Whither The Fool?

I came across this blogpost, respectfully expressing support for the victims of the terror attacks in London three days ago.

While I certainly appreciate the sentiment of this fellow’s words of condolence, I must say I don’t understand his making the all-to-familiar comment that “terrorist acts won’t help the terrorists’ cause, but turn people against it.”

With respect to the gentleman, his naivete is showing.

First of all, just what is this “cause” that we’re supposed to try to understand (absent further acts of terror, of course)?

Well, that’s actually a simple question to answer: It is Wahhabism, or more precisely, a particularly puritanical form of this ultraorthodox practice of Islam.

Since Islam itself has (contrary to the blatant p.c. attempts to show it as “a religion of peace“) a long history of rather bloody conflict with those who do not share their orthodoxy, the notion of a radical form of Islamism ought to give one pause. Although I realize that cognitive dissonance seems to be the only expression of faith allowed in the world of today’s Left, the reality is that most people cannot reconcile the violent actions of these people with the protestations of the Council on American Islamic Relations and other such apologists that this religion is “peaceful.”

Secondly, about the “goal” of these terrorists and all others like them who share this toxic religious delusion, the naive understanding on the part of those like our sincere blogger appears to be that if we can figure out “what they want,” then we can all get together across the table and reconcile (this is also known as the “Kumbaya Syndrome”–the belief that everyone will get along if we can just talk it out).

I’m reminded of that classic James Bond film Goldfinger, wherein Sean Connery as Bond, captured by archvillain Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) and undergoing torture by impending bisection with an industrial laser, asks if Goldfinger expects him to talk.

“No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die” comes the immortal reply!

And this brings us back to what the terrorists want. Some say “the want to be left alone in their countries.” The fact is that they began to be dangerous to the world at large the precise moment that the West–essentially Europe–left them alone, giving back huge parts of empire to the indigenes.

Others say “they are tired of being exploited, and being made poor.” The fact is that in the Muslim world, “exploitation” is the norm–exploitation by the incredibly rich ruling- and merchant classes. The notion of egalitarianism was unknown in that part of the world until the Western empires came along. For example, any able-bodied man in British India could aspire to joining the British Army and treated the same as all other British subjects under arms (okay “abysmally,” but it was egalitarian!)

A visit to the streets of Cairo or Riyadh would show you spots of immense wealth with filth, squalor and poverty all around. This is the normal way of things in the Middle East. While it is true that the ignorance bred by such poverty is easily swayed toward hatred of a scapegoat such as the U.S, the fact is that most of the fire-breathing terrorists in such organizations as Al-Qaeda are college-educated–many educated in the West, most of them in the U.S. Bin Laden himself is a great example of this, as were his former No. 2 man (and the reputed planning mastermind of the 9/11 attacks) Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician.

While it is true, I’m sure, that a great deal of Al-Qaeda cannon-fodder comes from the ignorant classes, the ones who do the thinking, planning and directing–as well as writing the pamphlets and creating the training videotapes–are typically wealthy and educated.

No, in the end, theses terrorist pigs don’t expect us to “talk,” they expect us to die.

And in that realization, I would tell those who ask the rhetorical questions posed by our esteemed blogger-friend that their questions are simply answered. Now, it is the actions of the terrorists who need to be answered–they must be eradicated from the face of the earth, nothing else will do.

We could not “reason” with Adolf Hitler or the militarists ruling Imperial Japan in the run-up to World War II. We had to communicate with the only language that they understood–overwhelming violence–and reach the only conclusion that would serve the cause of peace: Their complete extermination.

Why is there a photograph of Carol Burnett on the opening page of Juice Newton’s website?