POLITICAL COMMENTS
Tony Blair, In a speech at Labour Party National Conference, stated:*“What we are confronting here is an evil ideology......They demand the elimination of Israel; the withdrawal of all Westerners from Muslim countries, irrespective of the wishes of people and government; the establishment of effectively Taliban states and Shariah law in the Arab world en route to one caliphate of all Muslim nations
.”Charles Clarke,*In a speech on Counter Terrorism at The Heritage Foundation (a neoconservative think tank, Washington DC) stated:
“What drives these people on is ideas. And unlike the liberation movements of the post World War II era in many parts of the world, these are not in pursuit of political ideas like national independence from colonial rule, or equality for all citizens without regard for race or creed, or freedom of expression without totalitarian repression. Such ambitions are, at least in principle, negotiable and in many cases have actually been negotiated. However there can be no negotiation about the re-creation of the Caliphate; there can be no negotiation about the imposition of Shariah law; there can be no negotiation about the suppression of equality between the sexes; there can be no negotiation about the ending of free speech. These values are fundamental to our civilization and are simply not up for negotiation.”
Lord Curzon, After the termination of Khilafat, the secretary expressed his views, in the following words:
"The point at issue is that Turkey has been destroyed and shall never rise again, because we have destroyed her spiritual power: the Caliphate and Islam."
Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Minister at the time of the Caliphate's end, appear to have best caught the Caliphate's significance when he announced to the House of Commons:
"The situation now is that Turkey is dead and will never rise again, because we have destroyed its moral strength, the Caliphate and Islam"."We must put an end to anything which brings about any Islamic unity between the sons of the Muslims. As we have already succeeded in finishing off the Caliphate, so we must ensure that there will never arise again unity for the Muslims, whether it be intellectual or cultural unity"
Sir Campbell Bannerman, [Prime Minister of Britain (1905-08)]“
There are people who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language, one history and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate these people from one another ... if, per chance, this nation were to be unified into one state, it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never-ending wars. It could also serve as a springboard for the West to gain its coveted objects.” -
1902*Lord Zetland [March 24, 1940, British Secretary of State for the colonial India]
“[T]he call of Islam is one which transcends the bounds of country. It may have lost some force as a result of the abolition of Caliphate by Mustafa Kamal Pasha, but it still has a very considerable appeal as witness for example Jinnah’s insistence on our giving undertaking that Indian troops should never be employed against any Muslim state, and the solicitude which he has constantly expressed for the Arabs of Palestine.
”President Bush
*“The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia
"“The murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals is the great challenge of our new century. Yet, in many ways, this fight resembles the struggle against communism in the last century."***
* Cheney [Vice President, Speech in Sydney, Australia February 2007]" ...
And it is they, the terrorists, who have ambitions of empire. Their
goal in the broader Middle East is to seize control of a country, so they have a base from which they can launch attacks against governments that refuse to meet their demands. Their ultimate aim -- and one they boldly proclaim -- is to establish a caliphate covering a region from Spain, across North Africa, through the Middle East and South Asia, all the way to Indonesia. And it wouldn't stop there.*...The war on terror is more than a contest of arms, and more than a test of will. It is a battle of ideas...
."Donald Rumsfeld [US Secretary of Defense, December 5 2005]
]In a speech at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced Studies at Johns Hopkins:"..
.Iraq would serve as the base of a new Islamic caliphate to extend throughout the Middle East and which would threaten the legitimate governments in Europe, Africa, and Asia. This is their plan. They have said so. We make a terrible mistake if we fail to listen and learn...
