Wednesday, November 24, 2004
"Let's call the kettle black..."
That letter, which can be read in its entirety here, is as vitriolic a screed as one can ever hope to see. The letter is addressed to Ayaan Hirshi Ali, a member of the Dutch Parliament and the writer of the film Submission over which van Gogh was murdered (shortly before he was killed van Gogh told Ali:"I am the village idiot, they won't do anything to me. You have to be careful, you are the apostate woman"). After the usual call for the blessings of the Prophet the letter is a mix of threats against Ms. Ali and rambling anti-Semitism. Tellingly, it closes with the following:
“I deem thee lost, O America. "
"I deem thee lost, O Europe. "
"I deem thee lost, O Holland. "
"I deem thee lost, O Hirshi Ali."
11/24/2004 04:49:00 PM posted by Dr. Demarche
OK, I’ve said this before and I am going to say it again. There is no war against terrorism. We are not hunting down the FARC or ETA or Shining Path. We are not chasing the vestiges of the IRA. We are fighting Islamic extremism. I know this is not a ground shaking original thought, but it needs to be repeated. Islamic jihadists are the enemy, and terrorism is simply their weapon of choice. This post contains many links to full-length articles from around the globe. I hope they help to open some eyes.
September 11th 2001 may have been the “shot heard around the world” in this war, but for many of our erstwhile allies the rumblings quickly faded away. The March 11th Madrid train bombings briefly re-awoke Europe to the threat posed by Islamofacism. Unfortunately Spain crumbled and the terrorists achieved their goal, giving them hope that their tactics could succeed. Sometimes, however, one man can make a difference. In this case that man was Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker who was shot, stabbed, had his throat slit and another knife used to pin a note on his still bleeding body. All in the streets of Amsterdam by an adherent to the world’s fastest growing religion.
September 11th 2001 may have been the “shot heard around the world” in this war, but for many of our erstwhile allies the rumblings quickly faded away. The March 11th Madrid train bombings briefly re-awoke Europe to the threat posed by Islamofacism. Unfortunately Spain crumbled and the terrorists achieved their goal, giving them hope that their tactics could succeed. Sometimes, however, one man can make a difference. In this case that man was Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker who was shot, stabbed, had his throat slit and another knife used to pin a note on his still bleeding body. All in the streets of Amsterdam by an adherent to the world’s fastest growing religion.
That letter, which can be read in its entirety here, is as vitriolic a screed as one can ever hope to see. The letter is addressed to Ayaan Hirshi Ali, a member of the Dutch Parliament and the writer of the film Submission over which van Gogh was murdered (shortly before he was killed van Gogh told Ali:"I am the village idiot, they won't do anything to me. You have to be careful, you are the apostate woman"). After the usual call for the blessings of the Prophet the letter is a mix of threats against Ms. Ali and rambling anti-Semitism. Tellingly, it closes with the following:
“I deem thee lost, O America. "
"I deem thee lost, O Europe. "
"I deem thee lost, O Holland. "
"I deem thee lost, O Hirshi Ali."
This is the crux of the threat: first America, then Europe, then a nation, last a person. Every Westerner and peace loving person on the planet should read this letter in full, along with Osama Bin Laden's "Letter to America”, especially those who are too PC to believe Islamofacism is the enemy. OBL and al-Qaida want nothing less than 4,000,000 dead Americans and the destruction of the Republic. They are chipping away at Europe to get to us, and the Europeans may be starting to pay attention.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier this week:
"Let's call the kettle black and admit that there are some young Muslims of immigrant origin who have not understood the principles of democracy, tolerance and freedom of expression on which Danish society is based. And there is something wrong when people leave school with such attitudes intact," reports the Middle East Online.
Geert Wilders, who as a member of the Dutch parliament was forced out of the VVD for refusing to back Turkey's bid to join the European Union, says Islam is incompatible with democracy and wants new curbs on immigration, particularly from Turkey and Morocco. He plans to found a party to clamp down on Muslim militants, and recent polls show he would win 26 of the 150 seats in parliament if an election were held now, against 25 for Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats (CDA). This is after he was quoted in the WSJ as saying "Bush was totally correct. This is war, a world wide war."
Everyone in Europe has a plan to "solve" the problem, even The Guardian whose Will Hutton stated "Belgian and Dutch societies...are most convulsed by racism" and called the situation "a tinderbox". This story has been picked up by the Arab News website as well.
The EU, however, now faces the problem of making a hodge-podge of national security and judicial systems work together to counter the growing threat. As Deutsche Welle reports "Fighting terrorism in Europe is as varied as the continent's cultures and legal systems. And that, say investigators, could become a major problem." And that, my friends, could be a major understatement. The men and women who are charged with fighting terrorism in Europe know it, too. More from DW:
“The police don’t know what the police know,” said Bodo Franz, the Hamburg state police’s top terrorism investigator. “I think this is a problem for Europe,” said Rafael Gasso, the chief inspector for the Spanish police, and current president of the European Council of Police Unions in an interview. “If we don’t advance on this as we are in the Monetary area, or other areas, we already have problems and we will have problems in the future.”
