Germany Multiculturalism and America

Something very serious happened this week – something that virtually went unnoticed due to the Chilean Minors and the Mid-term elections. This week the Chancellor of Germany announced that Multiculturalism has failed. Chancellor Merkel announced that immigrants are holding back the German Economy. This signals the resurgence of a German National Identity and a change in direction from the EU’s purpose of becoming a unified and homogenized Europe.

This problem of German immigration began shortly after WW II when Germany was short of workers so they created a guest worker program – if this Guest Worker Program sounds familiar to Americans it is. The idea of course was to import workers on a temporary basis with the unspoken idea that when no longer needed they would return to their countries of origin. To some extent it worked because those guest workers from other European countries did return to their home countries but not so those workers who came from Turkey and other Muslim countries. More importantly these “guest workers” brought in their families and quickly became a multi-generational population. But the Germans did not want these immigrants to become part of Germany and certainly in the common European view of nationality they could never become German. To be German you had to be descended from Germans for generations which is true of all European countries – assimilation is counter culture in Europe.

The Germans decided to address this problem with a policy called “multiculturalism”. Which meant these immigrants were encouraged to maintain their customs, religion and language, but were expected to pledge loyalty to the State. This created a large and growing group of non-Germans in the middle of Germany who did not assimilate, did not speak the language, and were not expected to because they weren’t German. This meant that this population of immigrants did not see themselves as German and saw their country of origin as “home”. This meant that they had no concern over the fate of Germany but were concerned about the politics and fate of their home countries Muslim countries. There was no loyalty to Germany and given that the home countries were Islamic and Islam was at war with the West, these immigrants represent a significant threat to national security. The stark reality is that Multiculturalism did not work and Germany is now faced with a significant threat to the German Culture and to the State itself. This admission of failure by Germany will have significant repercussions throughout Europe but there are parallels to be drawn with the American immigration issue.

America is the land of immigrants and until the advent of Multiculturalism assimilation has been the norm. People came to this country in order to be American and there was a process in place to do that. You were expected to learn the history, the government structure, and most of all to learn the language. After a period of time you took a test and became a citizen. You were an American and the American Flag was your flag and your loyalty was to America. But that is no longer true today. Sometime after WW II the liberals – known as progressives – slowly took control and America became the evil Empire. Multiculturalism was the wave of the future and for America to expect any immigrant to shed their language, values, or culture – much less their loyalties was viewed as “imperialistic” and wrong at its core.

Then came the “guest workers” the “bracero’s from Mexico and Latin America. These were the “migrant farm workers” who were here temporarily – but of course not all went back to Mexico at the end of the picking season. That trickle became a flood and many employers took advantage of the situation because these workers were cheap labor. Then the “progressives” insisted that English is not our national language because we are a nation of immigrants and multiculturalism by definition said they could and should keep their own language. As night follows day this meant that the school systems no longer had to teach in English but could teach in some other language and at the very least offer native language instruction for English.

The end result of this policy of multiculturalism is a huge population of illegal Mexican immigrants who don’t speak English, don’t intend to learn English, whose loyalty is to Mexico, whose flag is the Mexican flag, and who demand – and receive all of the benefits of a being a citizen without being a citizen. This multicultural policy is divisive and is tearing Germany apart. This failure to assimilate is partially Germany’s fault for failing to develop a policy for assimilation, but in America there is a policy and process for assimilation, it just isn’t being followed. Multiculturalism has destroyed the American Melting Pot and it threatens to rip America apart just as it is tearing Germany and Europe apart.

Germany is abandoning Multiculturalism as self protection and the time has long past in this country for us to abandon multiculturalism. Schools should teach English, ballots should be in English, and the idea that everything should multilingual should be abandoned. If we fail to reassert our culture and be true to our history we will soon find ourselves a victim of history and the America we grew up with will be gone with the wind.

The Nation of Islam

The recent attempt by yet another Arab terror group to break the Israeli embargo has served to highlight the problems that Israel faces but more importantly it acts as a reminder of how fragmented Islam is. This issue of Islamic infighting was covered in great detail in a strategic report which I have digested in the following comments and added my own editorial observations.

There is little doubt but Israel is once again losing the battle for public opinion but that was the objective of the entire flotilla exercise from the outset, even the selection of the contraband was intended to further the case for public outrage. But when you look behind the blather what do you see? What you see is very little action, lots of talk, and interestingly enough no calls for military action against Israel other than the usual Hamas terrorism.

The reality of the situation is the powers outside of the Middle East will continue to blather away against Israel but any significant action by the Islamic nations in the area is unlikely because they are so divided among themselves and have such divergent relations with Israel and each other that any effective coalition against Israel doesn’t exist and is unlikely to exist in the near future. Of course the nuclear threat from Iran exists but that threat is mitigated somewhat by the world at large. Consequently while the tide of public opinion rises against Israel it is unlikely that little action will be taken and the Israeli’s will continue their policies unchanged.

Since it was the “humanitarian” effort to bring aid to the Palestinians it is probably best to examine the relations between the factions within the Palestinian community. There is of course the Palestinians themselves who can be classified as victims – not of the Israeli’s but of their own political groups, Fatah and Hamas, neither of which seem to care about the plight of the people. These two groups are at war with each other and with Israel. Fatah dominates the West Bank while Hamas dominates the Gaza Strip and Israel occupies the middle ground. The result is that these two Palestinian groups operate as if they were separate and hostile countries – countries with distinctly different ideologies.

Fatah is secular and springs from the socialist movement started by Nasser in Egypt and aligned with the old Soviet Union. Fatah was the dominant faction in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) which was an umbrella group headed by Yasser Arafat until his death. But upon his death the PLO was left with a corrupt bureaucracy but no leader, no coherent strategy, and worst of all – no agreed upon ideology. The result was the PLO ceased to exist and fragmented into the Hamas and Fatah factions. Hamas is an Islamist (Shia) organization supported and subsidized by Iran. Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist but the “liberation” of Palestine is not the paramount objective – the objective of Hamas is to establish an Islamic state, which makes it hostile to Fatah.

Fatah is Islamic but secular at its base. While it preaches the destruction of Israel it is much more pragmatic and seeks a true country of Palestine and is much more willing to negotiate with Israel. But Hamas and Fatah are irreconcilable in their ideologies and Hamas views Fatah as corrupt making both groups easily manipulated by Israel as well as other outside forces. Hamas sees any set back to Fatah as a victory just as Fatah views any failure of Hamas as a win for their side. Currently the world focus is on Hamas and their clear public relations victory so it is only a matter of time before Fatah will find some way to undo these gains by Hamas. It is this deep division between the Palestinians that makes Israeli efforts to pit one against the other as almost unnecessary since they are at war with each other.
But the Palestinian situation is actually a microcosm of the Arab states surrounding Israel which have issues of their own. Jordan, Syria, and Egypt surround Israel and publicly condemn Israel, the Israeli Embargo, and support the Islamic cause – at least publicly but underneath things are much less clear.
Egypt may be the oldest country in the world and while essentially an Islamic state it is a secular country and totally hostile to Hamas. Hamas is an intensely religious organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood – a semi-secret organization responsible for the assassination of Anwar Sadat among others. The Muslim Brotherhood is considered by the Egyptian government to be its greatest domestic threat and President Mubarak has moved against Islamic extremists and sees Hamas and their ideology as a threat since it could spread to Egypt. Thus Egypt has maintained its own blockade of Gaza and remains much closer to the Fatah whose secularism derives from the Egyptian secularism. Consequently Hamas (supported by Iran) distrusts Cairo which is secular and Sunni.
Jordan on the other hand doesn’t trust Fatah since Arafat attempted to overthrow the monarchy. This effort by Fatah cost 10,000 Palestinian lives and Fatah has never forgot this massacre – initiated by them but in typical fashion blamed on Jordan. The idea of an independent Palestinian State in the West Bank is not popular with the Jordanians, especially since so much of their population is Palestinian. But the Jordanians are not enthusiastic about Hamas either since they have such close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood which has caused problems in Jordan. So while Jordan acts as an Islamic state and gives lip service to the condemnation of Israel the reality is both Jordan and Egypt have peace treaties with Israel which remain in place and apparently unthreatened.
And that brings us to the more interesting and complicated issue which is Syria. Syria supports the Palestinians but that seems to be more rhetorical than real. Syria is focused on Lebanon and along with Iran a sponsor of Hezbollah, which is anti-Israeli rather than pro-Palestinian. Hezbollah is a Shiite Organization supported by Iran that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel not to the creation of a Palestinian state. The Palestinians are little more than a casus belli for Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel. The Syrian government is focused on Lebanon and when Hezbollah becomes aggressive against Israel the Syrians become upset with Iran whom they see as responsible. But there are other issues here because Hezbollah is a Shiite organization but the Palestinians are generally Sunni so it isn’t clear that the Palestinians would want Hezbollah to establish a regime in Palestine. So Syria is playing a complicated game as it tries to balance all of these conflicting goals that only have one common one which is the destruction of Israel, when their goal is the domination of Lebanon. But these aren’t the only countries that make up Islam
Turkey is a secular Islamic country with aspirations to join the EU but it is also dealing with an insurgent Kurdish issue and a rising Islamic fundamentalism fueled by radical clerics. The Turkish government is condemning Israel at the moment but that is probably the government’s attempt to mollify the radicals. Then you have the threats the PLO gave to the Arabian states. Like all Arabs the Saudi’s and other Arabian peninsula states are long on memory and short on forgiveness so it is unlikely they will rush to the aid and support of the Palestinians in any meaningful way. Of course Iran would like to influence if not dominate the Palestinians as they pursue their objective of the destruction of Israel but Fatah doesn’t trust the Iranians and Hamas is Sunni while Iran is Shiite so there is not a lot of trust there either. So all of these convoluted relationships are fragile and not built on trust.
Given these conflicts in policy, religion, and political goals among the Islamic states, it renders the anti-Semitism of Europe and hostility to Israel as more of a diplomatic issue than any significant threat to Israel. To the Israeli’s Gaza represents a dagger at their throat and it is unlikely they will loosen their grip and from their perspective Fatah ultimately supports their suppression of Gaza and Hamas. More importantly Egypt participates with Israel in this suppression of Hamas through their own embargo, Jordan is relieved by the Israeli policy, and Syria is indifferent to it but may continue their blather. In effect these divisions among the Islamic states render them ineffective and thus Israel has no reason to reduce their pressure on Gaza and Hamas.
To confirm this assessment it is worth noting that as the Israeli Navy intercepted this Turkish Flotilla, not one Egyptian aircraft threaten the Israeli’s nor did any Syrian or Turkish warship approach or make any effort to intervene with the Israeli’s. The threat of rocket attacks and suicide bombers from Gaza remains but any significant deterrent threat from the other Islamic states is unlikely to go beyond rhetorical condemnations.

