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Yes, but......

Reader comment on item: The Triumph Of the 9/11 Commission

Submitted by Alo Kievalar (United States), Jul 27, 2004 at 21:47

I agree with Dr Pipes that the 9/11 Commission Report is to be lauded for pinpointing the long-overdue "naming of the enemy" as "Islamist Terrorism" rather than the limp-wristed "War on Terror(ism)", which could mean anything and anyone including such obscure and non-US threatening terrorists groups as the Sendero Luminoso of Peru and so on.

Dr Pipes mentions that he himself would go further and call the war by its real name, to wit, the "war on Islamism" thus signifying that the war is not just or even mainly a war on a group of people, but an ideological war (a much more complicated enterprise for us, needless to say).

But even Dr Pipes doesn't go far enough, in my opinion. Toying around with semantics is simply a way of avoiding the real issue, the real "naming".

As a resident in the Moslem world for over 30 years, I find it extremely difficult to agree with ANY description I have read of 9/11 and what it has meant to the West. Some of these descriptions have come close the the truth in some parts but are way off in others. Some were irrelevant because they were ignorant. Many are simply wrong and/or hilarious. But they have all skirted around the real culprit.

In fact, there is no "culprit". And there is no "war". What's going on can best be described as a "contest" between Islam (the civilization) and the West (and its civilization), a contest that has been in play for nearly 1500 years. Painful as 9/11 has been for the US and aggravating as the war in Iraq continues to be for the West, ultimately they are simply two incidents in a long line of similar, if now forgotten, events. I would go so far as to say that the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is too but a sideshow of this much larger contest. If you look at the issue the way I do, it can be clearly seen that Israel represents the West while the Palestinians, that is, the "country" of Falesteen (in Arabic) represents Islamic civilization.

Anyone truly interested in this subject should really read R W Southern's incomparable "Western Views on Islam in the Middle Ages", originally published in 1962 but as applicable today as it was then. Unfortunately, it's hard to find and morbidly expensive when available. but any substantial library should have a copy. It is far superior to any book I've come across (and I've come across well-nigh all) illuminating the relationship between Islam and the West.

In fact, my take on all this is nothing new. There have been several commentators on the subject that have come close to my views on the subject. But it is my conclusions and my suggestions of what we ought to do that differ from the usual fare one finds as a solution to the problem.

I simply can't go into all that here, however. But I will say that any suggestion that Islam must "reform", that Islamic countries must start to practice "....Tolerance, the rule of law, political and economic openness, the extension of greater opportunities to women — ..." as the 9/11 Commission Report suggests, is simply pie in the sky. To do so would mean the complete dissolution of the Islamic religion and Islamic civilization. It simply ain't gonna happen....not in a million years. As an on-the-spot observer of Islam for nearly a 1/2 century, I can categorically state that anything even close to this is simply out of the question.

The Report goes on to suggest that these reforms "....will be violently opposed by Islamist terrorist organizations.....".

Yes, they will. But it is extremely important to realize that so will the vast majority of Moslems of whatever stripe. Not to realize this is to once again evade and deny the real battle that has been unfolding for nearly 2 millenia now and it will divert attention and resources, time and energy from where they might go to where they should go.

The implications of what I'm saying are difficult to accept and even more difficult to deal with. They are also unpleasant, but I'll have leave them for another time.

Alo Kievalar
Submitting....

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Reader comments (43) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
correct but incomplete [254 words]Charles FreemanAug 12, 2004 12:2816311
Thanks [21 words]Peter EdgarAug 8, 2004 23:3416270
Overjoyed, two-fold! [405 words]RPaineAug 6, 2004 22:2816256
Are we supposed to just wait [96 words]ReportAug 5, 2004 10:2816240
Sounds Familiar [1124 words]Michael Lopez-CalderonAug 4, 2004 10:4216229
So much gratitude [33 words]BethAug 4, 2004 03:3516223
Why IslamIST? Why not IslamIC? [368 words]Peter RonaiAug 3, 2004 23:2516215
Not So Fast (on the 9/11 Commission "Triumph") [209 words]Ron CooperAug 2, 2004 20:3916196
Agreed [86 words]GilJul 31, 2004 23:0816182
The Pot calling the Kettle Black [398 words]Nelson HortonJul 30, 2004 05:5816171
calling a spade a spade [95 words]Leslie WetzelJul 29, 2004 14:2216169
The Triumph Of the 9/11 Commission [226 words]Behrouz AzarniaJul 29, 2004 13:5316168
some dissent [447 words]Richard B KapplerJul 29, 2004 10:4516167
re:9/11 commission report [51 words]dan katcherJul 29, 2004 09:0516165
It's the countries [56 words]Howard VeitJul 29, 2004 08:5316164
Identifying the Disease [162 words]David McClungJul 28, 2004 21:0216160
Amazed beyond credulity! [233 words]W.A. TomlinsonJul 28, 2004 19:3216159
Finally....someone who ins't afraid to say it! [84 words]DevraJul 28, 2004 13:1216153
As usual Daniel Pipes represents the wisdom and intelligence [23 words]Raffaele David MDJul 28, 2004 11:0116151
The 9/11 Commission [68 words]Jules Schwager, Ph.D.Jul 28, 2004 10:4016150
Who are the moderate Moslems? [87 words]David WigdorJul 28, 2004 09:1616149
finally, a spade called a spade [97 words]bruno I. abernathyJul 28, 2004 08:3916148
Reaction to 911 Commission [1158 words]Carol McNeillJul 28, 2004 08:2116147
Diagnosis Correct, Treatment Plan Questionable [289 words]YonasonJul 28, 2004 00:0816137
Excelent article! [2 words]Boris FrenkelJul 28, 2004 00:0316136
Excellent conclusion [53 words]alexander barrettoJul 27, 2004 22:3716134
Yes, but...... [688 words]Alo KievalarJul 27, 2004 21:4716131
Nuclear 9/11: the threat posed by the islamic nuke [181 words]S. KalyanaramanJul 27, 2004 19:0716129
Great Article [4 words]bones1420Jul 27, 2004 17:5916125
American Muslim leaders [36 words]edward j. margulies m.d.Jul 27, 2004 17:1316123
Plato's Cave [165 words]JohnJul 27, 2004 17:0916122
The Triumph Of the 9/11 Commission [92 words]TL MillerJul 27, 2004 17:0416121
The Triumph Of the 9/11 Commission [70 words]Ray A OrmsbeeJul 27, 2004 17:0316119
Triumph over Islamism [89 words]Stan BeerJul 27, 2004 16:4716116
Islamic terrorism [65 words]Mahdi Al-Bassam, MDJul 27, 2004 16:4516115
Intolerance Within The Qu'ran and the Future of Islam [237 words]TanruJul 27, 2004 16:3816114
Finally [111 words]Michael J. ArtwichJul 27, 2004 16:3516113
Connection of 9/11 Commission and Maldive Law Review [82 words]Hillel (Sabba) MarkowitzJul 27, 2004 16:1816112
Democracy in Middle East [60 words]JimJul 27, 2004 15:5516108
The Triumph of the 9/11 Commission [62 words]Larry ShermanJul 27, 2004 15:5016107
Pipes Is Right [18 words]Dr. Lee D. CaryJul 27, 2004 15:4916106
vindication [12 words]John BlakemoreJul 27, 2004 15:4416105
9/11 Commission should have supported Iraq.. [309 words]Doug StracnerJul 27, 2004 15:4416104

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