Lately I have been somewhat preoccupied thinking about the geostrategic position the US and even the wider Western world find themselves in. \u00c2\u00a0While I do not believe that the world is on the cusp of some massive catastrophe, it does seem to me that the rise of Militant Islam in the last ten years presents problems that are new or that at least have not been faced on such a scale by Western countries since before the rise of the modern nation state.<\/p>\n
Essentially, I think that Islam is facing the West with a crucial choice, one the West would rather not have to make as it goes against all Western tradition for the past several centuries. \u00c2\u00a0That choice is:\u00c2\u00a0Muslim or Christian? Then again, is this even the right question to be asking? \u00c2\u00a0I would say no, the right question is the West\u00c2\u00a0against\u00c2\u00a0Islam. \u00c2\u00a0Let me define the\u00c2\u00a0West\u00c2\u00a0as I see it. \u00c2\u00a0The West can be defined most easily and simply as:\u00c2\u00a0The nations of Western\u00c2\u00a0Europe\u00c2\u00a0and those\u00c2\u00a0nations\u00c2\u00a0settled by European colonists and largely\u00c2\u00a0following\u00c2\u00a0the secular, humanist, and liberal traditions first established during the Renaissance and Enlightenment. \u00c2\u00a0The extra European nations this\u00c2\u00a0encompasses\u00c2\u00a0are essentially the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, with India and South Africa included with qualifications. \u00c2\u00a0<\/em>That seems a broad definition but I do not really think it is. \u00c2\u00a0It is actually probably much narrower than many Transnational-Progressives would have it, but then again, they include\u00c2\u00a0everybody\u00c2\u00a0in their strange\u00c2\u00a0worldview. \u00c2\u00a0Defining Islam is much simpler but even their distinctions have to be made between the vast majority who only tacitly support the militants, the militants themselves, and the bare minority of tolerant\u00c2\u00a0Muslims.<\/p>\n Back to the question of the West\u00c2\u00a0against\u00c2\u00a0Islam. \u00c2\u00a0Islam,\u00c2\u00a0specifically\u00c2\u00a0militant Islam, started this struggle and it dates back to before 9\/11, I personally date it to the creation of the State of Israel, which every Muslim loves to hate. \u00c2\u00a0As a matter of fact, the Muslims, but specifically the Arabs hate Israel so much they would probably make a pact with the devil himself to see that country\u00c2\u00a0destroyed\u00c2\u00a0and the work of Hitler finished where the Jewish\u00c2\u00a0people\u00c2\u00a0are concerned. \u00c2\u00a0That may seem like a strong claim but it is no more than many Muslims themselves say from Hamas in its\u00c2\u00a0founding Charter<\/a>, The Iranian President in\u00c2\u00a0Public Speeches<\/a>, to the\u00c2\u00a0Muslim Brotherhood<\/a>. The hard part is finding Muslims willing to at least tolerate Israel’s existence and those that do tread a dangerous path indeed as the fate of Anwar Sadat shows. \u00c2\u00a0Of course, there are Jewish hardliners too, such as the guy that assassinated Yitzhak Rabin who was killed by a Jewish extremist in 1995 for advocating\u00c2\u00a0accommodation\u00c2\u00a0with the Arabs in a quest to achieve peace.<\/p>\n The tagline of the post poses the question Moral Quandary? \u00c2\u00a0The moral quandary is whether it is right to shun all Muslims because of the extremists? \u00c2\u00a0I am not sure I have the answer to that question. \u00c2\u00a0My gut tells me no, but Muslim actions seem to point the other way. \u00c2\u00a0I almost tend to think that some sort of loyalty oath should be required before permitting Muslims to live in the West but the Western part of me say that defeats the whole purpose of Western institutions and tradition. \u00c2\u00a0I am left with two options, letting them in while keeping them under suspicion or keeping them all out and ejecting those that already live in the West. \u00c2\u00a0Keeping them under suspicion or some sort of provisional status also seems a betrayal of Western ideals, which leaves ejecting them, and that means all of them without qualification. \u00c2\u00a0That too, would probably create as many problems as it solves. \u00c2\u00a0The problem of Militant Islam seems a Gordian Knot that defies so simple a solution as a sword stroke.<\/p>\n There are no doubt some moderate Muslims, I have even met some. \u00c2\u00a0They are also the ones who tend to be least radical, least observant, and most secular though. \u00c2\u00a0It appears as though devout Islam requires some level of\u00c2\u00a0fanaticism. \u00c2\u00a0I cannot count the number of times in Iraq I was told that Islam and Christianity are compatible and the Muslims I talked to just could not seem to grasp how I could possibly disagree with them. \u00c2\u00a0The prophet said it was so and if I did not agree it was because I was not aware of the truth. \u00c2\u00a0It did not matter to them if I\u00c2\u00a0explained\u00c2\u00a0that accepting that Jesus was merely a prophet is a betrayal of everything a\u00c2\u00a0Christian\u00c2\u00a0believes because if\u00c2\u00a0Christ\u00c2\u00a0was only a Prophet then he could not be the Messiah and if Mohammed was a prophet as well then the Messiah was still yet to come. \u00c2\u00a0They just could not square that circle.<\/p>\n There is also the Transnational-Progressive\u00c2\u00a0strain of Western thought that is caught in a continuous\u00c2\u00a0loop of self-hate and seems to actively seek the destruction of the very society that gives them the freedoms they claim to love and enjoy. \u00c2\u00a0In my mind they are just as bad, if not worse, than militant Islam because they aid and\u00c2\u00a0abet\u00c2\u00a0it in its quest for the destruction of the West. \u00c2\u00a0The only difference is the means used. The Tranzis seek to destroy the West from within while the\u00c2\u00a0Muslims\u00c2\u00a0seek to destroy the West from without. \u00c2\u00a0Those actually seeking to uphold Western\u00c2\u00a0ideals\u00c2\u00a0are fighting two battles and most only acknowledge the one\u00c2\u00a0against\u00c2\u00a0the external enemy.<\/p>\n At times, I feel like Vegetius or Tacitus decrying the moral weakness and decadence of the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n Thus still leaving us at the end with the Moral Quandary. \u00c2\u00a0I am increasingly convinced that Islam and\u00c2\u00a0Western\u00c2\u00a0ideals are fundamentally incompatible yet can come up with no solution that lets the West adhere to those very ideals. \u00c2\u00a0Perhaps it is true that in order to defeat our enemy we have to become like him.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lately I have been somewhat preoccupied thinking about the geostrategic position the US and even the wider Western world find themselves in. \u00c2\u00a0While I do not believe that the world is on the cusp of some massive catastrophe, it does… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,125,341,482,60,81,460],"tags":[1027,398,1032,150,1015,94,1033,83,520,1018,263,205,397,472,42,206,519],"class_list":["post-2661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campaigns-operations","category-current-events","category-general-history","category-geopolitics-statecraft","category-contemporary-wars","category-political-history","category-military-strategy","tag-american-history","tag-arab-spring","tag-british-military-history","tag-contemporary-war","tag-current-events","tag-europe","tag-french-military-history","tag-geopolitics","tag-geostrategy","tag-german-military-history","tag-iran","tag-libya","tag-middle-east","tag-military-affairs","tag-military-art","tag-syria","tag-western-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21186,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2661\/revisions\/21186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}