Islam Today

The drum beat of multi-culturalism continues unabated throughout the liberal world. We are told that we should honor all cultures and they are all morally equivalent. Hence the native headhunter who wears a discreet loin cloth is equivalent to any Wall Street banker because they are both hunters one of men and the other of men’s money. This lunacy is extrapolated to all cultures including even those whose very foundation is based on hatred of all who differ and the sworn destruction of those they oppose and their societies. Of course this refers to Islam and the constant stream of excuses and assurances that not all Muslims are like the Islamofascists and there are good ones – who can best be described as the silent minority. Without doubt there are exceptions – there always are – but the silence of the Islamic community relative to the murder and destruction being wrought by Muslims worldwide is thunderous. Of particular interest is the internecine warfare going on between the Shi’ia Muslims and the Sunni’s. This is equivalent to the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s with the US Military playing the part of the Federal Agents. True to form the guilt and blame lies not on the irrationality of the Muslims but is laid on the US and the US Military.

This internecine warfare has been going on since the death of Mohammed and is really nothing more nor less than a battle over the successor to the Caliphate – a battle that has lasted over a thousand years and one that shows no signs of abating. In fact this ongoing battle is encouraged by the Saudi’s – the keepers of the Holy Places of Islam. A close look at the situation reveals some very interesting – and speculative – motives. First until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1917 Arabia was really not a country and it was inhabited by various Bedouin Tribes who can best be described as nomadic goat herders. When the Ottoman Empire was carved up by those ever helpful British and French governments, SAUDI-Arabia was created with the House of Saud put in charge. The discovery of oil changed everything and the goat herders were separated into the Royal Family and everybody else. Things have gradually improved but Arabia continues to be an absolute Monarchy governed by Shar’ia Law which can only be described as draconian. Under Shar’ia women have few rights and true Muslims are sworn to the destruction of all unbelievers. Thus this commandment was the driving force behind the massacre of Hindu’s by the Muslims when India became independent and the genocide carried out by the Muslims in Armenia, and Bosnia. This commandment to kill all unbelievers continues to justify the murder and destruction being carried out by Muslims worldwide even today. Ironically it is also the justification for the blood feud between the Shi’ia and the Sunni’s.

It seems the enlightened and ever faithful Saudi’s provide capital for the construction of Mosques and textbooks to be used to teach Muslim children. Of course the multi-culturists in the West would never think to look at these textbooks to see what the Saudi’s are teaching – that’s too bad because the Saudi’s talk out of both sides of their mouth. According to the official Saudi (religious) teachings, it was the Jews who were behind those who became the Shia. It was the Jews who conspired to divide Islam and to plant Jewish thoughts into the minds of Muslims and these apostate Muslims became the Shia. This is used by the Saudi’s today to justify their continuing subjugation of the Shiites who have few rights in Saudi Arabia and cannot be represented in Saudi Courts because they are considered Jews -- so much for the Saudi view of human rights and cultural diversity.

But the Saudi’s are really the driving force behind Muslim extremism and the root of the Islamofascists whom they publicly repudiate on one side and quietly support on the other. We wonder why the Islamic community is so silent regarding the murder and mayhem being conducted in their name – look no further than the Saudi’s. In the textbooks being provided by the Saudi’s to Muslim children in America we find the following quote “The unbelievers, idolaters, and others like them must be hated and despised. We must stay away from them and create barriers between them and us.” So while the simple minded westerners continue to preach multi-culturalism and love of all, the Muslims are teaching isolationism and hate. The unbelievers and idolaters they are sworn to destroy consists of everyone except Sunni Muslims – and this means YOU.

But the hypocrisy of the Saudi’s and the Islamic states goes even deeper. First, despite vast sums of revenue and huge tracts of unoccupied land, the Saudi’s will not accept any Palestinian as a citizen. Instead they contribute money to train and arm suicide bombers and reward the families of suicide bombers. Lebanon has actually passed legislation that prohibits any Palestinian from working full time, purchasing land, or becoming a professional. These are Muslims but no Muslim nation will accept them so they deliberately remain marginalized as refugees and a destabilizing force throughout the Middle East as a government policy of the Muslim states. The Muslims seem to thrive on lies, libels, and ignorance and blame everyone but themselves for their poverty, misery,and lack of success. They blame the Jews for their plight rather than themselves and the rigidity of Islam.

To this day there are many Arab politicians, journalists, and “intellectuals” who tell their audiences, which are largely illiterate Arabs that Jews are Nazi’s because they siphon the blood of non-Jewish children for their religious observances. Incredible as it may sound this ridiculous libel has been stated publicly by the Syrian Defense Minister. The Arab Lawyers Union has circulated posters showing a vampire toothed Israeli Soldier with Nazi Flags standing guard over a boarded up Palestinian Office, where the boards formed a swastika. There are many of these types of things being circulated by Muslims, the same Muslims who rioted all over the world because of a cartoon showing Mohammed as a bomber - a double standard that is tolerated by the politically correct media, politicians, and multi-culturalists.

Islam today is firmly anchored in the sixth century and continues its tribal orientation. It is an exclusively male society where masculinity is demonstrated through the obligatory moustache and domination of women. They suppress their women and exercise such control over them that they are little more than sex slaves. Islam today has no room for equal rights for women or freedom of religion, speech, or the press. Islam today is a petrified religion that must either change or fracture and increasingly it appears it will never change because change requires enlightenment and reformation, neither of which can happen as long as they fail to accept responsibility for their plight.

The Brutality of Islam

Today brings us news that a devout Muslim father has murdered his 16 year old daughter for not wearing her head scarf to school. He had previously beat her for “not being Muslim enough” and the girl had told her friends that she thought if she didn’t meet her father’s standard of “being a good Muslim” he would kill her. Killing her was required by Islam because she was apostate. The Saudi Court sentenced a young girl to 90 lashes after she was gang raped by four men. When she appealed the sentence the court raised her sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison. The men received two years in prison and the rationale for the girl’s punishment was that she had been in the company of an unrelated male prior to the attack. Reading between the lines you can see that because she was with a boy – not related to her, she was seen as a whore and thus available to the boys who raped her. A British school teacher is sentenced to 40 lashes because she allowed her 7 year old students to name their Teddy Bear “Mohammed”. Of course the multi-culturists are doing their best to spin these atrocities into something less brutal and primitive but the reality is Islam is a barbaric religion that is anchored in the seventh century and doesn’t seem likely to join the modern world anytime soon.

Few of the apologists for Islam seem to have actually read the Koran or have any idea of what it says, but in Chapter 24:2 it calls for the fornicatress and adulteress to be lashed on the body 100 times and this is noted as the extreme limit. Please note that the Saudi Court sentenced the unfortunate victim of rape to 200 lashes. Also note that the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) or any official Islamic spokesman has failed to condemn this sentence or called on the Saudi Court to pardon the girl. This silence is telling because the Muslims -- even in the west -- place Shar’ia Law above secular law. To condemn this court would have been anti-Muslim. It should also be noted that Chapter 24:3 goes on to permit the fornicator and adulterer (males) to have sexual relations with a fornicatress, an adulteress, or a polytheistic (non-Muslim) woman. Therefore, rape of non-Muslim women is forgiven and it is easy to see why the girl who was raped had to have been condemned as a fornicatress and girl of low morality (she was in the presence of an unrelated male) because this justified the rape. For this girl to have been found innocent – a very unlikely event – it would have been necessary for her to produce four witnesses (all male) who would testify to the fact that she was forcibly raped. In effect she was guilty until proven innocent.

The Muslims all over the world demand to be treated equally with regard to the local laws but deny equal treatment in the Islamic states. No Jews or Christians are allowed in Arabia and Bibles are forbidden and possession could result in severe punishment including death. There is no freedom of religion in Islam – that is a Western concept which is enjoyed by Muslims but which they deny to others. But the fundamental hypocrisy of Islam and Muslims is visible everyday in the news as we observe Muslims killing other Muslims something strictly forbidden in the Koran – but the real hypocrisy is in Chapter 2:191. In this verse Muslims are forbidden to fight in the Holy Mosque but as we see these hyper-religious Muslims spout the Koran while using their “holy” Mosques as ammo dumps and fortresses from which they attack others – namely American Soldiers. But the irony goes on because in Chapter 2:193 where the Muslim is enjoined to fight their persecutors until religion is freely professed for Allah. How the Muslim community attacks those who believe differently and then call that “persecution” and then deny religious freedom is a blatant example of their hypocrisy and failure to live by the very dictates they profess.