The biggest threat to European safety, however, is complacency. Many Euro leaders fear being seen as overly aggressive, perfectly summed up by Bodo Franz’s closing comment: “I don’t think we should change our point of view, we should not make our laws more aggressive,” Franz said. “But that may change, depending on a threat or attack.” AFTER AN ATTACK!
Finally, the world needs to realize that there have been few in the "moderate” Muslim world to denounce all of these attacks, and terrorism in general. There are over ONE BILLION Muslims in the world. Where is the dissent? For all intents and purposes, there isn't any. The Asia Times proudly reports the lack of Muslim outcry in Europe. The author (“Spengler”) goes so far as to compare the call for the modernization of Islam to the reforms of Christianity, and quotes Thomas Aquinas for support. Referring to a study by the American Enterprise Institute Spengler asks
"If he [the author of the AEI study] believes that 13th-century conditions justified the death penalty for heretics in Christian Europe, why should Muslims not apply the same logic to their own societies?”
And there it is. Islam is stuck in the 13th century, and supporters of terrorism proudly proclaim it to be so. Spengler then claims that Christianity has had thousands of years to modernize, and that Islam is being called on to do so on the spot. And just where has Islam been for those same thousands of years?
The death toll rises and liberal hand-wringers around the globe continue to ask why they hate us. One of my favorite bloggers has the short answer: “They're told to.” That my friends, is it. Why they are told to is not a question for today. Today we must square our shoulders and resolve to properly identify and defeat the enemy. We call on those Muslims who do oppose terrorism to speak out and work on the why problem, or realize that guilt by association can be a terrible thing.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier this week:
"Let's call the kettle black and admit that there are some young Muslims of immigrant origin who have not understood the principles of democracy, tolerance and freedom of expression on which Danish society is based. And there is something wrong when people leave school with such attitudes intact," reports the Middle East Online.
Geert Wilders, who as a member of the Dutch parliament was forced out of the VVD for refusing to back Turkey's bid to join the European Union, says Islam is incompatible with democracy and wants new curbs on immigration, particularly from Turkey and Morocco. He plans to found a party to clamp down on Muslim militants, and recent polls show he would win 26 of the 150 seats in parliament if an election were held now, against 25 for Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats (CDA). This is after he was quoted in the WSJ as saying "Bush was totally correct. This is war, a world wide war."
Everyone in Europe has a plan to "solve" the problem, even The Guardian whose Will Hutton stated "Belgian and Dutch societies...are most convulsed by racism" and called the situation "a tinderbox". This story has been picked up by the Arab News website as well.
The EU, however, now faces the problem of making a hodge-podge of national security and judicial systems work together to counter the growing threat. As Deutsche Welle reports "Fighting terrorism in Europe is as varied as the continent's cultures and legal systems. And that, say investigators, could become a major problem." And that, my friends, could be a major understatement. The men and women who are charged with fighting terrorism in Europe know it, too. More from DW:
“The police don’t know what the police know,” said Bodo Franz, the Hamburg state police’s top terrorism investigator. “I think this is a problem for Europe,” said Rafael Gasso, the chief inspector for the Spanish police, and current president of the European Council of Police Unions in an interview. “If we don’t advance on this as we are in the Monetary area, or other areas, we already have problems and we will have problems in the future.”
The biggest threat to European safety, however, is complacency. Many Euro leaders fear being seen as overly aggressive, perfectly summed up by Bodo Franz’s closing comment: “I don’t think we should change our point of view, we should not make our laws more aggressive,” Franz said. “But that may change, depending on a threat or attack.” AFTER AN ATTACK!
Finally, the world needs to realize that there have been few in the "moderate” Muslim world to denounce all of these attacks, and terrorism in general. There are over ONE BILLION Muslims in the world. Where is the dissent? For all intents and purposes, there isn't any. The Asia Times proudly reports the lack of Muslim outcry in Europe. The author (“Spengler”) goes so far as to compare the call for the modernization of Islam to the reforms of Christianity, and quotes Thomas Aquinas for support. Referring to a study by the American Enterprise Institute Spengler asks
"If he [the author of the AEI study] believes that 13th-century conditions justified the death penalty for heretics in Christian Europe, why should Muslims not apply the same logic to their own societies?”
And there it is. Islam is stuck in the 13th century, and supporters of terrorism proudly proclaim it to be so. Spengler then claims that Christianity has had thousands of years to modernize, and that Islam is being called on to do so on the spot. And just where has Islam been for those same thousands of years?
The death toll rises and liberal hand-wringers around the globe continue to ask why they hate us. One of my favorite bloggers has the short answer: “They're told to.” That my friends, is it. Why they are told to is not a question for today. Today we must square our shoulders and resolve to properly identify and defeat the enemy. We call on those Muslims who do oppose terrorism to speak out and work on the why problem, or realize that guilt by association can be a terrible thing.
