The Redhunter

Nice posting!

Check this from LGF:

Video: Islamic Children Learn to Hate and Kill

A YouTube on teaching Middle Eastern children to hate and kill.

I have a question.

You titled this "Why we fight?", but this clip is from Bahrain TV and we're not fighting Bahrain. Bahrain is our ally in the War on Terror.

So what does the title mean?

Thank you for stopping by again, Mylne

The war we are fighting is against the ideology of Jihad, and one of its tenents is the oppression of women. Terrorism is simply a tactic. We are fighting a lot more than just al Qaeda.

To understand what I am talking about, start here and read all 7 parts

That our president does not understand who we are truely at war with is one of our problems. The last time I checked, he was still calling it a "War on Terror"; a singularly unhelpful term. My only consolation at present is that the Democrats are worse.

Thank you Tom. One of the reasons why I like your blog is that, though I disagree with much of what you write, you are always much more courteous than the majority of bloggers on either side of the political spectrum.

So, do I have this right?

We are fighting a war against Wahabi Islam, which is intrinsically jihadist.

We are also fighting Iranian Shiite Islam, which though ideologically and politically separate from Wahabi Islam is also intrinsically jihadist.

This war is mainly a war of ideas and of counter-surveillance, though occasionally in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, where state authority is contested by jihadist militias, it is also a war of guns and bombs.

The two youtube clips show how distasteful Wahabi Islam is, and remind of us how we must keep fighting it (with our ideas). But the clips are only loosely connected with the (less metaphorical) fighting that is happening in Iraq.

You're very close, Mylne
;-)

Let me lay it out like this:

We are at war with Jihadist Islam. The Jihadis can be divided into three groups; Wahabbis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Khumeinists.

The Wahabbis and Muslim Brotherhood are of the Salafist branch of Sunni Islam. Although their tactics are different, both share the goal of reestablishing the Caliphate.

The Khumeinists are of the Shiite branch of Islam. Although their base is in Iran, think of them more as an ideological movement than a national one. For example, Hezbollah is a Khumeinist organization. The goal of the Khumeinists is to establish a regional Imamate whereby they have primary hegemony.

We are therefore NOT at war with all of Islam.

You are dead right in that it is primarily a war of ideas, although at times it is a war of guns and bombs, as you put it. In this it resembles the Cold War.

Islam needs to be reformed from within. We can help push it in this direction, but in the end it is Muslim reformers who must win the day.

I'm going to post a lot more about this "war of ideas" concept in a few weeks.

Do you agree with what I've just said or do you have a different take on the world situation?

Right on Tom! I especially like you explanation to Mylne's comments. I too think Islam needs reform from within, and the only way the reformers stand a chance is if the world allies with them and stands up to the jihadists. Otherwise, we leave the peaceful, "moderate" Muslims all alone and they have no chance under those circumstances. Keep up the good work!