The Caliphate
Reader comment on item: The Caliphate

Submitted by David Sternlight (United States), Dec 15, 2005 at 12:55

1. Pipes piece reads like the man who woke up one morning and discovered he had been speaking prose all his life. It has been clear that the so-called "islamo-fascists" have been after world domination by Islam through force since Mohammed. It is no accident that paintings of Mohammed show him with crossed swords, while paintings of Moses show him giving ethical values to mankind on the two tablets.

2. The notion of a Hudna (a temporary truce for the purpose of building strength to defeat one's opponents) is as old as Mohammed as well. The Islamists did not lose their historical battle against the West; they simply have been biding their time until they once again can become strong. The "oil weapon" was their first opportunity in modern times; Al Quaida the second.

Most commentators understand the strategy of the Hudna with respect to the Palestinians and Israel; fewer see it in global historical perspective versus the West.

3. There is no such thing as "nice" Islam. There are merely those who are committed to Mohammed's long term goals through activism and those content to let history play out its course. The best non-Islamic religions can hope for under Islam is grudging tolerance; we see this today not only in the anti-Jewish but also the anti-Christian behavior of most Islamic states, and you don't even want to ask about Ba'hai and other sects with lesser international support. In most cases even tolerance is non-existent.

4. The difference between the ideology of Islam and most other world religions is that Islam wants Sharia to rule everyone's daily life, not just their ideological concept of Allah. In contrast, most other world religions are simply content with the day that will come when the one Deity is accepted over all the earth and called by the same name (i.e. no competing Deities).

5. Unfortunately, many American Moslem converts have been duped about Islam. Coming from the American culture of religious tolerance, they assume Islam is the same, and few Islamic "evangelists" disabuse them of this sad fantasy. Thus they, too, are victims rather than conspirators in the attempt toward Islamic hegemony. Nevertheless they aid the hegemonists with their numbers and advocacy, not unlike the so-called "fellow travelers" of an earlier time who, for example, looked the other way at Stalin's purges and his alliance with Hitler. That is the process that explains why so few American Moslems speak out vigorously against the fascists among their numbers, both domestically and internationally.

6. The real danger is that the world domination line of the islamo-fascists has become so routinely heard that the average American has become inured to it and many dismiss it as allegorical. It is not; as 7/11 showed it is a clear and present danger.

7. Perhaps it is time for a "new containment" policy toward Islamic States, together with increased vigilance over non-citizen Moslem activists and expedited deportation procedures for those non-citizens found guilty of advocating violence or acting in conspiracy, Social science teaches, in effect, that a few well-publicized deportations will act to compel caution on the part of others.

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