The Guirard/Waller school would have us believe that if we pretend Jihad is not Jihad, but rather, as the Saudis keep pushing them to believe and disseminate, "hiraba," that all manner of things shall be well.
For, the Al-Saud whisper to us, we have had remarkable success in re-educating our own local Al-Qaada members. Why, just as soon as we manage to convince them that what Al Qaeda does here is called properly not "Jihad" but "hiraba," why, they are ready to see the error of their past ways.
And this kind of thing becomes the subject of gushing reports on television -- just look at what those Saudis can do. Why, to see some of those commentators, one would think that Saudi Arabia should be put in charge of Guantanamo, and the re-education of those prisoners.
This, like nothing else, shows the level of ignorance of Islam among those who by this time should know better, should have learned something. What the Saudi authorities do, of course, is to attempt, using assorted members of the ulema (clergy), to convince these disaffected Saudis that attacks by Muslims on a nice Muslim state, with such nice Muslim rulers as the beneficent Al-Saud, is just not halal. It is "hiraba." And that bad man Osama bin Laden, and his bad associate Ayman Al-Zawahiri, simply are wrong and deceitful to call it "Jihad."
For "Jihad" is what you conduct, by whatever means available, to spread Islam in the lands of the Infidels. But Saudi Arabia is a part of Dar al-Islam. Are not, those clerics say, the Al-Saud in general wise and benevolent rulers? Are they not, in truth, the Guardians of the Two Noble Sanctuaries, Mecca and Medina? Have they not spent tens of billions on the grand Grand Mosque of Mecca, and on improvements in facilities for pilgrims, and on airports and other means of transportation for those pilgrims? Does Saudi Arabia not spend billions -- up to one hundred billion dollars, in fact, over the past 20 or so years, on mosques and madrasas all over the world? Does it not spread propaganda, pay for missionaries to conduct Da'wa, buy up Western hirelings who are so effective in preventing real understanding, in the capitals of the West, of the true views and deep animus of Saudi Arabia? And of course at the same time those hirelings are working hard to prevent any real understanding of Islam, and to keep the Western governments focused on such things as the "plight of the 'Palestinians'" and how the resolution of that "plight" in a "two-state solution" (we know it is a "solution" because that is what it is called, so it must be) will lead to das ewige Fried, the Sweet Dream of Eternal Peace. They do all this in order both to further the Lesser Jihad against Israel -- which is presented by those Western hirelings and collaborators and willing simpletons as merely a matter of clashing "nationalisms," instead of as a war by Muslim Arabs, implacable and permanent, against an Infidel state. That war will be unaffected by any Israeli surrenders or further shrinkage. Israel must be destroyed, in this view, because it is on land that not only was once part of Dar al-Islam, but sits right in the middle of Dar al-Islam. Therefore it has priority on the very large To-Do List of Muslims conducting Jihad, or supporting Jihad, everywhere.
The Saudis do not re-educate their prisoners to abandon Jihad. That is, they do nothing to get them to drop their desire to remove all obstacles to the spread of Islam. Quite the contrary. They explain that they themselves, the Al-Saud and the government of Saudi Arabia, have been mischaracterized, maligned, by Al Qaeda's leaders. Bin Laden, of course, has "issues," as the child by the polyphiloprogentive father with a not-quite-fully-Arab Syrian mother, making him keen to prove that he could be "plus islamiste que les islamistes" -- that is, those who are pure-bred Arabs, the best of people.
They do not attack Jihad. They merely have those clerics show that attacks on Muslims who are loyal and true to Islam are wrong. And the Saudis are, they maintain, true Muslims in their Jihad-supporting-and-promoting ways, which far outweigh their little peccadilloes at the gaming-tables and in the brothels of the West -- which, of course, they no doubt have those imams explain, are merely "stories" concocted by vicious Bin Laden, nasty Al-Zawahiri.
The endless naivete, ignorance, hopefulness, sentimentalism, fleeing from reality, of our political class all over the Western world is surely the most striking feature of this, the initial stage of what will be not a "Long War" as the Administration likes to say, thinking how very tough-minded and realistic it is being, but rather, a war without end, a war that cannot end as long as the texts, and therefore the tenets, and the attitudes, of Islam remain, as remain they will. But it is a war in which the enemy can be reduced to a condition that renders it no longer so menacing, that puts it back, roughly, vis-a-vis the Infidel world, about where it was, say, in 1950, or 1930. The same duty of Jihad existed then as it does now, as it will in twenty years, or fifty, as it has existed for the entire life of Islam. But what was lacking was the wherewithal. It came, with those OPEC trillions, and those migrant Muslim millions.
