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| INTERESTING FIND in the 9/11 Commission report: |
| 2004-07-23 |
| Via Instapundit In this sense, 9/11 has taught us that terrorism against American interests "over there" should be regarded just as we regard terrorism against America "over here." In this same sense, the American homeland is the planet. But the enemy is not just "terrorism," some generic evil. This vagueness blurs the strategy. The catastrophic threat at this moment in history is more specific. It is the threat posed by Islamist terrorism —especially the al Qaeda network, its affiliates, and its ideology. As we mentioned in chapter 2, Usama Bin Ladin and other Islamist terrorist leaders draw on a long tradition of extreme intolerance within one stream of Islam (a minority tradition), from at least Ibn Taimiyyah, through the founders of Wahhabism, through the Muslim Brotherhood, to Sayyid Qutb. That stream is motivated by religion and does not distinguish politics from religion, thus distorting both. It is further fed by grievances stressed by Bin Ladin and widely felt throughout the Muslim world—against the U.S. military presence in the Middle East, policies perceived as anti-Arab and anti-Muslim, and support of Israel. Bin Ladin and Islamist terrorists mean exactly what they say: to them America is the font of all evil, the "head of the snake," and it must be converted or destroyed. It is not a position with which Americans can bargain or negotiate. With it there is no common ground—not even respect for life—on which to begin a dialogue. It can only be destroyed or utterly isolated. |
| Posted by:Mercutio |
| #2 That stream is motivated by religion and does not distinguish politics from religion, thus distorting both. I wonder how long Islam will take to realize that once it becomes identified as a political (and not religious) movement its lifespan will become very brief. They have a very short while to prevent this from happening. After that the gloves will be off for all Muslims and not just the Islamists. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-23 4:21:06 PM |
| #1 It is not a position with which Americans can bargain or negotiate. With it there is no common ground—not even respect for life—on which to begin a dialogue. It can only be destroyed or utterly isolated. I had that figured out on 9/12, figures the feds would by 3 years late on it. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-07-23 3:23:22 PM |