Courtesy Townhall.com

Only four types of individuals can deny the threat to civilization posed by the violence-supporting segment of Islam: the willfully naive, America-haters, Jew-haters and those afraid to confront evil. Anyone else sees the contemporary reality -- the genocidal Islamic regime in Sudan; the widespread Muslim theological and emotional support for the killing of a Muslim who converts to another religion; the absence of freedom in Muslim-majority countries; the widespread support for Palestinians who randomly murder Israelis; the primitive state in which women are kept in many Muslim countries; the celebration of death; the "honor killings" of daughters; and so much else that is terrible in significant parts of the Muslim world -- knows that civilized humanity has a new evil to fight. Just as previous generations had to fight Nazism, communism and fascism, our generation has to confront militant Islam. And whereas there were unique aspects to those evils, there are two unique aspects to the evil emanating from the Islamic world that render this latest threat to humanity particularly difficult to overcome. One is the number of people who believe in it. This is a new phenomenon among organized evils. Far fewer people believed in Nazism or in communism than believe in Islam generally or in authoritarian Islam specifically. There are one billion Muslims in the world. If just 10 percent believe in the Islam of Hamas, the Taliban, the Sudanese regime, Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, bin Ladin, Islamic Jihad, the Finley Park Mosque in London or Hizbollah -- and it is inconceivable that only one of 10 Muslims supports any of these groups' ideologies -- that means a true believing enemy of at least 100 million people. Outside of Germany, how many people believed in Nazism? Outside of Japan, who believed in Japanese imperialism and militarism? And outside of universities, the arts world or Hollywood, how many people believed in Soviet-style totalitarianism? A far larger number of people believe in Islamic authoritarianism than ever believed in Marxism. Virtually no one living in Marxist countries believed in Marxism or communism. Likewise, far fewer people believed in Nazism, an ideology confined largely to one country for less than one generation. This is one enormous difference between the radical Islamic threat to our civilization and the two previous ones. But there is yet a second difference that is at least as significant and at least as frightening: Nazis and Communists wanted to live and feared death; Islamic authoritarians love death and loathe life. That is why MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) worked with the Soviet Union. Communist leaders love life -- they loved their money, their power, their dachas, their mistresses, their fine wines -- and were hardly prepared to give all that up for Marx. But Iran's current leaders celebrate dying, and MAD may not work, because from our perspective, they are indeed mad. MAD only works with the sane. There is much less you can do against people who value dying more than living. The existence of an unprecedentedly large number of people wishing to destroy decent civilization as we know it -- and who celebrate their own deaths -- poses a threat the likes of which no civilization in history has had to confront. The evils committed by Nazism and Communism were, of course, greater than those committed by radical Islam. There has been no Muslim Gulag and no Muslim Auschwitz. But the threat is far more serious. Dennis Prager is a radio talk show host, author, and contributing columnist for Townhall.com

COC refrains me from commenting

Riiiight.

Quoted: COC refrains me from commenting

Ditto

It would take an American citizenship prepared to fight to the death to defeat this enemy.  Not to mention a supportive major media and both political parties.  We are not prepared to and will not make that commitment.  Who could of guessed a bunch of third world barbarians would spell the end of America as we once knew it??

Well--it's a _different_ threat. Pulling the mutual assured descruction strategy out of the cupboard is just re-fighting the last war with an inappropriate strategy. It doesn't work so well when the president of Iran is trying to bring about the apocalypse so the 12th imam can return.

The Muslim world isn't a "peer competitor", as they say. They can't creeate a military or economy comparable to that of the US.

On the other hand, they may not need to if WMD are cheap and ubquitous.

Who could of guessed a bunch of third world barbarians would spell the end of America as we once knew it??

The 's have been saying it for at least twentyfive years.