In chapter 2:216 the Koran states that Muslims are expected to fight “Fighting has been ordained for you”. In this chapter the word “love” appears but the Koran is fascinating because in the few instances where this word "love" appears it never is used in reference to loving mankind – only loving God or something and in this chapter it references something you may desire that is bad for you. This failure to preach love of mankind should be contrasted with the New Testament where the underlying theme throughout is to love all mankind and to forgive your enemies. Instead the Koran is filled with references to killing, beheading, fighting, and destruction of all infidels. Islam is a brutal religion anchored firmly in the tribal culture of the seventh century and practiced by tribal people today who place tribe and religion above everything else and who have little to no loyalty to any secular authority other than military and even that is problematic. Women have very few rights in Islam and are treated as little more than property. They are married off independent of their wishes. Recently there has been a spate of female suicide bombers and these are passed off as dedicated Islamic women. The actual facts are that these are women who have been condemned to death by stoning or flogging for violating Shar’ia Law. They are given the option of dying in the name of Allah or in shame. The supreme irony here is that the “Traditions of the Prophet” clearly and unequivocally condemn suicide in any form. This is supported by the Prophet himself who quoted God as saying to a man who was morally wounded and killed himself to shorten the pain “My servant has pre-empted me by taking his soul with his own hand: he will therefore not be admitted to paradise”. So you wonder just how pure these Islamofascists are relative to their religion when they dupe malleable people into carrying out their murderous schemes. According to the Koran and Islam suicide is forbidden so why is this being ignored in the name of Allah when it is a clear violation of God's will? The simple answer is that these people are after power and they are willing to use any monstrous lie or deception and are willing to go to any extreme to achieve this power. These are brutal people who are using a brutal religion to achieve their desire for power – God has nothing to do with it.

Islam is NOT Peaceful

Once again we see our Congress, the Media, the intellectually challenged, and the politically correct, if that isn’t a redundancy – merrily leading us into a catastrophe while they insist on believing that Islam is a peaceful religion and that those who are attacking us (the infidels) worldwide are really a minority. THESE ARE NOT A MINORITY—this is mainstream Islam. We (Christendom) are in a fight to the death with Islam. This is a fight that began in the seventh century and has not abated since that time. The objective of Islam is world domination, the installation of a theocratic government, the suppression of freedom, democracy, law, and all religion other than Islam.

This is a violent religion and the Qur’an is NOT a book that preaches love, forgiveness, or tolerance but it focuses on hate, violence, killing, deception and instructs the true believer to kill all infidels. The beheadings of Nick Berg and Daniel Pearl were simply following the Qur’an (47:4). It promises victory and states that all of the Persian and Roman Empires (think Europe), is theirs according to Allah (33:27). The Muslim is under no obligation to treat prisoners kindly or even to take prisoners (8:67) unless they have won a solid victory. Furthermore, in 5:33 the Muslim is charged with executing all who make war against Islam.

We continue to view Islam and Muslims in Western terms, which are leading us step by step to destruction. The secular governments that we continue to treat with are hollow and have little to no control over the people because for the true Muslim Islam is the church and the church is the state. In effect the Mullahs are the ones with the power and any elected person is subordinate to the Mullahs and this is very evident in Iraq. In the Qur’an (5:51) the Muslim is told that he cannot take Jews or Christians as allies because they are enemies of Islam, this means that any sincere Muslim in America or in any non-Muslim country cannot be loyal to the government because his loyalty is only to Islam and the Imam in his Mosque. Yet we are electing these people into our government on the false assumption that when they take the oath of loyalty they are in fact loyal. This is totally false.

It is also worth noting that a Muslim can take an oath on the Qur’an and still lie (5:89) if it furthers the objectives of Islam, which is the overthrow of all non-Islamic governments. This means that any practicing Muslim elected to any government office can take the oath of office without committing a sin and is under no obligation to remain loyal to the government that he serves, because his first loyalty is to Islam – meaning people like Al Sadr, Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden, etc. The Qur’an specifically states (5:14) that Christians are the specific enemies of Islam and this is the word of God.

In spite of what is clearly written in the Qur’an the Media, the Congress, and the politically correct continue to view the “insurgents” and “freedom fighters’ not as Muslims on Jihad against Christendom, but as Muslim “extremists” who can be handled if we just tried to understand them and treat “mainstream” Islam with kindness and understanding. This shows an almost childlike naiveté because these so called “extremists” ARE mainstream Islam and they are reading the Qur’an just as it is written. They feed on hate, they are dedicated to the destruction of all infidels, the elimination of everything not found in the Qur’an, which includes virtually all science, education, freedom, and democracy plus the subjugation of women.

Why can our troops not gain the support of the average Iraqi? Because if they are true Muslims then the Qur’an 4:89 specifically forbids them to befriend any non-Muslim and to kill them if they are aggressive – read soldiers.

The time has long past for the West – not just America – to abandon these illogical politically correct beliefs about Islam and begin to take positive action. This means deportation of anyone in a country illegally. Monitor all Mosques for seditious talk and when discovered to charge the Imams with treason and close the Mosque and to install profiling so that these Muslims can be watched. Watch all financial transactions and to suppress Hamas and all Muslim charities who send money overseas to any country. To tell any country that harbors anyone who attacks the US that we regard that as an act of war and to take action against them on that basis. This means an immediate action against Syria, Iran, and Gaza. We are engaged in another Crusade, we are at war with Islam and the Muslims have said so, it is about time that we actually listen to what they are saying and take appropriate action.

Muslims and America

I once again rise to issue a warning that seems to be wasted on our politicians and all of the multi-culturalists who insist that the Muslims who are carefully referred to as "insurgents" or "Islamofascists" are in the minority. Well this "minority" should be referred to as the "silent minority" because I have yet to see any condemnation of the events in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. etc. The local Imam did come out and condemn the acts of terrorism as opposed to Islam but then he pointed out that while the terrorism was wrong it was caused by the Jews. Naturally there was no condemnation of his anti-semitism because THAT would be wrong and opposed to multi-cultural values. The reality is the Qur'an is filled with exhortations to fight all non-believers:

4:76
Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, and those who choose disbelief fight in the cause of the transgressors; fight you, therefore against the friends of Satan, surely, the strategem of Satan is ever weak.

4:89
They would like you to reject the faith as they have done themselves, that you may be all alike; therefore, make no friends with them until they emigrate in the cause of Allah. but if they turn back (to hostility ) then capture them and kill them whereever you find them, and do not take any one of them as a friend or helper.

5:51
O you who believe! Do not take these Jews and Christians for Allies. They are allies of one to another and whoso from amongst you takes them for allies is indeed one of them. ...

There are dozens of quotes similar to these and even more damning. The point is that if you are a Muslim and are truly committed to the faith then you cannot be an American or even live in a free and democratic society without resisting that society by force. We see this in England where the Muslims are becoming evermore violent and anti-democratic. We see it in Canada where the Muslim community insists on living under Shar'ia Law. In Minnesota the cab drivers are refusing to take passengers who carry or have consumed alcohol even though it is against the local law for them to do so.

Now this morning we are greeted with the an article describing how Hassan Abujihaad, 31, of Phoenix, has been arrested as a traitor and who has provided classified military information to Islamic Terrorists. The time has long past for America to wake up and recognize we are in the midst of a Religious War -- not a secular war of freedom versus tyranny but of Christendom versus Islam -- a war that has been raging for a thousand years. Muslims are duty bound to kill all non-muslims and to take their possesions -- of course not all Muslims are "good" Muslims like all Christians are not "good" Christians but the Muslim community in general does not condemn the terrorists and many either passively or actively support them. The almost total lack of understanding by our media, officials, the ACLU, and the multiculturalists of Islam and its teachings is appalling and is actually harming us because the terroists rely on this ignorance. They use our very freedoms and morality against us. A Muslim's first loyalty is to Islam, not some secular or national authority and this is a point which Westerners simply fail to grasp. Given a situation where the Muslim must choose between government and Islam, Islam wins and to this point I offer the recent arrest of former Sailor Hassan Abujihaad.

This man is a traitor and should be shot but punishment for traitors is no longer death but imprisonment regardless of the damage they may have caused. Here is a man who provided iinformation on American Fleet positions, their susceptibility to attack, and suggestions on how to attack them. He did not act alone but in concert with an international Islamic organization dedicated to the destruction of America as well as all non-Islamic people and states. Among his co-conspirators was Derrick Shareef of Chicago another Muslim who we would view as an American but who would undoubtedly view himself as a Muslim living in America. THESE PEOPLE DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE SUPERIORITY OF THE STATE OVER THE RELIGION. Nevertheless we continue to hear apologists point out that not all Muslims are radical nor do they support terrorism. Well that may be but then they do not actively oppose it either do they? Where is the hue and cry? How many send dollars to Muslim front organizations or to their relatives who pass it on to the terrorists? We are under threat domestically but instead of recognizing this threat and working to quash it, we find the ACLU and other left wing organizations working to thwart efforts to identify, arrest, and imprison these Muslims.

We need to wake up an recognize we are being inflitrated. We now have a congressman who is a Muslim and what was his first act? To complain about the Bible and to insist on taking the oath on the Qur'an. Not a terribly bad thing but it is the camel's nose, just as the Cab drivers in Minnesota are a first step in the Islamic Drive to install Shar'ia Law. We find Christian symbols being stripped from all buildings both public and private for fear of offending Muslims. No one seems to recognize that Bibles are forbidden in all Muslim countries and the possession of one in Saudi Arabia could bring death. The Muslims demand equality and freedom of religion but are not willing to provide it for others. This is a religious war and right now we are losing through ignorance and a refusal to recognize the threat.

