there is a world wide western conspiracy to send on false knowledge.
that would make our job very easy, if it were true. but in fact, we have to do the journalist thing, and interpret, sift, balance this report against that, and most of all, for me, not reduce the veracity of a report to a simple expression of a culture and its biases.
ken
Most respected Mwalimu Kenneth Harrow, if you believe that western and anti-Tuareg Malian propaganda foolishness, then I have a bridge in Washington, DC to sell you. No Muslim will set fire on Islamic documents, for it is a grave haram.Recall when a few Christians burn the Qur'an and Muslims are asked about why they do not retaliate by burning the Bible what their response has always been? Any Muslim who burns the Bible, the Torah, the Qur'an and any other Islamic manuscript will burn similarly in Hell Fire, Jahannama.------- Original Message -----From: kenneth harrowSent: 1/28/2013 1:23:26 PMSubject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - timbuktu and frenchread this and weep
the 'islamists' have signed their departure from timbuktu by setting fire on to the 1000 yr old mss.
abdul, the people who are dancing in the street of gao are not sorry to see them go. neither are the people of timbuktu weeping, they are celebrating.
but the damage they have done to islamic manuscripts and mosques will be forever.
\as scholars we should all feel bereft by this sad report in the washington post
ken
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/malian-town-of-gao-celebrates-exit-of-islamist-extremists-as-french-malian-forces-push-north/2013/01/28/629caec4-6927-11e2-9a0b-db931670f35d_story.html?hpid=z2
SEVARE, Mali — Malian soldiers entered the city of Timbuktu on Monday after al-Qaida-linked militants fled into the desert having set ablaze a library that held thousands of ancient manuscripts ablaze.
French Col. Thierry Burkhard, the chief military spokesman in Paris, said that there had been no combat with the Islamists who have ruled Timbuktu for nearly 10 months, but that the forces did not yet control the town as of Monday afternoon.
Northern Mali, one of the richest reservoirs of Music in Africa, grows silent as musicians flee the hard-line edicts of Islamists now in power.
Burkhard said French paratroopers landed north of the city as ground forces headed up from the south.
"The helicopters have been decisive," he said, describing how they aided the ground forces who came from the south as French paratroopers landed north of the city.
News of their arrival came just hours after Timbuktu's mayor confirmed that the fleeing Islamists had in earlier days torched ancient manuscripts in Timbuktu, long revered as a center of Islamic learning.
The militants had occupied Timbuktu for almost 10 months, imposing the strict Islamic version of Shariah, or religious law, across northern Mali while carrying out amputations and public executions.
"In the heart of people from northern Mali, it's a relief — freedom finally," said Cheick Sormoye, a Timbuktu resident who fled to Bamako, the capital.
The French said Mali's weak military must finish the job of securing Timbuktu. But they have generally fared poorly in combat, often retreating in panic in the face of well-armed and battle-hardened Islamists.
The French-led military operation against the Islamists, who seized the northern half of Mali last year, began 17 days ago when the insurgents encroached further toward the south.
It has scored several successes, but hard questions remain about how the Mali government will hold the cities that have been wrested from the Islamists, and whether there is the will and the ability to chase them into the Sahara which is home to many of these desert fighters.
On Saturday, French forces secured key installations in the northeastern town of Gao. Then overnight Sunday troops secured the Timbuktu airport without firing a shot.
Ground forces backed by French paratroopers and helicopters took control of Timbuktu's airport and the roads leading to the town in an overnight operation, a French military official said Monday.
"There was an operation on Timbuktu last night that allowed us to control access to the town," Col. Burkhard said Monday. "It's up to Malian forces to retake the town."
The mayor of Timbuktu said Monday that the Islamists had torched his office as well as the Ahmed Baba institute — a library rich with historical documents — in an act of retaliation before they fled late last week from the city of mud-walled buildings.
"It's truly alarming that this has happened," Mayor Ousmane Halle told The Associated Press by telephone from Bamako. "They torched all the important ancient manuscripts. The ancient books of geography and science. It is the history of Timbuktu, of its people."
He said he didn't have further details as communications to the city have been cut off.
-- kenneth w. harrow faculty excellence advocate distinguished professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu--
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-- kenneth w. harrow faculty excellence advocate distinguished professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu
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