Blinded by Hope, Abandoned by Reason: A Post-Election Update

"This Is A War Of Destiny
Between Infidelity And Islam."
(Text Of Bin Laden's Audio Message To Muslims In Iraq, Posted On Jihadist Websites, 12/28/04)

"Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless. Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all!"
Islam Is Not a Religion of Pacifists (1942)-- Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini

In 1996 and then again in 1998 Osama bin Laden issued two fatawa -- that Muslims should "kill civilians and military personnel from the United States and allied countries until they withdraw military forces from Islamic countries and withdraw support from Israel.

Bin Laden: "The Whole World Is Watching This War And The Two Adversaries; The Islamic Nation, On The One Hand, And The United States And Its Allies On The Other.

What is there, my friends, in these simple, direct and unequivocal messages that remains obscure? What is there here that lends itself to misinterpretation? Could these undeniable experts be any less ambiguous in their pronouncements? This is, they tell us quite plainly, "a war between Infidelity and Islam", a war between "the Islamic Nation and the United States and its Allies." And, even more clearly, "Islam is not a religion of pacifists".

Yet we will not listen. We will not heed their warnings. We refuse to acknowledge the weight of their solemn words. Blinded by Hope, abandoned by Reason, we steadfastly refuse to understand their meaning.

It has been six and one half years now since the catastrophe, and incredibly we have not yet found the political or moral courage to identify our true enemies. We distort and obfuscate the overwhelming evidence to support our insupportable optimism. Confronted by Naked Evil, we refuse to recognize its presence and retreat into the temporary comfort of our pitiful rationalizations and our misleading euphemisms. We cling desperately to our hopelessly outdated discredited theories and our wishful thinking. We continue to denigrate the power and the determination of our adversaries -- not because we know it to be true, but rather because we will it to be true and because it makes us feel better. Our old familiar list of comforting illusions still somehow sustains us:

All religions are basically the same.

All religions are centered on the search for Peace and Love.

All people are basically the same; they are all searching for Peace and Love.

If violence comes from a particular religion, then it necessarily follows that the basic tenets of that particular religion have been perverted: the religion itself cannot be faulted, it is merely the work of a few misguided fanatics, who can be found in any religion -- even Christianity.

These are the falsehoods we cling to even as the enemy approaches. Yes, we tell ourselves, our enemies are troublesome, but they are merely a fanatical minority. Islam itself is a peaceful religion. It has been hijacked by a few crazy people. But our war is not with Islam. Definitely not with Islam...

"This is a war of destiny between Infidelity and Islam"

There is nothing here, my friends, but crystal clarity. There are no disclaimers or qualifications. No possibilities here for misinterpretation. Yet -- incredibly, and disastrously -- we persist in our denial. We are drunk with denial. While our enemies are cold sober with hatred.

An undercover survey of more than 100 mosques and Islamic schools in America has exposed widespread radicalism, including the alarming finding that 3 in 4 Islamic centers are hotbeds of anti-Western extremism. "We have too many mosques in this country," said Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y. "There are too many people who are sympathetic to radical Islam. We should be looking at them more carefully." Sunday, February 24, 2008 HOMELAND INSECURITY
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=5714
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An update - 5 Oct 08: It is now more than seven years since that catastrophic Muslim attack on our nation, and unbelievably, incredibly, there are still those blind or delusional fools out there who continue to come to the defense of Islam or of Muslims because they do not, or will not, understand the threat. They have remained unconvinced and obdurate, steadfastly refusing to educate themselves. Have they bothered to research the vast amount of literature available on this critical subject? Have they studied the Qur'an, the Hadith and the Sira as carefully as those of us who are warning of this imminent disaster have done before coming to the defense of this cult of death which is Islam? Of course not, because of their innate wisdom studying the subject is unnecessary. They self-righteously continue to frame this monumental crisis in the misleading and erroneous terms of bigotry and prejudice: to even question the morality of Islam, they tell us, is a sign of Islamophobia. To even question the obviously compromised allegiance of Muslims in America is nothing but overt racism of the worst kind.

Somehow, if it is still possible, before it really is too late, we must reach these deluded collaborators -- sorry, but that is exactly what they are. We must somehow make them understand that their high-minded stance against prejudice and racism is totally irrelevant to the existential threat we face from a reinvigorated and militant Islam. Not only are these fools fighting the wrong war, but they are hampering our efforts to fight the right one.

It's not just that Islam is incompatible with the Judeo/Christian democratic world; it is, always has been, and always will be, diametrically opposed to it. Since its inception in the Seventh Century Islam by its very nature is the sworn enemy of freedom and democracy; therefore it always has been and always will be the sworn enemy of the West in general and the United States in particular. To not understand this fundamental fact is to not understand Islam; and these lazy misunderstandings and naive misinterpretations are putting us all in jeopardy. Simply put, to blindly come to the defense of Islam or of Muslims because they do not, or will not, understand the enormity of the threat involved is aiding and abetting the enemy.

Blinded by your own egos, you have made an enormous mistake. You are not what you perceive yourselves to be. You are not the courageous defenders of our imperiled Constitution, or of our endangered Civil Liberties, our Freedoms of Speech, or our Freedoms of Religion; you are not the noble champions of the poor and oppressed victims of racism and intolerance in America and the world.
You are simply fools and traitors.
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From Radarsite: A post-election update. It's the end of January, and the American people have voted. All of our dire warnings have been ignored, and a majority of voters have spoken. 49% of those voters polled during the last days of this election cycle placed the economy at number one on the list of threats America faces. The next level of threat below the economy was the threat of terrorism, which came in at an incredible 9%. So it will be more delusion and denial, appeasement and conciliation. By this fateful vote we have just confirmed our national weakness. We have accepted responsibility for the ills of this world and we have vowed to change. And what of our implacable foes? How have they responded to this olive branch? With cynical exploitation. In our enemies eyes, we have just formalized and validated our national lack of will and strengthened their resolve. Close Gitmo. Withdraw our troops from Iraq. Reach out to our bloodthirsty adversaries. Abandon Israel to her fate. This is just the beginning. Blinded by hope, abandoned by reason, we have stepped off the cliff.

Here, as reported today, 1/28/09, in Reuters is Iran's official response to our limp-wristed outstretched hand.