Good evening again, Travis!
Travis Pahl wrote to everyone, responding to Ben Irvin and
Douglas Friedman...
I am friends with and have worked with far too many Muslims to know
that what both Ben and Doug are saying about Muslims is far too broad
of a generalization. Most are pretty much like your typical
christian. Yes there are jihadists out there but what Ron Paul says
regarding our foriegn policy is true. If we leave them alone they
will find someone else to get pissed off at before they come attacking
us. Whether it be some other non muslim in the area that decides to
take our place as policeman of the region, or other muslims that
beleive a slightly different thing, the point would be american policy
would no longer be endangering americans as it is now.
Without sounding contradictory to myself earlier, I would like to
point out that the current trends, actually going back for over a
decade or so now, actually point to a "revival" of sorts within
Islam driven by radical Islamic fundamentalists. The "revival"
that I talk about is probably rooted in the Koran and ancient
Islam, and is now taking aim at western civilization per se,
rather than regional neighbours as you pointed out.
The Iraq war was a tremendous blunder in terms of a foreign
policy debacle by the United States. In the aftermath of 9/11,
we did have some degree of sympathy from more moderate Islamic
states. It wasn't exactly the kind of sympathy that I might call
substantial outrage, since Islamic law in terms of history at
least, seems to condone such actions as the terrorists themselves
inflict in the name of Islam. It's hard for "Muslim brothers" to
totally condemn actions done on behalf of Allah, and as directed
by Islamic scriptures and dictates.
So, there is some degree of sadness at the 9/11 events, but
somehow you get the feeling that such sadness is tempered by
something fundamentally WRONG with the west, particularly the
United States. In other words, not a fundamental outrage over
what happened, but something bordering upon sorrow at the loss of
life and damage, but somehow understandable. No outright
forceful condemnation in large part by the world-wide Islamic
community, if there is indeed there really is such a community at
all.
The point I am making here is twofold. First, there is already a
strong and growing commitment and hatred for the US throughout
the Islamic world, almost one-third of the population of the
planet, particularly after the invasion of Iraq, apparently
without adequate foundations as initially specified, and
secondly, this radical anti-western militant Islamic threat is
growing, not lessening, and therefore it isn't likely that any
other large target other than western culture will be forthcoming
in the event that the US is defeated in Iraq. And, at this
point, even if some semblance of victory could be declared, with
lesser defined goals, such a threat is certainly not going to
likely disappear either, but will rather grow and increase over time.
This is not exactly the same thing as America's defeat in
Vietnam. The Vietnamese were just content to defeat the
Americans, and didn't pose any real threat to pursue the war to
the shores on the U.S. or other western powers. There would
never have been any support with the "then" world-wide communist
states to ever pursue such blatant aggression; but Islamic
fundamentals would now be on a roll so to speak, in following the
infidels back into their caves and holes within their own
dominions. I believe that is where we are today, right now,
whether or not we win or lose Iraq. The ranks of the extremists
within Islam are growing exponentially, certainly NOT declining;
and this is something our children and grandchildren will have to
deal with for decades to come. Or so I fear.
It is improper to try and compare America's defeat in South East
Asia in the 60's -70's by the communists in Vietnam, with a
religious-political ideology that is enshrined by one-third of
the world and enjoys popular support, to a communist hegemony
that was driven entirely by central tyranny and COMMANDED such
support by brute force. The Communist insurgence only last for a
period of 70 years, not one and a half-millenniums! The dynamics
and demographics between the two are not comparable in any
fashion whatsoever.
It is also instructive to note that although the
religious/political ideology in the west has shifted markedly
over 1 millennium and a half, while the Islamic
religious/political ideology has remained almost intact. This
shift places western civilization in a disadvantage, since there
are very few ideological or religious basis to fight a war that
only a small minority within the civilization feels is important
enough to really fight and die for! Hence, the western
civilizations lack of resolve for winning a war that it no longer
really understands, since the dynamics have changed greatly.
Kindest regards,
Frank
We've opened a Pandora's box that will be much more difficult to
deal with
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