Posted on 02/13/2006 9:50:03 PM PST by Daralundy
Nothing is quite as surreal as the Islamic world’s fury at the liberal and innocuous Danes. How could anyone wish to burn their embassies and kill their citizens, when they have always offered all the politically correct, multicultural platitudes and welcomed in any and all from the Middle East?
Now the furor over the cartoons, coming on the heels of the bombings in Madrid and London, the French rioting, the murders in Holland, and the failed European negotiations with the Iranian theocracy have shaken Europe to its foundations.
If the most liberal and tolerant states in Europe such as Holland and Denmark have the most problems with Islamic radicals, then what does that say about the continent as a whole? Why were not the calculating jihadists singling out a more unapologetic Catholic Poland that has larger contingents in Iraq and is far prouder of its Christian roots?
Do the Europeans sense that the more open, free-wheeling and non-judgmental the culture, the more it is hated by the jihadists? If Europe as a whole is more pro-Palestinian than the United States, disapproved of Iraq, and yet is still hated as much, is magnanimity at last exposed as appeasement—earning only contempt from an emboldened enemy?
Don’t look, however, for any overt expression of alarm. It is too much to ask of the European Union for now to go on the record supporting the right of Danish free expression or to demand an embargo of Iran as it approaches nuclear autonomy. Instead, expect the European reaction to be far more subtle: the same old public utopian rhetoric, but in the shadows a newfound desire to galvanize against the threat of Islamic fascism.
Here is what we can probably anticipate. First, will come a radical departure from past immigration practices. Islam will be praised; the Middle East assured that Europe is tolerant—but very few newcomers from across the Mediterranean let in.
There will be continued public furor over the American efforts in Iraq, but far greater secret efforts to coordinate with the United States—in everything from isolating the Assad regime in Syria to rethinking missile defense. For the past three years the post-colonial Europeans have wished the Americans to learn their imperial lessons by failing in Iraq. Yet it may well be that many in private will now wish us to succeed, if only in the hopes that such Middle East democracies will be less likely in the future to turn loose their mobs to burn European embassies and threaten their citizens.
We won’t see much public condemnation of Hamas, but more likely quiet efforts to pull the plug slowly on subsidies for such terrorists. The Europeans praised Arafat, then learned that he was singularly corrupt. Nothing disturbs a European more than to be swindled and damned as immoral in the process. Subsidies to Jew-hating Hamas terrorists only ensure both.
Europe will still talk about bringing Turkey into the fold of the West, but de facto is horrified at the thought that millions of a religion that empowers so many to go berserk over a few cartoons might soon comprise the most populous nation of Europe. I doubt any European diplomat will invest any political capital at all in restarting in earnest Turkish/European Union talks.
We can also look forward to more bizarre pronouncements such as Jacques Chirac’s warning about the French nuclear deterrent. In point of fact, Europe has no real defenses against a 9/11-like attack. They know it. So do the terrorists.
Crash an airliner into the dome of St. Peter’s or knock down the Eiffel Tower tomorrow: Europe has no mechanism to hunt down the perpetrators in the Hindu Kush, the Bekka Valley, or the wilds of Iran—much less, like the United States, to hold a rogue regime responsible.
Frustrated by its lack of military resources, but cognizant of the classical need to warn an enemy that more is to be lost than won from starting a war, France is reduced to bluster about nuclear weapons—threats that probably are either not believed or welcomed by the jihadists. In lieu of a credible military, Europe will send more tiny contingents to Afghanistan, remind the world that Britain and France are nuclear, and somehow hurry up to construct a conventional deterrent where there is now none at all.
Finally, the Europeans who despised the unilateral and preemptory George Bush will start to grate at his new multilateral side even more. Be careful what you wish for, especially when an American leader may now not necessarily be such an easy target of caricature—or may not always do the dirty work of fighting jihadists from Pakistan to the Sunni Triangle.
Instead, by letting the Europeans take the lead with the Iranian negotiations, and keeping nearly silent about the cartoon hysteria, the United States essentially has told the Europeans, “Here is the sort of restrained sober and judicious global diplomacy that you so welcome.”
Because of slated troop withdrawals from European bases, and a new American weariness with the old anti-Americanism, some Europeans are beginning to recoil at the idea that they might well be on their own—and in a war against fanatical enemies that they have appeased and without rational friends that they have estranged.
