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2004-11-24 Terror Networks & Islam
US 'losing war of ideas'
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Posted by God Save The World 2004-11-24 4:56:39 PM|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Unfortunately, the ongoing war between Islam and the West is a battle of annihilation, with no middle ground or compromise solutions applicable.

The Islamacists know that, and have been waging the current campaign of this war accordingly for at least 25 years (perhaps 2,000 years).

We just don't get it. This war will end when either the last Muslim, or the last westerner, lets out their final dying gasp. The sooner we get on with the unpleasant task of "cleansing" the planet, the better. The alternative is being cleansed.

I wish it were otherwise - I'm not happy being a proponent of genocide.
Posted by Lone Ranger 2004-11-24 9:20:54 PM||   2004-11-24 9:20:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 "In the eyes of Muslims, American occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has not led to democracy there, but only more chaos and suffering. US actions appear in contrast to be motivated by ulterior motives, and deliberately controlled in order to best serve American national interests at the expense of truly Muslim self-determination," the report stated.

In other words, we're not getting the message across. It doesn't matter what our policies really are, the Muslims are hearing that we're villains, and this fits very nicely into their pre-existing religious categories. We have to provide alternative (and accurate) sources of information.

And why aren't we getting our message out better? We can't rely on the MSM. Is it that we don't have an adequate supply of Arabic-speakers, an adequate number of reporters, or is somebody afraid of the the word "propagana?"

Posted by James  2004-11-24 9:32:38 PM|| [http://idontknowbut.blogspot.com]  2004-11-24 9:32:38 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 US losing the war of ideas in the Islamic world

apparently that's the fault of the US? Hmmmm no women's rights, honor killings, beheadings of civilian aid workers, suicide bombings....why, oh why, can't we compete??? Looks like we're offering an inferior societal image, huh?


*choking on my sarcasm*
Posted by Frank G  2004-11-24 9:35:46 PM||   2004-11-24 9:35:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 "The US is losing the war of ideas in the Islamic world..."

Right, no doubt that would be because the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are so inferior to Mullah Fadullah's latest fatwa on the need to flog errant teenagers to death.

What are the ideas we "warring" against, Science Board dudes, and how many of my tax dollars did it take you to figure all this out? Was it enough to buy another Abrams?
Posted by Matt 2004-11-24 9:38:38 PM||   2004-11-24 9:38:38 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Headline: US ’losing war of ideas’

Typical hyperbole. We were never going to change their minds, anyway, any more than propaganda campaigns defeated the Soviet Union. In Europe, many people thought we were a greater danger to peace than the Soviets.

The funny thing is this - if we're losing the war of ideas, then it seems that even angry Muslims don't have the stomach for jihad. In Iraq, we're looking at perhaps thousands for foreign jihadis out of a population of 1b Muslims. They don't like us, but they're too scared to do anything about it. Which suits me just fine. Sounds like angry Muslims are just a bunch of blowhards.
Posted by Zhang Fei  2004-11-24 9:47:49 PM|| [http://timurileng.blogspot.com]  2004-11-24 9:47:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 I wouldn't be so fast to give these birds any credibility, just because they are under the Pentagon umbrella. The military hires large numbers of also-rans from academia, to be Pentagon "historians" and "analysts"; which is why they often crank out Brookings Institute-quality leftist bulldada. Make no mistake, their "analysis" of the Islamic world is most likely firmly grounded in what they read in Moslem-government-approved publications, having never been outside the US for any length of time. On top of which, often they are "-files" or "-phobes" of whatever axe it is they are grinding, and have no compunction about slanting their studies to their own personal prejudices. But then, blast it, they publish with a Pentagon letterhead, making the military out to be naive at best.
Posted by Anonymoose 2004-11-24 9:50:41 PM||   2004-11-24 9:50:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 As Bernard Lewis said, the war of ideas has to take place within Islam. The only ones who can successfully wage this war are sane muslim reformers.
Posted by lex 2004-11-24 10:01:18 PM||   2004-11-24 10:01:18 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 To quote Niels Bohr with reference to democracy - "They tell me it works, whether you believe in it or not."

What the Moslem world thinks about democracy is completely irrelevant. What matters is they try it and if that has to be at gunpoint, then so be it.
Posted by phil_b 2004-11-24 10:31:20 PM||   2004-11-24 10:31:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 "If we really want to see the Muslim world as a whole"

that thing exists!? muslim world has a whole...from indonesia to marroco?
Posted by anon2 2004-11-24 10:38:40 PM||   2004-11-24 10:38:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 What this shows is that it is WE, the westerners that need to undergo a thought transformation. Islam is a cancer to our free society. They use the freedoms provided their host to kill their host.

It's a catch 22 that we are currently unable to cope with.
Posted by 2b 2004-11-24 10:48:13 PM||   2004-11-24 10:48:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 oops ..provided BY their host
Posted by 2b 2004-11-24 10:48:56 PM||   2004-11-24 10:48:56 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 I'm with Matt -- can't believe precious taxpayer DOD dollars were wasted producing a "study" the gist of which could have been obtained by a 10-minute conversation with any conventional clueless MidEast "expert" in DC.

Natrually the thing echoes every stupid bit of unexamined conventional wisdom tossed out by "critics" and others without responsibilities -- our efforts have only alienated Muslims, our efforts for democracy are considered insincere, etc. What's the data to back this up? I recall the more intelligent looks at Arab opinion suggesting that beneath the boiler-plate many Arabs were watching Iraq with fascination and even anticipation.

I could never force myself to read such a waste of trees, but I wonder if it ever crossed their minds that any info efforts by the US are bedeviled by, uh, that little problem of gross distortion, anti-US bias, and incompetence by the media -- OUR media? Not to mention the lurid propaganda-fest that passes for "news" in the Arab and much of the Third World. How about a "study" that actually takes into account Muslim/Arab ignorance, irrationality, and information deficit, and major media distortion throughout the world, and then suggests new ways to combat same and get a message across?
Posted by Verlaine 2004-11-24 10:50:32 PM||   2004-11-24 10:50:32 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 I don't totally comprehend the source of this report. I did a search of members of this group and for the most part it's a fairly to very conservtive bunch that are in charge. I'd like to read the actual report before passing judgement but they hadn't posted it on their website last I checked.
Posted by BillH 2004-11-24 10:59:11 PM|| [http://www.worldwar4.net]  2004-11-24 10:59:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 I have an idea. Drain the swamp of the Islamofascists then pitch ideas. Oh, by the way, here's another idea, pick your most favored choice: theocratic tyranny and torture or democratic polls? (select one)
Posted by Capt America  2004-11-24 11:06:43 PM||   2004-11-24 11:06:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 War of ideas....this is all so much bullshit. Forget the notion of democracy at gunpoint. If a Muslim isn't interested in what the U.S. has to offer and prefers to wallow in the past, that's perfectly fine. They can just look elsewhere when deciding who to blame for whatever problems they have.

And don't even think of trying to kill more of us...
Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2004-11-24 11:45:38 PM||   2004-11-24 11:45:38 PM|| Front Page Top

11:47 Kalle (kafir forever)
00:02 Kalle (kafir forever)
00:00 Bomb-a-rama
23:51 Rafael
23:48 Brett_the_Quarkian
23:46 Atomic Conspiracy
23:46 Kalle (kafir forever)
23:45 Bomb-a-rama
23:21 Beau
23:11 Kalle (kafir forever)
23:09 Capt America
23:06 Capt America
23:02 BillH
22:59 BillH
22:54 Verlaine
22:50 Verlaine
22:48 2b
22:48 2b
22:38 anon2
22:35 True German Ally
22:32 Laurence of the Rats
22:31 phil_b
22:23 Angie Schultz
22:05 lex









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