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Posted on 09/14/2001 9:20:28 PM PDT by vbmoneyspender
The article that is linked here is about the Ismaili cult of the Assassins, which was a branch of Islam that came to power in the 11th century A.D. and then proceeded to terrorize the Islamic world for another 200 years. When you read the article you will see that the parallels between the Old Man of the Mountain (who led the Assassins) and Osama bin Laden are almost spooky. I will note just a few of the parallels here.
1. The Assassins were trained by their Prince (otherwise known as the Sheikh or Old Man of the Mountain) to travel far and wide (a 1000 miles if so ordered) and to then assimilate in whatever disguise best fit the circumstances and to then wait for orders to carry out assassinations as directed by the Prince.
2. Assassins were taught how to remain undercover (for years at a time if necessary) until they received their orders to carry out the assassinations they were charged with.
3. The original home of the Assassins was Egypt (which may account for the large number of Egyptians who helped in the attack on our country).
4. The Prince of the Assassins picked people whom he could control absolutely. And sometimes the Prince was reputed to have even purchased unwanted babies so that he could raise them as Assassins who would be prepared to follow absolutely any command he might issue.
5. As part of their religious faith, it was considered acceptable and even necessary to lie about their true beliefs and origins. In fact, Assassins were expected to follow Shiite religious practices and/or Sunni religious practices as an Assassin's particular circumstances dictated so as to not draw attention to the Assassin.
6. The Assassins' Ismaili sect was spread literally from one end of the Islamic World to the other end so that you could find members in East Africa and just as easily you could find members of the sect in Sri Lanka (this may explain the Tamil Tigers predilection for suicide attacks) and even Malaysia.
7. Finally, and most importantly "the supposed suppression of the Assassin creed which followed the Mongol destruction did not in fact take place. Copying each other, historians have asserted that Assassinism died six hundred years ago. Now and again, however, fresh facts of their continued existence still come to light. In the eighteenth century an Englishman, the British Consul at Aleppo in Syria, was at pains to make this better known: 'Some authors assert,' he wirtes, 'that these people were entirely extirpated in the thirteenth century by the Tartars... but I, who have lived so long in this infernal place, will venture to affirm that some of their spawn still exists in the mountains that surround us; for nothing is so cruel, barbarous and execrable that is not acted, and even gloried in, by these cursed Gourdins.'"
Again, I repeat when you read this article, I think you will find the parallels between the Assassins and Osama bin Laden's followers to be fascinating. So my question is this? Is Osama bin Laden the present day leader of the Assassins, or he is just trying to recreate their cult?
In Stuart's astute observation of Washington's character, and in Washington's confirmation of that observation, I sense a way of connecting him to today's teenagers, and that is through his character. For George Washington had a furious, awe-inspiring temper, mastery of which was probably his greatest personal achievement. That temper derived from the extraordinary tension between, on the one side, his relentless, insatiable ambition; and, on the other, his terrifying, at times almost paralyzing, fear of failure. We can understand his life more easily, and see his actions as those of a human being rather than a demi-god, if we keep in mind the violent interplay of conflicting emotions with which Washington struggled all his life.
So, by 1754, George Washington had earned a reputation all right--an international one. How many twenty-two year olds do we know who were held personally responsible for starting a world war? At best he was regarded as a bumbling fool; at worst as an assassin. Even the King of England derided him.
Leading a company of Virginia militia and Iroquois braves on a patrol in the Ohio valley in May, 1754, Washington unexpectedly encountered a French force. In the confusion, the young officer gave the command to fire; the Indians raced in to tomahawk and scalp the wounded. When the dust settled Washington learned that he had attacked a French diplomatic mission on its way to Virginia. The French ambassador lay dead, scalped on the forest path.Other accounts say that Washington fired the first shot -- that shot killed the French Ambassador.
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When Mohammed II died, he was succeeded by his son Jalaludin, who completely reversed the orders that the Assassins were to have no outward religious observances. He felt that he could do a great deal by adopting the cloak of orthodox piety, and sent ambassadors far and wide to announce his maintenance of the true faith. He went so far as to curse his predecessors publicly, in order to convince the incredulous that such a people as the Assassins could turn over a new leaf. As a result of what would today be called a long-term and comprehensive propaganda plan, he was acknowledged as a religious leader by half the orthodox monarchs of Islam, and (the first Assassin to be so styled) came to be termed Prince Jalaludin.
Apparently, the leaders of the cult were quite willing to disavow the Ismaili sect and its teachings in public and assume the mantle of being a Sunni religious leader if it so suited their purposes. At a minimum though, whether Osama bin Linden is the leader of the Assassin Cult or not, he certainly seems to have adopted their tactics in full.
Tell me if you think I am well wet in connecting their tactics to the tactics used by the Assassins, because it seems to me that that it is the crucial point to be focused on.
This article I just posted from Georgie Anne Geyer also mentions the Assassin connection.
Though he had no previous military experience, he was sent in 1753 on a perilous mission across the Appalachian Mountains into French and Indian country to deliver an ultimatum to the French commander to leave the Ohio Valley.The French refused, but Washington's published account of his "wild west" adventure made him a local hero.
When he returned to the mountains the following year, ambushing a French party led by a young officer performing the same role for his country, Washington found himself an international villain at age 22.
The French officer had been horribly killed in the ambush, and a large French party pursued Washington's little band and gave battle at a place in southwestern Pennsylvania called Ft. Necessity. Washington was outfought and compelled to surrender.
The capitulation paper was in French, however, and unbeknownst to Washington, included a confession to having murdered the French officer. "George Washington, Assassin" became a rallying cry in France that helped bring on the French Indian or Seven Years War, the first conflict fought all over the globe.
Near where Flight 93 diverted its course...
There also seem to be deeper links in history -- the Assasins may have formed out of the Egyptian death-worship and organizational structure. Kali -- the thuggees' blood-lusting goddess icon -- is not unrepresentative of the pleasuring women martyred assassins hope they will spend eternity with. (I only hope they get that damned wish -- let them see the truths of death in it!)
On the interesting "Ululation - The Killer Wail - An Introduction" thread posted by Freeper parsifal yesterday, there is a ancient Gnostic poem attributed to the voice of a godess (Sophia, Eve ... perhaps Lilith):
I am the whore and the holy one.This is confusing stuff, so track into it at risk, and only if you are stable, married and over forty.
...
I am compassionate and I am cruel.
I am the one whom they call Life,
and you have called Death.
In my weakness, do not forsake me,
and do not fear my power.
I am the inconsolable weeping
and the unforgettable fury of light
I am the inscrutable passion
and the mirror whose shards are everywhere
...
I am the lake on fire.
I am going to burn the world.
Oh and two last things:
(Isiah) I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before my eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.(Divarim/Deut) I call heaven and earth to witness, I have set before you this day life and death, blessing and curse: Choose life!
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