Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Unspoken
The Belmont Club ^ | January 29, 2008 | Richard Fernandez

Posted on 01/29/2008 9:06:24 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4

-snip-

By implication the struggle between Hesher Islam and Coughlin is symptomatic of a far larger and unresolved debate, which might be summarized as being over whether or not "Islam is a religion of peace", an assumption which has undergirded the War On Terror From September 11 onwards.

-snip-

One of the implicit strategies of the War on Terror has been to fight Islamic terrorism in conjunction with the populations of Muslim countries. In Iraq, for example, the alliances between Coalition Forces and local groups have formed the basis for attacking and eventually destroying al-Qaeda.

-snip-

This strategy has many benefits, not in the least because it allows the West to form alliances with groups and populations who might otherwise set their faces against America if it openly declared itself against Islam. It would be hard to imagine how to proceed in either Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan if America were to openly declare that Islam was in fact an ideology as noxious as Nazism. But citing the advantages of a policy assumption doesn't answer the question of whether the assumption is true; it doesn't settle the question of whether Wilders -- or Coughlin -- are correct. I am agnostic on the point. Nor do I expect any answers soon.

There seems to be a bipartisan political consensus not to examine the subject of political Islam publicly. It is the most verboten of foreign policy subjects. But like other "open secrets", its exclusion from formal discussion doesn't banish it from public consciousness. It merely pushes it underground, like Barack Obama's middle name.

The key problem with subjecting the question of political Islam to debate is that every other conclusion except that of regarding it as a "religion of peace" implies consequences no one dares face. Concluding that Islam is a 'religion of war' would precipitate a revolution in diplomacy, energy policy and military strategy. It's a bottle of nitro nobody wants to shake; it's a can of worms nobody wants to open: not a Republican administration and most especially not a Democratic one.

Explosive questions such as this are as likely to be resolved by events as by debate. To a very great extent the West is genuinely hoping that Islam is a "religion of peace"; and I suspect many Muslims are too. Unfolding events will resolve the issue -- and perceptions -- one way or the other. Ten years from today we'll have a better understanding of the truth.


TOPICS: Military/Veterans; Religion
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; coughlin; dod; gwot; infowars
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-66 next last
I recommend you go over there and read the comments.
1 posted on 01/29/2008 9:06:24 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Cannoneer No. 4

The Religion of Peace has been fighting a war of conquest against the world for almost 1400 years. No reassessment or ducking of reality will alter the progression. The Islamic War will continue, with occasional hiatus when Jihad suffers a temporarily crippling setback, for so long as there are Moslems and infidels sharing the same universe.


2 posted on 01/29/2008 9:13:12 PM PST by arthurus (Better to fight them OVER THERE than to have to fight them OVER HERE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: arthurus
Never in all those 1400 years has Western Christendom been so weak, and so doubtful of it's own worthiness.

Most will submit rather than have hundreds of millions killed and the planet irradiated.

3 posted on 01/29/2008 9:33:08 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4 (Civilian Irregular Information Defense Group http://cannoneerno4.wordpress.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: intenseracer; 2ndDivisionVet; Lurker; roaddog727; MizSterious; Tainan; AliVeritas; Liberty Wins; ...

ping


4 posted on 01/29/2008 9:36:02 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4 (Civilian Irregular Information Defense Group http://cannoneerno4.wordpress.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Cannoneer No. 4

Refusing to stand up and state the obvious for fear of what it implies is an act of cowardice.

The stench of fear permeates that article.


5 posted on 01/29/2008 9:43:27 PM PST by Grimmy (equivocation is but the first step along the road to capitulation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Cannoneer No. 4

And ultimately it will get hundredsof millions killed and probably the planet irradiated, anyway.


6 posted on 01/29/2008 9:45:33 PM PST by arthurus (Better to fight them OVER THERE than to have to fight them OVER HERE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Cannoneer No. 4; StarCMC; brityank; PGalt; freema; PurpleMan; george76
Stephen Coughlin ((((Ping))))! Good to see you around tonight, Cannoneer.
7 posted on 01/29/2008 9:55:07 PM PST by Chgogal (When you vote Democrat, you vote Al Qaeda! Ari Emanuel, Rahm's brother was agent to Moore's F9/11.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cannoneer No. 4; Chgogal; brityank

The Hidden Army Of Radical Islam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7L05geznoI


8 posted on 01/29/2008 10:05:59 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Cannoneer No. 4
Whats your opinion of the following.
9 posted on 01/30/2008 12:51:36 AM PST by Yosemitest (It's simple, fight or die.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cannoneer No. 4
Ten years from today we'll have a better understanding of the truth.

I suspect he's right about that, in ways I don't even want to think about. And I found this post by Rodney to be spot on:

A belief system which fails to renounce conversion by the sword is incompatible with Western Society. The resulting binary solution set is reform of the belief system, or the destruction/suppression of same.

