A Battle for Global Values

Our response to the September 11 attacks has proved even more momentous than it seemed at the time. That is because we could have chosen security as the battleground. But we did not. We chose values. We said that we did not want another Taliban or a different Saddam Hussein. We knew that you cannot defeat a fanatical ideology just by imprisoning or killing its leaders; you have to defeat its ideas.

The roots of the current wave of global terrorism and extremism are deep. They reach down through decades of alienation, victimhood, and political oppression in the Arab and Muslim world. Yet such terrorism is not and never has been inevitable.

To me, the most remarkable thing about the Koran is how progressive it is. I write with great humility as a member of another faith. As an outsider, the Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, much as reformers attempted to do with the Christian church centuries later. The Koran is inclusive. It extols science and knowledge and abhors superstition. It is practical and far ahead of its time in attitudes toward marriage, women, and governance.

Under its guidance, the spread of Islam and its dominance over previously Christian or pagan lands were breathtaking. Over centuries, Islam founded an empire and led the world in discovery, art, and culture. The standard-bearers of tolerance in the early Middle Ages were far more likely to be found in Muslim lands than in Christian ones.

from the already-excerpted portion

To me, the most remarkable thing about the Koran is how progressive it is. I write with great humility as a member of another faith. As an outsider, the Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, much as reformers attempted to do with the Christian church centuries later. The Koran is inclusive. It extols science and knowledge and abhors superstition. It is practical and far ahead of its time in attitudes toward marriage, women, and governance.

Under its guidance, the spread of Islam and its dominance over previously Christian or pagan lands were breathtaking. Over centuries, Islam founded an empire and led the world in discovery, art, and culture. The standard-bearers of tolerance in the early Middle Ages were far more likely to be found in Muslim lands than in Christian ones.

I was just filing away the September threats to make more room on one of my web pages.

I saw your ping.

I read the article/speech.

I am — speechless.

Thanks for the ping F15 Eage.

Tony Blair is as dangerous to the tenets (and survival) of Western Democracy as Bill Clinton !

I have watched this sanctimonious little twerp waltzing around on the world stage for far too long.

Please, God, find us some international leader with the gonads to step on this little midget — and spare us further, his egocentric P/C, M/C claptrap!

Off Topic -- A very small SAMPLER of what I looked at on the internet from December 2006 through February 2007:

JIHAD WATCH.org (ITV NEWS): "'He who joins the British Army, the American Army, he is a mortal kaffir and his only hukum (punishment) is for his head to be removed'" (February 5, 2007) (Read More...)

OSINT.INTERNET-HAGANAH.com (THE SUNDAY TIMES): "AL-QAEDA TELLS BRITISH CELLS TO CARRY OUT WAVE OF BEHEADINGS" (February 4, 2007) (Read More...)

YNET NEWS.com: "IRAN MILITIA THREATENS TO KIDNAP AMERICANS" (Published January 31, 2007; 19:36) (Read More...)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: Washington, D.C. - "TWO TERRORISTS ADDED TO REWARDS FOR JUSTICE'S MOST WANTED LIST" (February 12, 2007) (Read More...)

REWARDS FOR JUSTICE: "Wanted MOHAMMED ALI HAMADEI" ("Aliases: Mohammod Ali Hamadei, Ali Hamadi, "Castro"") (View Poster. Read More...)

REWARDS FOR JUSTICE: "Wanted RAMADAN ABDULLAH MOHAMMAD SHALLAH" (Aliases: Ramadan Shallah, Rashad, Mohamad El-Fatih, Mahmoud, Radwan, Al-Shaer, Abu Abdullah, Ramadan Abdullah) (View Poster. Read More...)

COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org: "PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD THREATENS SECRETARY RICE AND THE US" (February 16, 2007) (Read More...)

ALBAWABA.com: "ISLAMIC JIHAD WARNS US" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Tuesday threatened to retaliate against the United States if it tried to capture its Damascus-based leader, Dr. Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah. On Monday, Washington announced that they would offer a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Shallah. The same amount was also offered for a member of Lebanese Hizbullah, Mohammed Ali Hamadei. The alleged Lebanese Hizbullah member took part in the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 that resulted in the killing of U.S. sailor Robert Stethem." (Posted February 13, 2007, 15:47, GMT) (Read More...)

JIHAD WATCH.org (REUTERS): "AL QAEDA GROUP CALLS FOR ATTACKS ON U.S. OIL SOURCES" (February 14, 2007) (Read More...)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "JIHADI CHIT CHAT OVERHEARD IN RECENT DAYS Seems to be something of a 'back-to-basics' mood taking hold on the forums: guns, knives, poison gas and TATP." (February 13, 2007) (Read More...)

More Mugniyah (January 31, 2007) (Read More...)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "HAMAS IN THE SERVICE OF SATAN It's amazing that Hamas is able to get away with this." (December 24, 2006) (Read More...)

WorldNetDaily.com: "HAMAS THREATENS ATTACKS ON U.S. Terrorist warns 'Middle East is full of American targets'" by Aaron Klein (December 22, 2006) (Read More...)

COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org: "AL QAEDA'S ZAWAHIRI THREATENS MORE ATTACKS ON USA, WEST (Updated)" by Jeffrey Imm (December 20, 2006) (Read More...)

IHT.com - INTERNATIONAL HERADLD TRIBUNE - Opinion: London - "THE SMOKY BOMB THREAT" by Peter D. Zimmerman (December 19, 2006) (Read More...)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "SURPRISE TERRORIST ATTACKS REMAIN TOP THREAT" by Bill Gertz (December 12, 2006) (Read More...)

JIHAD WATCH.org (WCBSTV.com/CBS/AP): "FINANCIAL WEB SITES WARNED OF MUSLIM NET ATTACK" (December 1, 2006) (Read More...)

Regarding the Internet and Cyberterrorism (December 1, 2006) (Read More...)

What does one expect from the Council on Foreign Relations?

Right now Mr. Blair is in with Condi Rice planning that spectacular “peace conference” at Annapolis where Israel will make more concessions that will lead to more war and suffering for Israel.

I just can’t wait for the “peace” of Hezbollah and Hamas to come raining down on the Middle East. Sarc.

the spread of Islam and its dominance over previously Christian or pagan lands were breathtaking

Literally. You stand in the way of the spread of islam and they literally, take your breath away from you.

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