heric, I wasn't aiming that at you. I was aiming that at Thomas Friedman. I don't know whether or not you believe anything he says. But many people apparently do. He seems to make a pretty good living making racist slurs.

Carol, how is a rumour that the *US* is doing nuclear bombings a slur on *Muslims*? I don't follow - to me that looks a total non-sequitur.

The way you've written it, it is a non-sequitur. The charge that is being promoted in various forms in numerous places is that certain people (variously worded as "Muslims", "Arabs", "the Muslim world", "the Arab world", etc.), are trying to blame the tsunami on the US. This is the exact wording of a post on this subject in another thread; "and some muslim conspiricy theorists even suggesting the USA caused the tsunami".

So CarolC, does their being occupied make it right, Muslim or otherwise , does it pardon the killing and maiming of innocent people?

Obviously not. But to attribute these things to "the Moslem faith" or to anything that is contained in Muslim ideology is incorrect and misleading. And also, to suggest that people do it for their religion is also incorrect and misleading. Suicide attacks are not specific to any particular religion, even though you and many other people believe that it is a particularly Muslim practice, as would appear to be the case going by this statement from you:

would deep and prolonged study of the particular section of the Moslem faith which perpetrates these ghastly acts make me learn to love them