There were so many Gadaffis wandering round Basel earlier this week the real one could have walked the streets unhindered.

He's a bit of an attention seeker if the truth be told. Never trust any leader who dyes their hair. And when they blacken their beard and eyebrows - watch out.

What amazes me about Gadaffi is that his people keep re-electing him every few years...

Ermm...did you mean to say

"What amazes me about Gaddafi is that he keeps re-electing himself every few years..."

Is he really being 'elected' though? Let's not forget he came to power through what is often claimed to be a bloodless coup but you don't retain power for that long in a place like Libya without a good amount of surpression.

'let themselves down' like Ken Bigley ?

Just think irony <sigh>...

Er, because democracy isn't one of their strong points? Show me a truly democratic nation in Africa (Mr. Wollishofener will resurrect his last response in a Ghadaffi bashing thread..) and I'll buy you a sticky bun.

I think you were too subtle for many

Before this discussion goes any further could we please establish how to correctly spell his name?

Is it?
a) Gadaffi
b) Gaddafi
c) Ghadaffi

I've seen all three used and have always thought it was the second.

How about we just avoid all confusion and agree to call him "that crazy knobend"?

The question you need to ask yourself is: 'what was he doing there in the first place?'

Actually he was there as a good Christian to rebuild Iraq for the benefit of the Iraqis and simply just earn a living, just like that poor girl who was eaten by the whale yesterday.
Or, maybe we should ask ourselves "what was she really doing there?"

Jihad / Jihadies appears to be a non-say word in the UK even with regard to within the Muslim communities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...had_Episode_1/

I actually have not worked out why it is not discussed but that could be becuase not many (like my self) appear to know much about it.

I think several options are ok. Just as there are several ways to write Al Quaeda in the various European languages. I guess everyone tries to write his name in a way that when a nitve tries to pronounce it, it gets close to the real thing in Arabic. Before 911, Osama was for example usually called "Bin Ladin" in the German media.

So you are saying that "Jihad" is in your faith not commonly used as the term for war against people of another faith (to defend territory or to extend the reach of Islam)? Disussed in the parts known as the "sword verses" in 9 that are the basis for Dschihad fighters in many areas where the Islamic world borders to Non-Islamic countries?

[9:29] You shall fight back against those who do not believe in GOD, nor in the Last Day, nor do they prohibit what GOD and His messenger have prohibited, nor do they abide by the religion of truth - among those who received the scripture - until they pay the due tax, willingly or unwillingly.

I am not saying that all or even many Muslims fight against everyone with a different believe. But a few extremists do and they follow those texts.

"against foreign aggression" ha, right.
what's he doing to Switzerland then exactly, holding on to that other Swiss man now for another few months ... a true sadist he is. needs his head examined.

As long as it is only Sion, I should be save in Zurich.

That's all well and good Yussuf, but let's be real here for a mo.

When the words Jihad and West (or for example a Western author) are mentioned in the same sentence, you need to wake up and smell the roses.

Those kinds of people calling for a Jihad are not exactly asking members of the faith to consider their inner demons, are they now?

I am not saying that we should all be running for the bomb shelters. What I am saying is that the two words are not being used in a... let's see, how to put this delicately?... positive or constructive way.

Unfortunately there will always be people who look to Holy books to justify or develop their own prejudices.

The nuance of a belief in any God is to challenge yourself to a greater purpose. There are parts of the Bible which can also be misrepresented and this happens regularly in the Muslim world to create the same level of conflict we see here in Christian parts.

If you want to believe the worst in any person, you will find plenty of evidence to support you.

Try Deuteronomy, Chapter 17.

The word is used for personal struggle but it's also used in a military context. At the very least the word is ambiguous.

Check the section on Jihad bil Saif etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad

It wouldn't really make sense for Gadaffi to call for a personal, spiritual struggle . . . but against Switzerland and its planes and ships.

That's precisely it; they are not members of the Faith. But they are using the language of religion, in this case Islam, to score political points.

They care very little about Islam itself and we all get tarnished with the same brush as a result of simplistic posturing.

The whale analogy is an interesting one. Are you saying they were both in artificial environments where they should not have been?

South Africa