The West's Achilles' Heel (The myth of the moderate muslim)

The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest ^ | 11-12-05 | Jack Kinsella

[emiller]

On Friday, three hotels in Jordan were subjected to near simultaneous suicide attacks. The hotels were part of Western hotel chains, but the targets were carefully selected Muslim civilians.

One of the attackers sought out a Muslim wedding party, infiltrated as one of the guests, insinuated himself into the center of the group of 300 wedding guests, and detonated his payload.

The attacks bore all the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda hit, particularly since the three attacks were coordinated as a simultaneous assault. The attacks occurred on November 9. The date, written in the British fashion used in Jordan, would therefore be 9/11. In addition, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda forces in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Cut and dried, right?

Wrong. This is the Middle East.

[Ostlandr]

So by definition, once we get done killing every radical Muslim, Jihadist, and Islamo-fascist, won't the rest be pretty peaceful (or at least cowardly?)

Believe me, it's so tempting to give in to the urge to say "Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out." And it would be much easier for our troops to firebomb entire villages rather than try to separate the chaff from the wheat and only kill the terrorists and jail the sympathizers.
I mean, they started it, right? And we'd be doing God's work, killing those who oppose the Lord, right? And since they're damned to hell as unbelievers anyway, why not send them there a little sooner?
But that would make us just like them. We're better than that.
Yeah, it really s***s to have to be the good guys all the time and play by the rules. But that's what makes us the good guys.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

"The Spanish answer to that in the 1400s was the Spanish Inquisition."

1. I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition.

2. On a more serious note...do we REALLY want to run things in the way that Spain did in 1400?

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

The road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions.

[Gritty]

do we REALLY want to run things in the way that Spain did in 1400?

It's hard to argue with success. The Muslims left and they had almost 600 years of peace from Jihad.

[txroadhawg]

Okay, show of hands- how many people have actually browsed a copy of the koran?
Don't know about you, but I don't browse toilet paper before using it.

I've seen one. Don't know why but can't help turning around and looking before flushing.

[Chaguito]

Moderate Islam is like the owners of the vicious dogs that attacked the woman in the hall of her apartment in 2002 in San Francisco. They claimed perfect innocence but vaguely hinted that the woman deserved death for being a lesbian.

[ClaireSolt]

As a historian, I am always fascinated by people who say someting can't be done without creating an Orwellian hellhole. Well, Orwell wrote fiction, but history has brought forward the same solution over and over again. These days all you would have to do is warn people to get out, and they would get on planes and go. You might not need to salt the earth, after all.

[ladyinred]

"There is a very strong historical reason, because Israel has caused a lot of grief for Arab people one way or another."

That is a bald faced lie.

I have actually read many parts of the koran. Why?

[Billthedrill]

Okay, show of hands- how many people have actually browsed a copy of the koran?

Read it, actually, cover to cover. It isn't really like any other religious literature I've encountered - it's sprawling and disjointed and often self-contradictory.

It's that last point that leads some people to believe that Islam is a "religion of peace" and others to point out some really blood-curdling parts. They're all in there. What really counts is which parts serve as guidance to the fellow you're facing at the moment, and for a significant portion of Moslems that's the decapitation stuff.

But for an equally significant portion is isn't. Yes, there are moderate Moslems, but half of their co-religionists call them heretics and threaten to kill them and half of their Christian and Jewish counterparts don't think they exist because all they've ever met are the other kind.

I have a particular example in mind, a Pakistani friend who's gentle and funny and doesn't care who or what I worship. I think that any Christian who reads the Qur'an and tells him he isn't a proper Moslem is no better than a Moslem who does the same thing. It's kind of tough getting that from both sides.

[oneofmany]

I suggest the devastation of the greater Middle East. Leaving an enemies homeland a smoking crater really has a way of taking the fight out of them. Ask the japanese.

[kanawa]

I don't think we should equate islam to 1.2 billion moslems.
islam is a cult. It is the cult that must be destroyed.
This doesn't necessarily mean 1.2 billion people must be killed.
It may mean that every meeting place and all cult propaganda must be destroyed.
No regime based on it would be allowed. No proselytizing would be permitted.
The prohibitions would have to be backed up with the severest consequences.

If you think I sound like one of them, let me tell you, this is what is being planned for you and your descendants.
This is what islam will do if we do not rise up and stop it.
Perhaps we can contain it temporarily but as long as the virus of the koran and islam exists any containment in time will fail.
I pray to God to show me some a way out of this without mass bloodshed.
But at this point, if my suggestions above do not work, or someone can not show me a better way.
Then kill them all.
If I must take the responsibility for this then so be it,
I do not wish to leave this nightmare to my grandchildren and beyond.

