November 17, 2004
"Education by Murder"
That's the title of a brilliant essay by Daniel Pipes. It contains the most perceptive and insightful quote on the Great War that I've heard in months: "Jihad provokes crusade." Sheer genius, and a perfect descriptor of the causal relationship between the two. I think what we've got going right now would probably count as the Tenth Crusade.
That being so, I'm not entirely worried about the current outcome in Iraq. To be honest, I think it's doomed to fail. But that isn't the point. Setting up a Western-style democratic state in the Middle East is laughably impossible. The point is to beat down the Islamic world to the point that they leave us alone. Which means lots of people have to die. But the alternative is orders of magnitude worse. When geo-politics gives you lemons, you throw them right back with a few of your own for good measure.
But bridges are being built. I'd be interested in hearing your take on this article:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20041114-103940-7212r.htm
The Authors are saying the Great War is a reality, that the Bush administration needs to pay close attention to the role of Islam in upcoming Foreign Policy, and that there are grass-roots acts seeking ammends between warring parties.
Dr. Ahmed is either duplicit or blindingly naive...
Posted by: jCave at November 17, 2004 02:54 PM