In response, we may see less of the anti-American rhetoric and a return to the Cold War slogans of a “strong Atlantic Alliance” and “an essential Nato,” as nuclear jihadists replace the fear of 300 Soviet divisions.
So now Europe is being thrust right into the middle of the so-called war against Islamic fascism. Once threatened, it will either react with a newly acquired Churchillian maturity to protect its civilization, or cave, in hopes that even more Chamberlain-type appeasement will satisfy the Islamists.
It should be a fascinating spring ahead.
For sure.
Can any reasonable person SERIOUSLY believe a Democratic Party controlled Fed govt would resist Islamic extremism?
Wow. What a powerful thought.
He's correct. The problem with European Socialists is the moral vacuum. Government cannot dictate morality when there is simply no basis for morality. Socialism is by nature a failure because it places government as the source of moral doctrine. People hear socialists lament over what is supposed to be right and wrong, their version of social justice. It has no impact, as the thinking man simply responds "Who the hell are you to tell me this?" Suffice to say that God in Heaven carries more influence. Socialists want to be God, but mostly end up looking like a sad joke (see: France.)
Christianity offers a vast array of moral doctrine and can be deeply infused within a society. The beliefs drive individuals to conform to society within the moral parameters defined by that doctrine. Socialist doctrine can never achieve that level of societal penetration. It is a joke by comparison.
Islam and Christianity can be described as competing in the area of morality ideology, although they are by no means comparable. Islam's advantage in Europe comes at the expense of the decline of Christianity due to the attack upon it by Socialists. They've been attempting to purge society of Christian values for years so that there can be no moral opposition to the implementation of a governing socialist ideology.
And in that moral vacuum left by a weakened Christian population, Islam thrives. It easily feeds upon the discontent and malice of the growing migrant population. It manipulates their frustration and fosters hatred which their leaders can direct like a blow from a hammer.
Bet those Euros are thinking that maybe those Christians and Jews weren't so bad after all.
Anyway, TheCrusader said it better in less words. Brevity is the soul of wit.
I believe that in the end, the western countries will unite to fight the scourge of Islamofascism. But first, Europe needs to get that sanctimonious and superior smirk slapped right off its face - but not by us.
Cruel as it sounds, this is a necessary step towards uniting against a common foe. If they are constantly shielded by us from the consequences of their own appeasement and enabling of the enemy - they will never grow up.
Hence, Bush's "surprising" reticence on the looney toon rioters is sociopolitical brilliance. When Europe finally comes limping back over from its riots and terrorist attacks (which will inevitably escalate), and after it's got "its mind right", we'll be there to participate with them in building a united front.
Who knows how long it'll take, but I hope they wise up in a hurry.
I am not so optimist. Europe has been disorientated since French revolution...and the philosophical movements that appears after it, that it is going to be quite difficult to go back to our roots.
Mostly, they will fold and wait for the grownups to fix it.
Thank you
BTW???
It spells WAR!
Even liberals are getting it!
I'm with you ... .
It has to end.
The ghost of Chamberlain is alive and well on the continent. The difference between "soft fascism" (the centralised gov't programs that all the Euros have to buy into) and Islamic fascism is not as great as between the former and having to fend for yourself (i.e. freedom from gov't). The entitlement mentality is so ingrained that it prevails even when there is are no actual entitlements. The Euro hatred of Bush is built on the premise of a lie that is the caricature of the Marxist mentality. It is not socialism, because if it were there would be no way to fool the masses into a sense of false security. True socialism is not centralised so I do not refer to it in that context. IMO the best analogy/metaphor/juxtaposition is the pure vile hatred of George Bush vs. the slight racism towards the Muslims. The Mussies are not a true threat because no one thinks they will ever have the power to take away the nonexistant entitlements, but GWB is evil because his ideas prove the lack of necessity and nonexistance of the entitlements thereby delegitimising the Marxist mentality wholesale. Hence, I agree totally with your assessment.
Fixed that (most likely).
Same here, but I do have grandsons...
LOL
You've just one the prize for the most ridicuulus statement of the day.
great article by VDH
Europe will not act as one, but each country has the choice to make: 1) defend yourself or 2) try the appeasement route.
You're not so bad at brevity. You should use the above for your tagline.
VDH ping to our good friend Tolik.
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