Archive for February, 2006
Our fight on many fronts
America is at war on four fronts:
Worldwide terrorism
Iraq
Afghanistan
Domestic terrorists inside the U.S.
The worldwide war against terror finds theaters of battle in countries all over the globe. Where ever Islamic extremists exist, there are enemies of the U.S. and enemies of freedom plotting, planning and practicing attacks against us.
The epicenters of these terror groups can be found in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, northern Africa and a number of other countries. The front lines consist of American military intelligence, local intelligence agencies, local police and military and CIA operatives. Information is key in this battle, and local cooperation and technology are essential. This theater of battle will likely last perpetually because generations of America-hating fanatics, raised up and brainwashed by madrasas and imams, will develop in pockets in all of these countries.Iraq was held captive by a brutal regime. This is true and will always be the truth. Many forget that the citizens of Iraq were terrorized by torture, submission and repression. Most Iraqi’s have a family member or friend killed by Saddam’s henchmen, sons or Republican Guard. Thousands of Kurds were gassed by Saddam, and thousands more Iraqi’s lie buried in mass graves, tortured and then gunned down because of their opposition to the repressive government, or because they were suspected of plotting against the country’s dictator.
Iraq gave refuge to terrorists and fanatics, and was developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons for use against all its enemies. That these weapons were shipped off to Syria just weeks before the U.S. invasion is getting little press. Iraq was a friend to Al- Qaeda and a threat to the U.S. Transforming Iraq to a democracy, as difficult as it will be, will transform the region. Democracies do not declare war on democracies, so the mid-east could realize a future of peace, which would benefit the whole world.
Afghanistan can almost be called the forgotten war. It was a triumph, and remains a triumph. That isn’t the kind of news that the American media likes to print, so Afghanistan, now called the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has been swept under a rug. The Taliban used to conduct public executions on a soccer field in front of thousands. The intimidation factor of these executions was one way they kept the Afghani’s in line. Their regime was repressive and denied basic freedoms to the citizens of Afghanistan, especially woman. That is not the case any more. Afghani’s can now vote and woman and girls can attend school and vote. The GNP of Afghanistan was up 28.6% in 2003 over 2002. Even though there continues to be a lot of poor people in Afghanistan, the return of more than two million refugees, many of whom are business savvy, will help grow the economy and create jobs. Also, since the U.S. victory over the Taliban, Afghanistan has joined the world monetary community, providing more opportunity for trade and international business. Life is better there. Freedom and democracy flourish. Many Americans lost their lives in this struggle, and this should not be forgotten, but neither should the repressive regime that ran Afghanistan, and gave comfort and shelter to Osama bin Laden and the terrorists that attacked us on 9/11.
Domestic terrorists within the borders of the U.S. continue to give encouragement, stamina and a renewed sense of purpose to the anti-American terrorists worldwide. These domestic terrorists work diligently, tenaciously and endlessly to reduce the effectiveness of the governments efforts to keep us safe. They use the courts, media and legislation to tear away at the Patriot Act and other laws which they contend are an affront to civil liberties and privacy. They say these laws are ethically insensitive, while at the same time, shouting down any legitimate Arab who wants to run an American port.
They use the term ‘racial profiling,’ while engaging in the same behavior, and ignoring the ethnic background of all of the 9/11 hijackers and others in Al-Qaeda. They want it both ways, but mainly, they want to degrade the U.S. in a way that fortifies the enemy. They work at chipping away at the fabric that holds America together and which has made America great. Organizations like the ACLU, People for the American Way, Move-on and elements of the democratic party work night and day to present disunity and discord to the terrorists, so that they can grow their numbers, and find affirmation for their mission. They oppose and expose our high tech methods for intervening in the terrorist’s schemes and communications. In the end, the terrorists find other methods to escape our efforts to stop them, and they will succeed.
The U.S. is a target. Americans of all party affiliations, religions, ethnicities and races have the same bulls eye on their backs. The terrorists don’t care who their victims are, as long as they reside within the borders of the U.S. We have to win in all the theaters I’ve mentioned. We can not look side to side or backwards, but only forwards in our fight against the radicals who want us dead.
Posted in Intolerance is the guiding principle
To begin with, a little history lesson. It was in the 7th century that a trader living on the outskirts of Mecca had a divine revelation when he was 40 years old. His name was Muhammad. At this time, many Arabs in the area practiced Christianity and even Judaism. Muhammad began preaching to the people around Mecca, and taught such principles as submission to God, a coming judgment and also asking for forgiveness for your sins after confessing them. The one difference between Muhammad and the prophets of Christianity and Judaism before him is that Muhammad claimed that Christians and Jews had desecrated the teachings of God. This was to set the tone of the religion that he founded. Christians and Jews were thought to be inferior, undeserving servants of God. As such, they were in effect, the enemy.
Not all was love and peace in the other camps. Primarily fueled by the Papacy in the eleventh, twelth and thirteenth centuries, the nine major crusades pitted Christians against heretic Christians and Muslims and Eastern Orthodox Christians. Jerusalem was the vaulted prize in the early crusades, and much blood shed resulted in attempts to own it and rule it. Despite the enormity of time that has passed since the last crusade, most Muslims still regard the crusades as if they had happened yesterday. Islam’s triumph will be the ultimate revenge against the decendents of the crusaders.
In Africa on Saturday, Muslims burned down 15 Christian churches and killed at least 15 Christian people using violent, torturous methods. The churches were in Maiduguri, Nigeria. It was a three hour rampage by thousands of local Muslims. On Sunday, Muslims in Pakistan burned down a Christian church. Between 40 and 50 people have been slain in the past three weeks by Muslims incensed by a comic shown in a local newspaper in Denmark. Freedom of expression does not exist for Christians in Denmark, and throughout Europe, just as it does not exist in the United States. If you are a Christian or Jew in a Muslim country, and you think you can express your views freely, think again. It may be your demise.
In Christianity, God instructs His followers to invite non-believers to their houses of worship and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Apparently, this tolerance and love for ones fellow human beings is not a part of Islam. If it were so, those responsible for the senseless, bloody violence of the past few weeks would fear violating the tenets of their faith. Obviously, they don’t.
‘Huh’ is still spelled ‘huh’ backwards and forwards, and I have found myself repeating this word often since September 11, 2001. Time and again, we have been instructed that Islam is a religion of peace. Time and again, we have seen terrorist acts, the murder of Christians around the world and now murderous rampages, all in the name of Islam.
When it were just a fringe few, we could agree and say amongst ourselves that indeed, there is only a minority who are fanatics. In the past three weeks though, we have witnessed tens of thousands of fanatics. We have seen behavior that is reprehensible. We have witnessed insanity en mass. Is this a religion, whose founder preached tolerance, respect and love of fellow humans? Or is this a cult, bent on world domination, instructed to kill all Jews and Christians, and tolerate nothing outside of the Muslim world?
The evidence is mounting as every day goes by, and every violent act is added one to the next. Were we as Christians and Jews to understand that Muslims have hated us for centuries, then we might begin to grasp the enormity of what may erupt in the months and years ahead.
That those who attacked the United States on 9/11 came out of this cauldron of hatred should not be a surprise. Even today, we see that the thousands of Muslims gathering in protests all over Europe and the Arab world are not vetting their rage just at Denmark, but increasingly, at the United States. This almost guarantees a post 9/11 incident dwarfing the original catastrophe. And while liberals like to believe that the Muslim hatred towards the U.S. is a result of the Bush Administration, they should spend some time learning history. There, they will find a prophet who ignited the flame of hatred, and started it all more than thirteen hundred years ago.