10 posted on 01/30/2008 7:07:39 AM PST by StarCMC (http://cannoneerno4.wordpress.com; http://starcmc.wordpress.com/ - The Enemedia is inside the gates.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cannoneer No. 4
Ten years from today we'll have a better understanding of the truth.

We already know the truth. islam is wholly incompatible with Western civilization. It is a murderous political philosophy every bit as odious as Nazism.

It masquerades as a 'religion'. We should no more tolerate its continued existence than we did Nazi Germany.

L

11 posted on 01/30/2008 7:27:32 AM PST by Lurker (Pimping my blog: http://lurkerslair-lurker.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lurker
OK, let's grant your statement for the sake of argument.

The question is: what are you going to do about it?

As the author notes, "To a very great extent the West is genuinely hoping that Islam is a "religion of peace"; and I suspect many Muslims are too."

I suspect he's right about those "many Muslims." Can you suggest an approach that does not turn those Muslims into enemies just because of the circumstances of their birth?

12 posted on 01/30/2008 7:47:34 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: r9etb
Can you suggest an approach that does not turn those Muslims into enemies just because of the circumstances of their birth?

The premise of your question is invalid.

Assume it's 1943 and change just one word in your question: "Can you suggest an approach that does not turn those Germans into enemies just because of the circumstances of their birth?"

Now do you see how silly your question is?

L

13 posted on 01/30/2008 7:52:03 AM PST by Lurker (Pimping my blog: http://lurkerslair-lurker.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Lurker
Assume it's 1943...

It's a bit disingenuous to accuse me of "invalid premises," when your own assumptions are demonstrably false.

It's not 1943. If you want to use the Hitler analogy, today's circumstances are a lot more like 1935, except the Allies have already challenged and confronted Hitler, and the General Staff has not thrown in with Hitler. (This is, btw, supposedly what would have occurred had the Allies responded militarily to Hitler's early moves.)

The question is: do you want to declare the rest of Germany's population to be "the enemy," and thereby drag them into the war?

It is pointless to torture that particular analogy any further. Rather, it is more useful to assess the nature of the Muslim world, and the place of the Islamofascists within it.

One important facet of the Islamofascist strategy is to encourage a general sense of "Islam vs. the world." They want us to consider all Muslims as belonging to a homogeneous mass, all of whom are enemies. And they want Muslims to believe this, too. That way (so the reasoning goes), any small war involving the West vs. a faction of Muslims can be leveraged into a global holy war. This is apparently one of the key beliefs of Ahneedajihad's "12th Imam" sect.

The whole "Islam is naziism" approach actually plays directly into the hands of folks like bin Laden or the Iranian mullahs.

But the fact is, most Muslims are not Islamofascists, nor are they likely to become such. There is no need to fight a holy war against them, nor is there any rational reason to push them into corners where they believe that a holy war is the only possible response.

Gen. Petraeus has demonstrated that the key to defeating Islamofascism is to teach normal Muslims the value of living in a modern, civil society. And the Islamofascists have helped him along by their own actions.

14 posted on 01/30/2008 8:17:38 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: r9etb
any small war involving the West vs. a faction of Muslims can be leveraged into a global holy war.

It already is. If you believe differently, you aren't paying attention.

But the fact is, most Muslims are not Islamofascists,

Incorrect. islam is fascist. Ergo followers of islam are by definition fascists. Your statement is akin to saying "not all Nazis are fascists." It's demonstrably false. They believe to the core of their beings in a fascist ideology.

There is no need to fight a holy war against them,

Why not? They're fighting one against us.

Gen. Petraeus has demonstrated that the key to defeating Islamofascism is to teach normal Muslims the value of living in a modern, civil society.

General Patraeus has demonstrated no such thing. islamofacism hasn't been 'defeated' in any sense of the word. It's been seriously degraded in two countries. That's it. While it wanes in Afghanistan and Iraq, it waxes in Iran, Pakistan, Chechnya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and those fetid ratholes mistakenly referred to as 'palestine'.

Go read their book. I have. Until you do that, you're talking without any real knowledge of their beliefs.

L

15 posted on 01/30/2008 8:25:33 AM PST by Lurker (Pimping my blog: http://lurkerslair-lurker.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Lurker
It already is. If you believe differently, you aren't paying attention.

Bullshit.

16 posted on 01/30/2008 8:28:59 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Lurker

He said a bad word.


17 posted on 01/30/2008 8:33:09 AM PST by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: r9etb
Bullshit.

Is that the best you can do?

L

18 posted on 01/30/2008 8:44:26 AM PST by Lurker (Pimping my blog: http://lurkerslair-lurker.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Lurker

No need to waste words arguing against bullshit.


19 posted on 01/30/2008 8:47:26 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Deb; r9etb
He said a bad word.

When someone resorts to a profane one word response, you know you've won the argument.

L

20 posted on 01/30/2008 8:50:40 AM PST by Lurker (Pimping my blog: http://lurkerslair-lurker.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-66 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson