Muslim Terrorism May Save America

Occasionally I will hear a friend say, as he contemplates the utter wasteland our urban public schools have become, and as he views the deterioration of American society, "what this country needs is another depression”. Having been a young child during the ‘Great Depression’, and having therefore an interest in learning all I could about it, I do not agree with the thought. I do not agree that we need to go through another era when millions lived in abject poverty. I do agree with the concerns for our country, as teachers, numbed by classroom experiences and handcuffed by politically correct views on discipline and curriculum, go through the motions until blessed retirement comes; and young American men eschew marriage while huge numbers of young women stagger from bars on their way to one-night stands – as they both celebrate their dedication to pleasure and have little concern for their survival needs or their morality as their depression-era grandparents did.

I will agree that our young people do need a life-threatening challenge to engage them and change their focus from themselves to a larger concern. As we sink deeper and deeper into prime-time pornography, fatherless children on Ritalin, and selfish, irresponsible adults who hate America in their guilt-ridden and aimless lives, we do need something to pull us out of this slime before our civilization goes the way of all others that went down this path.

That challenge may well come from the Islamofascists who have dedicated their lives to re-establishing the caliphate and the Sharia and to destroying the lives and the influence of all who get in their way. It has become clearer and clearer, even to the most liberal among us, that Jihad is a serious threat to our prosperity and even to our existence, and that the war on terror has just begun. We spent 30 years ignoring this war being waged against us, until 9/11 and subsequent events opened our eyes, and even the most cursory reading of Jihadist writings reveals that their time-frame is completely different from ours. They wish to restore the glory that existed for them 500 years ago; we do not remember what happened last month.

We are at war with an enemy that regards death as desirable in a cause they understand and for which they are willing to sacrifice everything, and if it takes 100 years to accomplish their goals, they are prepared. What I am suggesting is that those who are calling for our soldiers to leave Iraq in a year are not merely foolish, they belong on a different planet. What I am suggesting is that American and western culture may have to go to a total war footing for decades in order to defeat this menace and survive. What I am suggesting is that shortly we may need to establish a draft, raise an army of several million men and women and make the kinds of sacrifices that were common during World War II to win.

There has been a torrent of smug and cynical criticism of President Bush’s drive to plant democracy in the center of Jihadist territory, in Iraq. I am more and more convinced every day that this effort is the only way to turn aside this movement and bring a lasting peace to this area. I take comfort in these words from Bernard Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University:

(Excerpt from a lecture given on 7/16/06)

From Imprimis
“There are, as I've tried to point out, elements in Islamic society which could well be conducive to democracy. And there are encouraging signs at the present moment—what happened in Iraq, for example, with millions of Iraqis willing to stand in line to vote, knowing that they were risking their lives, is a quite extraordinary achievement. It shows great courage, great resolution. Don't be misled by what you read in the media about Iraq. The situation is certainly not good, but there are redeeming features in it. The battle isn't over. It's still very difficult. There are still many major problems to overcome. There is a bitter anti-Western feeling which derives partly and increasingly from our support for what they see as tyrannies ruling over them. It's interesting that pro-American feeling is strongest in countries with anti-American governments. I've been told repeatedly by Iranians that there is no country in the world where pro-American feeling is stronger, deeper and more widespread than Iran. I've heard this from so many different Iranians—including some still living in Iran—that I believe it. When the American planes were flying over Afghanistan, the story was that many Iranians put signs on their roofs in English reading, “This way, please.”

So there is a good deal of pro-Western and even specifically pro-American feeling. But the anti-American feeling is strongest in those countries that are ruled by what we are pleased to call “friendly governments.” And it is those, of course, that are the most tyrannical and the most resented by their own people. The outlook at the moment is, I would say, very mixed. I think that the cause of developing free institutions—along their lines, not ours—is possible. One can see signs of its beginning in some countries. At the same time, the forces working against it are very powerful and well entrenched. And one of the greatest dangers is that on their side, they are firm and convinced and resolute. Whereas on our side, we are weak and undecided and irresolute. And in such a combat, it is not difficult to see which side will prevail.

I think that the effort is difficult and the outcome uncertain, but I think the effort must be made. Either we bring them freedom, or they destroy us.” Bernard Lewis