Posted on 08/02/2007 10:26:34 AM PDT by processing please hold
(CNSNews.com) - A significant percentage of Muslims across the globe are buying into radical ideas at a time when the technology enabling lethal weaponry is becoming more readily available, the editorial page editor for the Washington Times said Tuesday while addressing a gathering of conservative-minded college students in Washington, D.C.
The real possibility of a chemical, biological and even nuclear device being detonated in a major American city is further maximized by the unwillingness of many Bush administration critics to appreciate the dangers associated with the rise of radical Islam, Tony Blankley argued during the 29th Young America's Foundation National Conservative Student Conference.
He also said America may find itself on the receiving end of another major attack on U.S. soil before the political class accommodates itself to the necessity of certain counter-terrorism measures.
Blankley, who previously served as a press secretary to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and a policy analyst in the Reagan administration, described himself as a libertarian. Although he had long favored elevating civil liberties above "intrusive government," Blankley said, he found it necessary to rethink some of his views in the aftermath of 9/11.
"It does no good for us to be dead and theoretically free," he said. "I'd rather be alive and fight for our freedom. . . For the duration of the danger, I am in favor of more intrusion into our civil liberties as we had during World War II."
In recent years, the Internet has been used to spur radicalism among Muslims, Blankley observed. He cited poll numbers showing that anywhere from 10 to 25 percent of Muslims around the world have succumbed to "radical and violent theories" about their religion. The Internet today is as revolutionary as the printing press was in the 16th century, said Blankley.
The growth of radical Islam would be further accelerated if America were to withdraw from Iraq, said Blankley. The "symbol of an American retreat" would greatly swell the ranks of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, and have a "hugely powerful effect on their ability to recruit," he said.
It is proper to view Iraq, Blankley added, as one front in the war on terror.
"I find it ironic the people who say we didn't think smartly when we got in are thinking remarkably stupidly in saying we should get out," he said.
Blankley also discussed the troop surge in Iraq and told students there are some encouraging signs of American military progress.
While the Republicans are beset with their own special challenges in the 2008 election cycle, Blankley said, Democrats may have put themselves in a potentially awkward spot by investing so much in the prospect of an American defeat.
Meanwhile, the Washington Times editorial page editor is encouraged by some of the rhetoric now coming out of European leaders who previously viewed the threat of radical Islam as being "overblown," he said.
There were a number of officials in Great Britain, for instance, who Blankley claimed were dismissive of the findings in his book, "The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?"
Most recently, Blankley visited with Ian Blair, the head of Scotland Yard, who he described in his talk as "a modern, politically correct sleek bureaucrat" many steps removed from the "cigar-smoking," "mustachio" image most Americans tend to visualize.
Blair and other Scotland Yard officials now acknowledge that the "pool of potential terrorists in England" is in the hundreds of thousands, whereas they had previously thought they were in the hundreds.
In other words, it was thought the threat of radical Islam roughly mirrored what Scotland Yard faced when it sought to track members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
The British police need about 50 agents to track a single terrorist around the clock, Blankley said. Scotland Yard had assigned about 1,500 such agents for the purpose of tracking the IRA.
At present, Blankley said, he learned that only about 2,500 such agents are available to track the hundreds of thousands of potential terrorists tied to radical Islam.
"There is more fear now in Europe," he observed. "But fear can be a healthy thing, so long as you don't let it paralyze you."
That’s OK, processing, no intrusion on your part. And I am OK with dying for my country, but I want to die fighting, not sitting around bowing and scraping to people who are bent on my destruction.
Living in a Muslim majority country and having a prescience of what was to come, this was one of my first posts here at FR and on my blog - links to the originals are in the link below
Things are not going to get better FRiends, they are going to get much worse. America is destined to become like Singapore in the near future.
Freedom in America as we once knew it is gone - never to return.
America is ill prepared to fight Islam and has no chance at winning. To win would require a resolve that I really dont forsee happening in today's political environment.
"To maintain order and to ensure steady economic growth, stability both social and political, many are seemingly willing to initially forgo civil liberties in return for safety and stability. It is the safety and security of the nation that comes first before the individual. Countries such as Malaysia and Singapore prize stability and consensus while at the same time eschewing what they see as Western-style democracy which they claim has an emphasis on political conflict and debate."
"In the years ahead, as the world tries desperately to cope with population increases, demographic imbalances, unemployment, and both external and internal threats from quasi-fascist movements such as Islamic fundamentalism it will be social order and stability that will become of paramount importance to many people, much more so than liberty or freedom. Having already placed their lives in the omnipotent hands of the State, is it really such a leap of logic for one to foresee that individuals in the near future will think nothing of sacrificing freedom for security?
"Not unlike the countries in Southeast Asia, America and the West will seriously have to consider implementating further authoritative measures within our own societies in the near future to deal with the revanche of Islamic fundamentalism should we fail to address the political aspirations and aspects of Islam now."
From An American Expat in Southeast Asia ~ originally posted in 2005
Well said. The same goes here.
I agree with the first part of that statement. They are going to get worse and that will be the catalyst for those who turn their heads or refuse to see the danger. When car bombs start going off and there is a full fledged attack against us as in another 9-11 or worse. You sit back and watch what millions of pissed off Americans looking for some payback will accomplish. 9-11 caught us with our pants down, it won't happen a second time. I don't believe this government will be able to control what will happen. As far as our military goes, I can't see the average American soldier shooting their own family members if the gov. told them to put down the trouble. We, the angry fed up American citizen fighting against the jihadists being the 'trouble.'
The second part of your comment, 'America is destined to become like Singapore in the near future.' don't you believe it.
You can't feel anger boiling and growing just underneath the surface of the American citizen? Our government has sold us out to the highest bidder, and we know it, and they know we know it.
It would keep them up at night to know just what the common man and woman in this country is thinking.
I've probably said to much already but here's a piece of advice, never underestimate the man and woman in the street. Should head chopping start up here-I won't finish that comment.
Oh I see it boiling alright - and to use a analogy, it is more like slowly boiling a frog in hot water.
I see Americans talking a lot - but basically just complaining and then doing nothing. I often wonder where is the breaking point.
At this point you already have half the country willing to elect a Socialist to the nation's highest office! Please tell me that America can pull themselves back from the abyss - because from where I sit I see nothing but darkness ahead.
I watched the country zipping down the slippery slope at the speed of sound and the velocity continues to increase.
I could give a list of outrages, but then again it seems pointless. In all honesty I never imagined that political correctness would end up having America in a choke hold the way it does.
So tell me... when do Americans say enough? When do the pitchforks and lanterns come out?
FYI. Thanks.
When the next big attack against us happens.
You’re welcome.
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