Militant Islam: Enemy of Civilization

[SheriffJoe]

Perhaps you didn't get the memo Scotty.

Modern 'secular progressive' societies (Godless, dependent, non-judgemental, weak, multicultural societies where anything goes), don't have the will and faith to defeat the scourge of radical Islam the way the Judeo-Christian West rose up and defeated Hitler's Nazis and Imperial Japan during WW II.

The Greatest Generation Voters:

Multicultural Welfare State Voters:

 

[ScottL]

Joe spare me your memes and your sweeping conclusions.

 

[superbeets]

The Sunni radicals’ dream of establishing an Islamic caliphate–modeled on the first reign of the Prophet Mohammed in the 7th century

 

[superbeets]

Islam has been divided between Sunni and Shi’ite since the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 and a bitter dispute that followed over who should lead Islam. (Sunnis called for an elected caliph. Shi’ites followed Muhammad’s descendants.) Over the centuries, the two sects have developed distinct cultural, geographic and political identities that go well beyond the theological origins of that schism.



Today, Sunnis make up about 90% of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims.



But Shi’ites have disproportionate power, with their control of Iran and their concentration around oil-rich areas.

 

[superbeets]

The seat of Shi’ite power is Iran, whose 1979 Islamic revolution cracked open the bottle in which the region’s sectarian tensions had been sealed for many years–first by the nearly 500-year rule of the Ottoman Empire and then by Western colonizers. Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini’s overthrow of the pro-American Shah of Iran fired the ambitions of jihadists elsewhere and instituted the region’s first modern theocratic regime.



The ensuing American hostage crisis established Iran’s new leadership as a mortal enemy of the West. In 1983, when the Shi’ite militant group Hizballah bombed a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans, and began kidnapping Westerners in the region, Islamic terrorism seemed to wear a Shi’ite face. Iran’s long war with Sunni-dominated Iraq–sparked in part by Khomeini’s call for a Shi’ite uprising in Iraq–put the U.S. on the side of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

 

[superbeets]

Indeed, America’s leaders were so blithe about Sunni radicalism that the CIA eagerly supported the training and arming of young jihadists–among them a rich young Saudi named Osama bin Laden–to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. That victory was short-lived as bin Laden and other Sunni warriors, lit by the conviction that Allah had empowered them, founded al-Qaeda and declared the goal of establishing a new caliphate. Targeting the U.S. and other Western powers, which bin Laden called “the far enemy,” was just a step toward the nearer yet ultimate aim: to drive the U.S. and its allies out of the region, ending their support for repressive infidel rulers in places like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

 

[superbeets]

The national boundaries plotted on Western maps have little place in the radical vision of the restored caliphate. The ambition is absolute Sunni authority and Shari’a–Islamic law–over the entire Muslim world. To achieve this, the West need only be banished, while the Shi’ites must be eradicated. “There are all kinds of al-Qaeda documents in which its operatives say things along the lines of ‘the Americans are evil, the secular tyrants are evil, the Israelis are evil–and the Shi’ites are worse than all of them,’ ” says Daniel Benjamin, the former counterterrorism coordinator at the State Department who is now at Dartmouth College. Some Saudi textbooks depict Shi’ism as more deviant than Christianity or even Judaism. A common bit of folklore among Lebanese Sunnis, Nasr writes in his book The Shia Revival, is that Shi’ites have tails.

 

[superbeets]

A French Islamist who killed three people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels on May 24 is believed to be a veteran of ISIS in Syria. Attacks on the far enemy may not be the endgame for ISIS, but they could bring stature and propaganda benefits. On June 15, the group’s leader, al-Baghdadi, issued a message for the U.S.: “Soon we will face you, and we are waiting for this day.”

 

[superbeets]

The region’s heavyweights, Sunni King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Ayatullah Ali Khamenei of Iran, watch with wariness and few good options. For Abdullah, al-Maliki’s pain is a welcome development, for the Saudis have always felt threatened by his ties with Iran. On the other hand, since the earliest days of al-Qaeda, the Sunni radicals have cherished the dream of deposing Abdullah’s family and taking possession of the Arabian holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Saudis look to Iraq and see nothing but enemies. The same goes for Israel, ever a prime target for both Sunni and Shi’ite militants.

