London

[Occhidiangela]

Traitor?

Pot calling the kettle black.

Most Muslims I know are horrified by what these terrorists are doing and loathe the idea they are lumped in with these assholes, just like Christians are ashamed to be lumped in with abortion clinic bombers and the Oklahoma City Bombing.

I agree though... Somewhat. We need to go in and deal with this nest of vipers. But how does one tell an extremist from the innocents that have done no wrong?
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Doc, I think many underestimate the amount of sympathy and moral support in the "Muslim world" the hard edged players accrue. Think of all the "romantic" based support the IRA got for all those years, in Irish pubs all over the US, particularly on the East Coast. "We are passing the hat, for the band." Right.

Same holds for those who are involved in "the struggle." The Great Satan is not the United States per se, it is our open, licentious, and free culture and its impact on older, more conservative cultures that is the core cause of anger and resentment. Well, there is more than that, but ignoring that factor is a huge mistake. It makes "Us vs Them" so easy a symbol to draw.

The root causes are the West's support of the existence of Isreal; the lines on the map from Balfour; the level of CRUSADER interference and influence in The Holy Land, where Mecca and Medina are, and The Holy Land, known to some as Israel and Jordan, some as Palestine, and go from there.

The "Muslims you know?" Right, westernized Muslims living in a free society?

That is not who this passion play is performed for, that is not who morally supports this crap. Do you remember the Palestiinians dancing in the streets on 9-11? I do. That was not an isolated event.

The grass roots Muslim is not someone you know, unless you travel a great deal to and correspond with to the Arab world. The grass roots Muslim does not have to apologize to a Westerner in a civil setting, unlike your associates. Sort of like the blue hairs don't call some folks by certain epithets in public, but in private, in their hearts . . .

You probably recognize the forces in action in light of your experiences in the Civil Rights battles. The emotions are that powerful, the sense of injustice that strong. You know how compelling those forces are, what they can drive folks to risk, to do, for their cause if they feel it is just.

The rhetoric is explicitly chosen to evoke powerful cultural symbols. These are not stupid people who do this. These are Eric Hoffer's "True Believers."

Occhi