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WHY IS THE WEST LOSING THE WAR ON TERROR? is thoughtful.

The West has been losing the will to suvive. Islam is fighting the 'war' with it's choice of weapons - demographics, immigration and time. Where do we go from here?

Peter F. Drucker in Management Challenges of the 21th Century [1999] - "The most important single new certainty - if only because there is no precedent for it in all of history - is the collapsing birthrate in the developed world."

Buchanan in The Death of the West [2002] - "The West is dying. Its nations have ceased to reproduce " ---

"Why is this happening? Socialism, the beatific vision of European intellectuals for generations, is one reason....By freeing husbands, wives, and children of family responsibilities, European socialists have eliminated the need for families." ..."But if Europe wishes to keep its present ratio of 4.8 workers for every senior, Europe must bring in 1.4 billion emigrants from Africa and the Middle East." ....

"The pill is the suicide tablet of the West. "Contraception halted the population growth of the West with abortion as the second line of defense against the unwanted child."

I disagree with the premise of the title. If we are not winning the war on terrorism then I say, it is the case, because we are fighting the wrong war. It is, in the end, and will be understood by the conventional wisdom of the western culture, not a war on terrorism but rather a war on extreme Islam, that is, it is a war of one culture and religion against another. When we come to grips with this and understand that it is indeed a war of survival then we will emulate Truman and take care of the problem. The problem for GWB is a war such as this derails his goal of world government and border less nations. This is very messy for GWB and the globalists. All one has to think about is how Saudi Arabia and OPEC is involved with world economics and how they are involved, or at least possibly in the extreme, with the war against Islam.

Here's one of the biggest problems as I see it:

Remember that in most conflicts, including even the American Revolution, the number of actual "fighters" -- people who have the foresight or fortitude or idealism to actually fight for what they believe in and risk all -- is a small minority compared to the larger number of people who just want to cling to the status quo and hope for the best (or let others take the risks for them).

When two similar cultures or societies go to war, this isn't an issue, since both will be fighting on equal terms.

HOWEVER... Compare how in the current situation, this factor ("only a minority are fighters") helps one side but handicaps the other:

1. Radical Islamics: Because the jihadists have an attitude of "Islam (*their* vision of Islam) is the only way and all else is satanic and deserves what it gets", they have no compunctions against terrorizing or killing the "nonfighters" of their own societies into either helping them in the jihad, or at least cowering and not getting in the way of the jihad.

2. Western democracies: In a Western democracy, because we do indeed believe in freedom, democracy, and peaceful resolution of disagreements, the "fighters" (i.e., those willing to take the risks or make the sacrifices necessary to be on a war footing when necessary for survival) can easily be overruled by the "nonfighters" in the society (usually through losing elections, or getting outvoted in critical congressional votes, or simply failing to take action because the action would be political suicide).

Consequently, as little as 5-10% of jihadists among a population can easily browbeat the rest of the population of their country/region into supporting or at least not opposing the jihad (and the raising of whole new generations as jihadists), whereas a Western democracy can be entirely hobbled from fighting back effectively by a mere slight majority (e.g. 51%) of pacifists, appeasers, or simple head-in-the-sanders, even if the other 49% of the society sees what has to be done and is willing to do it.

So an otherwise peaceful Islamic society can flip to a terrorist regime with as little as 5-10% support for jihad, whereas a democratic society can crumble with as much as 49% support for fighting back -- and may eventually be converted into another Islamic regime run by the 5-10% extremists.

Not a rosy picture.

From the last paragraph summery:

"The establishment of a national commission to investigate terrorist attacks upon the United States was a good idea. It could have been the forum for thinking the unthinkable and making America safer in the process. The decision to appoint to its panel ten political insiders who belong to different parties but share the same culture, values, and prejudices with the prospective witnesses reflected the determination of the Duopoly to prevent any such boldness. The Commission has avoided key issues, and failed America."

This is right on the money. This attack is bigger then politics, and the American people deserve better. Both parties are trying to squeeze redemption and leverage from the inquiries, and both should be denied. Two major events occurred on 9-11. First al Qaeda launched an attack on the United States of America, and second, our government failed to protect us from the attack. It was a failure of government, not a single president or political party.

Someone in government knew it was happening. I arrived home from a flight in the wee hours of 9-11, before the attack. Security had been beefed up prior to the attack. Why? Because someone in government knew something.

