Iraq, students beaten to death for playing music

While some in Iraq may be experiencing more freedoms there are some who are not very free. There are Shiite radicals that seem to want an Islamic state as strict as Afghanistan was under the Taliban.

timesonline.co.uk

“There were dozens of them, armed with guns, and they poured into the park,” Ali al-Azawi, 21, the engineering student who had organised the gathering in Basra, said.

“They started shouting at us that we were immoral, that we were meeting boys and girls together and playing music and that this was against Islam.

“They began shooting in the air and people screamed. Then, with one order, they began beating us with their sticks and rifle butts.” Two students were said to have been killed......

......The picnic had run foul of the Islamist powers that increasingly hold sway in the fly-blown southern city, where religious militias rule the streets, forcing women to don the veil and closing down shops that sell alcohol or music.....

.....Far from disavowing the attack, senior al-Sadr loyalists said that they had a duty to stop the students’ “dancing, sexy dress and corruption”.

“We beat them because we are authorised by Allah to do so and that is our duty,” Sheik Ahmed al-Basri said after the attack. “It is we who should deal with such disobedience and not the police.”

--snip--

Obviously, this is just the sort of oppression that would be visited upon all the nations of the earth if these radicals were ever allowed to come to power. Having said that, I'd like to introduce those guys to the "people" who inhabit the apartment above me.

[edit on 05/3/23 by GradyPhilpott]

We beat them because we are authorised by Allah to do so and that is our duty

Yes sir this is the scary bit right here, we beat them because Allah told
us to.
Brainwashed Morons is about the only description I can come up with
at the moment.
This is what they want to convert the rest of the world into BTW.

how the hell does playing music is aginist Allah!!! man those people over there have some real problems.

america will be the same in a few years,only the"christians"under lord bush............ will be the oppressors

lol geno, if bush wanted to oppressed the people of America he would have done it the first day in the Oval office. he hasnt sent in the CIA to kill me for playing music.

Originally posted by geno
america will be the same in a few years,only the"christians"under lord bush............ will be the oppressors

I knew this thread would turn into a Bush bash in no time.

Having heard middle eastern music, I too think they deserve a good beating!

Kidding!!!

Seriously, any word on what TYPE of music they were listening to? I remember plenty of arabic music playing on Saudi radio stations and listened to by muslims.....

What do you expect from a bunch of vagina-phobes. Instead of 150,000 american soldiers we should have sent in 25,000 independent, sassy, free willed, educated american females. Call it operation, 'Lob it like a Bobbitt'. It's hard as hell to beat or kill anyone when you are running around all day with both hands covering the family jewels.

Maybe the problem was The Song that they were playing?

Maybe that pissed off these people to start shooting and hitting.

Anyway, great answer by this sheik guy:

“We beat them because we are authorised by Allah to do so and that is our duty,” Sheik Ahmed al-Basri said after the attack. “It is we who should deal with such disobedience and not the police.”

Sounds irrational and contrues a sense of anxiety and repression rampant in this country. Iraq does not enjoy the same civil freedoms we are afforded here in the west, and it will be years untill they begin too. And i'm afraid that this deMOCKracy only allowed fundamentalist regimes to gain power democraticly, with only the elite running for office, and taking charge. Iraq will become oligarchal, as is the case in many democratic countries.

Even democracy is privy to human nature.

Deep

Religious intolerance wasn't a problem under Saddam. Christians practised freely, the chador wasn't enforced on women, rape was relatively uncommon, music was allowd, alcohol was available etc.

Now every fanatic is free to peddle fundamentalist hatred as Iraq is a 'free' country.

Good work George

Isn't nostalgia wonderful? Saddam is such a sweetheart--a warm and gentle aficionado of fine weaponry and the sartorial arts, especially stylish headwear.

Sounds like the people who beat the kids up were nothing but a bunch of power hungry bullies.

Seriously, why would you ever beat a child, especially one you don't even know?

You have to be pretty messed up to do that.

Originally posted by CTID56092
Religious intolerance wasn't a problem under Saddam. Christians practised freely, the chador wasn't enforced on women, rape was relatively uncommon, music was allowd, alcohol was available etc.

Now every fanatic is free to peddle fundamentalist hatred as Iraq is a 'free' country.

Good work George

As I have mentioned in previous threads, What about his sons...who are very well known in Iraq for picking up women of the streets and "volunteering" them to have sex....sounds like rape...no?

Christianity was a choice in Iraq...you could have practiced as you wish...but you had better been prepared to suffer the consequences.

Women had rights...as long as they kept that vail over thier heads.

Grady...nice one

[edit on 23-3-2005 by dev_add]

Originally posted by dev_add

Originally posted by CTID56092
Religious intolerance wasn't a problem under Saddam. Christians practised freely, the chador wasn't enforced on women, rape was relatively uncommon, music was allowd, alcohol was available etc.

Now every fanatic is free to peddle fundamentalist hatred as Iraq is a 'free' country.

Good work George

As I have mentioned in previous threads, What about his sons...who are very well known in Iraq for picking up women of the streets and "volunteering" them to have sex....sounds like rape...no?

Christianity was a choice in Iraq...you could have practiced as you wish...but you had better been prepared to suffer the consequences.

Women had rights...as long as they kept that vail over thier heads.

Grady...nice one

[edit on 23-3-2005 by dev_add]

Wrong on most points.

There was rape (of course) and one of his sons was known for his tastes but the wide-spread rape & kidnapping seen now is far worse.

Iraq was secular, christian communities existed (been there for centuries) existed peacefully and weren't oppressed. Now they've been burnt out.

The veil wasn't enforced in Iraq before; it was a personal / family choice - now it's being enforced through violence & fear by the fundamentalist bigots Saddam kept out of power.

I never said Saddam was a nice guy - he plainly wasn't. Were more Iraqis more free under him - yes probably.

You clearly know nothing about Iraq pre or post GW2, yet you use this lack of knowledge to justify illegal war.

keep watching Fox!

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Isn't nostalgia wonderful? Saddam is such a sweetheart--a warm and gentle aficionado of fine weaponry and the sartorial arts, especially stylish headwear.


(loads of pics of Saddam)



And your point is?

[edit on 23-3-2005 by CTID56092]

Originally posted by geno
america will be the same in a few years,only the"christians"under lord bush............ will be the oppressors

This story is pathetic, but Geno, you are right. Look at all the stuff that are acts of terror now...

selling weed
selling knock-off Rubix cubes
complaining too much
smacking too loud
chewing aggressively
shining lasers up at planes
bringing burritos that "look" like machine guns (seriously) to school
writing fictional zombie stories
owning road almanacs, it goes on and on...

But, this story is truly sickening. The killers seemed pretty cavalier about the whole thing, too. The worst thing is that they used religion to back them. Stuff like this almost justifies the war over there, almost. In fact, if our hands were clean, it would totally justify it. Then again, we would be fighting in Sudan if that were the case, so I don't see any true benevolent reason for the war in Iraq.

Religious nuts truly scare me, regardless of what faith they follow. Really; think of the person who was told by God to lead the world in the right direction...

Ah yes, Islam, the religion of peace...obtained through brutal acts of vulgarness and violence. First it is Rushdie, then recently 40 Christians in Saudi Arabia, and now 2 students who enjoyed meating in a co-ed environment, peacefully might I add, with a backdrop of enhancing music. And we need to tolerate this why?

This is very sad news.

They have a long way to go before things get better.