William G. Young Quotes
As human beings, we reach out for justice. You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature… if you think you are a soldier, you are not----- you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.
William G. Young, Chief Justice, Federal District Court (Massachusetts), Statement at the Sentencing of the Terrorist, Richard Reid, January 2003
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The Security Counsel was meeting it the Situation room at the White House
Islamic terrorists took over one of the major cities of Mali, a former French colony, and controlled the immediate area imposing Sharia (Islamic Law). The Mali government and military tried to prevent the takeover, but the military was too weak. The French President, with the support of the Mali government, immediately dispatched French special troops to Mali. They quickly defeated and ousted the terrorists before they could attract more Islamic jihadist fighters and before they could incite Muslims in other areas to try and take over to install Sharia.
He was Defense Minister at the time. This theme was picked up later by both Israel and the United States and after September 11, President George W. Bush made it official U. S. policy.
The problem that was facing the nation in the early 21st century was when we captured a terrorist, was he a combatant or was he accused by a personal enemy, and had he been tortured to say he was a terrorist. The issue grew more complicated when terrorist suspects were brought to American territory at Guantanamo Bay, and the Courts have always held that a foreigner on American soil had a right to have access to the Federal Courts just as Citizens do. Complicating the situation more was the fact that a few American citizens had joined the terrorists and were they entitled to a civilian trial as all other Americans were.
While not all Islamic Religious legal authorities agree any more than Christian or Jewish religious experts do, this quotation is often used to illustrate that the militant Muslim fundamentalists would not only use a nuclear or other kind of weapon if they could get and deliver one, but that some actually think that would be a moral act. He gives no source for his 10 million estimate and most observers think the number wildly exaggerated, And most of the weapons in the world that end up killing people are small arms, made mostly by China, Russia and other nations providing more than the United States. But in politics, and especially in the middle East, perception is reality. See {585931}.
He was a brutal, sadistic war criminal who was assassinated by one of his many enemies in 2000 before he could be brought to trial.
This is one of the quotations from the Koran which many Islamic terrorists point to in order to morally justify terrorism. For an example, see {586965}.
Most American Muslims condemned the September 11 terrorism in the strongest terms. There were other Muslim leaders throughout the world who also condemned it, but outside of America, they were in the minority.
This quotation is used by the moderate Egyptians and other moderate Arab leaders as well as Israelis and other experts in combating Islamic Fundamentalism to illustrate the thinking process of the Muslim fundamentalist terrorist leader. They are more than willing to sacrifice those they lead (though rarely themselves) if they think that something is to be gained. But if there is nothing to be gained, their “moral” responsibility requires not “wasting” their followers’ lives. Therefore, the way these experts believe they should deal with the radicals is to face them with overwhelming force (a variant of the Powell Doctrine) and never concede anything or let them gain anything from violence. A single concession makes the terrorism, sacrifice and violence worthwhile, but if there is no gain, the leader has wasted the lives of his followers and is less likely to initiate another attack.
Under this interpretation of Islamic law – Sharia – virtually anything regardless of how sinful or immoral under normal circumstances is morally permissible if Islam is being defended from attack. Not all Muslim theologians agree with this principle. See {589498}. There was a similar perversion of theological logic used by Christian Popes during the Crusades.
This manual was still in force during the Iraq war 50 years later.
Rejecting criticism of military courts trying and executing terrorists without any appeals process:
William Glover Young is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
