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CONFUSED?
There are many confusing, conflicting aspects to the struggle we are involved in.
Please bear with me while I make my point:
America, and the rest of the civilized world, are at war with an extremely dangerous group of criminal maniacs and their twisted logic.
Up until very recently, the war was known as the "Global War on Terrorism", or G-WOT. I don't know what they're calling it now on citations or campaign medals, but it is important to be aware that we are not fighting 'Terrorism' per se. Terrorism is a tactic, not an enemy in and of itself. What we are fighting is Islamic Fundamentalism, in it's most extreme form.
The question to ask is not "Why do they hate us?"
The question to ask is: "What do they want?"
Consider: there are 1.82 billion Muslims in the world (source: CIA World Factbook). If only one percent of them are Islamic Fundamentalist terrorists, that's 18,200,000 enemy fighters.
This figure, by the way, represents the entire number of soldiers, sailors and airmen who ever served in the German Wehrmacht during the entire course of World War II and the Spanish Civil War (not the force strength of the Wehrmacht at any point).
A terrorist army that large boggles the mind, strains credulity. There are possibly that many sympathizers and auxiliary supporters, but there is no way al Qaeda and it's variants (Taliban etc.) fields and supports that many fighters.
The majority of Muslims are regular folk just like you and me, who want the same things we want: to be left alone, to prosper and provide for their families, to leave their children better off than themselves. As with any demographic, there is a segment of the Muslim community, however, who are susceptible to becoming deranged or disgruntled, like Army Major Nadal Hasan at Fort Hood last Thursday - these sociopaths are found in any population, and their numbers are tiny.
And there is a segment of Muslims who are active, dedicated members of al Qaeda, et al. Despite the fact that the terrorists are capable of inflicting mass casualties, these numbers are also tiny.
Here's my point:
Ordinarily, the modern terrorist ethos is twofold: A) to gain publicity for their cause, whatever it is, and B) to force the State entity into giving concessions.
What is sinister about al Qaeda and their ilk is their plan: they wish no less than to start a global religious war of Muslims versus Christians (Crusaders) and Jews (Zionists). The Islamic Fundamentalists also view secular, sane Islamic nations such as Turkey and Morocco as traitors, and enablers of the Crusaders and Zionists.
Their agenda is to create a limitless bloodbath on such an unprecedented global scale that for all intents and purposes they will have unleashed Armageddon upon us. This is their stated goal. They have stated this numerous times, via video releases, and their writings.
IF we succumb to a xenophobic tendency to embrace a knee-jerk hatred of all things Muslim; IF we lower ourselves to their level - THEN THEY WIN.
It is that simple.
S.L.
The military headstone images preceding this post were originally posted on Frum Forum on 6 November 2009.