How The World Turns

I am not a political analyst nor am I a military strategist, but I do read a great deal of history in terms of both subjects. Therefore, as I observe global events over the past several years I am beginning to wonder how much most Americans understand what is behind these events and their headlines. It seems to me that most Americans, like most Westerners, tend to think in terms of their culture and experience rather than historical perspectives, so I thought some insight might be in order.

History
Africa is a mess and it has always been a mess. The African Natives are tribal, they have always been tribal and continue as tribes even today. When a Westerner looks at Africa he sees a continent made up of various countries, but these countries are creations of the European Imperial Powers and bear no relationship whatsoever to the historical tribal boundaries. The result has been off and on again conflict between tribes and countries dominated by various tribal strongmen. It is also worthwhile noting that while the Europeans capitalized on the slave trade, the reality is that trade was going on between various African Tribes and the Arab Muslims to the East before the Europeans came on to the scene. Furthermore this trade continued up until the 1960’s when it was “officially” banned by the Saudi Government but there is every reason to believe it continues even today.

The countries across North Africa, with the exception of Egypt and possibly Ethiopia are creations of the Imperial Powers. Most of these countries as well as those of the Middle East didn’t exist until France and England carved up the Ottoman Empire. It is worth noting that the Ottomans controlled all of what is now known as the Middle East, all of North Africa, Spain, (until the 15th Century), much of the Balkans, Turkey, and Persia. This Empire was larger than the Roman Empire and was Muslim, although Christians and Jews were permitted to live within the Empire. Although the Ottoman Empire was viewed as a political entity by the West, in reality it was a Theocracy dominated by various Emirs, Aga’s, and other Religious leaders, it was never a political organization as experienced in the West.

Then we have the problems associated with the Pacific Rim. China is technically a “communist” nation but in reality it is simply following the historical pattern of a strong central government. It used to be an Imperial Nation but the strength of the central government has always ebbed and flowed dominated now by warlords and then by a strongman. The difference between the old imperial system and the current “communist” system is virtually invisible. The same is true of India, which has historically been fragmented into small states until the British came. Since that time they have more or less been forged into a nation but they continue to teeter on the brink of re-fragmentation. The more interesting point here is that both China and Japan have considered Korea to be source of slaves, to be exploited by first one then the other. Koreans are looked down upon by both the Chinese and Japanese. Until the 1950’s Korea was an insignificant backwater and the incursion of the Chinese Communists have left us with North Korea, which is led by a central figure Kim Il Jong, who is bent and determined to establish himself as a major political figure. All of these are historical perspectives that seem to be lost on the public at large.

Christendom
In this context Christendom includes Christians, Jews, Atheists, and all others who are not Muslim. Christendom is characterized by a series of nation states, some democratic and some not, but all easily distinguished by borders and some sense of national identity. With some minor exceptions these nation states fight each other over various issues, usually regarding territory or economics, but rarely over religion. While it is true that when the West was emerging from the dark ages religion and religious wars were fought,but these largely disappeared by the 1600”s. The result is that today the West is comprised of nation states whose governments have authority and can be relied upon to act with authority.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the flaw in how the West is approaching the war on terror. For the typical Westerner, wars are fought between nation states over territory, economics, or resources, but never over an abstraction like freedom or religion. Because of this ingrained idea, the West continues to perceive Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Syria, and virtually all of the “nations” of the Middle East and Africa as “nations” run by a central government. They attempt to negotiate with these entities and to sign treaties without recognizing that these governments are inherently weak and are not viewed by the Muslim population as being independent of Islam or speaking for them.

The reality is that the Muslims have been dedicated to erasing all people and religions and are not interested in establishing any government other than an Islamic one based on Shar’ia Law. They are not interested in educating their people other than in Islam so they have no interest in technology, economics, education, or any culture other than Islamic. They do not believe in freedom of any kind and are dedicated to enforcing their view of the world. Most recently Israel gave up land to the Palestinians in a futile effort to buy peace and left behind green houses, buildings, and infrastructure. The Muslims came in and promptly destroyed all of it and continued to use the land to attack Israel. The strategy of “Land for Peace” failed and it will continue to fail because the Muslims do not want to create a modern state but want to destroy everything that is not Islamic. They want to return to the seventh century and “pure Islam”.

It is widely recognized that Iran is behind most – if not all – of the terrorism today, but rather than taking the battle to the Iranians, the West continues to focus on the offending “countries” as if the government of these “countries” had any authority over the people.

Islam
Iraq has historically been the seat of the Caliphate and thus the heart of Islam. It has been the seat of Muslim art and culture and has historically had a highly educated population. However, Muslims in general are not a highly educated people but that seems to be more of a symptom than a root cause of the anger and instability that characterizes Islam today. In fact there are two sides to the Islamic issue. On the external side there is the anger aimed at the West that is being channeled through religious activism. On the surface this appears to be the continuing effort by Islam to convert the world and stamp out all other religions. But to a large extent, this is really a ploy being used by Islamic leaders to distract their people from the gross mismanagement of their only revenue source which is oil. In the classic strategy of demagogues these religious leaders are using the West and Christendom as scapegoats for the appalling conditions that exist in most Muslim countries and this represents the internal conflict that is raging throughout Islam.

Islam is actually divided into the Sunni and the Shi’ia and this schism goes back to the 8th Century and rests on the dispute over who was (is) the true successor to Mohammed. Throughout history the Sunni’s have been the minority, but also the dominant sect who have exploited and abused the Shi’ia. With the overthrow of Shah the Shi’ia became the dominant sect in Iran. Iraq was a Sunni nation and Hussein attacked Iran for many reasons, but certainly one was to re-establish the Sunni dominance. When Saddam was overthrown that unleashed the Shi’ia who are out for revenge. But beyond this mundane seeking of revenge, behind the scenes is a power struggle that is raging over the leadership of Islam – the Caliphate. Osama bin Laden was well on the way to becoming the Caliph but when he was forced into hiding his power began to wane and others are attempting to establish their right to the Caliphate by attacking the West and indirectly the Sunni’s or the Shi’ia depending on which sect they belong to. The West is caught in the middle of this power struggle and until that is resolved it is unlikely the Muslims will stablize.

Strategery

• 
  I continue to be amazed how various pundits, politicians, reporters, and other military amateurs continue their relentless criticism of Secretary Rumsfeld and his conduct of the War on Terror. These people are no more qualified to critique the actions of the SecDef than I am and in fact being a student of military history, I might actually be more qualified. The latest attack(s) have been launched by the left through a number of Generals including Wesley Clark and Colin Powell. It is worth noting that both of these Generals are actually Pentagon Generals with little experience in Battle. Frontline Generals in the mode of Field Marshal Rommel and General Patton are hard to find today. In fairness General Powell did support and assist General Schwarzkopf in conducting the Gulf War. However, that was a classic war in the sense it was a war between nation states and conducted in the grand manner. We saw movements of air and sea forces, feints, flanking maneuvers, and everything conducted at the Division and Corps level. It was truly marvelous and perhaps the last war of this type ever to be fought. The War on Terror is much more intimate and the battles – such as they are – tend to be fought at the platoon or company level and sometimes at the Battalion level but for the most part the battles are intimate affairs. The generals who are being paraded about as experts are in reality not experts at all. They might be experts in classic warfare and capable of integrating air and sea with ground forces across a theater but that really isn’t what is going on today. We are being subjected to this avalanche of criticism by a group of arm chair wannabe generals and a gaggle of real generals who want to fight the only war they know how to fight, which unfortunately isn’t the current one. I offer some relevant quotes.
  
  I feel that retired generals should never miss an opportunity to remain silent concerning matters for which they are no longer responsible.
  General Norman Schwartzkopf
  
  Dead battles and dead generals are traps for the military mind
  Annonymous
  
  If men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail.
  General Ulysses S. Grant
  
  So what we are being subjected to is a gaggle of people who do not have any responsibility for the conduct of or the outcome of, the current conflict. On the one hand we have civilians who choose to view those captured on the battle field, not as prisoners of war but as some sort of oppressed person alleged to have committed a crime. These people are being held illegally and in violation of the American Constitution. How the American Constitution applies to people who are not citizens is unclear to me but apparently not unclear to others. What crime should these people be charged with? What kind of evidence can be supplied? The illogic of this position seems lost because it would virtually guarantee that most if not all of those being held would have to be relesed for lack of evidence. Under this contorted thinking all of the soldiers captured in WW II, Korea, and Viet Nam would have been released and sent back to their units.
  
  But these people were soldiers and under the rules of war they could be held without charges until the end of hostilities, but those people being held by the US today are not soldiers. If they aren’t soldiers what are they? Some describe them as “insurgents”, “militants”, and “freedom fighters”, but these are not soldiers because they don’t wear uniforms. Under the rules of war people engaged in actions against one of the combatants who are captured without a uniform can be treated as spies or saboteurs and summarily executed. So the reality is that the United States is treating these people more humanely than they deserve under the rules of war.
  
  As serious as this problem is and as much as it acts as a distraction to the military, the more serious problem is the constant criticism of how the war is being conducted. The reality is there are actually two wars under way and perhaps more depending on your view point. There is the War of Terror, which is really a misnomer for a general conflict between radical Muslims and the West. This is actually a global conflict being waged by Muslims against Christendom. This war was declared by Osama bin Laden and its objective is world domination by Islam and the installation of Shar’ia Law world wide. This is a war against all infidels and no quarter is asked or given. The result of this policy is attacks of civilians and the torture and murder of any captives. This war is being confused with the Iraqi War and the War in Afghanistan.
  
