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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Professor Gier contends:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"the Blue Men or Tuaregs are proud Berbers who
successfully defended their bleak homeland against the French Foreign
Legion."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>While I have no doubt that your hosts may
have told you any number of tales of daring do with regard to their exploits
against the <SPAN lang=fr xml:lang="fr">Légion étrangère the sad fact of the
matter is that while they fought bravely they got their collective asses handed
to them as evidenced by the treaty in Mali of 1905 and Niger in 1917. I'm afraid
that swords and camels were no match for legion infantry and Berthier and Lebel
bolt action rifles and St. Etienne machine guns. Their "homeland" of the middle
and western Sahara and the north central Sahel did not come under local control
(such as it is) until the mid 60's. Camerone day, or all days is an
inappropriate occasion to falsely portray the exploits of those who wear and
have worn the kepi blanc.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=fr
xml:lang="fr"></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=fr
xml:lang="fr">g</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:nickgier@adelphia.net"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>nickgier@adelphia.net</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 10:33 AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Subject: [Vision2020] The Imam of Ait Kassem Serves
Lunch</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>> Hail to the Vision!<BR>> <BR>> I post tomorrow's radio
commentary on NSA last week, and since I'm now taking off for a conference in
Alberta, I'm now posting next week's column.<BR>> <BR>> This the first of
three columns I'm writing about my incredible 3-wk. trip to Morocco.
Especially for one of our visionaries, I made a special effort to make a list of
all the different headgear I observed on these wonder Muslim people.<BR>>
<BR>> After three days of sandstorms in the Sahara Desert (a column
forthcoming), I was quickly convinced that wrapping my head in a beautiful blue
rag was the best protection. My Blue Man guide cut me down to size when he
said that my turban was not "long enough." (I lost about 1,000 macho
points on the spot.) He was right: one needs at least three meters so that you
can sufficiently protect your neck. <BR>> <BR>> By the way, the Blue
Men or Tuaregs are proud Berbers who successfully defended their bleak homeland
against the French Foreign Legion. They painted their faces with indigo so
they could sneak up on the hapless French at night. The Blue Men ran
circles around the poor suckers.<BR>> <BR>> Suffice it say, among the Fez
(Shriner) hats, the Berber caps, the prayer caps, the Tuareg turbans, and the
beautiful head scarves on the women, I did not see a single terrorist.<BR>>
<BR>> Nick Gier, Proud Intellectual Mutant<BR>> <BR>> THE IMAM OF AIT
KASSEM SERVES LUNCH<BR>> <BR>> By Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus,
University of Idaho<BR>> <BR>> Early one April morning in 2007, we drove
down from the Todra Gorge in Southeast Morocco and entered the Valley of Roses,
where rose water is prepared for export. Our tour group had been invited
to lunch with Ahmed Maghiouzi, the Imam of Ait Kassem, the Muslim minister of
the local mosque.<BR>> <BR>> The assembly hall was beautifully constructed
and was decorated with Berber symbols. Although our guide and the imam
were Berbers, the indigenous peoples of North Africa, they conversed in Arabic,
the national tongue as well as the language of Islam.<BR>> <BR>> We were
impressed by the fact that the imam himself was the servant, an expression of
the racial and social equality that is a basic Islamic principle. The Imam
served tajine, a delicious stew of meat, couscous, potatoes, carrots, and
parsnips steamed in a conical ceramic cooking pot.<BR>> <BR>> After lunch
the imam's small son Lahcen came in and confidently shook hands with the entire
group, and he then sat down next to his father. We were then encouraged to ask
the imam any question that we wanted.<BR>> <BR>> The first question was
about the imam's theological training. He answered that he had spent 14
years at a seminary where he memorized the Qu'ran, studied the Sunnah (the deeds
and sayings of Mohammed), Islamic law, and astronomy.<BR>> <BR>> The group
was curious about why the imam had to study astronomy. Medieval Muslims
were expert astronomers and many of the stars have Arabic names. The imam
explained that some Muslim prayers require stellar orientation, and that the
determination of Muslim holy days requires exact knowledge of the appearance of
the new moon.<BR>> <BR>> I asked the imam about the Wahabi theology that
inspired Osama bin Laden, and which is still being spread and funded by Saudi
Arabia. Our guide had earlier pointed out some women in black purdah and
had explained that their husbands had been influenced by this very conservative
Islamic sect. <BR>> <BR>> When the imam informed us that that
Ministry of Islamic Affairs had proscribed Wahabi teachings, I followed up with
an observation that this appeared to be a violation of religious freedom. Our
guide defended this saying that the threat of Al Qaeda was so great that this
decision was a matter of national security.<BR>> <BR>> In May of 2003,
three Saudis were given ten-year sentences for starting an Al Qaeda cell in
Morocco and planning to blow up ships in the Straits of Gibraltar. Later that
same month, ten suicide bombers killed 41 people and injured another 100 in
Casablanca, the second largest city in Africa. <BR>> <BR>> In March of
this year, police cornered an Al Qaeda operative in an internet café in
Casablanca where he blew himself up. While we were in the country, police
had located more four more terrorists, three of whom blew themselves up and the
fourth was shot by police. Because of police effectiveness, we felt fairly
secure, and I at least was convinced that terrorism should be handled by good
police work rather than a foolish military adventures in the Middle
East.<BR>> <BR>> America had air bases in Morocco until 1963 and was
a strong ally during the Cold War. Along with other moderate Muslim countries,
including Saddam's Iraq, Osama bin Laden has called Morocco an "apostate" nation
and has been a target for jihadis.<BR>> <BR>> Earlier in the trip we
visited a madrassa in the medieval city of Fes. There were 26 students
living in a beautifully ornate 14th Century building. We interviewed three
students who were studying theology with 300 other seminarians at Fes
University, which has an unbroken history of 1100 years. For centuries the
students in Fes would gather around the professor's "chair" and form an
"intellectual circle."<BR>> <BR>> The students condemned terrorists who
claim to be Muslims. They said that Islam teaches that it is absolutely
prohibited to take a life without reason, and that those who commit suicide go
straight to Hell. <BR>> <BR>> The students also confirmed that Wahabi
theology was not part of their curriculum, and they also mentioned that classes
in Judaism and Christianity would soon be added to their syllabus. When asked
about when and whom they would marry, they surprised us by saying that there
would be no obstacle to them marrying Jewish or Christian women.<BR>>
<BR>> Returning to the assembly hall, the imam's wife came in, shook hands
with everyone, and then assisted in a demonstration of a Berber wedding.
The couple who had been married the longest was chosen from our group to dress
up and play the parts of bride and groom. Bill and Doris from New Jersey,
married fifty years, were beaming in their elaborate costumes as the imam wrote
out a wedding contract in the elaborate Arabic script.<BR>> <BR>> I have
read many books and articles on the world's religions, but there is nothing like
person to person contact to correct and deepen our understanding and increase
our tolerance for other beliefs.<BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
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