# why does obl consider saddam an infidel??

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-obl-consider-saddam-an-infidel/160784>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 12, 2003, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-obl-consider-saddam-an-infidel/160784 "2003-03-12T08:18:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HackDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@HackDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HackDriver)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-obl-consider-saddam-an-infidel/160784/1 "2003-03-12T08:18:00Z")

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any idea?

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**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-obl-consider-saddam-an-infidel/160784/2 "2003-03-12T08:27:33Z")

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Osama bin Laden is a religious zealot. Saddam’s Iraq is (officially) a secular nation.

It’s not unlike Jerry Falwell denouncing China for being an atheist country, really.

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**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-obl-consider-saddam-an-infidel/160784/3 "2003-03-15T05:34:42Z")

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I’d say that the only reason bin Laden has any use for Saddam is that he is an enemy of the western world. Besides that bin Laden would be after Saddam.

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**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-obl-consider-saddam-an-infidel/160784/4 "2003-03-15T07:41:10Z")

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I’ve also heard that Women in Iraq actually have a more rights then in your average fundie muslim nation. That would piss off OBL, I would imagine.

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-obl-consider-saddam-an-infidel/160784/5 "2003-03-15T07:52:30Z")

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Iraq is a secular state that does not enshrine Islam at the core of its laws or culture. (In fact, several of the ethnic factions that Hussein and the Ba’ath party have suppressed will be more than happy to wage a religious war to achieve dominance over their opponents of different ethnic and religious adherence once Bush has succeeded in destroying the Ba’ath party.)

bin Laden is a Wahabbist Muslim (ignore Southern Baptists and think Assembly of God on steroids) who believes that even other Muslims who do not accept his version (and vision) of the Koran are damned.