  These Wars are actually theaters in the War on Terror. There objective is to focus the conflict into a more controllable situation. The War in Afghanistan was intended to deny Islam a permanent base of operations and a training ground for their military who do not wear uniforms and who are trained to use the civilian population as shields. Operations in this theater are continuing with mixed success due to the tribal nature of the natives and the inability of the government to establish control. Unfortunately, the Islamic world is primarily composed of tribes and clans who give only limited notice to any central government. Their primary loyalty is to Islam and this makes establishing any kind of permanent government in Afghanistan problematic. The near term objective appears to be to deny the militant Muslims a base of operations and this appears to be successful, but the fighting goes on. It is worth noting that the Afghans historically fight each other and only band together to fight an outsider.
  
  The reality is that even if Afghanistan was totally pacified and a stable government in place, it is unsuitable militarily as a base of operations for the larger global conflict. Strategically Iraq is much more desirable because it has access to the sea, a large educated population, and most importantly it provides a buffer between Iran and Syria, the primary bases for the radical terrorists. Iraq has historically acted as the very heart of Islam and Baghdad has historically been the capital of the Caliphate. Iraq has a strong military and once this is restored it will keep Iran and Syria off balance, but that brings us to the other war which is being viewed as the Iraqi Civil War.
  
  Whether or not this is truly a civil war is not quite clear, but regardless of what it is it certainly represents a strategic problem if not a failure. Although the Iraqi’s generally are better educated than most of the Islamic World there is still a large population of less educated people, who are under the sway of the various religious leaders. These leaders have their own militias which are bad enough but these leaders are themselves divided into Sunni and Shi’ia. This division has split Islam since the 7th Century and although the Sunni’s represent the minority they have historically dominated the Shi’ia.
  
  Although this fact is well known it appears that the depth of this division was misjudged so with the fall of Hussein, the Sunni’s lost control and the Shi’ia are out for revenge. So the Americans are caught in the middle and the result is a three way battle. The Sunni’s and Shi’ites are merrily killing each other along with any “Crusaders” they find. While the majority of the Iraqi population are not really committed to any of these conflicts they remain in the background for fear of reprisals. The result is what appears to be a Civil War where the Americans are attempting to keep the combatants apart. The result is that there are calls for more troops and criticisms about the conduct of the conflicts. This situation cannot be won with more troops, because the best that could be achieved would be a cessation of the murder and mayhem only until the Americans withdraw which would be the signal for a real civil war that would be won by Iran.
  
  Clearly the strategic objective of a stable and secular Iraq is not beyond our grasp but the success of that strategy rests squarely on our ability to train a RELIABLE army composed of troops loyal to the government and not the Islamic Leaders. This does not require more troops but it does require commitment to see it through.
  
  The time has long past for the West in general and the American public in particular to wake up to the fact that we are engaged in a global conflict, not of our making and not of our choice, but it real and we are involved. We need to step back and view this with a broader view and stop carping about individual issues and second guessing those people trying to fight it.

The Ninth Crusade

The most surprising thing about events in the last fifty or so years is the almost total lack of Western Society to realize they are in the midst of a global war and appear to be losing it. This war is a war between Christendom and Islam, which is probably the reason most of the Western Powers have failed to recognize that it is in progress. From the perspective of the Muslims this is another crusade – the Ninth – and they repeatedly refer to the Western forces as “Crusaders”. This reference is fully recognized thoroughout Islam but is viewed as either quaint or nonsensical by the West. This is a grave mistake and this failure to recognize the current worldwide terrorism as a manifestation of this religious struggle between Islam and Christendom weakens the West strategically.

Christendom is composed of many nation states, cultures, and even religions and the West perceives the entire world as composed of these nation states, without regard to the fact that many of these nation states were created by the Western Powers as they carved up the Ottoman Empire at the end of WW I. Hence the West sees Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon, etc. as independent countries. The reality is that France and Britain in their usual arrogant and self-serving manner – created these countries as mandates and client states without regard to history or the people and certainly with little to no understanding of Islam. The leaders of these countries never had the support of the people and the countries were never totally stable and certainly never democratic. Of course Kemal Ataturk – a Turkish general over threw the last Ottoman dominated government in Turkey and established a secular government which still exists today, but this is a rarity in the Islamic world.

To some extent these European defined countries do exist but what is not recognized is that Islam is the unifying force, not national pride or patriotism. The unifying force throughout the Middle East is Islam and Islam is at war with Christendom and has been at war with Christendom since the death of Mohammed in the seventh century. The periods of peace between the Middle East and the West are viewed as periods of regrouping by Islam because they have never, and will never, abandon their objective of World Domination because they believe Islam was ordained by God and it is their duty to convert the world to Islam and kill all unbelievers.

Most Westerners view this objective of world domination by Islam as anachronistic, unrealistic, and perhaps even silly, but this attitude actually reflects the almost total ignorance the West has about Islam, its history, and their conflicts with Christendom. One of the most deceptive things being offered by the Muslims living in the West is their description of the term “Jihad”. These Muslims point out that Jihad means struggle and that within the Qur’an this can mean warfare or a moral struggle, so Muslims can be “Jihadists” and not be a threat to their host countries. While their definition of Jihad is correct what they fail to explain is that the use of this term outside of the Qur’an has always – even during Mohammed’s lifetime – meant warfare against infidels and apostates. Mohammed spread Islam by the sword and that has continued as the Islamic practice down to today. With this understanding, the following quote provides some insight into Islam and Jihad[1]

“In this as in so many other matters, the guidance of the Qur’an is amplified and elaborated in the hadi`ths, that is to say, traditions concerning the actions and utterances of the Prophet. Many of these deal with holy war. The following are a few samples.
· Jihad is you duty under any ruler, be he godly or wicked
· A day and night of fighting on the frontier is better than a month of fasting and prayer
· The nip of an ant hurts the martyr more than the thrust of a weapon, for these are more welcome to him than sweet, cold water on a hot summer day.
· He who dies without having taken part in a campaign dies in a kind of unbelief.
· God marvels at people (those to whom Islam is brought by conquest) who are dragged to Paradise in chains.
· Learn to shoot, for the space between the mark and the archer is one of the gardens of Paradise
· Paradise is in the shadow of swords."

Jihad is embedded in Islam from its outset and continues down to today. It is a religious duty for every Muslim, so is it any wonder why Muslims publicly condemn the worldwide slaughter of innocents but do little to stop it? Within Iraq we see Muslims killing Muslims by the hundreds or even thousands but little support is offered to the troops attempting to protect them. To support or ‘collaborate” with the Crusaders would be anti-Islamic. The fundamental point here is that within the world of Islam, the loyalty of the individual is first to Islam and not to a nation because nations are relatively new concepts in Islam. The same is true of governments. Westerners separate religion and government. This wasn’t always so but certainly since the 1600’s there has been a separation of church and state. While Christendom has nations and laws, these transcend the religious considerations but this isn’t the case within Islam. Islam overshadows and may override any government and this Islamic influence can be seen in the new Iraqi constitution where no law can be established that is non-Islamic. This falls short of establishing Shar’ia Law but it leaves open what is non-Islamic.

At the core of the current upheaval, which we call the War on Terror, is a form of religious reformation within Islam and the attacks on the Western Crusaders is part of that reforming activity but not its central thrust. Our reference to these Islamic reformers as “fundamentalists” is not really accurate because this is a Western term that carries subtle meanings that don’t apply. There really isn’t any dispute within the Muslim community over Islam itself, so no one is attempting to change or reform Islam. The dispute is that some Muslims like Osama bin Laden and the Muslim Brotherhood believe that many within the Islamic Community are turning away from the true faith and are becoming “apostate”. They blame this turning away on the West and Western Culture as epitomized by America – hence the reference to America as the Great Satan. More importantly, this view that Westernized Muslims are apostates permits Bin Laden and his supporters to kill other Muslims because the Qur’an specifically allows this and even directs that it be done.

For the West the ramifications of this Islamic reformation are significant for many reasons. Perhaps the first thing is that the West must realize the significance of the terms “the Great Satan” and “Crusaders” because this shows that what we are fighting a religious war and that this war is three sided with us in the middle. The Muslims are struggling internally over what is true Islam but the West represents the common enemy. We must also realize that dealing with national governments in Muslim countries does not have the same significance that we associate with nation states within Christendom. In the West there is a division between the political and the religious but this division does not exist in these Muslim countries. Islam makes no distinction between religion and government and more often than not the heads of state that we deal with are frequently viewed as Western Puppets. We see these as legitimately elected governments but within Islam elected representatives have little meaning and their authority frequently is legitimized only through the ulema (~ clergy).

Islam has – since its founding – been bent on world domination and the conversion of the world to Islam and Shar’ia (law). There has been a dispersion of Muslim across the Western World driven primarily by the oppression of their governments. The result is that within Europe and America there are large and growing Muslim populations. This drive within Islam to re-establish the “true Islam” may not affect all Muslims in the West but it need only affect a small percentage to have an enormous impact. This problem has already manifested itself in France and England and we have had hints of it in the US. We already know that many the Imams in many Mosques within the US preach hatred of the West and the Crusaders. We know that the Muslim community collects large sums for Hamas and Hezbollah. We have a strong belief in freedom of religion so we do not monitor or interfere with these Imams and they use this against us. They view our freedoms as weaknesses and examples of our moral corruption because we permit free speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. They are opposed to all of these things but we fail to recognize this as a threat to us. The lack of action and condemnation within the Muslim community is a silent warning which we are ignoring. We need to recognize the threat to our internal safety and begin to take action against these Imams. The British have already started but they may have waited to long, we should not make their mistake. We are in the midst of the Ninth Crusade and it is time we recognized it.

