perfidy

Only in America. Troubling, no?

We seem to, as part of our very nature, sow the seeds of our own destruction. Our open society (which I would not countenance changing, by the way) is the best tool against us. Just ask Mohammed Atta and his pals, while they burn in hell with their 72 male virgins.

My hope is that we can convert the rest of them before they convert us. And the way we might best do that seems to have been foreshadowed by PJ O'Rourke, in his description of the fall of the Berlin Wall ("Give War a Chance"). I just wonder if Levis 501s and Sony Walkman devices will work this time, or in time.

Patton,
Ah, but not only in America! Europe caves to these people almost as fast as an Amherst town meeting.

Maybe there are some parallels to be drawn between Communism and Islamism. At first I didn't think so, but maybe....you know, thinking out loud...

Both Islam and Communism, as doctrines used to organize societies, had alot to say about how they were going to destroy, conquer, or convert everyone not like themselves. And in fact, counted on it as an historical inevitability.

Communism was defeated by social and economic forces, not in battle- where we tried, the results were inconclusive at best. Meanwhile, the surge of militant Islam, with broad popular support in the Islamic world, is relatively new and, if Fouad Ajami is to be believed, has alot to do with the failure of Arab nationalism to accomplish anything good. Today's Islamic youth, at least in the Arabic speaking world, feel that their parents accomplished nothing, particularly as far as exterminating Israel, and got quite the reverse in '67 when there was nothing more substantial than sand between the IDF and Cairo.

So a return to a more theocratic expression makes some kind of sense, since the more secularized forms of local nationalisms and pan-Arabism didn't, um, pan out.

Now... is that "Islam or else" expression alot of shit-talking, the equivalent of "We will bury you"? A house of cards easily tumbled by porn DVDs and bottles of Jim Beam? And further, was Communism ever defeated, considering many former Soviet mucky-mucks still hold high offices in Eastern Europe, and last I checked China, North Korea, and Cuba were having varying degrees of success with their varieties of Communism?

I'm going to stop arguing with myself and let others have a go.

"Only in America", of course, would have been better-written as "only in Western Liberal Democracies". But you knew that already.

Today's Islamic youth expected too much from their parents, I'd say - every single time they've challenged the IDF, they've been fed their own entrails. Some look at that as a reason to be mad at the world; others, perhaps more rationally, would decide to quit trying to bring down the brick wall with their foreheads.

Your juxtaposition of Islam and Communism is apt, and the conclusion you draw might well be valid: What brung down the Berlin Wall might not bring down the Islamofascist Dream. The reason, in my opinion, is that Communism was a cram down onto largely unwilling adults (unwilling, except for those who were getting rich from the process), while militant Islam is alleged to be a corrupted way of thought "injected" into the children at very tender ages. See this">http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13230]this article, which I've not yet decided is entirely coherent, but which attempts to decompose the psyche of radical Islam and is interesting in the same way that a 17 car pile-up is interesting.

Coupla points:

1. The muslim world, especially the Arab muslim world, is the third world and as such has third-world demographics. The overwhelming majority of the population does not remember 1987 much less 1967. The median age is likely around 15. When there's little institutional memory within a given population it's really easy for any Koran-thumper to turn 'em into willing cannon fodder for the Jihad.

2. The East desperately wanted to be like the West and prior to the end of WWII they largely were the West. The East was taunted during the dark years of communism by western television and radio advertising. Smuggled music and movies only flamed the desire. The problem is most of the muslims who are so opposed to the West are dirt fucking poor, are poorly educated, haven't traveled, and are not easily led to want what they aren't aware of and/or don't understand. Unlike the former Soviet Bloc, they aren't going to overthrow their rulers for fresh bananas and comfy footwear.

Ah, I see (from "bananas" and "footwear") that you've read "Give War a Chance".

Your point is utterly valid: you can't seduce people with things they don't know exist. So we'll give them subscriptions to People Magazine? Cosmo? Nahh - it won't work, so we might be screwed, at least for now.

Europe isn't merely caving in the sense that that ridiculous town did. They are allowing - still! - massive immigration from North Africa and the Middle East. You've got imams at religious conferences telling European bishops that "The wombs of our women will conquer you," and other crazy thoughts as well. And the demographics support them - the muslims in Europe are breeding faster. Europe may look very different in fifty years.

Crazy to think that after more than a millenia of attempts to conquer Europe militarily, they might do it anyway thanks to a complacent imigration policy.

All good points.

Geetarpicker may be interested to hear about this article by an Arab scholar who teaches and studies in Israel. He argues that the huge majority of the vaunted "Arab street" is, for all practical purposes, illiterate. They can speak whatever souk Arabic they grew up with but, year by year, decade by decade, are increasingly disconnected from the classical Arabic which is the vehicle for their literature, history, and jurisprudence.

I'm going to think more about Patton's refinement of Islamism and its correlation to Communism, particularly how each treated its yoots, and the broad appeal of those ideologies to their general populations. I don't know if I'll write any more about it, but I'm thinking about it.

As for Buckethead's recognition of the Islamic womb-bomb, I couldn't agree more. And in our own country, alot of the problem has to do with, as you point out, immigration policy. We don't even need a new one. Just enforce the statutes that are there.

Personally, I'd rather have seen the 1st Cav and the rest of III Corps deploy across the Mexican border than Baghdad.

If I were Horshack, I'd say "Ooh, ooh!"

The "womb-bomb" comment just rustled up a memory of a conversation with a Beirut-based friend of mine who once said that fifty years from now, when an Arab child hears the world "Israel", he'll ask "Mommy: What's an Israel?"

His reason: Vastly different birthrates, and the gradual extinguishment of the Jewish vote in Israeli politics. It doesn't even rely on the vaunted right of return for the Palestinians; demographics will do the trick.

But, he continued, it's not just there - Lebanon is in the process of drowning his class (Orthodox Christians) as well, using the uterus as a weapon.

Perhaps that explains why Islam treats women so badly; otherwise, they'd refuse to be the breeding machines they're now forced to be?

Oh, and the Mexico comment rung my bell pretty hard, too, but it would: I live in Houston, a truly international city, on those days where I can remember that Mexico is actually a different country.