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Mar 19, 2004 I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe the holidays got in the way. Or perhaps it was the media coverage of the presidential race. Heck, it could have been the buzz surrounding “Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London” for all I know. I don’t know the reason, but it seems to me that a large number of people in the civilized world have forgotten that there is a war on. In a way, I can’t really blame those who have gotten distracted or lost interest. As President Bush warned right after 9/11, this would not be war in the traditional sense: no little flags on map tables, no armies squaring off, and, more importantly, no geographic objectives that define the timeframe for victory. This is, indeed, an ongoing war for our way of life. Now, before you start thinking that I’ve just come down from a 24-hour bender of reading nothing but Pat Buchanan books and am still a little heady from the fumes, hear me out. It starts in Spain, where we saw a massive victory for Al-Qaeda last week. Their ability to reshape the political landscape there was nothing short of startling. Our hearts go out to the victims of the train bombings and their families, of course, but the Spanish response was entirely the wrong one. Through the ballot box, an entire nation said, in effect, “OK – we get the point. Just leave us alone!” The response, in all fairness to the Spanish, is a very European one. For the forty-odd years of the Cold War, the Old World lived under the guarantee of American protection - whenever the going got tough, we would do the heavy lifting. Those defense savings were spent largely on the cradle-to-grave welfare states, which in turn produced an entire generation that has simply forgotten what it means to fight for anything other than a shorter workweek or free college tuition. The Spanish assumption is, however, incorrectly – and dangerously - based on the premise that avoiding the terrorism bug is merely predicated on keeping your hands and arms inside the ride at all times. They think that by simply pulling out of Iraq, Al-Qaeda will remove them from the hit list. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fuel that burns Al-Qaeda - Islamic fanaticism - goes beyond Iraq, Afghanistan, or even the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Those conflicts are simply the prominent stages on which this never-ending struggle is currently being played. According to the Al-Qaeda book, everyone and everything that does not subscribe to this brand of Islam will be dealt with - it’s just a matter of time. Take France, for example. Hardly prominent allies in the war on terror, Al-Qaeda threatened French targets for retaliation last week. And what was the crime of our erstwhile allies? Contributing French paras to cave hunts in Tora Bora? No. The French had decided to ban religious headgear in schools. Now, keep in mind that France is officially a secular state according to the constitution of the Fifth Republic. (The ACLU is just green with envy.) The move to ban religious headgear – ALL religious headgear – was simply an attempt to keep the atmosphere in French schools in line with French law and culture. For daring to exercise a little control of their own culture within their own borders, the French incurred the homicidal wrath of the Islamic fanatics. And remember Pim Fortuyn? He was the Dutch politician who was cruising to victory on an anti-immigrant platform back in 2002, right before an animal rights activist killed him. Based on the media coverage of his assassination, one would think that Fortuyn was a xenophobic right-winger of the David Duke variety. Wrong. In truth, Fortuyn was an openly gay and very liberal candidate. The reason for his tough stance on immigration was that he saw it for the threat it posed: an influx of Muslims who had no intention of integrating into Dutch society were a threat to that country’s traditionally liberal stance on any number of social issues (abortion, soft drugs, prostitution, etc). Agree with them or not, the Dutch have, to a certain extent, made their peace with these things, which are anathema to Islamic fanatics. But Fortuyn had it right. The Spanish may have purchased themselves temporary safety, but at a terrible cost. Al-Qaeda will come for them at some point. They will come for everyone who doesn’t buy into their brand of Islam - it is their mission. (Indeed, Osama bin Laden expressed some years ago his desire to see a Moorish kingdom restored in Spain.) So, the options are simple. The West can follow the Spanish example and withdraw into a shell, hoping that the theory of “waging-war-only-makes- it-worse” will bear some fruit, or we can remember what this is all about and take it to the bastards. I’m going with option two. Our whole way of life - Thanksgiving, Bush vs. Kerry, and Cody Banks included - depends on it. ------------ About Matthew Bastian: Recovering socialst, part-time drummer, long-suffering Brewers fan, and all-around beach hound, Mr. Bastian lives in central New Jersey. Email Matthew Bastian: mbastian19@hotmail.com ------------ |
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