Stop enabling the radical imams

By Dave Petteys (dpetteys@comcast.net) Islam has no clergy. What they have is “consensus”, a consensus managed currently by militant Imams who whip the faithful into frenzies of hatred, as seen in the widely distributed photo of a poster demanding "Behead Those Who Insult Islam," at a rally in London a couple of years ago.

Not only does militant Islam deny the holocaust of Jews during WWII, they are now denying that the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the site of the present day Al Aksa Mosque, ever existed.

Unfortunately, the Islamist consensus does not have a good record of preserving history. The Islamics are purposefully and systematically destroying the archeological evidence in Jerusalem, which means knowledge that could have been gleaned by excavation is lost forever. Another example was the Buddhist statues in Afghanistan destroyed by Taliban artillery.

Consensus is too kind a word: mob group-think is probably closer to the mark. To those on the “peace at any price” Left who call for “negotiations and reaching out to the fundamentalists, and understanding them” should bare this in mind. How do you negotiate with a mob? Unfortunately, the only way is with superior force.

Only when the Islamics suffer stunning defeats will the mob settle down and consider an alternate course of action. Only when the firebrand Imams’ strategies have led to disastrous dead ends, will the moderate voices prevail, allowing Islam to emerge from its medieval principles into the 21st Century.

Perversely, the more the Islamics are kowtowed to, the more they are accommodated by the multiculturalists, the more their militancy is validated.

It’s time to stop encouraging militant Islam with our current path of cultural suicide.

Slurring our soldiers as 'mercenaries'

By Dave Petteys (dpetteys@comcast.net) To the academics and left wing “progressives,” our volunteer military is now allegedly a mercenary army. The same point is cropping up from coast to coast. It is as if a switch were turned on somewhere. The plan, of course, is to make it so unfashionable that no one will volunteer. At least the Left would paint those who do as semi-literate and brutal killers.

The latest example from San Francisco high schools is a clear demonstration that they are working at younger and younger ages to achieve the purpose of rendering our democracy unable to defend itself.

But understand: the "mercenary" slur only applies to our military forces, not those of our enemies. Recently, Canadians were discovered fighting for Al Qaeda in Somalia.

The only comment by Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day was “I'm always disappointed when I hear that, but that's an individual's right." I wonder what Minister Day will say when his Canadian Muslims start suicide bombings in Toronto. Will that be their “individual right” as well?

Nor does the Left say anything derogatory about the militarization of Venezuela. Rather, Hugo Chavez is praised for his “heroic stand against Bush”.

One has to look at the long-term consequences of letting this internal depredation of our democracy continue without any response. To say “in a free society, people can say what they want” is becoming a fast track to societal suicide. To assume our free society is so strong that it doesn’t need defending is preposterous.

The effort to weaken our military, when it descends to actually calling for the deaths of American service men and women is not legitimate dissent. It verges on treason -- and such traitorous voices must be held accountable. Disloyalty is not a constitutional right.

World unrest fueled by populist illusions

By Dave Petteys (dpetteys@comcast.net) For those of us who love freedom and democracy, it is disturbing to see the losses we are suffering around the world to populist movements. We couch our arguments for democracy in the context of advanced and wealthy countries unconsciously, possibly not recalling the desperation among the poor of the world.

To the teeming masses in Caracas, waiting a couple of centuries for a prosperous society to develop isn’t appealing. Along comes Hugo Chavez, who confiscates the wealth of the country and redistributes it to the poor, who then think he is wonderful. That an armed thug doesn’t know a thing about running an economy doesn’t even cross their minds. His militarization of Venezuelan society will lead to oppression, war, and deeper poverty. A butcher’s bill will come due eventually, and will be paid by the very poor that now extol the man.

A comment on the role of the press is in order here. The left wing press fancies itself populist, in solidarity with the plight of the poor. They like nothing better than to report on the hypocrisy and the excess of the “ruling elite”. Yet, once a Hugo Chavez takes over, the criticism ceases! Though without a doubt the Chavez inner circle has taken over the big houses, and is living lavishly, nothing is said about them. Not only is criticism “not necessary now that the people are in power”, most editors know it can be very hazardous to one’s health to dwell on such things. It’s much safer to bash President Bush who does not send little men with guns to call on those who criticize him.

In the Middle East, terrorist organizations like Hamas are praised and garner support for setting up schools and clinics. But when their Madrassas teach the killing of unbelievers, that Jews and Christians are monkeys and pigs and the virtue of suicide bombing, is this really a productive education that will bring Middle Eastern society into the 21st Century? Though liberal society condemns child soldiers in Africa on a regular basis, nothing is said of the Hamas videos of 10-year-olds, armed and dressed in camouflage, marching in formation chanting “We are Hamas, death to America and death to the Jews”.

If freedom and democracy are to survive, (if we are to survive) we need to bring the benefits of our system to people in a more tangible way more quickly. But it needs to go beyond the Robin Hood approach of redistribution, which destroys wealth. The nine million Iraqi purple thumbs and the pontificating about Jeffersonian principles may not have time to work otherwise. It may be that housing, sewage systems, and medical clinics are as strategic as training armed forces and the transfer of military equipment. If we are to spread democracy, a new paradigm is called for. It’s time for the thinkers on the right to contemplate such matters.