Yet on a deeper level, the blame belongs to history itself. At this ancient crossroads of the human drama, the U.S.’s failure echoes earlier failures by the European powers, by the Ottoman pashas, by the Crusaders, by Alexander the Great. The civil war of Muslim against Muslim, brother against brother, plays out in the same region that gave us Cain vs. Abel. George W. Bush spoke of the spirit of liberty, and Obama often invokes the spirit of cooperation. Both speak to something powerful in the modern heart. But neither man–nor America itself–fully appreciated until now the continuing reign of much older spirits: hatred, greed and tribalism. Those spirits are loosed again, and the whole world will pay a price.

 

[ScottL]

Al-Qaeda Splinter Declares New Islamic Caliphate - Ryan Lucas
ISIS - the al-Qaeda breakaway group that has seized much of Syria and Iraq - on Sunday formally declared the establishment of a new Islamic state, demanding allegiance from Muslims worldwide. But the declaration, made on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, could trigger a wave of infighting among the Sunni militant factions.
The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declared the group's chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the leader of the new caliphate, or Islamic state. "Listen to your caliph and obey him. Support your state, which grows every day," said ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, in an audio statement posted online. He said that with the establishment of the caliphate, the group was changing its name to just the Islamic State. (AP-ABC News

 

[ScottL]

[FONT=verdana, sans-serif][FONT=verdana, sans-serif]Appeasement of violent radicalism only encourages more of the same. We must acknowledge that two Islams are locked in a fight to the death, and that because the battlefield is the planet and the war threatens values that the West embraces, the fight is not solely the Muslims' affair.

We must aid, encourage, and ideologically arm Muslims who reject the Islam of hate in favor of an Islam respectful of women, their faces, and their rights, as well as of human rights in general. Genuine anti-racists, anti-imperialists, and believers in republican democracy must take the side of the Islam of moderation and peace in its war against the criminal Islam of the Salafists. The writer is a French public intellectual, media personality, and author. (Project Syndicate)[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, sans-serif]
We've been arguing about this forever in here it seems. Full Article:[/FONT][FONT=verdana, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, sans-serif][FONT=verdana, sans-serif]Taking Sides in the War within Islam[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[ScottL]

Ideas to Guide Us in the Long War Against Islamic Extremism - David Petraeus (Washington Post)

• It is increasingly apparent that ungoverned spaces in a region stretching from West Africa through the Middle East and into Central Asia will be exploited by Islamic extremists who want to establish sanctuaries in which they can enforce their extremist version of Islam and from which they can conduct terrorist attacks.
  
• It is also apparent that the attacks of such extremists will not be confined to the areas in which they are located. Rather, as in the case of Syria, the actions of the extremist groups are likely to spew violence far beyond their immediate surroundings, posing increasingly difficult challenges for our European allies and even our homeland.
• It is also increasingly clear that, in responding to these challenges, U.S. leadership is imperative. If the United States does not lead, it is unlikely that another country will. Moreover, no group of other countries can collectively approach U.S. capabilities.
• The path the U.S. and coalition partners pursue has to be comprehensive and not just a narrow counter-terrorism approach. More than precision strikes and special operations raids are needed.
  
• It is clear that the U.S.-led effort will have to be sustained for what may be extended periods of time. While aspirational timelines for reductions in our efforts may have some merit, it is clear from our experiences that premature drawdowns can result in loss of the progress for which we sacrificed greatly - and may result in having to return to a country.
  
  The writer is a retired U.S. Army general who commanded coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and served as CIA director.
  

 

[ScottL]

Peace with Israel in Egyptian Textbooks: What Changed between the Mubarak and el-Sisi Eras? - Ofir Winter
One chapter of a new textbook published by the Egyptian Education Ministry for the 2015-2016 school year is devoted to the peace treaty with Israel. A comparison of the new book with previous textbooks reveals that the book is more firmly supportive of peace with Israel, particularly based on the approach that it is a necessary condition for improving Egypt's economic situation.
The book mentions Israel as a partner in "friendly" peace relations, and a picture of Prime Minister Menahem Begin appears alongside that of President Anwar Sadat. The book makes less mention of the wars with Israel and the Palestinian problem than in the past. These are significant changes that can have a positive effect on the idea of peace with Israel among Egypt's young generation. (Strategic Assessment-Institute for National Security Studies)

Continued:
www.inss.org.il/uploadImages/systemFiles/adkan19-1ENG_3.pdf