Staff Writer

At the end of November Muslims will celebrate Ramadan, a religious Islamic holiday. But if things keep going as the are the holiday will be a grim one celebrated under U.S. fire.

As the war against terrorism wages on it is almost impossible for the people of Afghanistan to regain any sort of normalcy. This year during Ramadan, which is considered one of the holiest or most spiritual holidays in the Islamic faith, Muslims will have a hard time finding peace.

Several people in the Pike County area, when asked if they think that U.S. attacks should be stopped during Ramadan, said "no."

"If Bin Laden is responsible for terrorist acts then it doesn’t matter what day it is," Jack Hewitt said. "We have to keep going."

The Muslims view Ramadan as a time for inner reflection, devotion to God, and as a time for self-control. The holiday lasts from Nov. 27-Dec. 26. One of the main focuses of the holiday is fasting which lasts from sunrise to sunset. Muslims spend the last 10 days of Ramadan trying to grow closer to God through devotions and good deeds.

"I don’t think that they should stop (bombing)," Howard Brown said. "I mean the U.S. is trying not to hit civilians, so personally I think that they’re doing as good of a job as they can."

David Parker doesn’t believe that the U.S. should slow down either.

"I’m behind our leaders 100 percent," Parker said. "I believe in bombing (Afghanistan) only because it is necessary though."

Despite whether people agree or not, the U.S. will not alter the attacks.

According to President Bush there’s good reason that the U.S. won’t let up under any circumstances. Bush stated that Bin Laden and his terrorist group were specifically seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

Tuesday the United States captured several towns and made progress by using two 15,000 pound bombs, which were dropped within the last week. The BLU-82 "daisy cutter" bombs leave craters as wide as five football fields and are named for the shape that they leave.