A tall order given the paucity of literature on the darker side of Islam, the more relevant side at this period in history.
Islam has been dormant in its natural militant form for 5 generations or so and its true nature forgotten in its irrelevancy in recent history.
Serious reflection of the 500 years of Jihad before the Crusades (why the Crusades, anyway?) and the 1000 years following would bring into sharp focus the true nature of this scourge.
A serious effort at searching out the available literature would focus clearly the uncompromising nature of this primitive belief system, and it's only possible attitude towards more advanced society.
Islam's very nature prevents it from evolving and becoming civilized.
This author's enthusiasm is like a child with a hammer. Everything he sees is a nail and he is blind to its darker side.
No matter, a serious review of history will clarify the true nature of Islam and its uncompromising hostily to current civilization.
The problem is that these what he considers prejudices are the beliefs that are the foundation of our republic: that man is endowed by his Creator, not reason, with certain inalienable rights. Fighting those who are committed to the destruction of Jewish or Christian values, and by extension, the freedoms that these values have fostered, by encouraging a belief in nothing, or an “understanding” of a belief system that has the West’s destruction as its goal, is to doom our civilization.
Fundamentalist Islam must be neutralized by force so that the West can survive to encourage its followers to reform it from within.
Tolerance is something to be reserved for those who do not pose a threat to our existence.
I think all of those assertions are extremely dubious.
The single secular Muslim country of note, is Turkey. It is 95% Muslim, has elections, is in NATO, etc.
Looking back at 7th Dec 1941, can folks explain how we took pains, to analyse Japan's Shinto and Bhuddist traditions, as they might influence/control their choice to attack us? Even as history has been written and re-written, religion rarely comes up, pertaining to WWII.
Therefore, I would rather focus on the criminal acts, and the nations involved. Easy to do war with them.
Finally, the faith is highly suspect. Bush is for the time obligated to make statements about the situation. As time wears on, it may come out that the faith, itself, is THE major problem. I truly think it is.
It is sort of a chicken and egg thing. Do the people live in such despair, no smiles, no joy, little material success, because of Islam? What is the first cause? Rainfall statistics are the same for Israel and Jordan. Race in both cases is essentially the same. It must be religion.
However, understanding how your enemy thinks - even when you are diametrically opposed to it - is an extremely powerful tool in defeating them. It is a classic strategy, used by all great leaders in conflict. With that in mind, I will continue to post articles which help us defeat their neuroses.
The first and only real qualification of greatness is that the religion is lost in the mists of antiquity as to its origins, however has ancient written traditions regarding such origins AND it survives to the present day with a large following.
There are only two such. Hindu and Hebrew. Christianity qualifys because it is essentially Herew to this day. Polytheistic vs Monotheistic vs Atheistic. Everyman makes his choice. Flollowers of modern or middle ages cults like Islam have not made a choice. They have opted for an uninformed, uneducated non choice. Perhaps this is why they hate the informed of the planet so much.