Diminish those revenues. Force expenditures to go sky-high. Force the sharing of wealth by rich Muslims with poor Muslims, instead of supplying the latter with the disguised Jizyah of constant and very large amounts of Infidel foreign aid. Make the poorer Arabs and Muslims suitably apprised of, and resentful about, the fantastic wealth of, for example, the greedy and selfish Gulf Arabs.
And study the effect of the Muslim presence in the Infidel lands, as a matter of national security. For that large-scale presence clearly has created a situation all over Western Europe that is unpleasant, expensive, and physically dangerous for the indigenous Infidels, and is a threat to their political and legal institutions as well.
This is not very hard, one would think, to grasp. But apparently a great many people are having a great deal of trouble doing so -- the grasping, I mean. Well, they will just have to keep trying. And one good place to start is to see what is ludicrous about thinking that the Saudi government has managed to "de-program" those prisoners to give up Jihad or their hostility and even murderous hatred for Infidels -- that is, for you and for me. What they have managed to do is to get those prisoners to be "de-programmed" so that they are no longer going to regard the Al-Saud, for their corruption and Western decadence, as non-Muslims, but rather, will have learned anew about just what True-Blue Believers the Al-Saud princes and princelings and princelettes, all daggers and dishdashas and sneers of cold command, really are. And then they will change their attitude -- but only toward the Saudis, not toward Infidels. And so there is no lesson, no message of hope, that this program, with its art therapy and its sports, holds for Infidels.
For them, the Jihad marches on. La lutte continue.
Hugh write:
"Diminish those revenues. Force expenditures to go sky-high. Force the sharing of wealth by rich Muslims with poor Muslims, instead of supplying the latter with the disguised Jizyah of constant and very large amounts of Infidel foreign aid. Make the poorer Arabs and Muslims suitably apprised of, and resentful about, the fantastic wealth of, for example, the greedy and selfish Gulf Arabs."
Agreed. Logically, in a total Islamic world, the haves and have nots, and the usual problems that arise from that differentiation would be inevitable as it is everywhere else. This should be encouraged at every turn.
The slow jihad of the money weapon that Saudi Arabia regularly employs should be used against them. It is a cost-effective premise for no money is actually required...just the stoppage of the flow of it to Islamic nations is required.
While this will never happen under the current administration, one can only hope that the next one will be exponentionally more enlightened about Saudi Arabia. There was a man once who tore up a 10 million dolar aid check from a Saudi Prince right after 9/11. The same man politely escorted Mr. Arafat out of Radio City. Although far from being perfect in the full comprehension of all the "atmospherics of Islam", the potential is there, in my opinion.
Speaking of de-programming. Did anyone hear anything about the fate of those 178 "terrorists" that the Saudis rounded up recently? It was a major news release by them, intentional no doubt, but not suprisingly, no follow up information, that I know of, has been given.
I'm not so sure this works. Perhaps, if one looks at these societies as being in some way similar to our own, we could see where the vast disparities between the Gulf Shakes and the alaksa 'martyrs' might cause resentment. But I've honestly never seen that mindset in any muslim, particularly not muslim arabs. They will look on it as predestination by alla (and alla ta'alla knows best), then look for ways to steal themselves a share from someone else. Concepts of 'fairness' don't exist in the arab mind in my experience, and it's that concept that is needed to stimulate a sense of grievance against other members of the ummah.
Best to try convincing them they're 'hypocrites' - now there's an accusation that could stir up some sh'ite...
Enough infil-traitors.
Time for the One-Way Hadj.
The number one danger to world peace is Saudi Arabia!
They don't have nukes yet but they are leading and paying for the invasion of the West.
I'm disappointed in the commenters here. Isn't anyone willing to stand up and say "This is a problem of our creation. The Saudi oil wealth comes from our appetites. I no longer drive a full-size pickup to work, my family no longer uses a 12-MPG SUV to run children to daily activities, and we have parked our travel trailer. These are luxuries we cannot afford if we want to keep our freedom. We are driving hybrids or beater economy cars until we can replace them with partly electric cars like the Chevy Volt. We are replacing our power boat with a sailing catamaran and a canoe. We have insulated our house so that we barely need heating oil any more. Supporting the oil sheikhs means buying the knife at our throat. Wasting fuel is unpatriotic. We are not "cutting back"; rather, we have reconsidered what it means to live well, and we intend to do it."
Why don't I hear that from the readers of Jihad Watch?
Engineer-Poet: Are you the mastermind ;-) behind The Ergosphere? If so, what are your plans for your blog?
BTW - I've greatly admired The Ergosphere and if you're the proprietor, congrats.
The Saudis "royalty" are not our friends.
One looks forward to the day when to be photographed in their presence is political suicide, and the exposure of our political whores for Saudi petrodollars diminishes relevant political reputations - this includes the Cattas, Clintons (and unfortunately also Bush senior).
