Admit Who the Enemy Is!

Surely somewhere in some psychology textbook, there must be a name for the neurosis that afflicts this nation’s most enlightened thinkers. These same people who still scold the Bush Administration for failing to “connect the dots” in pre-9/11 intelligence, cannot find the dots that point to the real peril that this nation and all western civilization faces. The page is nearly blacked out with dots and yet those who hail themselves as better able to protect our security claim not to see them.
We are at war and our deep thinkers don’t seem to find that fact particularly noteworthy. For example, when a terrorist plot to bomb airplanes over the Atlantic Ocean was revealed, the media’s attention span was largely exhausted overnight. Within 24 hours the focus turned to the inconvenience of travelers. Even on day one CNN managed to find airtime to pass along the latest Jennifer Aniston - Vince Vaughn engagement rumors.
However, when a suspect was arrested in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case, all other news (including the war) was shoved into the background. Similar wall-to-wall coverage was devoted to the Lacy Peterson and Natalee Holloway disappearances. Considering the relative gravity of a war of civilizations and missing pretty girls, the media’s chosen focus is difficult to justify.
Earlier this week a Zogby poll discovered that more Americans could name the three stooges than could list the three branches of government. Americans knew the Seven Dwarfs better than the nine Supreme Court Justices. It’s hardly surprising that Americans are so ignorant of the world considering the news they are fed. It is no less surprising that Americans know so little about the progress of the war, why it is being fought, or what are the likely consequences of failure.
The so-called war on terrorism is a silly misnomer. We are fighting Islamic fascism and almost every Islamic nation on earth serves an incubator for these terrorists. In fact, the nation needn’t be Islamic. It only needs to harbor a significant Islamic community. The terrorists who attempted to blow up planes departing from Heathrow to the United States were native-born British citizens who grew up in Islamic neighborhoods. A recent poll of British Muslims found that about 6% supported suicide attacks such as those plotted for last week. Another fraction amounting to about 500,000 total citizens favored extermination of Jews. All this is brewing in the country that is our most stalwart ally.
We don’t seem to have nearly so obvious a pustulating tumor as that threatening us here. Instead our greatest peril derives from those whose hatred of George Bush blinds them to the genuine peril that we face. They are so ideologically blind that when Bush described our enemy as Islamic fascism, at least two prominent Democrats criticized Bush for fanning fear to gain political advantage.
From the Crusades to the Spanish Inquisition, one can easily recount historical events when rogues calling themselves Christians have invoked Christ’s name to justify horrific crimes that Christ most certainly would not have condoned. But Mohammed himself committed ghastly crimes in his own name and to advance his religion. The beheadings that terrorists commit, videotape and post on their websites today are entirely consistent with the teaching and practices of Mohammed. In 627 AD Mohammed led the attack, siege, and ultimate conquest of Medina’s last Jewish tribe, the Qurayza. His army’s victory left him with thousands of prisoners. After consultations with Allah, Mohammed ordered his troops to lop off the heads of the city’s 600 – 900 surviving men. The prettiest girls were distributed among Mohammed and his lieutenants as concubines, and the rest of the women and the children were sold into slavery.
This incident, and others like it, are referenced by radical Islamic scholars when they attempt to reconcile seemingly contradictory passages in the Koran. One may easily find suras where Mohammed counsels his followers to practice peace and tolerance toward unbelievers and others where he exhorts his flock to kill the infidel where he stands. When confronted with these dilemmas, scholars give greater weight to words spoken by Mohammed later in his life and also compare his words to his deeds. The fiery, violent brand of Islam we have become too familiar with wins both of these tiebreakers.
We need to know our enemy at least as well as we know our stooges.