Koran, verse 8:12

"I shall cast into the unbelievers' hearts
terror; so smite above the necks, and smite
every finger of them!"

Translation:
"I am a terrorist. Cut off the infidels' heads, and chop off all their fingers."

I really don't see any other way to interpret it. Read it for yourself in its entire context, and see if there's another way to interpret 8:12.


Also, Muslims claim to not worship idols, yet the spend days doing laps around a rock in Mecca, worshiping, yes worshiping it. In the pre-Islamic Middle East, the nomadic Arab pagans would worship the rock in much the same way it is currently worshiped by their descendants. Mohamed, pictured here, mad , kissed the rock, declared it sacred to all Muslims, and thus absorbed all the pagans of Mecca into his new cult.
Scientists speculate that the rock is actually a meteor. Chances are that someone in ancient times actually witnessed it land (you can see for miles out there in the desert), and assumed that it came from heaven.
Something interesting about the rock (which Muslims call the "Kaaba") is that it is mentioned in one of my favorite ancient tales; The Epic of Gilgamesh, in Tablet I:

Gilgamesh got up and revealed the dream, saying to his mother:
"Mother, I had a dream last night.
Stars of the sky appeared,
and some kind of meteorite(?) of Anu fell next to me.
I tried to lift it but it was too mighty for me,
I tried to turn it over but I could not budge it.
The Land of Uruk was standing around it,
the whole land had assembled about it,
the populace was thronging around it,
the Men clustered about it,
and kissed its feet as if it were a little baby (!).
I loved it and embraced it as a wife.
I laid it down at your feet,
and you made it compete with me."
The mother of Gilgamesh, the wise, all-knowing, said to her Lord;
Rimat-Ninsun, the wise, all-knowing, said to Gilgamesh:
"As for the stars of the sky that appeared
and the meteorite(?) of Anu which fell next to you,
you tried to lift but it was too mighty for you,
you tried to turn it over but were unable to budge it,
you laid it down at my feet,
and I made it compete with you,
and you loved and embraced it as a wife."
"There will come to you a mighty man, a comrade who saves his friend--
he is the mightiest in the land, he is strongest,
his strength is mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!
You loved him and embraced him as a wife;
and it is he who will repeatedly save you.
Your dream is good and propitious!"


Notice that the rock is a meteorite, it is too large to move, there are tons of people gathering around it, AND they kiss it. Sounds like the Kaaba to me. Chances are the author(s) of The Epic of Gilgamesh never actually saw the rock themselves (the story was written in Sumeria), but there's no doubt they at least heard rumors of it, and its significance to the people there. Fascinating stuff!

On equipment: You get what you inspect, not what you expect.
On training: Our drills are bloodless battles so that our battles are bloody drills.
On tactics: Cheating just means you're serious about winning.