I left Massachusetts the evening of the tenth to fly home to California. I flew out of Providence rather then Boston. Security was extremely heightened, and in stark contrast to the security in place when I arrived 4 days earlier. I was awaiting the arrival of my daughter on another flight and passed through security freely on that day, and many times as I went to check the gates.

On the evening of the tenth security was staffed to the teeth and they were checking every article and package everyone had in their possession. We had a connecting flight to catch in Cincinnati. While in flight we were told there had been a change for the connecting flight and we would be placed on another flight instead. When we actually arrived there was utter confusion and we were given yet another set of instructions. While this was occurring another terminal was being completely evacuated. WHY? SOMEONE IN GOVERNMENT KNEW SOMETHING. I knew something was going on. Everyone on my flight knew something was going on. There had been numerous hijack warnings issued in the days leading up to 9-11.

I am not saying the attacks could have been avoided. Security did not appear to know what they were looking for. I am saying there is a political conspiracy in the works to deceive the American people. The failures of 9-11 to protect our country sets squarely on the shoulders of all our elected officials. It is not the fault of a single president, a single party, or a single government agency. One agency did try to act responsibly and had taken to increasing security the evening of the tenth. Was this alert just for a few airports? Did security have any idea what they should be looking for? Was the heightened security in place on the tenth suspended on the morning of the eleventh?

Unless the American people, regardless of party affiliation, demand an earnest report on 9-11 we are doomed to have repeat attacks.

I must confess to something.

On my first pass of this article, I succumbed to a kneejerk gut-reaction to what appeared to be yet another Eurocentric opinion of everything that America is doing wrong as it seeks to protect itself.

Turns out I was right.

Turns out the author may be right, too.

We may be a little punch drunk from dealing with international criticism but it may help to slow down and listen sometimes. We have only just begun this war. Though Democracy and the US military are powerful benevolent and terrible, they are as yet truly untested against such hatred. Have we bit off more than we can chew? Dealing with radical Islam seems to have become, as Thomas Jefferson described the approach to slavery, like holding a wolf by both ears - it's unpleasant but you sure don't want to let go. We are hamstrung in this country by vindictive leftists and will continue to struggle to bring liberating ideology to the mideast if we consistently show ourselves to be a divided, petty nation politically.
God help us all. God bless George W. Bush.
God bless FR
May God give us wisdom to find the right path.

A few quick points:
I regret any offense to anyone of Eastern European descent or nationality with my reference to "eenglish".
I promise to read post more thoroughly before posting pictures in an adolescent manner.
I have a master's degree.
Fireworks ARE a big industry in South Carolina but second only to the Legal profession.
My apologies to greenwolf's mother (sincerely).

Let's not be so brittle here on FR. if someone makes a stupid post, tell them, but don't impugn their education or their state.

Thank you for this indulgence, I have a clear conscience, now. Have a happy Easter, everyone.

The article touches on two of the REAL problems of the Middle East:

1) We Americans pay Saudis billions in oil who's kleptokrats are directly supporting Al Queda. We always tip-toe around Saudi Arabia. My biggest suggestion after 911 was to build 20 massive synthetic oil plants and stop buying old from the Middle East. Yeah, we would of all paid $2.50 a gallon until it became more mainstream but worth getting out of the Middle East energy power trap.

2) I believe Musharaff in Pakistan is truly an ally, but the author is right - the rest of the population is radical and Pakistans own Intelligence Agency supports Bin Laden directly and proliferates missle and nuke technology. We would have been better off funneling support and convincing Turkey who wanted to be bribed than Pakistan. To me, Musharaff's time is limited and then we get a hostile nuclear armed bunch of radical A-HOLES.

The root cause of Islamic terrorism in the West are the policies of racist colonialism and genocide being waged by the elite against their own people, the cause that this sham of an investigation dare not mention. Islam doesn't have the power to confront the West, Western leftists do have the power. Islamic terrorism is just a symptom of that intermal civil war, of the fact that the elite have chosen race as a stick to seize and maintain power over the masses. This is the most destructive weapon they could have chosen. The present crop of Islamic terrorists in the West are really nothing, they are premature, the real terrorism and conflict will begin when Muslims make up 20, 30, 40%, of the populations of these countries. The war the West is losing isn't the "War on Terrorism" it's the "War on Territory".