Posted on 09/28/2001 1:54:36 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
America is in danger of losing this war.
But not because of any lack of military might or intelligence capability, nor even because of any unwillingness to sustain grievous human and financial losses.
No, America is in danger of losing this war because of political correctness.
Answer me this: If we can't identify who the enemy is – and, in fact, refuse to do so – haven't we lost already?
The news media, the filter through which Americans receive their information, is reluctant to define the enemy. Indeed, within the last week, it has become politically incorrect to describe the Islamic terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center and Pentagon, murdering thousands of innocent Americans, as "Islamic terrorists."
As the Washington Times reported, "an organization of religion news reporters yesterday suggested that reporters avoid the term 'Islamic terrorist' or similar labels as Muslims and their beliefs receive greater scrutiny. The Religion Newswriters Association said it was 'troubled' by the frequent use of the term in the days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington." At its annual meeting last week, the group adopted a resolution also rejecting "similar phrases that associate an entire religion with the action of a few."
OK, but at least we can still call them terrorists, right?
Wrong.
Stephen Jukes, Reuters' global head of news, decreed that the giant wire service's 2,500 journalists should not use the T-word unless in a direct quote.
"We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist," he wrote in an internal memo. "To be frank, it adds little to call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack."
Attempting to explain his values-neutral approach, Jukes added: "We're trying to treat everyone on a level playing field, however tragic it's been and however awful and cataclysmic for the American people and people around the world."
So former Reagan staffer and columnist Paul Craig Roberts was right when he observed recently that "Americans might be so politically correct and racially sensitive as to be unable to deal with the problem at all."
And yet, as America's experience in Vietnam proved, widespread public support is critical for a successful campaign, especially a long, difficult and costly campaign, as the forthcoming war promises to be. Hard to garner support if the press doesn't tell us who the enemy is.
But the news media don't prosecute the war – the government does. So, how are our leaders doing in defining the enemy?
"Islam is a religion of peace," we are told, and these terrorists – oops, I guess I should say, these folks – are just some bad apples that belong to a widely dispersed "terror network" of a few hundred or even a few thousand members – who have "hijacked" Islam in order to philosophically justify their murderous hatred of the West.
But as Mideast expert Daniel Pipes wrote this week, "The president dismissed al-Qaida's version of Islam as a repudiated 'fringe form of Islamic extremism.' Hardly. Muslims on the streets of many places – Pakistan and Gaza in particular – are fervently rallying to the defense of al-Qaida's vision of Islam. Likewise, the president's calling the terrorists 'traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam' implies that other Muslims see them as apostates, which is simply wrong. Al-Qaida enjoys wide popularity – the very best the U.S. government can hope for is a measure of Muslim neutrality and apathy."
Although without question there are millions of peaceful, tolerant and decent Muslims, what we're talking about here is a particular brand of Islam -- a rapidly expanding one at that -- often called "Islamism." Like communism and Nazism, it is a brutal, coercive utopian movement bent on nothing less than total world domination. It's what President Bush described, in his excellent Sept. 20 speech to the nation, as heir "of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century ... they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism." Yes, the president, to his credit, characterized the enemy correctly, albeit briefly and incompletely. But he gave no sense of the size of the enemy.
Take a deep breath. Of the world's approximately 1.2 billion Muslims, an estimated 10 to 15 percent are of the militant "Islamist" strain. Do the math – that's well over 100 million human beings who, to a greater or lesser degree, are caught up with what amounts to the world's most dangerous cult.
Paul Marshall, senior fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House, told this writer that right now perhaps eight to 10 governments are "scared of being toppled" if they stand up to the Islamic "jihad" against the West. Citing Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Jordan, Indonesia and other potential "coalition" members, Marshall said such states "are afraid their country could be destabilized if they support the West too much, which shows that opposition to American action is not simply from a few hundred people."
By the way, if you want to truly understand what America is up against, who the enemy really is – in-depth – you should read the upcoming issue of WND's "Whistleblower" magazine. This extra-large issue, titled "JIHAD: The radical Islamic threat to America," will be devoted from cover to cover to a groundbreaking exploration of America's most mysterious, and deadly, enemy.
Now that we've talked a bit about what we're up against, let's think about political correctness, that bizarre self-censorship that currently makes us afraid even to name the enemy, let alone fight it.
