Enemy Aggression Quotes
Every major Western power and Japan were looking to control parts of China for their own mercantile advantage. The Emperor, her adopted son, had stated that under no circumstances would the Chinese fight, but Cixi issued this decree, in effect, overruling the Emperor—a remarkable occurrence.
Some refer to this as the “Whack-A-Mole” phenomenon, named after the game.
Washington, although the presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention, said almost nothing for such was the respect for him that he cou;d sway almost any issue. But the absurdity of limiting the size of the American Army was too much for him, and his clever way of phrasing his concern ended discussion of that idea without any ill feelings.
This quotation is interesting for two reasons. First, it is one of the few fatwas that recognize women to make a decision that might be against her husband’s wishes—a rarity in Islam which is even more sexist than traditional Western religions. Second, and more important, this fatwa is often used by Muslim fundamentalist terrorists to justify the use of women as suicide bombers. Even with a modern Islamist like al-Qaradawi, the obligation to defend with life if necessary any Muslim nation (right or wrong) is paramount and justifies almost anything else that otherwise might not be permitted. This is very different from most of the rest of the world where national interests are rarely perceived as religious and most attacks on a country have nothing to do with religion but with vested interests.
