President Bush vowed on Friday to continue U.S. airstrikes against Afghanistan during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins Nov. 16.
“The enemy won’t rest during Ramadan and neither will we,” he said.
Sunday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the European Union did not support a halt in bombing, according to CNN.com.
“No one called for a ceasefire,” Schroeder said.
The Washington Post reported today that Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, “cautioned visiting Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that continued airstrikes during the holy month could cause negative political fallout throughout the Muslim world.”
In an interview with moderate Islamic men in Cairo, Egypt, the Los Angeles Times found that opinions in the Muslim world could shift from seeing the United States as a victim of terrorism to seeing it as an aggressor, if U.S. attacks continued during Ramadan.
The Times noted that Islamic nations have fought one another during Ramadan and have launched attacks in the midst of this holy month.
“But the idea of the West carrying on attacks during the holy month carries echoes of battles between Christians and Muslims going back many centuries to the European invasions of the Middle East, known as the Crusades,” the Times reported.
BCE found no denominational statements supporting or opposing continued military action during Islam’s holy month.
Robert Parham is BCE’s executive director.