It is always an educated elit that guides all ideology. Why not view it as a desperate reaction rather than as blatant agression? It is indeed saddly fanatical to engage in this extreme form of warfare, sending your youth to be slaughtered but it all reeks of disenchantment, humiliation and utter nihilism to me. I must repeat this, do you think that antagonizing these people is the best way forward (keep in mind that they are the politically-economically weak)? Surely we should not subdue a whole culture as a way of dealing with extremist element-now that would truly be fascist and only serve the purpose of exacerbating the situation. I hasten to add, once more (for those that think that inaction only emboldens these thugs), that such countries (syria,iran etc) do not posess the capacity to threaten the US, although they admitedly do not always comply with US doctrine. What is needed is a smart war: isolating extremists, denying them broad public support and then stamping them out. The notion that islam is equivalent to radicalism reminds me of the demonification of jews in nazi germany and needless to say constitutes a dangerous proposition if allowed to escalate to the level of a societal consensus. A gross simplification to say the least.

the comments by one "Arxos" are transparent in their attempt to deflect attention from the central tenets of Islam, as expressed in Qur'an and hadith (and now easily retrievable on-line, at www.usc.edu and other sites), and to keep Infidels from studying not only the teachings of Islam, but the practice of Islam, as reflected in the subjugation of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists, Confucians, from the initial conquests, all the way to Spain to the west, and Indonesia to the east. No one is demonizing Islam; endless mental efforts are being made to see if somehow, something can be salvaged from it, that somehow it can be tamed or domesticated so that Infidels need not worry.

But it is clear that the best one can hope for is to disarm all Muslim polities, so that they do not possess, not only nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, but also Stinger missiles, or indeed much of anyhing beyond jeeps and rifles. Nor can the Infidel world allow the continued training of Muslim pilots -- even for commercial aircraft.

And it is also clear that, because we Infidels have no mechanism for distinguishing those Muslims who are truly "moderate" (which would have to mean: a complete abjuring of much of Islam, including the Jihad, the manichaeism that preaches hostility or murderous hate toward all Infidels, the desire to spread Islam until it covers the globe and all Infidels are subjugated to the rule of Shari'a), we will have to work to stop Muslim migration to the dar al-Harb, and wherever possible, to create conditions that make the practice of Islam more, rather than less, difficult, and to make the conditions of life for Muslims less, rather than more, attractive. That is simply part of self-defense. No reason to make things easier for those whose presence causes life for the Infidels, in the Infidel countries themselves, to be ever more unpleasant, expensive, and dangerous. _

Arxos:

"It is indeed saddly fanatical to engage in this extreme form of warfare, sending your youth to be slaughtered but it all reeks of disenchantment, humiliation and utter nihilism to me."

Tell us something we don't already know.

"I must repeat this, do you think that antagonizing these people is the best way forward (keep in mind that they are the politically-economically weak)?"

The best way forward would be for the moderate Islamic majority to purge the radical elements from their midst.

Since they appear to be either unable or unwilling to do so, it is left to us to act instead.

"The notion that islam is equivalent to radicalism reminds me of the demonification of jews in nazi germany and needless to say constitutes a dangerous proposition if allowed to escalate to the level of a societal consensus."

Sorry, but your analogy is false. For one thing, nobody in a position of authority in the West is advancing the notion that "Islam is equivalent to radicalism." That sort of nonsense is put forth by Islam's apologists, such as CAIR (and yourself).

There's also the rather obvious difference that, unlike Hitler's fantasies of Jewish plots for world domination, radical Islamists really ARE engaged in armed violence directed at the West.

Oh yeah let's study these guys now. Let's discuss them in PC terms. Here's the bottom line.

The terrorists/homicide bombers/Jihadists are not mentally ill. They're crazy.

Once you get past trying to make sense out of what they do, once you abandon notions of reasoning with them, everything becomes so simple.

Evry time I read up on suicide attacks, I have to think of a quote I heard ascribed to one General Patton.

"The object of warfare is not to die for your country. Its to make the other bastard die for his."

On a more practical level, has any group or country using suicide attacks actually won the conflcit they were involved in?

Hmmm...

Hats off to Mr. Spencer and Hugh for their articles. And for responding to Axos, who has asked the question we continue to hear: "Will antagonizing these people be the best way forward?"

As Hugh pointed out, these people are already antagonized against Christians, Jews, the West, Israel, regardless of what they (the non-Muslim world) does. Rather, the antagonism comes from who we are.

If we are demonizing Islam, then why (as many have asked) are the "moderates" within Islam so few and so quiet?

Forgot to add:

Another thanks for posting this article. I've had connections with humanitarian groups who work in the Middle East. While I admire their work, I've found this attitude widespread: that the terrorists and suicide bombers are all, simply, "desperate people".

Some of them could be, but many are not, as the article rightly points out. Good work, this needs to be heard.

arxos,

Our very existence is all the antagonism these people need. Every week brings another atrocity, from dead children in Gaza to headless jews in Iraq. It makes no difference at all whether we try to appease them or not. They are driven by their ideology, and nothing else.

"The notion that islam is equivalent to radicalism reminds me of the demonification of jews in nazi germany"

Nazi germany? How about the demonization of the jews RIGHT NOW in every mosque in the world?

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/stalinsky200405130846.asp

Sheikh Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, the Saudi government appointed imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, The themes of his sermons are characterized by confrontation toward non-Muslims. Al-Sudayyis calls Jews "scum of the earth" and "monkeys and pigs" who should be "annihilated." Other enemies of Islam, he says, are "worshippers of the cross" and "idol-worshipping Hindus" who should be fought. Al-Sudayyis has been consistent in calling for jihad in Kashmir and Chechnya, for Jerusalem to be liberated, and for the "occupiers in Iraq" to also be fought. He often claims that Islam is superior to Western culture.

Now thats demonization.

I pray everyday that they will continue to send suicid bombers to anyplace. this will continue and we will not have to worry about the muslim population; it will all be dead by its own hands.

Thanks all for posting comments to stories like this. I am an American and find your logical and factual responses to arxos's posting very pursuasive. Thank you for the links for further reading too!