'Jihad Incorporated' is a must read

By Dave Petteys (dpetteys@comcast.net) Last weekend I had the opportunity to view Steve Emerson talk about his new book "Jihad Incorporated" on CSPAN2 Book TV. The book basically is a compilation of court actions involving Islamic fundamentalists. Two things struck me:

** How widespread Jihad activities are in the United States, (in 40 States according to Mr. Emerson’s book).

** That a young man called in and accused Mr. Emerson and his book of “fear mongering”.

To me, it was a perfect example of the success of Islamic strategy in the United States. They have purposely positioned themselves as a persecuted minority, wrapped in the cloak of religion and “Civil Rights”. The Islamics study us, game our system and are very successful.

The secularist Left believes that the current religious war doesn’t apply to them. The “convert or die” choice the Islamics would give them means nothing to them. They are so focused on their hatred of George Bush, they cannot see past domestic politics to recognize the threat that faces not only our Nation, but Western Civilization itself. The Islamic outrages around the world seem distant: even the attack of 9/11 seems forgotten. After all, fighting terrorism is what’s causing it, right? They seem to think a defeat in the war with the Jihadists would only be a defeat for George Bush, not America.

It’s hard to see what could change the situation. The struggle could last a couple of generations. There’s no guarantee that Western Civilization will survive. I wonder if the Left is ready to start studying Arabic and attending Mosque. Maybe the feminists will like wearing burkas and being forbidden to leave their homes without the escort of a man? Maybe the academics will enjoy watching every University converted to an Islamic Institute, where the only discipline is studying the Koran and the Hadiths. Remember; since Mohammed is the last prophet, there is no reason to study anything else. The arts and sciences would no longer be necessary.

Iraqis who kill GI's are "patriots," Sen. Gordon says

Colorado Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon is distraught in his belief that "the Iraqi patriots are those who fight against us"-- so he wants to relive his youthful Vietnam War protester days in dissent against the US military effort over there. The other day he invited his email list to suggest what form the protest should take. Gordon offers an incoherent psychoanalysis of President Bush to justify all this. A deranged soldier killed in a tragic incident with Maryland police is his starting point for alleging the President's unfitness to lead. The outrageous line about Iraqi patriots is down in his 11th paragraph, but you have to read the senator's entire rant to get the full impact. What any of this has to do with his duties in the state legislature is not clear. Ken Gordon's complete 1/7 email is shown below. - John Andrews ------------------------------------------------------------------------- WE DON'T CONSENT Mass email from ken@kengordon.com January 7, 2007

James Dean, an army reservist from Maryland, locked himself in his father’s house and threatened to commit suicide on learning that, after having already served 18 months in Afghanistan, he was being sent to Iraq. A neighbor said that he was a good boy, but the notice of his deployment sent him into a spiral of depression.

The standoff with police ended when he was shot in the chest and killed.

His death will show up on Maryland homicide statistics, not the Iraq war deaths.

I have been in a state of low-grade horror ever since we knew the outcome of the 2000 Presidential election.

It was clear to me that we had elected an insecure person as President who would not be the primary decision maker in his own administration.

It was also clear to me that he substituted a commitment to ideology and religion for knowledge, study and analysis. He compensated for a lack of intellectual discipline by denying that the products of intellect matter.

In 2000 I didn’t predict that in six years he would have done as much damage as he has--I was hopeful that he would have humility and take advice from a broad spectrum--but in retrospect it does not seem surprising.

There are experts about Iraq, Iran and the Middle East. I am not one of them. What I do know, though, would have made me very cautious about attempting to impose our will on this region by force.

America has a history that has created a positive legend and a justifiable pride in its citizens. We fought for our own liberty. We created a democracy. We fought again against slavery and again against egregious dictatorships. Our prosperity and strength has made us proud but has also made us insular and arrogant.

Iraqis have a history and legend as well. This I don’t know as well, but I know that the people of the region remember the Crusades where Europeans came into the region and committed ruthless and indiscriminant murder. After the First World War the British imposed their will by force. In 1953 the American CIA helped overthrow Mossadegh of Iran and imposed the Shah, a cruel and heartless leader, albeit an American “friend.”

Perhaps the pride of the Iraqis is bound up in throwing the foreigners out of the region. Maybe the Iraqi patriots are those who fight against us. It is likely that we are on the wrong side of the history of the region, a region that nurses a sense of wronged injustice and humiliation.

Now the administration is saying put more troops in Iraq, a ”surge” it is called. We have 130,000 troops there now. Some are saying that if we had 160,000 it would make the difference.

I don’t know, but I do know this. We had 550,000 troops in Vietnam, a country of similar population. I also know that I don’t trust the people who are saying a surge will help. They have been wrong so many times. And they aren’t just accidentally wrong. They are programmed to be wrong because their decisions are ideological and not fact-based.

They cannot admit to making a mistake. This is more true of people who rely on ideology than those who rely on facts, because if someone who makes decisions based on ideology is wrong, than the ideology is wrong, and that is all they have. It is their core. If Bush’s ideology is wrong, then he has nothing.

This Administration is causing Americans and Iraqis to die in the Middle East, with a consequent reduction in the influence and safety of our country, in order to protect an always doomed and now obviously failed ideological approach.

I went to Washington in November of 1969 to protest against the War in Vietnam. As an attorney I represented people who were arrested for protesting against aid to the Contras and who blocked the entrance to the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant.

The current situation even more strongly demands action by the American people. We buy the bullets and the bombs with our taxes. We elected the President who decided to send James Dean back to the war. Our silence is consent.

Our President does not have the moral seriousness, the intellectual strength or the mature judgment for us to acquiesce in the decisions he is making in our name.

We need to take some form of peaceful action to demonstrate our lack of consent. Any suggestions?