E-P: So true, about "buying the knife at our throat."
I am a believer in both the superior efficacies of the free market, and in the principal that the govenment that governs least, governs best.
But we now face a question of national security and the survival of the West. Hugh's highly practical aspirations are reflected in his statement that the war we are in is one "in which the enemy can be reduced to a condition that renders it no longer so menacing, that puts it back, roughly, vis-a-vis the Infidel world, about where it was, say, in 1950, or 1930." This is a realistic and desirable goal.
It is vital for each of us to do his share, exactly as you describe.
It is also time to have the government take the extraordinary step of creating a Manhattan project to seperate ourselves from dependency on the black gold funding mohammed worship and jihad.
Saudi taqiyalope cited @ UT-Houston;
Daily Cougar invites you to comment on the "exquisite aromas" here.Yes, The Ergosphere (both on Blogspot and Wordpress) is my baby. I also contribute to The Oil Drum.
I'll say it again: who here can make such a statement? I replaced a 26-MPG car with a 38-MPG car, with less room and less performance (and more noise). The only reason I didn't get a 50 MPG hybrid is that they were so scarce, I couldn't even find one to sit in. When I got a new job, I relocated to 1 mile from work. If I am not travelling, I can get by on 3 gallons per week. I have obtained a bicycle trailer which will let me go shopping without the car. It's my intention to buy a VentureOne as soon as they are available.
I didn't stop with the car. I started re-lamping with fluorescents more than ten years ago, and cut my electric consumption roughly in half. I designed and built storm windows which fit inside normal window frames and add insulation and draft seals; my place now stays comfortable in winter with very little heat. The natural gas I don't need for heat and light is helping to keep what's left of the US chemical industry from going to Qatar.
What have YOU done as your patriotic duty, in the name of anti-jihad?
E-P:
Thanks for the update. BTW - several years ago (and before the recent spike in oil prices), we replaced our Sable station wagon with a Mazda3. Although a smaller car, it's actually much more fun to drive and gets about 43-44 mpg. (imp. gallons) on the highway. For the most part, I take public transit in the city and work from home mostly. I wouldn't want to take that VenutreOne out in highway traffic around here given the traffic conditions and idiot drivers.
I hope GM can successfully pull off the Volt. I've wondered why this idea hasn't been pursued before, I first saw it proposed at least a half dozen years ago by Burt Ruttan.
Engineer-Poet I agree on the Volt. Chevy Volt is a good one.
http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/
The only down side is battery technology may not be up to where it needs to be yet. I have confidence that they will do it but the battery will be the key.
The key to winning this war is thus:
(1) Energy independence
(2) Restrict or end Muslim immigration to the west
(3) Remove nuclear technology by force from Iran and Pakistan
(4) Arm enemies of Islamic aggression such as Southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Southern Nigeria
(5) Make military alliances with India etc.
(6) Negotiate with Russia. No more arming Syria and Iran and we will not push Kosovo independence or expansion of NATO. Hopefully get on better terms with them in the fight to stop Muslim aggression. Good example is Chechnya where we should help them not hinder them.
(7) Get rid of the UN
That should keep the Islamic aggressors in their box for some time. Maybe they will civilize themselves or maybe not but it is better then the current plan.
Energy Independence is not as hard as people think it will be. Here are a just a very few examples (so many examples are out there that somebody could write a book on the subject)...Just do a Google search!
See:
Wal-Mart and Solar:
http://news.com.com/Wal-Mart+readies+large-scale+move+into+solar+power/2100-11395_3-6146851.html
Coal conversion to oil, gas etc. (CTL Technology)
http://www.moneyweek.com/file/13377/could-coal-replace-oil.html
Oil Shale and Coal to Oil..
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14921
For all those who think the Chinese will go the Middle East in get the oil if we leave think again:
http://www.china.org.cn/english/BAT/118614.htm
Does anybody think the Chinese want to send their weak navy to guard the Persian Gulf? No way! They let the stupid Americans do it for them.
The finial goal of course is hydrogen and other renewable resources but until then we have plenty of options. We don't need to be in the Middle East. We don't need to let Muslims into the country. We don't need their oil. We don't need to civilize them. We don't need to even fight them except to remove a few direct treats like the nuclear weapons of Pakistan and perhaps Iran and to prevent Islamic expansion into non-Muslim lands. Winning Iraq is not needed or even Afghanistan if we do the steps needed to secure ourselves from defeat listed above.
Our technological civilization is so superior to their civilization that we can crush them with our brains! If only we were smart enough to figure it out...yes I note the irony in what I have just said.
We're going to need coal or nuclear power as a source for electric cars. They must be plugged in somewhere. Recycling the batteries from hybrids is a problem to come. And building the hybrid batteries takes you from China to Indonesia to Canada, a huge energy bite.