Political correctness, at its core, is intimidation. Terrorism, of course, is the ultimate in intimidation.
The militant Islamic movement – as opposed to peaceful Muslims – wants to intimidate the United States, to intimidate us out of the Middle East so it can destroy Israel, take over the so-called "moderate" states, especially Saudi Arabia, ushering in a unified and radicalized Islamic state throughout the Mideast, and control the world's oil. Oil is a powerful weapon.
Then, they can destroy America in their own good time – remember, it is central to their politicized, utopian, religious beliefs that they convert the entire world to Islam – by force, if necessary.
But how can America withstand such intimidation when we have already given in to seemingly far less threatening intimidators in recent times?
We have given in to the militant homosexual movement – not the live-and-let-live homosexual who wants to be left alone to live his or her life – but the radical strain of homosexual activism that wants to force a repugnant agenda down our throats – to teach kindergartners about perverted sex, make AIDS exempt from normal infectious-disease protocols and outlaw traditional Christian teaching on homosexuality as a "hate crime."
The militant women's movement – not your normal women's activists seeking equal pay for equal work, but the extremist wing – intimidated America into allowing women in combat, unlimited abortion-on-demand, no-fault divorce, and driving millions of mothers into the workforce who really would rather have stayed home and raised their children.
The militant civil-rights movement – not Martin Luther King who championed a color-blind society, with which most Americans heartily agree – but the radical, virulent strain, the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world, brought us forced bussing, reverse discrimination, endless hypocrisy and increased, not decreased, racial hatreds.
And Americans have been so intimidated by their own government that, just a few months ago, President George W. Bush had to stump across the nation, begging outrageously overtaxed Americans to accept a tax cut, so fearful and brainwashed are so many of us of losing some perceived government benefit.
If America is to have any chance of prevailing in this war – which is not only a military conflict, but a cultural and spiritual one as well – we in the Free World have to come to grips with Islam. But to do so, we first have to come to grips with ourselves. We must become virtuous. We must become courageous. We must become self-disciplined, mature and uncompromisingly honest. And we must throw political correctness onto "the unmarked grave" of history. If we do, we can address with a clear head and a pure heart the spiritual warfare in which, ready or not, we are now engaged.
For the truth is, there is no clean distinction between "good Islam" on one side and "bad Islam" on the other. There is, rather, a continuum. Take the estimated four to seven million Muslims in the U.S.A. At one end, and clearly this constitutes the majority, you have the peaceful Muslim family living down the street that obeys our laws, pays their taxes and are proud to be Americans. But since Sept. 11, we have learned that, while we were asleep in this country -- with our borders wide open, giving high-technology to our enemies -- an unknown number of terrorists also have set up shop in America, along with their supporters, sympathizers, apologists and funders.
In between these two types of Muslims – the loyal American and the enemy – you have many degrees of dissatisfaction and outright anger at the United States of America, of sympathy for Palestinian suicide bombers, of secret and sometimes open agreement with the Sept. 11 attacks and, in some cases, of actual cooperation with America's enemies. There is a great deal more to this adversary than meets the eye.
America's job is to utterly destroy – that means kill – the terrorist network, root and branch, and likewise to destroy the governments of the terrorists' patron states. If we do this just right, with the right spirit and timing, we may just succeed in shocking those millions of future Osama bin Ladens who today are following the siren song of militant Islam, and forcing them toward the more moderate end of the spectrum.
To accomplish such a Herculean task will take nothing less than God's intervention. And to receive such help from above, we must look to Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
This should be the fate of terrorists who plan atrocities from within their host nation.In war time, we need't wait for their execution before their execution. And, perhaps we ought to invite the politically correct crowd to participate in the first test drop.
Islam and Western Civilization DOES NOT and CANNOT mix. The Mohammedans know this, that's why they want the USA to become an Islamic state. They CANNOT seperate religious law from secular law, it's AGAINST their religion. It's a lost cause until we come to this realization.
Then, they can destroy America in their own good time – remember, it is central to their politicized, utopian, religious beliefs that they convert the entire world to Islam – by force, if necessary.
AMEN to that! I don't think we REALLY believe this is the ultimate goal.
Stephen Jukes, Reuters' global head of news, decreed that the giant wire service's 2,500 journalists should not use the T-word unless in a direct quote.
"We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist," he wrote in an internal memo. "To be frank, it adds little to call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack."
