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Those who read the Neocon Express know that we are absolutely not defeatists and believe that this clash of civilizations can be won if it were only to be taken as seriously as it should be, and undoubtedly will be at a far greater cost down the road. That having been said, this latest article by David Selborne in 
the Sunday Times of London is an absolute must read. Most Westerners are woefully uninformed, doubt that this is a real war, and believe that even if it is, than it’s a forgone conclusion that the West will easily prevail through technological superiority. Selborne makes a number of powerful points illustrating why that cannot be taken for granted in any way.
VDH: Is the Western Way of War Dead?
Profiles in Correctness
Larwyn’s Linx: A Christmas Prayer
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• A Christmas Prayer Kunstler
• Fmr. Harris Surrogate: Joe Biden’s Trying to Burn Things Dow...
9 hours ago
I believe that you may have mentioned in the past that your visits to countries around the world have shaped your current view on things, Joe. Could you be specific here (or in new posts) about what exactly it is from your own personal experience that has led you to feel the way you do about a clash of civilizations being so inevitable? Or is it that such books and biased media have influenced you? One of the criticisms I've heard about this "Clash of Civilizations" book is that it polarizes things immensly to fit the way it wants things to appear. Deliberately sharpening lines so that the inevitability of conflict becomes so much easier to seem possible, when infact things are more merged in reality than people realize. Nevertheless, I may take it upon myself to read this book because I've heard it referred to as the Neocon Quran. One person refers to the book - "the clash is certainly unavoidable. However,its effect and speed can be reduced or delayed.". That later is perhaps how I view things in this world at the moment. If there is to be a clash of civilizations, rushing head first into things globally, could actually hasten it and make it a thousand times worse than it needs to be. Lessening the impact of such a clash is something I think most Humans would hope for. Would you agree that we all want that outcome?
ReplyDeleteThe Muslim countries that I have traveled to are Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and Indonesia. Although I enjoyed the food, the music and all of the things that any Western tourist would experience in such places, one does not have to dig deep to see the darker sides. Generally speaking, one can judge a society by how it treats its weaker elements; women, children, the handicap, homosexuals, etc… Women tend to be subjugated (some in the extreme) and are viewed mostly as property who can be killed as matter of honor at the slightest perceived indiscretion; children run around largely unsupervised to fend for themselves on mean and dirty streets where ‘survival of the fittest’ is the name of the game. The handicapped are tucked away as an embarrassment to their families or are relegated to begging on street corners. Homosexuality is considered an infraction punishable by death, even though it is wide-spread in a culture that is sexually repressed in the extreme. In smaller communities the only authority is that of the local Muktahr, usually the head of the largest or most ruthless family clan in the village who is there to “resolve disputes,” usually in favor of his own clan. I could go on for 300 pages, but I think you get the picture. While Western culture is certainly not perfect, there is simply no comparison.
ReplyDeleteAs for extending the time before an inevitable clash; I believe that time does not work in the West’s favor. It is only a matter of time until extremist Muslims get their hands on a nuclear arsenal, and at that point every Western population center is at risk and our entire culture will certainly be held hostage to their every whim.
I agree that it is only a matter of time wherein terrorists and their sponsers get nukes. However as far as being held hostage I would say that the west would not remain hostage. All it would take is one to go off and the rest of the arab world would truly come to know terror on an unimaginable scale. I say this because just the nuclear arsenal of the US alone would be more than sufficent to basically turn the Arab world into a glass parking lot.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reply, Joe. Apart from Egypt, my visits to Islamic countries have been much further east. Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Muslim areas of India. Sometimes the cultural aspects are different, and sometimes similar to what you have mentioned. In regard to Homosexuality, I agree that Islam simply won't tolerate it openly, but that it is rife within those cultures. Then again, I've got the impression from earlier posts that you're not too keen on it yourself. But, yes at least we 'tolerate' (and that really is an accurate term for how it is allowed here). But, that was only very recently in our history. Before that, people went to jail. Like you, I have dug deeper into the cultural aspects (some of which are not Islamic per se, but Islam has merged into them) and have questioned folks who seem intelligent, about aspects of Islam that simply cannot link with the modern open mind they have. Like you, I have found many aspects of Islam to be so rigid and closed that I would never consider converting. But, it has many many beautys as a social weave too, that are less frequently reported. Some of which, put our often out of control culture to shame. We see much less selfishness in Islamic communitys, as opposed to much of western civilization nowadays. More connection with the beautys of the world and more acceptance of when things go wrong in life. In short, many Muslims are much less neurotic than the way western culture seems to be.
ReplyDeleteWhat we can say is that there is a "Clash of Cultures" in regard to Islamic nations and Western nations. In the long past, we weren't so different. We were both rather tyrannical with our families,our people,devoutly religious,and very conservative. Nowadays it could be said we are coming into conflict more and more as more modern western influence comes to Islamic countries and locals don't like it one bit,seeing our liberal attitude, money and materialism, and lack of religion as immoral,greedy,selfish,and destructive to the fabric of society (which some of them are). As for the weapons. Considering Europe and the United States has vast Muslim communities now, do you think they would just nuke us out of existence? Perhaps so, perhaps not. My view is that we have to watch much closer to home, with 'war on terror'. I feel it is best won through intelligence gathering domestically, and making sure Islamist sympathisers don't infiltrate our politics and law making (one of the dangerous of unchecked 'Multi-Culturism'). Political Correctness made by our own people, is our enemy in western civilizaton (IMO). Invading other countries and installing puppet governments, isn't helping us (IMO).
I would say that the intelligence gathering and security 'within' the United States since 9/11 has prevented attacks. Not invading Afghanistan or Iraq. Until there is clear evidence that somewhere like Iran has plans for Nuclear "weapons", then stopping them from even developing Nuclear Power from the very beginning, is going to do nothing but create massive resentment and perhaps people who will "now" attack western interests or citizens in that region, even if it had never crossed their minds previously. Then it creates that "Clash of Civilizations". In our "Shoot first, ask questions and look for proof later" policy, we're not convincing the world that we are honest in our motives. Invading Islamic nations, either for 'protecting ourselves' or 'liberating' them, is provoking hell. We are seen as evil invaders, bringing alien concepts and installing puppet regimes, in both scenarios. We are seen as a new kind of arrogant Neo-Rome.