Mark Steyn: Only Bush can save Europe

The Spectator (U.K.) ^ | 04/24/04 | Mark Steyn

[MEG33]

I imagine we would do what we did with 911,figure out who did it and go after them.I imagine our sensitivities would be dulled to what we might inflict on others by that time.

[katana]

My first trip to France was in 1981 and even then one could see that entire districts around Paris were becoming "Little Algiers", pockets of an alien race and culture uninterested in and incapable of becoming part of the fabric of European life. By now the problem is a hundred times worse.

I've been waiting for Europe to wake up for almost 23 years and if they haven't by now then the patient is probably terminal. Sorry for the doom and gloom, but Europe has become a castrated nihilistic shell, most of whose people seem to be looking forward to or at best blindly ignoring their own impending (and violent - muslims don't take prisoners, only slaves) demise.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[Shazolene]

Those who support the 'rubber' stores are not the ones who will be fighting. They truly have nothing to fight for -- because fighting is inimical to pleasure, which is their only good. They don't even reproduce -- which could be seen as good or bad. (If they did, at least their offspring might be educated as to what IS worth fighting for -- but given the state of education in the West, I doubt it.)

Death of the West -- was Pat B. right for once?

[alwaysconservative]

Thanks for the ping, Pokey! This was a much more serious article than the usual Steyn, but brilliant nevertheless.

[monday]

"My question is, what has happened to mainstream America that allowed this in 45' but won't in 04'? Have people really become this naive or is it just a baseless opinion that's presented to us by the media that believes it? "

Both. If America were threatened by military conquest as it was during the second world war I am sure Americans would respond as they did then. This is a different kind of threat though.

The Islamofacists cannot win by direct military power although some of them clearly would like to try. The real threat of Islam is the one facing Europe. In a sense, the terrorists are doing their cause a disservice because if the west is provoked into action like Hiroshima, and millions of Muslims are killed, it might set back their eventual conquest of the west by submerging it in a sea of immigrants.

[Billthedrill]

Can a society become increasingly Islamic in its demographic character without becoming increasingly Islamic in its political character?

No. One of the two must bend. In a country such as Indonesia it's Islam that had to bend. In the middle east, not so.

Demographics isn't necessarily history, but when it implies a fading native population and a growing migratory one, then things start to look inevitable. Europe has been here before, right around the time that Rome's citizens stopped breeding and their Gothic cousins did not.

[pgyanke]

I was thinking yesterday of our approach to Soviet expansionism and found that there is a solution here in our current crisis as well.

Mutually Assured Destruction

There may be "moderate" Muslims who blanche at the methods of the "fanatics" but both have the same goal and the same weakness. The time may come soon--if it hasn't already--when we should have two very large missiles pointed at their sweet spots... Mecca and Medina.

We can call Medina the warning. Something along the lines of "another attack against American interests and Medina's toast. Push us again and guess what else you lose... Any questions?"

Draconian? Perhaps. Alternatives?

[Watery Tart]

The other day, Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad told Lisbon’s Publica magazine that a group of London Islamists are ‘ready to launch a big operation’ on British soil.

‘We don’t make a distinction between civilians and non-civilians, innocents and non-innocents,’ he said, clarifying the ground rules. ‘Only between Muslims and unbelievers. And the life of an unbeliever has no value.’

The cleric added he expected to see the banner of Islam flying in Downing Street. ‘I believe one day that is going to happen. Because this is my country, I like living here,’ he said. ‘If they believe in democracy, who are they afraid of? Let Omar Bakri benefit from democracy!’


Thanks for the UNEXERPTED ping, Pokey. Leave it to Steyn to be the lone source for this kind of revelation.

[BlueAngel]

Thanks, Pokey!

[RightWingMama]

Even when he writes what is really a depressing article I love it.

LOL! So true.

Thanks, Pokey, for the ping.

[Rummyfan]

So Mrs Khadr and her boy have now returned to Canada so he can enjoy the benefits of Ontario healthcare. ‘I’m Canadian, and I’m not begging for my rights,’ she declared. ‘I’m demanding my rights.’

Was there no basis to throw these two terrorists in jail?

[Rummyfan]

I would certainly start with Mecca and Medina, then on down the list.

[Kozak]

Our grandfathers fought to save Europe. Our fathers fought to save Europe. We were prepared to fight for Europe and helped guard it for decades. They repayed us by spitting on us.
I'll be DAMNED if my son will fight for Europe.

[DuncanWaring]

Do we take out Pakistan, Iran, and Syria? Medina and Mecca?

How about "All of the above"?

[DuncanWaring]

Imagine if we had FR, talk radio and Fox during the Tet offensive...how different history would be..

Imagine how different history would be if we had Walter Cronkite in his pulpit during the Ardennes Winter Offensive (Battle of the Bulge).

[Brian Allen]

<< Super, many thanks. >>

Well said.

Thanks for the ping, Pokes.

Blessings -- Brian

[B Knotts]

When we embrace the culture of death, we really punish ourselves by turning away from God, and the grace He freely offers. Now, Europe will see how harsh that punishment will be.

[Michael81Dus]

Puh? After all, the NATO treaty just requires to show support for the partner - that can mean the use of nukes but also just a letter saying "Oh, that´s a pity!".

But I would give my life to protect any of the 26 member-states of NATO.

[Carry_Okie]

An outstanding summary, replete with imagery, fact, and reason, one of Steyn's best.