[Banagor]

I, henceforth, believe that Islam is exactly like Nazism. If there were 1.2 billion Nazis in the world today, I would have the exact same formula to defeat them: blow them up until they beg for mercy.

Sorry, but I don't see the difference between Nazis and Islamists - or most Muslims in general. When Nazis went around and tried to kill Jews and everyone else who wasn't like them, and Muslims are doing the same, what the hell is the difference? Skin color? I'm sorry, I won't be a racist and let that get in the way of calling something unjust and wrong.

I hate them, and they hate me, and they are the enemy. And just as there were a few renegade Germans out there who tried to fight it off, the majority went along because they agreed with it. So, until they are defeated - permanently - that is exactly what they are: The New Nazis, the New enemy, and the next in line to be defeated.

If you want to know why and how I REALLY think this way, you can read this VERY strongly worded piece that I wrote:

http://nerra.com/broadsword/archives/2005/11/14/742/you-want-to-kill-a-muslim-really-fast/

And just in case you don't fully agree, here's something more personally targeted:

http://nerra.com/broadsword/archives/2005/11/05/723/really-fucking-stupid-people/

[Lancer_N3502A]

Browsed? No. I used one once for toilet paper.

[john drake]

I believe they are very proud of who they are and would be happy to make you a second class citizen in your own land.Wake up and smell the coffee, before it's too late.

Do you know anyone who he is free in a Muslim dominated country? Ever read history, bub? I'm Orwellian....go to a Muslim country and see what it is not to be one...now that's Orwellian.

[john drake]

Surrendering already? They are not smarter than we are, we just aren't fully prepared to deal with them, that's all. And the concept of them pretending to be Christians, well, that can be worked out over time. If you rid yourself of most of the problem, or prevent it from entering to begin with, you pretty much have things under control.

If the U.S. Government looked at Nazis and Communists the way you do, we'd be in pretty sad shape by now, don't you think? Have you already forgotten 9-11? Do you understand the history of Islam? Start reading and thinking before engaging, your civilization could be depending on it.

[NJ_gent]

"Do you know anyone who he is free in a Muslim dominated country?"

Close to a million in Qatar alone. It's a country that's 95% Muslim, yet the people there enjoy more freedom than just about anyone else around them. Their literacy rate for women is nearly equal to that of men (about 1% difference), and is almost 90% for both. They have universal suffrage, a 2.7% unemployment rate, a constitution not governed by Shari'a, and an 8.7% GPD growth. They're some of the freest, happiest, and most pro-western people in the region. It's no surprise that when you educate your people and don't keep them stuck in poverty, they tend toward freedom. Is it any surprise that the US chose to coordinate regional military operations from there? Certainly not.

[manwiththehands]

Don't need to browse a Koran. 1 billion Muslims have yet to control a few thousand "extremists". The problem is not "extremism". It's Islam. Case closed.

[john drake]

I stand corrected, sort of ..... almost 1% of the Muslim world...and a helluva long way to go. Assuming the terrorist elements don't get their hooks into them, they might have a chance. However, statistically speaking, 1% is of no statistical consequence. Maybe time will tell, maybe. But I'm not betting on it. If enough Western influence can sway them, maybe. Remember, out of all the groups missionaries ever tried to convert, they were the least successful with Muslims...were and still are.

[NJ_gent]

"If enough Western influence can sway them"

I don't think it has anything to do with that. I think when you give people economic freedom and education, they'll handle the rest of it on their own. Someone who's educated and financially self-sufficient generally isn't easily manipulated into doing crazy things like strapping a bomb to their chest. Take out the extremists manipulating these people and work to educate the masses (not Saudi Arabia's brand of "education") and I think you'll find that the few remaining nutjobs won't have followers prepared to do their dirty work for them. At that point, they'll be a minor group of malcontents incapable of carrying out real terrorist operations.

Jordan is another example, by the way, if you discount the masses of Palestinian refugees living there. Jordan's citizens are generally happy and generally pro-western. Why? Money and education. The Saudis remain the major stumbling block to solving the problem of terrorism in the Middle East. They ought to be subject to the same treatment as the Taliban because they behave the same way; only they have a greater effect because we keep handing them tons of cash.

[Nicholas Conradin]

I have read about a quarter of it, IMHO it seems to be a contrived document that perverts the OT and NT into what a megalomaniac would want god to say about his actions.

A pithy, succinct and (IMHO) quite accurate description of the Koran (or Qu'ran or whatever).

Have you gotten your free edition from CAIR? I have. Makes a great paperweight.