."Eric Edelman [Undersecretary of Defense for Policy]December 1, 2005, Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, DC*"
...So I think we need to be very clear. Iraq's future will either embolden terrorists and expand their reach and ability to establish a — reestablish a caliphate, or it will deal them a crippling blow. For us, failure in Iraq is just not an option
..."General John Abizaid, [Chief of US Central Command, 29th Sept. 2005]In a speech to US law makers said:
:"Al Qaeda terrorists hope to drive American influence from the Middle East and install a global Muslim leader in Saudi Arabia.....If al Qaeda terrorists manage to take control of Saudi Arabia, they will try to create and expand their influence in the region and establish a caliphate."Abizaid said al Qaeda would subsequently move on to apply a "very narrow, strict interpretation of Shariah, Islamic law, not believed in or practiced anywhere else in the world today.......The next goal would be to expand into non-Arab Islamic countries. This would include the middle of Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia".*
At another occasion,Gen. John Abizaid said:
: “We are fighting the most despicable enemy ... who uses the 21st century-technology to spread their vision of a 7th-century paradise (and) try to re-create what they imagine was the pure and perfect Islamic government of the era of the prophet Muhammad
.”Gen. Richard Myers, [The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]While addressing a Pentagon news conference stressed:
:“If the Zarqawis of the world were allowed to be successful in Iraq in their view, and that would be the start of the caliphate that they envision, the stakes would be huge for the region,
"Henry Kissinger, [Nov 2004]Asked in an interview “What in your opinion are the principal threats of the age?
” He answered - “First, is what we call terrorism in the United States, but which is really the uprising of radical Islam against the secular world, and against the democratic world, on behalf of re-establishing a sort of Caliphate. That is directed as much against moderate Islam, than it is against non-Islamic societies.
.”Patrick J. Buchanan, [June 23, 2006. Founder of magazine
‘The American Conservative’. Has served three presidents in the White House]
“If Islamic rule is an idea taking hold among the Islamic masses, how does even the best army on earth stop it? Do we not need a new policy?”
President Vladimir PutinThe Russian leader said at a European Union summit in Brussels that western civilisation faced a mortal threat from Muslim terrorists, and claimed that they had plans to create a "worldwide caliphate"."…The creation of a caliphate on the territory of the Russian Federation is only part one of their plan. In fact, if you are following the situation, you surely know that the radicals are pursuing a larger goal: They are talking about the creation of a world caliphate…
”The Washington Post [January 14, 2006]The Washington Post headed an article with the title " Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical, Restoration of Caliphate, Attacked by Bush, Resonates With Mainstream Muslims", arguing that such a call is not radical nor only resonant with Islamic guerrilla movementsTerrorism - From a War on Terror to a War of Ideasby David Lazarus"..
.The underlying belief of the jihadists appears to be that the re-establishment and enforcement of strict Islamic law in these territories will bring about an almost mystical rebirth of a just, pure and perfect society for all true Muslims. The appeal of such a vision is potent within the Middle East in particular and can be easily understood when one examines the general failure of modernity that prevails in most sectors of Arab society. 7 Any Islamist revolution throughout the entire Middle East has, however, been thwarted by authoritarian dictatorships within the region, such as those of Egypt and Saudi Arabia..
."Peter Costello (Ex Australian Treasurer), 2006, Australian Christian Lobby:
:“There are countries that claim to be theocratic Islamic States, for example, The Islamic Republic of Iran, The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, The Islamic Republic of Mauritania. There are other countries that enforce religious or Sharia Law – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. But for the radical Islamists even this is not enough. They have a vision of a Caliphate stretching across the Middle East toppling what they see as corrupt nation states and enforcing a more “pure” version of Islam. In our own region the ambitions of Jemaah Islamiyah is to create a Pan-Islamic State stretching down and encompassing the southern Philippines, Malaya and Indonesia.
.”Alexander Downer, 2005, Centre for Muslim States and Societies (UWA):
“Let's be crystal clear about what the terrorists are seeking. Let's strip away the rhetoric and focus on the type of world they want to create. Their goal is to create a new extremist Caliphate in the Muslim world - a Taliban style theocracy. In South-East Asia they want to drive out western influence and establish a fundamentalist regime across Indonesia, Malaysia, Southern Thailand and Southern Philippines. The same for the Middle-East - a Caliphate stretching from the Caucuses to North Africa. They want to get rid of democracy in these countries and replace it with a puritanical regime that denies individual freedoms. Nothing complicated about that ideology. A perverted interpretation of Islamic law, no tolerance of diversity.”