Why do I allow comments on this site?
Sometimes I wonder, but ultimately it is to allow reasonable people to discuss aspects of the issue at hand, strategize about what to do about it, and make related observations. From time to time this has been notably successful “” particularly thanks to our own Hugh Fitzgerald and those who have engaged him in discussion.
Comments continue to be almost completely unmoderated. My staff and I are overtaxed as it is, and I only read comment threads very occasionally. However, I did look in on one last night and ended up deleting quite a few comments (which does not mean that I endorse those that remain). If you wonder why, remember: threats are unwelcome. Insulting and racist messages are unwelcome. Foul language is unwelcome. Calls to genocide or nuclear action against holy sites are unwelcome. Etc.
I didn’t create Jihad Watch to be a hate group, as we are often accused of being. Of course, jihadists have co-opted the language of “hate” and “racism” from legitimate civil rights movements because they know how effective it is in discrediting their critics in America — and such claims directed against Jihad Watch are specious and inaccurate. In reality, Jihad Watch is a vanguard organization in the defense of universal human rights. What is the best way to defeat the global jihad that threatens those rights? Not by venting and cursing and threatening. This plays into the hands of those who would destroy us, and that is a stupid and suicidal thing to do.
I have requested it before: think strategically when you post. Don’t write something that works to the advantage of those who want to discredit the genuine information that this site provides. Comments that are boorish, aggressive, etc., or tangled into knots answering some obvious provocateur, will only discourage thoughtful people who are actually in a position to influence policy from using this site as a resource.
Since the anti-jihad struggle is a struggle for the equality of dignity and rights of all people, it would be nice if the anti-jihad commenters who posted here behaved as if they believed in those things too, and took the moral high ground, in contradistinction to the jihadists.
One more time: this site is dedicated to raising awareness of the nature of the foe that faces the Western world and all free people. This is necessary because most policymakers and analysts in the West so far continue to ignore or deny outright the true nature of that foe. Until that changes, the jihadists have the advantage, even if it is not one of military might; there are other ways to win wars.
Don’t let your comment be one that helps them increase that advantage.