You who have spent any time on these pages are
aware that I am an implacable adversary to Islamist terror. You cannot but
understand, even if you do not agree, that I believe that we cannot yield the
field of battle to these latter-day vandals, these authors of barbarism, these
forces of rejection and nihilism. You know that I believe that if we were to do
so, through retreat, negotiation or compromise that we will only end up fighting
the same battles on fields far closer to home - In our cities, in our ports and
airports. In our schools.
But you should also know that I do not believe
that our fight is with Islam, a religion of 1.4 billion adherents, the vast
majority of whom live peaceful lives not unlike our own - who love their
children, and struggle to make ends meet and do the right thing as they have
been given to see it. Our fight is with those who would pervert the sacred texts
of one of the world's great religions to an end so very far removed from the
inherent philosophy it espouses, that most basic of our spiritual questions:
What is a good life, and how does one lead
it?
My hope in manning the ramparts
from a position of strength, and from that position launching spoiling attacks
against the forces of evil as they assemble, has always been that in time the
authors of Islamist terror would see the error of their ways. Failing that they
might see the uselessness and counter-productivity of their blood-soaked
efforts. And failing that, having walked so very far down the path of extremism
as to have eliminated any shred of connection to our shared humanity, that they
would through their works and deeds so alienate the heretofore immobile mass of
their coreligionists as to be cast out by them and vilified, all support both
passive and active withdrawn, left to wander in the darkness of their own
devising.
This I believed, was not a
problem of the West's making and therefore not a problem the West could by
itself repair. Islamist terror is like a virus, better yet a cancer in a passive
host. This host is aware perhaps of the disease's existence, but not yet alarmed
- it is in denial. Through our efforts we could only try to eliminate as many of
the virulent cancer cells as possible, in the hopes that the host would in time
awaken to its danger and rally to its own defense.
Because if surrender is not on the
table (and it is not) the alternative is too horrible to contemplate. In a true
clash of civilizations, the eventual outcome is not in doubt - but the process
of achieving that outcome would necessarily turn us away from what we would like
to become, into something that we are justifiably proud of having left behind.
Centuries of human progress in the moral sphere would be overthrown as Islamist
savagery was fought with Western savagery, on an industrial, technologically
advanced scale. We would in time become what we had
beheld.
But now, in the shocking,
horrible aftermath of the slaughter of the innocents in Beslan, Russia, hope
arises. Is it now possible that the Chechen terrorists, apparently abetted by a
number of Arab allies, have finally woken up their slumbering host?
It is a
certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and
exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims. The
hostage-takers of children in Beslan, North Ossetia, were Muslims. The other
hostage-takers and subsequent murderers of the Nepalese chefs and workers in
Iraq were also Muslims. Those involved in rape and murder in Darfur, Sudan, are
Muslims, with other Muslims chosen to be their victims. Those responsible for
the attacks on residential towers in Riyadh and Khobar were Muslims. The two
women who crashed two airliners last week were also
Muslims.
Standard fare for those in
the West who are routinely outraged at the latest Islamist horror - but
refreshingly novel fare from the general manager of the Al-Arabiya news channel.
We can't call those
who take schoolchildren as hostages our own. We cannot tolerate in our midst
those who abduct journalists, murder civilians, explode buses; we cannot accept
them as related to us, whatever the sufferings they claim to justify their
criminal deeds. These are the people who have smeared Islam and stained its
image. We cannot clear our names unless we own up to the shameful fact that
terrorism has become an Islamic enterprise; an almost exclusive monopoly,
implemented by Muslim men and women. We cannot redeem our extremist youths, who
commit all these heinous crimes, without confronting the Sheikhs who thought it
ennobling to re-invent themselves as revolutionary ideologues, sending other
people's sons and daughters to certain death, while sending their own children
to European and American schools and
colleges.
Islamic
leaders in the Middle East yesterday denounced the slaughter of children in
Russia as 'unIslamic', as commentators asked unusually soul-searching questions
about the region and terrorism. Even the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's
biggest Islamic group, condemned the bloody siege in Beslan. Its leader,
Mohammed Mahdi Akef, said that kidnappings may be justified but killings are
not. He added: 'What happened is not jihad [holy war] because Islam obligates us
to respect the souls of human beings; it is not about taking them
away.'
Amen, amen,
amen.
This is truly courage in the
face or barbarism, from people who are much closer to the cancer than we
ourselves. We must encourage them. We must match them in the strength of their
convictions. We must not be
dissuaded.
Let us hope that through
the latest act of terror, that the patient has awoken. Let us hope that the tide
has finally turned. Let us hope that it is not too
late.
Let us keep hope
alive.
And in the meantime, because
we must, let us keep our powder dry.
Posted @
12:03 PM
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Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." - John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Ceasar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friederich Nietzsche