[1] Lewis, Bernard, The Crisis of Islam, New York, Modern Library, 2003

A Strategic View

It seems our Congress, the Media, and the World in general continues to view the “War on Terror” as some sort of political strategy foisted on us by the current administration working in league with the oil companies. Certainly this seems to be the view share by a great many people, especially those in Hollywood (e.g. George Clooney). However, this is simply not the case because the war on terror did not begin on 9/11/01 nor will it end with the establishment of a civilian and secular government in Iraq. In fact, Iraq is simply another battle – or series of battles in the larger war – the Jihad – being conducted by the Muslims. This does not minimize the gravity of the situation in Iraq but it should be put into the same context as the Crusades, the struggle in Spain to displace the Muslims, the Mah’di in Sudan, and the sundry battles and skirmishes that have been fought between Christians and Muslims along their borders since the death of Muhammad in 632 AD. From that time until now the Muslims have been single minded in their pursuit of world domination – that is to convert the entire world to Islam.

Following the death of Muhammad Islam swept across the Middle East and North Africa in an explosive growth but it ran headlong into the Eastern Roman Empire. At the time, the Western Roman Empire was in a shambles. Rome had been sacked, there was no central government or authority and the barbarians were gleefully destroying every vestige of Roman power. The surviving Eastern Empire was beset by plots, intrigues, poor communications, and the rising power of the Christian Church. The people under the protection of Constantinople were being taxed at an ever increasing rate and receiving less and less protection and benefit. Against this backdrop the Muslims gave people a choice – the sword or convert to Islam. For most this was not a difficult choice to make. After all Islam accepts the precepts of Judaism and Christianity with the exception that Jesus is viewed as a Prophet of God rather than the Son of God. The Muslims also brought peace and structure to what was becoming an increasingly chaotic situation.

This was the First Jihad which spread Islam across all of North African and into the Iberian Peninsula. The West was still in chaos with small kingdoms, fiefs, and an aristocracy that was essentially a series of warlords vying for power, prestige, and loot. There was little to stop the spread of Islam until Charles Martel – the father of Charlemagne – stopped them at the battle of Tours – celebrated in the poem :The Song of Roland”. However, the pressure on the Eastern Empire was relentless and ultimately the Emperor summoned help from the West and thus the First Crusade was born. Unfortunately the government in Byzantium had not realized that the West had deteriorated to such an extent and the army that came to their aid was bent as much on looting as freeing the Holy Land from the Infidels. Worse the Crusaders were truly barbarians and their conduct and treatment of the Muslims was so barbarous that it is remembered even today. The Crusades never really resolved anything and there the matter sat with various battles and skirmishes continuing off and on until 1492 when the Spaniards defeated the Muslims at the battle of Granada and drove them from Iberia.

During this period of Islamic expansion and growth the Islamic world was beset by its own internal dissentions and factions seeking power. Gradually the Ottoman Turks came to power and with the Second Great Jihad they succeeded in destroying what remained of the Eastern Roman Empire. Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and the great cathedral of Saint Sophia became a Mosque, which it is to this day. Even though the Ottomans continued their pressure on the West it was an empire rooted in theology and this proved to be its Achilles Heel. While the military continued expanding into Eastern Europe, internally the empire was beset by warring sects and rivalries as each small group proclaimed that it was the “true way of the Prophet”. This fragmentation weakened the Ottomans overall and by the late 1600’s the Venetians had defeated the Ottomans at sea and the Austrians had defeated the Ottomans at the siege of Vienna.

Although the Ottoman Empire remained intact, in reality it gradually fragmented into various Sheikdoms, principalities, and roving tribes – the Arabs. This situation continued up until World War One when the Ottomans – through diplomatic bumbling by England and France – sided with the Germans. Lawrence of Arabia was dispatched to the Middle East where he was very successful in exploiting this internal dissention by turning the Arabs against the Ottomans (Turks).

Although Lawrence made many promises to the Arabs the French and the English never intended to honor any of them and at the end of the War the French and English merrily divided up the Middle East into “spheres of influence” and “countries”. Thus the world witnessed the birth of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Iran, Arabia, et al. In some cases these had historic precedent (e.g. Mesopotamia – now Iraq) and in others (e.g. Jordan), the boundaries were arbitrary. The sheer arrogance of the English and French is breathtaking and it was their actions that reignited the anti-western sentiment and gave birth to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The group that felt most betrayed was the Arabs who were under the control of the House of Saud who had been placed in power by the English. Ironically, the Arabs were not well educated and consisted mostly of nomadic herdsmen. Because the holy cities of Medina and Mecca were on the Arabian Peninsula they fell under the control of the Arabs, who were simple people with a fundamentalist view of Islam – now called Wahhabism.

It is virtually impossible to draw parallels between Islam and Christianity but to gain some perspective on Wahhabism consider that the Sunni’s are similar to the Catholics, the Shi’a similar to protestants, and the Wahhbi’s equivalent to some minor Christian Sect who believe in the absolute literal reading of the Bible. If the teachings of this sect were to gradually spread into the mainstream of Christianity it would be similar to what is happening in Islam. There are two aspects of Wahhabism that have an immediate impact on Christians and Jews in particular and the world in general. The first of these is a virulent hatred of Western Culture which is being used as a scapegoat for the failures that plague the Islamic countries. The blame for these failures in growth, development, and prosperity are being shifted onto the West rather than being accepted as internal failures. This is roughly equivalent to the Germans blaming their economic failures prior to WW II on “the Jews”. The second and more overt problem of Wahhbism is the literal reading of the Qur’an, which calls for the destruction of all Infidels – men, women, and children. This hearkens back to the First Great Jihad when the Byzantines were given the option to convert or die. This is the same option being given today because Wahhabism calls for the complete destruction of anything that is not based on a literal reading of the Qur’an – hence we Muslims killing Muslims. This is the basis for the horrific conduct of the Taliban in Afghanistan, some of the barbarous practices in Saudi Arabia, and oppressive practices of the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran. It is Wahhabism that gave rise to the new Ali Pasha of Islam (military leader) Osama Bin Laden who is now leading what he calls the “Third Great Jihad”.

However, this War on Terror to the West but the Third Great Jihad to Islam did not begin with the first attack on the World Trade Center or on 9/11. In fact, this actually began in the 1920’s and the first battle began with the fall of the Shah of Iran and the capture of the American Embassy in Teheran. The Shah was an American Ally, a secular Muslim and embarked on a plan to “westernize” Iran. Sadly he misjudged the temper of the Iranians and the extent that Wahhabism had spread through the teachings in the Mosques. The Shah was allied with America and was not strongly anti-Israel. Of course this misjudgment toppled his regime, cost America a valuable ally, and inspired the militant Muslims to occupy the American Embassy. The West lost this battle due to the timidity of President Carter.

President Carter’s inability to react to what was seen as an act of war by everyone on the planet but him and his administration, indicated to the Muslims that America was a paper tiger. With the assumption of power by Khomeini, the Shah’s military was purged and opposition to the fundamentalist regime suppressed. This was the first major battle in the Third Great Jihad and it was a resounding tactical and strategic victory. The Wahhabi’s now had a base of operations funded by the oil wealth of Iran and the first step in the restoration of the Great Caliphate was now complete. The long range plan is to restore the Caliphate, which was formerly based in Baghdad. This plan calls for the overthrow of the secular governments of all countries with a Muslim majority and their replacement with a religious one loyal to the Caliph (i.e. the secular and religious head of Islam). If successful this strategy would result in theocratic governments in Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan, the Emirates, Kuwait, Sudan, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen, Lebanon, Chechnya, Tunisia, Syria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Palestine, and Israel. Beyond that-- and the second phase of the strategy -- would be the overthrow of the governments of Spain, France, Albania, Macedonia, Armenia, and possibly Greece. This strategy was initially successful in Afghanistan and significant inroads were made in Chechnya and Pakistan but the Russians have stymied (so far) the efforts in Chechnya and General Musharraf blocked them in Pakistan by staging a military coup. The Americans aided by a military coalition drove the Taliban from power and are on the way to setting up a moderate Muslim state in Afghanistan.

The strategy of this Third Great Jihad is to infiltrate governments and the military as a prelude to taking over the country. The incumbent secular leadership is either overthrown in a coup or assassinated, but this has not always been successful. Examples of this strategy are the assassination of Sadat and attempts on Hussein in Jordan, Mubarak in Egypt, and Musharraf in Pakistan. Pakistan is a particular target because of their nuclear ability and the military and intelligence services are already infiltrated by Al Qaeda. Strategically Al Qaeda is most likely behind the confrontation in Kashmir between the Muslims and Hindu’s. The target is most likely Musharraf with the hope that the instability in Kashmir will destabilize his position and bring about a coup by pro Al Qaeda Officers.