Quoted: Well--it's a _different_ threat. Pulling the mutual assured descruction strategy out of the cupboard is just re-fighting the last war with an inappropriate strategy. It doesn't work so well when the president of Iran is trying to bring about the apocalypse so the 12th imam can return. The Muslim world isn't a "peer competitor", as they say. They can't creeate a military or economy comparable to that of the US. On the other hand, they may not need to if WMD are cheap and ubquitous.

most of the civilized and modern world has problems dealing with the threat of islamic militantancy because the vast majority of its believers are disorganized savages who aren't capable of creating something like the wehrmact, the japanese imperial army/navy, the soviet army or the red chinese army.

asymetrical it is.

so you fight them here, you fight them there, wherever you find them. you make them take off their shoes before they get onto your planes, you arrest them, you deport them.

all they have is the will. the mother of all battles, lines in the sand, we will roast them in our stomachs...

their desire to inflict pain, suffering and death on the west transcends anything that has come before. but their ability to do so in any lasting way is nonexistant. one nuclear missle sub could kill most of the world's muslim population.

its time to quit worrying so much about what they say they want to do to us...

Quoted:  Who could of guessed a bunch of third world barbarians would spell the end of America as we once knew it?? The 's have been saying it for at least twentyfive years.

Interesting point.



-K

Didn't some retired M/SGT (and members on this board) say the other day that there is no threat.

I don't disagree with the article at all.  100+ million enemies driven by religious zealotry is extremely dangerous in terms of sheer numbers and fanaticism.

HH

The problem is and always has been Communism.  Communists are the first ones who adopted infiltration and terrorism as a primary component of strategy.  Communists are the one who injected defeatism and moral relativism into the mainstream.  Communists are the ones who initially sponsored muslim extremism.  Communists are the ones who scream at every effective action taken against terrorism.  Communists are the ones who make every effort to support and aid the muslim terrorists.  Communism still has billions of supporters, many of whom live in this country and look like you or me.  Communism has held world domination as its stated goal since before these current terrorists' grandfathers were born.  Communism holds as a core belief that any activity...ANY activity...that furthers this end is justifiable.

The Communist threat is the primary menace.  The end of the Soviet Union did not spell the end of Communism.  Communism is still alive in well in our government and other western governments, the media, international organizations such as the UN and the EU, public universities and K-12 schools, and too many other places to list.  The muslims are insignificant compared to the Communist menace.

Quoted: The problem is and always has been Communism.  Communists are the first ones who adopted infiltration and terrorism as a primary component of strategy.  Communists are the one who injected defeatism and moral relativism into the mainstream.  Communists are the ones who initially sponsored muslim extremism.  Communists are the ones who scream at every effective action taken against terrorism.  Communists are the ones who make every effort to support and aid the muslim terrorists.  Communism still has billions of supporters, many of whom live in this country and look like you or me.  Communism has held world domination as its stated goal since before these current terrorists' grandfathers were born.  Communism holds as a core belief that any activity...ANY activity...that furthers this end is justifiable. The Communist threat is the primary menace.  The end of the Soviet Union did not spell the end of Communism.  Communism is still alive in well in our government and other western governments, the media, international organizations such as the UN and the EU, public universities and K-12 schools, and too many other places to list.  The muslims are insignificant compared to the Communist menace.

Thank you.

Quoted: The problem is and always has been Communism.  Communists are the first ones who adopted infiltration and terrorism as a primary component of strategy.  Communists are the one who injected defeatism and moral relativism into the mainstream.  Communists are the ones who initially sponsored muslim extremism.  Communists are the ones who scream at every effective action taken against terrorism.  Communists are the ones who make every effort to support and aid the muslim terrorists.  Communism still has billions of supporters, many of whom live in this country and look like you or me.  Communism has held world domination as its stated goal since before these current terrorists' grandfathers were born.  Communism holds as a core belief that any activity...ANY activity...that furthers this end is justifiable. The Communist threat is the primary menace.  The end of the Soviet Union did not spell the end of Communism.  Communism is still alive in well in our government and other western governments, the media, international organizations such as the UN and the EU, public universities and K-12 schools, and too many other places to list.  The muslims are insignificant compared to the Communist menace.

General Ripper, is that you?