7/12/2008: Commentary: Islamic Vs Islamist: Righteous Beliver vs
Political Ideology:

Why do today's "Militant Islamists" violate the traditional rules of
Islam to maximize their violence?

They do this because their motivation comes from politics in the first
place, not religion. Bin Laden tried to justify his call for
indiscriminate killing by arguing, “American history does not
distinguish between civilians and military, and not even women and
children. They are the ones who used the bombs against Nagasaki.” This
is a political argument, not a religious one. It is about the role of
America in the world; not the status of non-Muslims in the Koran.

It is no accident that there is indeed some ideological connection
between Marxism-Leninism and Islamism. And no one proclaimed this as
bluntly as Carlos the Jackal, who, from his prison cell, penned
recently...