But the long range strategic plan of Al Qaeda is much more complex and far reaching. It seems to have three objectives. The first objective is to drive the United States out of the Middle East. This objective rests on the assumption that the United States is incapable of bringing its military might to bear for any extended period. Viet Nam is considered an example of this and the current strident voices in Congress and the media are viewed as the precursors for this inevitable withdrawal. The second objective is to gain control of the Middle Eastern oil reserves. This not only would provide Al Qaeda with enormous funds but it would give them a stranglehold on the West – especially Europe. They encourage Americans and the media to believe that we rely on Middle Eastern Oil for survival. This may be true of Europe but it isn’t true of the US. We not only have our own (untapped) reserves but we get substantial amounts of oil from the North Sea. But the perception is sometimes more powerful than the reality and with control of the Middle Easter Oil Al Qaeda could pressure the West to acquiesce in virtually any objective they might set. France in particular is vulnerable because by forcing France to allow greater immigration the Muslim population could increase and effectively convert France into a Muslim state. The third objective is to gain Nuclear weapons. The initial attempt failed in Pakistan but Iran has always been in the pocket of Al Qaeda and without doubt they are pushing hard to develop nuclear weapons. Once this is done – and it appears imminent – they will attempt to destroy Israel. They most probably will attack the US in Iraq and the new Iraqi government if it is viewed as secular.

The wild card here is Israel and the Iranians are well aware of it. Israel has nuclear capability and if attacked with nuclear weapons there is little doubt but that they would retaliate in kind. The US would be unable to prevent this. There is also the possibility that Israel would launch a pre-emptive strike against the Iranian nuclear plants and the US would probably be unable to prevent this as well. Strategically the waters are muddied even further by growing unrest of the Iranian people who are growing tired of the Mullahs – just as the settlements in the New World grew tired of the religious rule of the Puritans. If the Mullahs persist in their strict enforcement of anti-western policies, which is actually a war against western culture – it could eventually bring down the government. The probability of this happening would be greatly increased with a Pro-America secular government in Baghdad.

With even a little reflection and analysis it seems obvious that the current administration has been able to thwart these strategic plans. The Taliban have been driven from Afghanistan. Egypt has finally conducted what appears to be a free election and at the very least Mubarak’s stranglehold has been loosened. Pakistan is cooperating with the US and gradually driving out the Al Qaeda sympathizers. Pakistan and India seem to be moving to an accommodation relative to Kashmir. Yemen has been more cooperative and has actually tried and executed some of the Al Qaeda militants. The insurgents are steadily losing ground in Iraq and a secular government looms on the horizon. Al Qaeda has lost their base in Afghanistan and have been forced back into Iran but the Iranians are under increasing pressure from the UN. Essentially the administration has placed the UN into a “put up or shut up” situation relative to Iran and Al Qaeda.

These successes have not gone unnoticed by Al Qaeda and they have been actively lobbying in the UN and have launched counter strategies. The UN is dominated by countries with significant Muslim populations or countries (e.g. France) who are opposed to the US and resist any action by the UN that might threaten Al Qaeda’s strategy. Al Qaeda has also launched counter strikes in the form of terror attacks in Spain and England in an effort to separate America from our allies. This worked in Spain but has not worked in England although it has weakened Tony Blair. Then Al Qaeda is behind or at least supporting the various anti-war demonstrations both here and abroad. It is unlikely that these anti-war activists are aware that they are being manipulated by Al Qaeda. They are being motivated by a virulent dislike of the current administration or a sincere belief that war is evil. There is little doubt that these people are being supported by Al Qaeda if not directly certainly indirectly. The objective is drive the US out of Iraq, restore the Taliban in Afghanistan, topple the Saudi Royal House, and to weaken the US militarily and economically.

The historical precedent for this is Europe after WW I. The anti-war crowd gained control of the governments in France and England. The English Parliament disarmed unilaterally over a long period of time in the mistaken belief that in so doing they would not present a threat. In reality by disarming they presented an easy target. The “peace at any price” philosophy dominated Europe and the result was the Germans occupied all of Europe – including the neutral nations – within months. This is the scenario that Al Qaeda is trying to duplicate. So far they have not been successful but they hope to install a more pliable administration in the next election and the extreme left is moving in that direction.

Part of this strategy is to force the US to subordinate our interests to the UN. However, the current administration had signaled the UN that this isn’t going to happen. The appointment of Bolton as UN Ambassador demonstrated that the US is tired of the way the UN is operating. The Oil for Food scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. However, there are many liberals who are ashamed of any national sentiment and sincerely believe we need a global government in the form of the UN. There is little doubt but that Al Qaeda was astonished by the reaction of the American people following 9/11. They had not anticipated how America rallied around the President or the President’s resolve. They attempted to defeat him and were further astonished by his re-election. At this point they are looking forward to the next election and will push for a total withdrawal of American Troops from the Middle East and a return to the UN.

We are engaged in life and death struggle, which appears to be unnoticed by many of our leaders. Too many Americans view this “War of Terror” as an “Oil For America” or a “Bush War for Haliburton” which is a view being pushed by Al Qaeda. The reality is this is a war of survival and it is at its base a religious war with no quarter asked or given. It is quite probable that this war will go on for years possibly a hundred years or more. From the perspective of the Muslims this is simply an extension to their struggle (Jihad) that has been going on for over thousand years already. However, the weapons technology has now progressed to the point to where an end point could be realized. We cannot falter now – we must press on – regardless of the cost.

On The War On Terror

The number of US casualties in Iraq is approaching 2000 so the usual anti-war, anti-Bush crowd are beating their breasts once again and demanding a withdrawal or at the very least a time table for a withdrawal. Then we have the extreme left who call the entire operation an invasion and occupation of a “peaceful” country. Peaceful apparently meaning one that has not attacked the United States or at least not attacked us in a manner that can be directly traced to them. The potential for attack and the probability that they have already attacked us doesn’t count. The murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent and unarmed people doesn’t count. These are the lineal descendants of those same people in the 1930’s who were convinced that if no one bothered Hitler he wouldn’t bother them. Austria didn’t matter – it was mostly German anyway. Czechoslovakia didn’t matter because it was largely German – or at least Hitler claimed it was. Of course Poland was a little different but then the Poles did take some land that once belonged to Germany so they just got what they deserved. Murdering Jews – well who knows if that was actually happening – besides the Jews were persecuted for generations so what else was new? The bottom line for the “peace at any price” crowd was “don’t do anything and Hitler will let us alone”. Of course he simply invaded Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Holland, even though they protested they were neutral. To people like Hitler there was no such thing as neutrality and the same is true today of the war on terror. The Muslims do not have a nation state so they cannot be attacked but they strike at the West from shelters protected by “neutral” or certainly “non-belligerent” nation states – like Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. Yet the current crop of “pacifiers” are treading the same old path of do nothing, concede, give in, pacify, and above all “understand” their position and they will stop.

Niccolo Machiavelli addressed this issue of avoiding war and I offer these two observations:

“..there is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others”

“...one must never allow disorder to continue so as to escape a war. Anyhow one does not escape; the war is merely postponed to one’s disadvantage.”

Every opportunity to actually stop Hitler was thwarted by the idea that war could be avoided by concessions and understanding. The same is true of the current war on terror. We are treated almost daily to the left (especially from the universities) who are insisting that the War of Terror is nothing other than a power grab for oil and was initiated solely for that purpose. That the Muslims have every right to attack the United States for our “arrogance” and “cultural destruction”. Although many of these people are highly educated they seem to lack any true grasp of history or foundation for the current situation.

Following the death of Mohammed Islam spread very rapidly – mostly through conquest and very quickly Islam dominated all of North Africa, Spain, all of the Middle East, Albania, Armenia, and all of southern Russia, much of India, and Mongolia. Of course this was not one vast political entity but it certainly was a loosely knit empire. Then the Crusaders came and their brutality helped to unify the fragments into an Empire under Saladin. This Empire existed under the Ottomans until 1917 when it was broken up by the French and British who in their inimical colonial was proceeded to divide the spoils and create these fake nation states that now dot Africa and the Middle East.

This European Arrogance gave birth to the Muslim Brotherhood which came into existence in the 1920’s as a militant secret society. The Brotherhood isn’t quite as secret as it once was but it still exists and it has been directly responsible for much of the unrest and terrorism. It was the Brotherhood who assassinated Anwar Sadat as well as other “moderate” Muslim leaders. While this group started as a political movement it has evolved into a militant religious movement bent on restoring the Muslim Empire and destroying the West in the process.

This is a real war and it is the worst kind because it is a religious war on one side and not even recognized as a war on the other much less a religious war. This war has been in process for almost a hundred years and has the probability of going on for another fifty years. This war can only be shortened by taking direct and forceful action which is what the current administration is doing. To stop this and to attempt to go back to a policy of concession and understanding will not stop the war, it will simply prolong it. Machiavelli has been proved right over and over again and it is time some of these people who think any armed force is uncivilized wake up before it is too late.

The Religion of Peace

Once again we are being treated to some vivid examples of how the Religion of Peace is practiced. We have people who have murdered or attempted to murder dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent people demanding "their rights". These are the people who view all westerners as "Crusaders" who are determined to destroy Islam and crush all Muslims. These are the people who view the (disgraceful) partioning of the Ottoman Empire not as a political act by victors in a war but as an overt attempt to destroy Islam and to steal their riches. These are people whose education -- if they have any and many do not -- is totally overshadowed by their religion because they cannot (and do not) separate their religion from their daily lives. The countries that we see are actually artificial (not totally but mostly) and our idea of a government established independently from religion is not only foreign to them but it is a sign of our degradation.

It is difficult for most of us to grasp or understand how these people think, especially those who are educated and who have been exposed to the west. However, we must also remember that it wasn't too long ago that the West was engaged in numerous bloodthirsty wars between Catholics and Protestants waged by educated people and that Islam still lives in the 7th Century. These are people whose religion instructs them to kill infidels and their Imams drill this into their heads.

