The Enemy is Fundamentalist Islam

People are evacuated from Brussels airport  following twin blasts (cnbc)

A while back I recall reading (no longer recall where) about the Koran - the document upon which Islam is based. It was in an interview with a former Islamist terrorist who has changed sides. He said very plainly that the Koran is very clear. Among other shocking statements promoting violence against infidels it states very clearly if one does not convert to Islam, he should be killed. All in pursuit of a holy war (Jihad) whose goal is to impose Sharia law on the entire world. Where every human being will submit to Allah (God) - whose will is recorded in the Koran.

He was also asked the obvious question. What about the fact that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful people who wouldn’t hurt a fly… people that are just as worried about being victims of attack as anyone else… people that condemn the violence perpetrated by their coreligionists? These terrorists distort Islam they say and add that Islam a religion of peace.

He answered that indeed the majority of Muslims are peaceful – peace loving people. But that their views are not based on a direct reading of the Koran – but on modern day interpretations that allow them to remain peaceful in our day despite the fact that an accurate reading of the text tells you that Islam extols violent Jihad.

The one thing that the current administration, along with most European governments have failed to recognize is that Islam at its most fundamental level is not a religion of peace. Most of its members may be. But its foundational document is clearly not. It is a religion of Jihad – holy war.

So when ISIS, Al Qaida, and other Jihadist Muslims commit what the civilized world considers crimes against humanity, they instead see it as a fulfillment of their Divine mandate. Calling them radical Islam may actually be a misnomer. They are not the radical ones. They are the devout ones who carry out the fundamental mission handed to them by God, through His messenger, the Prophet Mohamed, as recorded in the Koran. These are not crazed madman beheading people willy-nilly. These are God fearing fundamentalist Muslims following the Koran – killing infidels as required by their foundational document.

I bring all this up in light of yet another attack against the free world by these Muslims. There was another major attack in Brussels this morning. From The Guardian: 

The confirmed death toll from both attacks now stands at 34. Maggie de Block, the Belgian health minister, said 14 people died and 81 were injured in the airport explosions. The Belgian metro authority, STIB-MIVB, and emergency services said 20 people were killed in the Maelbeek metro blast. STIB-MIVB said a further 55 people were injured, including 10 critical… 

There has already been a lot of discussion in the media about who was responsible for this. Was it ISIS? Or was it some other Jihadist group? As far as I am concerned it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we are fighting Fundamental Islamic beliefs. Not just radical Islam.

Again, this is not to say that all Muslims are terrorists. I am absolutely convinced that most Muslims are not. Most of them are potential victims just like the rest of us. But what is also clear is that it is their religion that inspires the very terrorism they fear.

But even if Jihad is a Godly mandate, in what religious world is it right to kill innocent victims? Some of whom might be Muslims themselves? I have to assume that they believe that all’s fair when trying to reach their religious goals. If terror is what it takes to force people to convert, then terror is what it’s going to be. If some Muslims ultimately die in pursuit of that… not to worry. They will be considered martyrs and go straight to their ultimate reward in heaven. Besides, if a Muslim does not adhere to the ‘right’ version of Islam, they might as well be infidels too and worthy of execution.

It’s time for the world to wake up. And I include the United States here. Our governments are sleeping. By focusing on ISIS, they are ignoring the real threat. They have to realize that they are fighting Islam at its most fundamental level. If ISIS were to be completely destroyed, another ISIS would soon arise under a different name but with the same goal. It’s about time the civilized world started fight Islam on its own terms. This is a holy war. We are fighting fundamentalist Islam! There is no other way to look at it.

Just to be clear. Fighting fundamentalist Islam does not mean we are fighting Muslims. This is not, God forbid, an attempt to commit genocide against a people most of whom are indeed peace loving. This is an attempt to know what and who we are really fighting and how to best deal with them. Unless we fully recognize that, we are spitting in the wind. We are not fighting ISIS. We are fighting a multi headed Hydra where killing one head will be replaced by many more heads.

Once we know what we are actually dealing with, we can begin to fight it properly and take appropriate security measures. Measures we have avoided because of our own decency as a moral people that respects human dignity and the rights grated to us by our own constitution. What can we do that will help? I am not in a position to know I am not in the field of counter-terrorism. But here are some ideas that immediately come to mind.

The idea that we can’t water-board someone to get life saving information - someone that would behead us given the chance - because ‘this isn’t who we are as a people’ is laughable. We are not talking about torturing an enemy that respects the Geneva Convention. We are talking about an enemy that respects only achieving its goal – whatever it takes. Does anyone for a minute think that if the tables were turned they wouldn’t use water-boarding?  Is there a sane person that thinks that if we are honorable and don’t water-board our prisoners - that these potential mass murders wouldn’t either? If water-boarding mass murderers is the way you save lives, than that is what you do.

What about Muslim refugees? Is there any question anymore that fundamentalist Muslims have slipped through European borders along with the vast majority of those who are running for their lives from countries like Syria where fundamentalist Islam rules? It is legitimate to ask whether being humane by accepting them is going to result in more terrorist attacks like the one on Brussels. 

All it takes is one from among the tens of thousands of legitimate refugees begging for refuge. One that will continue the ‘struggle’ for Islam by strapping a suicide belt to himself, walking into Times Square and blowing himself up! Can’t happen here? Not only can it happen here, it already has. Remember San Bernardino? Or the Boston Marathon? These heinous crimes were committed by fundamentalist Muslims. How many of those do we need before we face reality?

And the idea that hi-tech giant, Apple, refuses to grant a government request to break the encryption code of a terrorist communication device because of the principle of freedom of expression and the right to privacy is beyond ridiculous.

In a normal world, I would be siding with Apple. Freedom of expression and the right to privacy are rights that I hold dear. They are bedrock of American style democracies. But taken too far, we become our own worst enemy. Rights cannot exist without security. Security comes first. What good will that right do for us if we lose the war with Islam?  

The ability to live freely in a country where rights like this thrive requires us to give up a little of those rights, just to survive. Big Brother is watching? So what? Unless you are committing a crime you will have nothing to fear. This is not the Soviet Union. Or Iran. Or China. Or North Korea. Or Cuba. Once we defeat the real enemy, those rights can be fully restored.

I don’t have any answers. Just a lot of questions and a few suggestions off the top of my head – for what they are worth.

This is my immediate reaction to the carnage in Brussels. One thing seems certain, though. Tiptoeing around the truth about fundamentalist Islam has to end. We need recognize the real enemy and get serious about how to deal with them effectively. And by ‘we’ I mean the entire civilized world. Defeating one Jihadist group will not change anything. We need to treat this like the Jihad it is and defeat fundamentalist Islam. And do whatever it takes to achieve it. There has got to be a better way to do this than the way we are doing it now!