Sunday, January 23, 2005
Toward Better Understanding
There's a very good essay appearing over at Strategy Page, which goes a long way toward clearing out the thick underbrush of our misunderstanding about the what's going on, and what's at stake, in Iraq and the greater Middle East right now. I highly recommend reading the entire piece. Here's a sample:
What the Islamic terrorists are really fighting for is a solution to the problems most Islamic nations face. Even with all the oil wealth, the Arab world has made little economic progress versus the infidels in the last half century. Most Moslems feel the problem is inefficient governments, and a society that does not place enough emphasis on the two elements that have fueled economic growth in the rest of the world; education and honest government. Those two items allow people to start new businesses, run them efficiently, and grow economically. Islamic terrorists believe the solution is honest government and scrupulous adherence to Sharia (Islamic law.) Unfortunately, there are no working examples of this, either currently or historically. But when you’re on a Mission From God, you don’t need a working example. God’s Word is enough.
The majority of Moslem scholars and clergy disagree with the Islamic terrorists. But even the scholars and clergy cannot reason with their fanatic foes. It’s in the nature of radicalism, be it political or religious, that the less radical leaders are considered weaker, or even traitors to the Islamic cause. Thus you have a race among the Islamic radical clergy to be “more radical than thou.” This results in Islamic radical clergy in Western nations preaching of the need to turn their new homes into Islamic Republics. That means converting all the infidels, by force is necessary. This makes for great headlines, but it makes most Islamic clergy wince. Worse, speaking out against the Islamic radicals can be dangerous, especially for more mainstream Islamic clergy and scholars. Moderate, mainstream, Moslems have been murdered by Islamic radicals, even in Western nations, for speaking out against the radicals. That's one reason for calling these Islamic radicals, Islamic terrorists.
How does one defeat this Islamic terrorism? The simplest way is to bring good government and education to Moslem nations, and let them prosper. Overthrowing Saddam Hussein, easily the worst of a bad bunch of Moslem despots, and getting a democracy going in Iraq, is the Islamic radicals worst nightmare. It was always thought that Iraq would be one of the last nations to be overthrown by Islamic radicals. That’s because Saddam had built one of the most effective police states in the Moslem world. The problem there now is that the thugs, who made that police state work, are still in business. And just to show you how bizarre this whole business is, a year ago, the Saddam diehards and Islamic radicals joined forces in Iraq to try and prevent a democracy from being established. Both groups are natural enemies, and even if they forced coalition troops to leave, it would eventually have to come to a battle between Saddam’s secular thugs, and the Islamic radicals, to determine who would rule Iraq.
What the Islamic terrorists are really fighting for is a solution to the problems most Islamic nations face. Even with all the oil wealth, the Arab world has made little economic progress versus the infidels in the last half century. Most Moslems feel the problem is inefficient governments, and a society that does not place enough emphasis on the two elements that have fueled economic growth in the rest of the world; education and honest government. Those two items allow people to start new businesses, run them efficiently, and grow economically. Islamic terrorists believe the solution is honest government and scrupulous adherence to Sharia (Islamic law.) Unfortunately, there are no working examples of this, either currently or historically. But when you’re on a Mission From God, you don’t need a working example. God’s Word is enough.
The majority of Moslem scholars and clergy disagree with the Islamic terrorists. But even the scholars and clergy cannot reason with their fanatic foes. It’s in the nature of radicalism, be it political or religious, that the less radical leaders are considered weaker, or even traitors to the Islamic cause. Thus you have a race among the Islamic radical clergy to be “more radical than thou.” This results in Islamic radical clergy in Western nations preaching of the need to turn their new homes into Islamic Republics. That means converting all the infidels, by force is necessary. This makes for great headlines, but it makes most Islamic clergy wince. Worse, speaking out against the Islamic radicals can be dangerous, especially for more mainstream Islamic clergy and scholars. Moderate, mainstream, Moslems have been murdered by Islamic radicals, even in Western nations, for speaking out against the radicals. That's one reason for calling these Islamic radicals, Islamic terrorists.
How does one defeat this Islamic terrorism? The simplest way is to bring good government and education to Moslem nations, and let them prosper. Overthrowing Saddam Hussein, easily the worst of a bad bunch of Moslem despots, and getting a democracy going in Iraq, is the Islamic radicals worst nightmare. It was always thought that Iraq would be one of the last nations to be overthrown by Islamic radicals. That’s because Saddam had built one of the most effective police states in the Moslem world. The problem there now is that the thugs, who made that police state work, are still in business. And just to show you how bizarre this whole business is, a year ago, the Saddam diehards and Islamic radicals joined forces in Iraq to try and prevent a democracy from being established. Both groups are natural enemies, and even if they forced coalition troops to leave, it would eventually have to come to a battle between Saddam’s secular thugs, and the Islamic radicals, to determine who would rule Iraq.
# posted by mds : 1:43 PM