We are constantly being told that Islam is a religion of peace and that the Muslim Community condemns violence. I have yet to see or hear any strong voice of condemnation emmanting from the Muslim community. Instead I hear meek and mild protestations followed by the ubiquitous BUT -- that excuses and justifies horrific acts of violence because of the War in Iraq, the Palestinians, or whatever excuse is handy at the time. What is glossed over in the West is that these acts of violence have been going on for a very long time. The Muslims still think they should have Spain (screw El Cid, Charlemagne, and Roland), that they are entitled to revenge from the Crusades, and that they have a right to all of the Middle East, North Africa, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Afghanistan, Uzbechestan, Checnya, Pakistan, --- well the world. While accusing the West of being the instigators the Muslim community conveniently forgets that it was the Muslims who attacked Israel not vice versa. It was the Muslims who murdered Sadat, It was the Muslims who attacked America, It was Musims who murdered thousands in Iraq, and it is Muslims who are killing Muslims not the West.

Even within our own society we hear people like (traitor) Jane Fonda, calling for "peace" and understanding of the Palestinian position. First, in order to have peace you must have some one to negotiate with -- and that would be whom? Secondly, there must be some desire for peace but there has never been any indication that the Muslims have any desire for peace. What they desire is the complete desruction of Western Society, the death of all infidels, the establishment of Shar'ia Law, the destruction of Israel, and a return to herding goats.

It is time that we understand this is a WAR -- an unconventional one and one that has already been going on for more than 70 years and has every indication of going on for many more years. It has lasted this long because too many people make excuses, believe that Islam is peaceful, that we need to "understand" the Muslim position, and if we would just stop fighting and give them what they want, we would have peace. Unfortunately peace is not the absence of war, and there will be no peace in this war. This is war with no quarter given and it is a struggle to the death. It is a religious war and it the time is long past for us to understand that our adversaries want our totally destruction.

It is time to charge these Imams who preach violence with sedition, to deport Muslims who advocate violence, and to close any Mosque where hate and violence is preached. To a large extent what we are experiencing is the fruits of multi-culturalism. This is a philosophy that divides and prevents assimilation. If these people are not assimilated or refuse to be assimilated then we have seeds of civil war.

POLITICAL EXODUS

My comments are actually offered in rebuttal or at least in response to, the following article written Rick Lyman of the New York Times. With that pedigree we can assume the article is written in a totally objective fashion and with no hidden agenda of the author. So before proceeding you may want to read the article at

http://iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/02/06/news/refuge.html

But leave it he intends to do, and as soon as he can. His house is on the market, and he is busily seeking work across the border in Canada. For him, the re-election of George W. Bush was the last straw.

This is alleged to be an American who understands how America operates and a man who purports to be a solid citizen but the fact that he would leave the country over the election of a President with whom he disagrees indicates not only his shallowness as a person but his almost total lack of understanding about how the country operates. The ONLY President ever elected in this country who was universally popular was George Washington. EVERY other President has been opposed and vilified with Abraham Lincoln being one of the most vilified. Here we have a man old enough to know better who is pouting and stamping his little foot because he didn’t get his way. What we are seeing here is the result of years of pandering by the press and intelligentsia (?) to every minority, politically correct position, and spoiled child who cannot lose.

But America is turning into a country very different from the one I grew up believing in.

Notice that is lacking is any explanation as to what he believes in or what he thinks America was. I can tell you that the America I grew up in was an America where you either passed a class or you flunked it. You either learned enough to go to the next grade or you were held back. I went to movies where there were no curse words, no overt sex, no graphic violence, and there was a moral fabric to the films rather than the amoral one we see today. I grew up in a world where criminals were punished because they broke the law. I remember a world where if you jumped off of your bicycle and broke your leg you got punished at home for being a dumbbell rather than seeing it as an opportunity to sue the bicycle manufacturer. I grew up in an America where people were responsible for their actions and that if you lost you learned to play a better game. What America did he grow up in?

Yet immigration lawyers say that Americans are --- fed up with a country they see drifting persistently to the right and abandoning the principles of tolerance, compassion and peaceful idealism they felt once defined the nation

Let me see – America has always been forced into wars because the “peaceful” Europeans have never been able to take care of themselves. It has been America who has been the bastion of compassion and idealism not Europe or even Canada. Canada is hardly a nation devoted to helping anyone but instead are insular and isolationist. So the real issue is that the country is moving to the right – right of what I ask -- right of the immoral community who have abandoned God in favor of the reign of the individual? America is a country who has abandoned their compassion? Excuse me but did we just send more help in terms of money, equipment, and people to Asia than all of the other countries combined? Isn’t it the Americans who have driven out Hussein and freed a nation of 17 million people. Sorry but this entire statement has no validity at all.

Still, that is more than double the population of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. "For every one who reacts to the Bush victory by moving to a new country, how many others are there still in America, feeling similarly disaffected but not quite willing to take such a drastic step?" Cohen asked.Melanie Redman, 30, assistant director of the Epilepsy Foundation in Seattle, said she had put her Volvo up for sale and hopes to be living in Toronto by the summer. She and her Canadian boyfriend, a Web site designer for Canadian nonprofit companies, had been planning to move to New York, but after Nov.2, they decided on Canada instead."I'm doing it," she said. "I don't want to participate in what this administration is doing here and around the world. Under Bush, the U.S. seems to be leading the pack as the world spirals down."
First, I would guess there are quite a few “disaffected” people in the US but I think I would use the term spoiled instead. These are the people who have grown up expecting to be rewarded by just showing up. This is a group of people who have never learned how to lose. They expect to get their way and win every time and if they don’t it is some one else’s fault. Here we have a group of people who expect the government to take care of them regardless of their poor judgement. Well the country is truly better off without them so Bon Voyage.

The US is leading the pack as the world spirals downward – hmmmm --- have I missed something here. It seems to me that it is the Muslims who have pioneered the murder of innocent children as a political statement. It seems to me that it was the Muslims who have stated that they consider anyone who disagrees with them as legitimate targets. Wasn’t it the Americans who put a stop to the genocide in Bosnia? Isn’t it America who is pouring huge amounts of money into Africa to fight AIDS? So exactly what is America doing that is so wrong – well for starters they elected a President who puts America first. President Bush is a quintessential American who is unashamed of being an American. He is a man who says what he means and means what he says. He is doing what the Europeans can’t do and once again cleaning up the mess they made. So if this person wants to leave America to go to a better place – good – the country is better off. I’ll be willing to bet that after a good dose of socialism they will slink back across the border.

ODDS AND ENDS

I continue to be swamped with my consulting activities and these appear to be expanding. This is limiting the amount of time I have to blog, but here are some random thoughts about recent events.

Indonesia, the worlds most populous Islamic country wants the Americans out of the country ASAP. This is another vivid example of how the Muslims punish their own people in the name of Allah. There is more concern about the people seeing America in a positive light than in actually saving the lives of the people. Better they should die of disease or starvation than think Americans are good.

The attacks on Christianity continue unabated in this country under the guise of the "separation of church and state -- ala the Constitution. Of course the Constitution doesn't actually say that, it merely prohibits Congress from making laws that would deny the right to worship. The interpretation came from the Warren Court -- which was the court that has virtually destroyed American values. It is time that we had a Chief Justice that is as extreme right as Warren was left in order to bring some semblance of rationality back to the country and the Constitution.

An article in the paper today where some nut wants Congress to stop paying for circumcisions in infants because they are medically unnecessary. This would save $2M a year (a laughable sum in light of the expendenditures of the government). Of course this procedure is medically unneccessary but speaking as a male who has lived in both conditions I can assure you that circumcision is more hygenic and a great deal more convenient. There is a whole group of men out there who are fixated on uncircumcised penises and want the entire country to succumb to what they think is more "cosmetic". Jeeze aren't there more important things to worry about?

Speaking of -- well things sexual -- a young man who dated my daughter has popped up after a number of years. He was gay, then straight, then married, then divorced, and now gay again. He has had a number of jobs but no career jobs because each job has been just that -- a job and unrelated to the previous ones. His dad is the typical Irishman. He has a brother who is big and a clone of his father. He has an IQ somewhere between a radish and a clam but he is very masculine or at least what the world views as masculine. This young man is slight, theatrical, and artistic so hardly the model that the father sees as being desireable traits in a man. Therefore, this kid has spent his life trying to be what he thinks his father wants. He is failing and is now totally screwed up. Ironically, he had a best friend in high school and he and his friend had a special relationship. The friend has now moved on, has a career, met a girl, got married, has two children, is now married 10 years and a VP of a large firm. The friend's dad just accepted his son as he found him and the boy has now become a man while the other kid continues to drift. Very sad.

Then we have the Dan Rather fiasco. This is another example of how when things go wrong -- kill the little guys and let the generals escape to the rear. The worst part of this thing was the conclusion that there is no evidence of political bias. That is so laughable that it borders on the bizarre. This is an example of how the East Coast liberals are so inbred that they can't see the truth. They really think that NPR, PBS, ABC, NBC, and CBS are not left wing propaganda machines. Rather was the architect of the attack on Bush and he was supported in that position all of the way to the top. If he wasn't who authorized a five year study of Bush trying to "get the goods" on him. That isn't bias? The networks are killing themselves just like the Democratic party and neither group has a clue as to what the problem is. They are blaming their failures on the Christian community. They should try values, morality, and their own stupidity.

Abbas is the new leader of the Palestinians -- so will anything change? I think not. I think this will be another period of regrouping by the extremists and then more violence in about 6 months. The objective is to destroy Israel and that has never changed.

Duty calls.