Terror Comes in Two Stripes

One of the many failings of our Current Occupant seems to be his inability to distinguish between the two kinds of enemy we’re faced with today. His refusal to understand that Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein operated on two radically different principles was only the most obvious example of this blinkered view. Osama and Saddam hated each other, for crying out loud, and all we’ve accomplished is taking Iraq away from one and handed it to partisans of the other.

A more subtle but equally revealing blindness is the tendency to lump all those who use the weapon of terror under a one-size-fits-all banner. Some terrorists, Hizbullah and Hamas are examples, utilize despicable tactics, but their goals are political. Their aims would appear to an unbiased observer as theoretically obtainable, and that, once obtained, the terror would stop. The other type of terrorist, epitomized by Osama and his ilk, aren’t after a political goal. They make no pretense that their activities would stop if some stated demands were met. Their objective is absolutely unattainable (the establishment of a worldwide Islamic state under their particular view of Islam).

It seems to me, our only way to counter these threats with any hope of progress, is to understand which enemy we’re fighting, and where.

Where's the Moderation in the Islamic World?

There is one question that confounds westerm observers: if radical, suicide-bombing, Islamist terrorist-insurgents represent a small fraction of the Islamic world, where are the voices of reason in Muslim society decrying the perversion of their faith?
One. not very satisfying answer (to us) is that,while the terrorist tactics are abhorent, Muslims in general must believe their motives are fundamentally (no pun intended) correct. Classical Islam has historically been tolerant of other religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity, as all three faiths trace their origins to one man, Abraham. But there is one aspect of the modern world which no observant Muslim can accept, and that is secularism. The United States, as well as Europe, are the epitome of secular thinking and secular lifestyles. S0 -- the voices of moderation have been muted.
So, what is the answer? I, personally am as secular as they come, and dislike the push to make the United States a Christian theocracy. The only thing I can think of is to make clear to the Muslim world, that although we in the West insist on clinging to our secular governments. we will in no way try to impose our system on other parts of the world. We simply can't go into Islamic societies and force feed "democracy" on them, which they see comes hand-in-hand with cultural values they find offensive. We need, we absolutely MUST develop a live-and-let-live policy to those whose cultures don't coincide with ours.

What's in a Word?

I'd like to digress from my usual talk of Middle Eastern culture, to rant a bit about the national leadership of the Boy Scouts of America. I know, I know, it's been done, but now it's personal.

Considering the ongoing mess in the Middle East, I think everyone, and young people especially, should learn all they can about the region. What better way to get started than by reading an exciting action/adventure novel set there during an important recent historical event. (See Sandstorm sidebar). Right?

So I tried to sell the book to BSA for their scout shops and catalog, only to be told that, while they enjoyed the book greatly, they were unable to stock it. It had, they said, "some objectionable content." Pressing for details, they said in Chapter 4, brash, wise-cracking sixteen year-old Aussie Brian tells his pals he has to take "a massive piss." Ouch. I was so stunned by this I forgot to ask whether I could have passed the test by using "massive pee." How about "massive whiz?" Maybe just "massive tinkle?"

I shouldn't have been surprised, knowing the BSA national leadership stance on social issues. I was willing to overlook this to give the boys a taste of a part of the world they may be asked to go fight in, in a few years. Or maybe I just wanted to sell a few books. But --- would I have left out the part about piss, pee, whiz, tinkle, had I known their position? Hell no.