fear noted again. On Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 11:33:45 AM UTC-5, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/islamist_barbarism_at_the_gate_.html > > March 10, 2015 > Islamist Barbarism At The Gate > > By Michael Curtis > <http://www.americanthinker.com/author/michael_curtis_1/> > > The barbarism of Islamist terrorists grows every day. They are committing > war crimes by systematically destroying the cradle of Western civilization > and erasing the history of the region. > > The world has become familiar with Islamist actions: not just the cruel > brutal behavior of the Islamist State of Iraq and Syria (IS) with its > belligerent militarism, its beheadings of hostages, and crucifixion of > Christians, but also the actions of other Islamist groups such as al-Qaeda, > Taliban, and Boko Haram. These groups have been responsible for terrifying > modes of punishment for any divergence from the right way of life they > impose, for the suppression of education, honor killings, enslaving and > sexually assaulting teenage girls, genital mutilations, and forced > marriages. > > Now, the world is witnessing with horror the destruction by Islamist > terrorists of the cultural heritage of entire civilizations, including > UNESCO World Heritage Sites, in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. > > It is baffling that some well-meaning Westerners still regard Islamist > extremists -- jihadists -- as carrying the banner of the oppressed or the > underprivileged. They disregard the reality that the extreme Islamists are > not the modern incarnation of the members of the movements that pressed for > liberation from Western colonial powers or the elimination of imperialism. > Those individuals had a specific objective in mind, the creation of a freer > and more egalitarian society, and, for the most part, they observed basic > moral rules in their general behavior and political tactics. > > From about 1950 until 1970 the “Third World” group of countries and their > Western supporters expressed the aspirations of those who wanted to > liberate themselves from what they perceived as the iniquities of Western > controls. They were influenced to a considerable degree by the heralded > though imaginary Communist utopias of the Soviet Union and China. > > Almost all of those would be reformers were disillusioned by the gods that > failed with the revelations of the horrors and mass murders in the two > Communist countries. Nor can they seek any comfort in the present > autocratic and corrupt Russian regime, or in the semi-transformation, > economically if not politically, of China. Perhaps because there is nowhere > else to turn, some, especially younger people, have sought out the Muslim > world and the Islamists as a surrogate of progressive resistance against > Western systems. > > But the difference is enormous between contemporary Islamists and those > reformers who once regarded Stalin, in spite of the evidence of his > brutality and killing of millions, as the incarnation of wisdom. Leftists > of the past operated in the context of a Western culture that they, rightly > or wrongly, sought to improve. The jihadists and their supporters are not > anti-imperialists. They are opposed not simply to the U.S. and other > Western-style democracies, but to essential Western values of civilization. > Indeed, they reject the traditional leftist concepts, socialism, communism, > liberalism, and nationalism. > > Jihadism is different from other forms of anti-Western expression. It > incarnates justification of slavery, now illustrated by the kidnapping of > female Christian students in April 2014 by Boko Haram in Chibok in Nigeria, > and by the attacks by IS on 50,000 Yazidis in the mountains of northwest > Iraq. > > The Islamists seek the restoration of former Islamic glories and the > establishment of a Caliphate or an emirate, based on Sharia law and with > the objective of conducting jihad. From the 9th century jihad has been the > obligation of true believers against all “infidels.” > > Contemporary jihadists have no positive objective as did the traditional > leftist ideologists, nor do they adhere to moral restraints. Much ink has > been spilled over the true nature of Islam today, and who or what can be > seen as embodying the essence of the religion. There are five acknowledged > pillars of Islam, the basic obligations to live a good life: belief, > prayers, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage to Mecca. > > Individual religions are interpreted differently depending on time and > place. Today, there appears to be a sixth pillar that the jihadists claim > and insist upon as the truth of Islam. That pillar is the obligation to > wage war against the infidels, and it is being imposed on an increasing > number of Muslims, including those in Western democracies. > > The Islamist war against Western civilization, and civilized values is > world-wide. What else can explain why the French flag was burned on January > 23, 2015 in Surabaya in Java, several thousand miles from Paris, by > Islamists who were offended by the publication in the journal *Charlie > Hebdo* of cartoons that they held had insulted the Prophet Muhammad? > Manifestations of jihadism are evident in a line from Senegal and Nigeria > to the borders of China. They are particularly strong in those states that > have failed: Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. > > The West has to recognize that Islamists -- jihadists is perhaps the > better term -- have recreated a retrograde and brutal form of Islam > directed against non-Muslims that goes back to a dark period in its past. > . > The brutality against non-Muslims is not new. Saladin (1169-1193) was > known for his chivalric nature and courtesy but he also conducted a “holy > war” against the alien world, especially the Franks. The Egyptian imam, > Hasan al-Banna (1906-1949, called for the return to “true” Islam and for > jihad to repel the invaders. He founded the Muslim Brotherhood to do this. > Jihad, he held, was an obligation for every Muslim who should resist > existing regimes. > > What is happening now is not resistance to any form of colonialism, > Western or otherwise, but destruction in the areas controlled by jihadists > of the very cultural heritage, the historical artifacts of the > “unbelievers,” and denial of their beliefs, history, and dignity. > Destruction of “idols” is not new in history. But the scale of the Islamist > behavior is startling. > > The terrorists are removing the very essence of the cultural history of > civilization, especially pre-Islamic history. In March 2001 the Taliban > began the destruction of the monumental 6th-century Buddhas (180 and 125 > feet tall) in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. In Mali in June 2012 Boko Haram > destroyed monuments and set fire to the library in the Ahmed Baba Institute > in Timbuktu, that had been put on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988. > Not only were 700 monuments destroyed, the clay from the monuments was > taken to prevent any rebuilding in some possible future. > > Videos have been posted of IS terrorists destroying artifacts, including > Jonah’s tomb, in the museum and all Christian institutions in Mosul with > sledgehammers and power tools. Bulldozers destroyed the ancient > archeological site of Nimrud, founded in 13th century B.C., in northern > Iraq, and said to be the best preserved Assyrian site in Iraq. Temples and > sculptures in Hatra, on the UNESCO Heritage List in 1985, were destroyed, > as were the carved stone reliefs in Dur Sharrulin, the Assyrian site > founded in 717 B.C. near the village of Khorsabad in northern Iraq. The > Krak des Chevaliers crusader castle in Syria has been heavily damaged. > > The West world tends to have a capacity for illusions. Finally, outrage is > now being expressed about the brutalities of the Islamist terrorists. > Commendable as this is, the West must also act to prevent the Islamist > barbarity from continuing. Islamists must not be allowed to obliterate the > entire history of civilization. > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmYm1mOW9rBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MjYwMDE4MTk-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! Groups] > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlcmZlY2ViBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQyNjAwMTgxOQ--> > > • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • > Unsubscribe <javascript:> • Terms of Use > <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> > > __,_._,___ > > >
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