The Holy War
We have London bombings.
Brutal. Terrifying. And to find out that it was your own people who did this. . .
Well, I know some Brits and they don’t scare easily. They have endured worse over the years and they will endure this. In fact, I reckon they are becoming annoyed.
Here are some excerpts from one of the better articles I’ve read on the bombings. Its anger is palatable, obviously, and I think it sums up a growing shift in the global attitude toward Islamic extremism.
From writer Christopher Hitchens:
For a few moments yesterday, Londoners received a taste of what life is like for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, whose Muslim faith does not protect them from slaughter at the hands of those who think they are not Muslim enough, or are the wrong Muslim.
It is a big mistake to believe this is an assault on “our” values or “our” way of life. It is, rather, an assault on all civilisation. I know perfectly well there are people thinking, and even saying, that Tony Blair brought this upon us by his alliance with George Bush.
A word of advice to them: try and keep it down, will you? Or wait at least until the funerals are over. And beware of the non-sequitur: you can be as opposed to the Iraq operation as much as you like, but you can’t get from that “grievance” to the detonating of explosives at rush hour on London buses and tubes.
We know very well what the “grievances” of the jihadists are.
The grievance of seeing unveiled women. The grievance of the existence, not of the State of Israel, but of the Jewish people. The grievance of the heresy of democracy, which impedes the imposition of sharia law. The grievance of a work of fiction written by an Indian living in London. The grievance of the existence of black African Muslim farmers, who won’t abandon lands in Darfur. The grievance of the existence of homosexuals. The grievance of music, and of most representational art. The grievance of the existence of Hinduism. The grievance of East Timor’s liberation from Indonesian rule. All of these have been proclaimed as a licence to kill infidels or apostates, or anyone who just gets in the way.
The grievances I listed above are unappeasable, one of many reasons why the jihadists will lose.
They demand the impossible – the cessation of all life in favour of prostration before a totalitarian vision. Plainly, we cannot surrender. There is no one with whom to negotiate, let alone capitulate.
I’m a damned tolerant guy. But even my tolerance has its limits. Like Hitchens, I know there can be no compromise with the extremists. I would rather die than surrender to an enemy who thinks it reasonable to blow up innocent people in the name of some faith. They think nothing of killing children to further their cause. What sane person would kill children?
More moderate Muslims need to know that it’s only going to take a few more bombings in Western cities before the Western governments are really going to get angry. I’m not talking about fucking around like Iraq. I’m talking full-on angry.
Moderates need to be told — in fact, I am telling you — that you had better start turning in these crazy religious leaders. You know the ones. You know deep down that Mohammed never told you it was okay to blow up innocent people just because you don’t happen to agree with how they live. If you allow these sick people in your community to continue their “war on civilisation”, there will be consequences.
The jihadists have this idea their Intifada against the civilised World is the greatest battle in history. They think the holy war is already happening, and they must fight the evils of the Infidels to the death. But they have absolutely no clue.
The Christians they hate are easily the most brutal people on the planet. Some fifty years ago Christians reinvented killing and war. Tens of millions were sacrificed because a bunch of Christian nations got angry at each other. Car bombs? The air raids in World War Two make a subway bombing look like puppy shit. Christians killed each other with such vigor that they actually made a dent in the global population. This is the enemy that the jihadists want to go twelve rounds with.
These terrorists need to understand that one day their petulance will actually go too far, past the point of no return, past the point of civility, and awaken the unstoppable bloodlust that lies dormant, deep in the hearts our people. Then the real holy war will be on.
It will start with all Arab people being subject to frequent and unreasonable searches, seizures and detainment. There will be complaints of course, but nothing will be done. An unfortunate but necessary security measure, the authorities will say.
Soon after, no Arab will be allowed to travel anywhere in the World — sorry, but we just can’t tell the nice people from the terrorists anymore. Go home.
But it won’t stop there. Western nations will outlaw the practise of Islam within their borders — too dangerous, too hateful they’ll say — anyone who practises it will get thrown in a jail that makes Gitmo look like a summer camp. Every Islamic website will be blackholed.
Some Islamic countries will cry foul and scream for revenge on the Western leaders. But by the time we have got to this point, no nation is going to waste any more time on lip-service. The response will be to bomb these nations back to the Stone Age. Thousands of planes. Millions of bombs, each one a hundred times more powerful than the one that destroyed that bus by Tavistock Square. The civilian casualties will be enormous.
If the terrorists keep it up, this could be how the end-game plays out. The great jihad won’t result in a victory over the Infidels and the restoration of some great Islamic empire. It will only result in death and misery for millions of Muslims. I’m not sure who the extremists think they are doing this for, because they’re not going to help regular Muslims at all.
It’s a nasty, brutal future I don’t want to live in. I don’t want to see regular folks, who’ve never hurt anyone, rounded up because some of their faith are crazy. I don’t want to see the practise of Islam outlawed. And I certainly don’t relish the idea of going to foreign lands to deliver some kind of final solution. But if the civilised World really feels threatened we can justify all kinds of horrible, horrible things.
You can only push on civilised people for so long before they push back. Hard.
