Islam's War Against the West, Part II

As I mentioned before, I read a posting at The Belmont Club which stated that Donald Rumsfeld announced we are losing the information war in the Global War on Terror. I think there are two reasons for this situation, and I do concur with the SecDef.

The first reason is the preponderance of anti-US, anti-military, and anti-President Bush sentiment among the MSM. In a war, it is imperative that the entire nation mobilizes alongside the military. This does not necessarily mean that our industrial complex must go on a war-footing, as it did during WWII. But it does mean that that the Administration and the Pentagon must have the majority of the MSM on their side. If our own media is actively supporting our enemies, and I believe they do so through ignorance, than the status of the Information War will be tenuous at best. The case in point was the breaking by the New York Times of the NSA wiretapping program. Despite the pleas of the Administration and despite the warnings that exposing this story would weaken our defense against terrorism within our borders, the NYT chose to run the story. This was not an accident. It was a deliberate attempt to sabotage a very important program in order to cast a negative light on President Bush. Since the beginning of our war in Iraq, the MSM has done its best to portray the war as unnecessary, a useless waste of human life, a transgression of Iraqi sovereignty, and as a quest by the Bush Administration to exploit the oil in Iraq. As they are still chanting today, in the context of Vice-President Cheney's delay in notifying the press of his hunting accident, the press and the opposition party continue to accuse the President of lying to the American people and "cooking up the invasion of Iraq on his ranch in Crawford." Since the MSM holds the majority of news outlets in the nation (in terms of numbers of outlets) the public is being exposed to anti-Administration psychological operations on a constant basis. The MSM is actively opposing the goals and objectives of this war because they despise the Bush Administration. It is important to point out that though the MSM does indeed aid and abet our enemies, they are not doing so maliciously. The same is true for the opposition party. They also aid and abet our enemies, but not deliberately. They are truly so blinded by their hatred for President Bush and, in the case of the opposition party their lust for power, that the ends justify the means.

The second reason why I believe we are losing the information war is because the majority of Americans refuse to see Islam as it is. President Bush has repeatedly said that Islam is a noble, peaceful religion. Many conservatives who support the war effort see Islam in a similar light. And yet a cursory examination of the Koran, and a quick scan of newspaper stories on riots in the Muslim street reveal quite the opposite. America is getting a mixed message on Islam. On the one hand, we are told that Islam is peaceful and noble, and on the other hand Muslims are burning down a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Pakistan because they were insulted by cartoons in a Danish newspaper. And instead of putting the blame for the riots and deaths squarely on the shoulders of the Imams throughout the Middle East, who orchestrated the violence and protests, the State Department and others blame the cartoonists from Denmark. This is assinine. Europe is kowtowing to Islam now, launching a full-court press against freedom of speech. Laws are being considered, and may have passed for all I know, that will ban blasphemous publications. The obvious question that the West must ask itself is, "Who are we really trying to protect?" Certainly it is not the Christians. The NYT, out of respect for Islam would not publish the offensive cartoons of Mohammed. Yet in the midst of this "crisis", they brought out a highly offensive picture of the Virgin Mary that was something like ten years old. They had no qualms about offending Christians.

The Great Cartoon War of 2006 has really made me think about something. At what point, between 1933 and 08 December 1941, did we decide that, though Nazi Party members in Germany were a minority of the total population, the entire German population was responsible for the atrocities of the Nazi regime? So here we are today. I ask, at what point do we decide that, though militant Islamists make up a minority of the total Muslim population, the entire Muslim population is responsible for the atrocities being committed by Muslim "extremists"? This is a horrible question with horrible consequences. But how long are we going to turn our backs on the obvious?

After 9/11, the entire Arab and Muslim world rejoiced at the collapse of the Twin Towers. This was not an anomoly. This was the true heart and soul of Islam. After the riots erupted over the cartoons in February of 2006 (though the cartoons were originally published in September of 2005), a Danish Imam said, "this is war". When do we start taking the Muslims at their word? When do we start taking the Koran as the "gospel" of the Muslim faith. You see, one of the weaknesses of America is that we believe the Muslims view the Koran as we view the Bible. Most Westerners, when they read the violence of the Old Testament, think, "Thank God those days are gone." We struggle with the loving example of Christ juxtaposed with the terrible wrath of God against the Gentile tribes in the Old Testament. Muslims do not have this problem. One thing I have learned from my Muslim friends here in the Middle East is that the Koran is holy. It is holy in a way that Christians cannot comprehend. The Koran is the word of God...or Allah. Not one passage can be changed or ignored. Thus, when Allah commands Muslims to kill Christians and Jews in holy jihad, that is what they are to do.

How this plays out in modern times is pretty simple to see when you live in the Middle East. Most Muslims do not actively take up their sword and behead infidels. But most Muslims do support such behavior. Think about how long it took the Muslim groups in America to make some kind of declaration that they do not support terrorism. They struggled with this and ultimately came out with half-hearted apologies for the 9/11 attacks, but most refused to categorically denounce terrorism. The reason is quite simple. The Koran commands Muslims to kill Christians, Jews, and any infidel. This is not popular to say, but it is the undeniable truth.

As long as we continue to deny the reality of Islam, we will continue to lose the Information War. The West must take a stand against the imposition of Sharia like demands the Muslim world is thrusting upon us. We must not accord Islam a special status simply because we are afraid that to confront it will bring about death threats or riots. As long as we believe the lie that Islam is a peaceful religion, we will lose the Information War, because we are putting out false information.

This is not to say that all Muslims are violent psychopaths. They are not. There are a few truly moderate Muslims, most of whom live in the US. And, as I mentioned earlier, most Muslims in the Middle East are not brandishing swords and Molotov cocktails. But as long as the Koran is viewed as the last will and testament of Allah, and every verse is holy and unchangeable, Islam will remain a violent religion. Muslims must reform Islam. But they will have little inclination to do so if the West kowtows every time an embassy goes down in flames in the Middle East. Appeasement to the extremists destroys the efforts of the moderates to civilize Islam. I truly believe that most Westerners would be absolutely appalled if they knew what the Imams were preaching in their Friday sermons in Baghdad, Tikrit, London, Houston, Denver, Madrid, Bonn, and Mecca. There are Muslim voices for peace, but they are incredibly muted.