In 1990 Rush Limbaugh warned that Political Correctness, especially on the college campuses, was becoming the Fascism of America. In this case, I think Rush has been proven "More than Right." Who could have predicted such sheer, stark-raving mad lunacy would develop from the PC movement?
Even here on FR, the PC crowd sometimes jumps in with such whimpy fury, that I fear at the rate we are going, in a few more years, an excellent article posting such as this one would be pulled by the PC Police.
Thanks for the head's up, JohnHuang2, this represents an absolutely awful & nefarious social development.
Bump for these guys. Our only real hope in "winning" whatever we're in now is for this PC crap to be beaten out of people. We need a population who have the backbone to demand any questionably allied foreign nationals be deported ASAP. Even if some innocent, charming foreign nationals get shipped out. We need a population who have the backbone to make this country uninviting for anyone who's of a mind to move here, live here for few years, then strap on a bomb for Allah.
The terms of this war cannot possibly have sunk into the national psyche yet, but all here know that we are LIVING IN the frontlines. This BS about being nice-nice to the innocent (whomevers) is great in an academic kind of way, but when you're dealing with an enemy who willing to exchange his one life, in a surprise and catestrophic fashion, for the lives of thousands of people; untold vital communication, transportation, and commerce infrastructure, and the guy could be living next door to you and me, then we haven't really got much choice to be a bunch of pricks about weeding him out. IOW, we need to err on the side of being too harsh, rather than erring on the side of appeasing the PC sensibilities that have been strangling rational discourse and thought in this country for years.
Unfortunately, the sentiment of tolerance at any cost is getting increased play on the public airwaves. We will likely have the opportunity to see the stamina of said sentiment in the face of another horrendous attack. At that point, we will know whether we've won or lost, IMO.
Just so. We just may have to throw the Libs into the "dustbin of History" first in order to do it.
These men, these terrorist (I will use the term), do not fight for freedom. They fight for conquest. They fight for domination. They fight Christianity. They by their own words fight to make the whole world an Islamic Republic. They can hardly be called Freedom Fighters
When one sets out to report on an event one must define the event in terms that can be understood by the target audience. The attack on the World Trade Center attack was an attack on building predominately occupied by civilians. This is a target with out any military or strategic value. This attackers only conceivable purpose is to strike fear in to the populace of the target country and destroy the will of the people to resist the attacker and accede to attackers political demands. This in the understanding of the general population of this country would in popular parlance be termed as a Terrorist Attack
And as the reality of an obliterated national icon and financial hub fades into "America United" or "America's New War" or whatever braindead network of your choice has named this week in time, we lose sight of the bottom line. This situation will very possibly become, whether the majority wants it or not, a war between Islam and the West. Correction: the guys of 9/11 have made this a war between Islam and the West. And the West, being so hamstrung by PC, can't find the stones to call it what it is. Please, West...find the stones, and join the battle that is on your front lawn.
One thing I've noticed lately, and one must listen to NPR to hear this (for now at least), but many of the pc police are trying to use this attack as a venue for moving their agendas forward.
For example, Andrew Sullivan thinks now is a good time to lift restrictions on gays in the military, feminists want us to rethink our martial macho culture and/or make women's opinions on war equally relevant to talk of retaliation. Afterall we can't give into the forces of "hate". Militant blacks wonder if America is even worthy of defense.
Our leaders, and each of us, must insist that this fight, this war, is about our survival as a free people. Nothing less. All appeals to politics & politeness & fairness be damned. These are distractions we can't afford.
I believe these discordant voices will grow as the shock of the attack wears off. No freedom loving citizen should give them any leeway or venue for their stupidity.
AP? Making sure we're on our toes, John, even before the first cup of coffee?
Good post. Hopefully, this war will mean the death of PC. If not, I fear it will mark a significant inflection point in the decline of America.
It shouldn't be hard to come to that realization, there are many here in the US that don't want church and state seperated.
I'm actually somewhat worried that some news organization will flash a few pics of people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and all of the sudden the sheeple of the world will try and make us out to be bad guys. "Those awful Americans, look how they killed civilians" and then some here in the US will lose the will to do what has to be done. Things happen, there's nothing we can do about it. Sometimes the means justify the end (and before anybody brings up Hamburg and Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hey, we could have totally demolished those countries had we not done what we did).
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