Thursday, July 07, 2005
London Calling
To the families and friends who lost loved ones in London today- you are in our thoughts and prayers. The murderous thugs who purport to represent the peaceful religion of Islam have once again proven that they are bent solely on terror, to be used to achieve their singular goal- a world united under the sword of Islam.
Will these attacks open the eyes of those in Europe, and in the U.S., who still view the global war on terror (GWOT) as a non-event? That is, unfortunately, doubtful. How many more of these attacks will it take? I have no answer for that question. Do today's Britons remember the days of the IRA? Do they recall the fact that they had to remove waste bins from the streets to deter IRA bombers, and that they had to send their military into Ireland many, many times before the troubles were even somewhat resolved? Perhaps they have forgotten. Today was a rude reminder. History has taught us, in the very streets of London, that terrorists can not be dealt with through submission.
Efraim Halevi, ex-chief of the Mossad sees it clearly. As he stated in his piece today reacting to the London bombings:
We are in the throes of a world war, raging over the entire globe and characterized by the absence of lines of conflict and an easily identifiable enemy. There are sometimes long pauses between one attack and another, consequently creating the wrong impression that the battle is all over, or at least in the process of being won.
Generally speaking, the populations at large are not involved in the conflict, and by and large play the role of bystanders. But once in a while, these innocents are caught up in the maelstrom and suffer the most cruel and wicked of punishments meted out by those who are not bound by any rules of conduct or any norms of structured society. For a while, too short a while, we are engrossed with the sheer horror of what we see and hear, but, with the passage of time, our memories fade and we return to our daily lives, forgetting that the war is still raging out there and more strikes are sure to follow.
Now is the time for the leaders of the world, especially the G8, to come together and decide. They must decide if there is a GWOT, or is there not. If they agree that there is and the "T" needs to be defined. I have written this here before- we are not fighting some amorphous concept called terror- we are fighting al-Qaeda and the rest of the Islomofascists who seek a world that is controlled by their twisted religion. I remind you once again of the words of Osama bin Laden- his mission statement, if you will:
1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.
(a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them - peace be upon them all.
It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language.
(b) It is the religion whose book - the Quran - will remained preserved and unchanged, after the other Divine books and messages have been changed. The Quran is the miracle until the Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran or even ten verses like it.
Aas a demonstration of the "best of manners" these evangelists kill us in our places of work, on our way home to see our families and as we go about the business of our lives. Thinly veiled as a strike against our foreign policies, a reaction to our deeds around the world, these men ignore all of the good that has been done by free peoples for the oppressed- many Muslim, for the sake of their stated goal- total global domination.
And so, London is calling. The wail of sirens and the cries of the injured and dying mingled with the grief of those they leave behind are yet another notice to us that the war still rages on. How will we respond? There really aren't many options. Halevi again:
There will be supreme tests of leadership in this unique situation and people will have to trust the wisdom and good judgment of those chosen to govern them. The executives must be empowered to act resolutely and to take every measure necessary to protect the citizens of their country and to carry the combat into whatever territory the perpetrators and their temporal and spiritual leaders are inhabiting.
The rules of combat must be rapidly adjusted to cater to the necessities of this new and unprecedented situation, and international law must be rewritten in such a way as to permit civilization to defend itself. Anything short of this invites disaster and must not be allowed to happen.
The aim of the enemy is not to defeat western civilization but to destroy its sources of power and existence, and to render it a relic of the past. It does not seek a territorial victory or a regime change; it wants to turn western civilization into history and will stop at nothing less than that.
It will show no mercy or compassion and no appreciation for these noble values when practiced by us. This does not mean that we can or should assume the norms of our adversaries, nor that we should act indiscriminately. It does mean that the only way to ensure our safety and security will be to obtain the destruction, the complete destruction, of the enemy.
Will we be able to agree as to who the enemy is, and what must be done, before it is too late?7/07/2005 04:30:00 PM posted by Dr. Demarche
Will these attacks open the eyes of those in Europe, and in the U.S., who still view the global war on terror (GWOT) as a non-event? That is, unfortunately, doubtful. How many more of these attacks will it take? I have no answer for that question. Do today's Britons remember the days of the IRA? Do they recall the fact that they had to remove waste bins from the streets to deter IRA bombers, and that they had to send their military into Ireland many, many times before the troubles were even somewhat resolved? Perhaps they have forgotten. Today was a rude reminder. History has taught us, in the very streets of London, that terrorists can not be dealt with through submission.
Efraim Halevi, ex-chief of the Mossad sees it clearly. As he stated in his piece today reacting to the London bombings:
We are in the throes of a world war, raging over the entire globe and characterized by the absence of lines of conflict and an easily identifiable enemy. There are sometimes long pauses between one attack and another, consequently creating the wrong impression that the battle is all over, or at least in the process of being won.
Generally speaking, the populations at large are not involved in the conflict, and by and large play the role of bystanders. But once in a while, these innocents are caught up in the maelstrom and suffer the most cruel and wicked of punishments meted out by those who are not bound by any rules of conduct or any norms of structured society. For a while, too short a while, we are engrossed with the sheer horror of what we see and hear, but, with the passage of time, our memories fade and we return to our daily lives, forgetting that the war is still raging out there and more strikes are sure to follow.
Now is the time for the leaders of the world, especially the G8, to come together and decide. They must decide if there is a GWOT, or is there not. If they agree that there is and the "T" needs to be defined. I have written this here before- we are not fighting some amorphous concept called terror- we are fighting al-Qaeda and the rest of the Islomofascists who seek a world that is controlled by their twisted religion. I remind you once again of the words of Osama bin Laden- his mission statement, if you will:
1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.
(a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them - peace be upon them all.
It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language.
(b) It is the religion whose book - the Quran - will remained preserved and unchanged, after the other Divine books and messages have been changed. The Quran is the miracle until the Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran or even ten verses like it.
Aas a demonstration of the "best of manners" these evangelists kill us in our places of work, on our way home to see our families and as we go about the business of our lives. Thinly veiled as a strike against our foreign policies, a reaction to our deeds around the world, these men ignore all of the good that has been done by free peoples for the oppressed- many Muslim, for the sake of their stated goal- total global domination.
And so, London is calling. The wail of sirens and the cries of the injured and dying mingled with the grief of those they leave behind are yet another notice to us that the war still rages on. How will we respond? There really aren't many options. Halevi again:
There will be supreme tests of leadership in this unique situation and people will have to trust the wisdom and good judgment of those chosen to govern them. The executives must be empowered to act resolutely and to take every measure necessary to protect the citizens of their country and to carry the combat into whatever territory the perpetrators and their temporal and spiritual leaders are inhabiting.
The rules of combat must be rapidly adjusted to cater to the necessities of this new and unprecedented situation, and international law must be rewritten in such a way as to permit civilization to defend itself. Anything short of this invites disaster and must not be allowed to happen.
The aim of the enemy is not to defeat western civilization but to destroy its sources of power and existence, and to render it a relic of the past. It does not seek a territorial victory or a regime change; it wants to turn western civilization into history and will stop at nothing less than that.
It will show no mercy or compassion and no appreciation for these noble values when practiced by us. This does not mean that we can or should assume the norms of our adversaries, nor that we should act indiscriminately. It does mean that the only way to ensure our safety and security will be to obtain the destruction, the complete destruction, of the enemy.
Will we be able to agree as to who the enemy is, and what must be done, before it is too late?
