No in-betweens!
Reader comment on item: Do Radical Islamists Run the Middle East?

Submitted by Moshe (Israel), Sep 15, 2006 at 05:30

We must start to understand that we are dealing with two sharply distinct (I almost said mutually exclusive) civilizations: The Western Civilization which is well known to us and which in spite of all of its shortcomings and dark sides is the cradle of humanity, progress and freedom on one side, and on the other side The Islamic World which openly declared war recently on the Western Civilization.

It would be mistaken to say that they are mutually exclusive, because the Western philosophy of tolerance and freedom has never negated the right of other cultures to coexist with it side by side. The problem is that the Islamic World being stuck somewhere back in the dark Middle Ages, with all its backwardness, barbarianism, and intolerance considers itself incompatible with the Western values of freedom and tolerance which in Islamic eyes are anarchy and blasphemy.

Due to the recent Global Village realities brought about by the 20^th century technological revolution, the Islamic World feels threatened by western influences brought via movies, TV, radio, travel etc. The Islamic Revolution which is a reaction to all the above, has rediscovered the good old Jihad which brings to the Western World the following very simple message: "Islamize or Die!"

I will now shortly relate to a few questions and statements in the article:

"Do Radical Islamists Run Middle East?"

Yes!!!!!!...If only because non-radical Islam does not exist. If some Muslims seem to be moderates, it's just because they want to make a PC impression on Western audiences.

"The new Abu Ghraib is making the old American Abu Ghraib look like a Six Flags theme park."

What did you expect?

"The whole region is filled with good people, just like you and me. All they want to do is have a job, spend time with their family, and watch TV. At least that‘s—that‘s what I believe"

Wrong. (the reason why, follows the next statement)

"It is vital for us to remember the Middle East is a lot like Germany prior to World War II. It was a minority of Germans that put Hitler into power. Islamic fundamentalists, they don‘t really comprise the majority of the people in the Middle East,"

Wrong again. The comparison to the Nazi Germany in itself is a very good one, only the main issue is stated wrongly: prior to Hitler's defeat, the Nazis were not a minority in Germany, the same as the collaborators were not a minority in France (or in the whole Nazi Europe for that matter). Only after the disastrous beating at the end of WWII it turned out that "only a few" Germans were Nazis and "almost all" the French were "resistance".

"Yes, it seems like most of the Middle East is filled with 10th Century barbarians."

Very correct!

"How do we win against an enemy like this?"

Either we eliminate them, or they eliminate us! No in-betweens.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.