It's nice to have one positive thing coming from the current crisis and for me it has been the discovery of Israeli blogger Treppenwitz. David Bogner made aliyah from the US some years ago and provides an uncommon perspective concerning matters which are not discussed on many Israeli blogs.
The cited piece on Islam should be plastered all over the internet and emailed to every serving legislator in the US. You can't really deal with something without identifying what it is and calling this death cult a 'religion of peace' is a huge lie - unless you mean 'peace of the grave'.
There is no proscription against lying to infidels within the tenets of islam if the lie told can be asserted to have advanced fundamental islamic beliefs. That's a fact that militates against the extension of trust required for all but the most mundane aspects of life. It is also fundamental to understanding the conditions which exist in most of the Arab world. They don't just lie to infidels.
13 comments:
I have a serious question. If all Muslims are bad...why bother trying to bring democracy to Iraq? Why not just find some strong man to kill a bunch of them and settle them down? Really? I don't happen to feel that way, but if we do decide that Islam is always bad and all its believers are just part of a destructive death cult..why try to reform them?
Our troops are fighting along side Muslims in Iraq right now. Should we stop arming and training them?
We can not reform them if we do not deal with them and considering the fact that they are sitting on top of much of the world's oil and natural gas it is kind of hard to ignore them.
I'm sorry, Rick, but this is just dopey.
Thanks for the compliment... and the link.
To Terrye I would offer the following: The U.S. should stop trying to teach democracy to the Iraqis. It's a lot like teaching a pig to sing... it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.
As to the comment from Senica... with all due respect, may I inquire about your extensive study of the subject under discussion? Because living here among them and seeing what they are capable of gives me an expertise I wish I didn't have.
Given that I agree with Treppenwitz' assessment of Islam, then I also agree with Bush that this will be a long war.
And it is by no means sure that we will win, either. Steyn's banging on about the Demographic reality should give us all pause. And we are rich and soft and getting old.
One thing though: we are capable of acting outside The Tribe. We value individual human life, and the joys of human reason. And we are quite capable of Total War. And that is what we have to face, that Total War against Islam will come before this is all over.
One step at a time: the Israelis must get to the Litani, and Hezbollah must be broken absolutely.
Terrye,
I support Attaturk's methods of imposing democracy and I know that it will last in a muslim country just as long as the fellows controlling the guns allow it to last (vide Lebanon). It can be achieved but it has nothing to do with idealism.
StY,
The close was poorly written and I've edited. The sentiment remains.
Treppenwitz,
Happy to extend the compliment and I pray that you and your family remain safe.
Are you handicapping Olmert's successor yet?
As to Iraq and democracy? Well, we had to start somewhere, and kicking over that particular rock was a start.
I think Bush believes that "Democracy" can work, bring them out of the Tribe and into the modern world. I think it will be much more complicated than he believes.
For example: "Freedom". Well, there is another word, just as evocative: "Security"
Personally, I think that the most powerful step being taken is to educate girls. Really. It is women who pass on core values to their children.
OT
"Really. It is women who pass on core values to their children."
heather -
i believe it's the educated women
who tend to educate their children.
it's been noted that children tended,in the past,to get their religious views from their fathers.
the stats on fatherless famlies
tend to confirm it.
but since families no longer matter,none of this is important.
(sarcasm).
teppenwitz:
I am sorry but I find that remark offensive.
lurker -
Hersch makes it sound as though
the US or Israel would be the
instigators.
Iran and the mullahs have
openly declared their intent.
the Iranian/Hezbollah behavior
in Southern Lebanon is/was a demonstration of their intent.
Hersch is on the side of the angels,apparently.
PS - Syria/Hezbollah/Iran
have been shipping arms and rockets into Lebanon and buiilding fortified underground bunkers
and launch sites for
SIX years.
what was that a prelude to,
Mr Hersch?
Terrye –
Treppenwitz states, not that “all Muslims are bad,” but, rather, that “wonderful Muslim individuals around the world who are neither personally dangerous nor supporters of global Jihad,” are, at present, “marginal players in their own societies” who “would certainly not put their lives at risk telling the Mullahs to just 'give peace a chance'.”
Isn’t the reason we are struggling to bring democracy to Iraq because we believe that doing so may enable that situation to change?
Trepp: Your point is silly --- if understandable, given where you are --- on it's face. Consider, eg,
With the exception of North Korea, every single trouble spot on the planet can be directly tied to the doctrine of Islam. Please take note that I didn't use the words 'radical' or 'militant' to modify the word Islam. Islam, as preached and practiced from it's primary source (the Koran), is quite simply incompatible with other cultures and religions. Since its inception in the 7th century, Islam has demanded that its followers submit themselves completely to the will of Allah... and that they in turn bend the rest of the world completely to the pitiless domination of Islam.
Really? Eritrea and Ethiopia? (notice, by the that both are roughtly 2-1 Christian/Islam, but it's not the moslems fighting the Christians.) Central America? China and Tibet? Hindus and Sikhs? Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka? Ivory Coast? Congo? Liberia?
And that's just right now. Go back just a few years --- hell, my lifespan --- and you've got Viet Nam, Loas, Cambodia. Add a few more, you've got WWII in Europe and Japan.
Go back a few centuries, and you've got the Moors, who were far kinder and more welcoming to the Jews than Christians were --- and you've got Ferdinand and Isabella.
I don't doubt it seems that way to you --- if I were at the Technion, as a lot of my friends in the crypto community are, I might think so too. But claiming that Islam is the source of all the trouble in the world just reveals that you don't pay much attention to troubles that aren't [dammit] caused by Islam.
Okay, I tried to fix my typo and lost the italics that pointed out what I was quoting.
I give up, I'm going to bed.
Terrye... I'm sorry, are you defending pigs now. I really can't catch a break. :-)
Seneca... No, not silly... just an ill-advised exaggeration I made in the heat of a rant. The truth is that most of the trouble in the world today can be laid at the feet of Islam. I weakened my point by overstating my case. I hope you can look past that and see the basic truth of my premise.
Rick... Thanks. We are actually taking the kids camping north of Kiryat Shemonah this coming week. What can I say... I'm an optimist. :-)
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