Strike more driling. Can't do that...
Ethanol is a mirage that uses up our croplands and causes price increases in many food markets. At 50 gallons an acre, what a bust.
I do wish we were not so dependent on the saudis for oil. Damn those Brits for showing the saudis how to get it out of the ground. They'd still be digging in the sand with their left hands had no one shown them.
Weren't the Iraqis supposed to pay us back in oil?
Ummm...you guys might want to do a little more research on the Volt - don't believe everything you hear/see from the media, and ESPECIALLY the GM website. Seems there are more than just a 'few' problems with the batteries...e.g.: there IS no battery - hasn't been developed, don't know if it can be developed, etc., etc. Seems to me like more of a huge PR campaign to make it SEEM like they're really doing something about the energy shortage while they continue to churn out SUV's hand over bumper.
Having said that, I applaud anyone who recognizes that our biggest priority in the west should be developing alternative sources of energy...and soon!! It's not only a matter of depriving our enemies of their main source of revenue, it's a matter of life and death when it comes to our civilization.
In response to "buying the knife at our own throat" there is a website:
http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/ that promotes oil consumption from sources outside the Middle East.
EP, how about we develop our own natural resources? Fidel Castro is going to be drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (maybe slant drilling), but we will not. You can use your tiny little car if you prefer, but I choose to protect my family with a larger car. We need more energy infastructure. I'm all for loving the earth, but not at the expense of national security.
"Developing our own natural resources" is a code-phrase for more tax breaks for oil drilling, subsidized ethanol, subsidized coal-to-liquids, and the like. This is NOT going to help us:
- The US oil resources have been fully developed and used up. Our remaining oil is in places like the very deep continental shelf (the "Jack" find), and beyond the shelf there are no more sedimentary rocks which could hold oil.
- The US is depleting its high-quality coal (anthracite) and is running down the scale into bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite. Each step down yields less energy per ton mined. We're not going to solve the problem with coal, and coal-to-liquids means boom profits for coal interests but little improvement for the public.
- Ethanol from corn is barely energy positive, and even the USDA's most optimistic numbers tell us that we can't come close to running the nation on ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol isn't much better, because of limited feedstock.
The upshot is that Business As Usual (BAU) cannot continue. The only question is whether we get a clue and shift our investments, or continue paying more and more money for fuel and fuel subsidies while wondering why our situation isn't improving.We are already drilling in the GoM. Just what do you think hurricane Katrina did so much damage to? The only reason we aren't drilling in some places is because there are no good prospects.
My car is 5-passenger, 3 child-seat anchors, air bags for everybody, 3400 pounds, tows 3/4 ton, goes up and down mountains with a 4x8 trailer (rig weighed at 5520 pounds) in 5th gear. It gets 38 MPG every-day (28 MPG with the full load up and down mountains). It also corners better than most people feel comfortable with. If you think you need something that "looks like a truck" and has the aerodynamics of a brick and the efficiency of a drunken sailor on shore leave to either be safe or do work, you are one sadly deluded person. You're the kind of guy Exxon-Mobil and OPEC are relying on to keep them wealthy for the next 20 years.
My car is far less efficient than it could be. Technology available off the shelf today could raise its economy to ~50 MPG (possibly more) and allow it to run local trips on electricity alone. That's OPEC's worst nightmare.
Someone has convinced you that they are different; they are one and the same thing. The more oil we need, the more vulnerable we are to foreign interference. The more coal we mine, the more land becomes useless for agriculture, fishing and even water collection (acid mine drainage).Energy infrastructure does not produce energy, it only collects and processes it. Infrastructure built for depleting supplies is a waste of time, effort and money. We have to build the right energy infrastructure.It appears likely that declining oil production will render many oil refineries useless over the next few years. We need no more infrastructure there. But if you buy a crystalline PV panel, you'll get an asset with a 25-year warranty and a useful life on the order of 50 years. There's a piece of energy infrastructure which needs no inputs and increases national security by making us truly independent. All you need is a way of using it to displace oil (EV and PHEV technology, a la the Tesla Roadster and Chevy Volt) and you have a quadruple threat:
- You love the earth by eliminating air pollution and CO2 emissions.
- You boost economic security by eliminating demand for oil, improving our balance of trade.
- You insulate yourself against rising costs for both fuel and electricity.
- You boost national security by cutting the income of hostile oil producers, forcing them to keep their prices below the (falling) cost of permanently replacing their product with long-lived capital equipment.
You also get civil defense benefits in the bargain. If your house is a net producer of electricity, you can manage a problem like a hurricane knocking out the grid by sitting at home with the vehicle plugged in and using it to carry you through the night. This isn't "tree-hugging hippie crap", it's insurance that you can't buy any other way.