Friday - October 20, 2006
Why are We Afraid of Islam?
I
heard on the news today that the Shiite Mehdi "militia" has taken over the city
of Ammara today in Iraq. The British army is responsible for security in the
area, "but was not involved in the fighting." Well, why the hell weren't
they?
I'm not picking on the Brits.
The US military has had similar attitudes. A year after my battalion fought to
occupy and pacify the city of Hit, the battalion that took over that area
started making statements to the press that if the US just left that city, no
one there would mortar us there anymore. But even that is not an attitude that
sprang out of nowhere. It comes from our fear of
Islam.
From the beginning of this war, we have paid a
fearful deference to religious people. There is no cause for this deference, it
is a religious war, the strength of the enemy comes solely from their religion.
They ignore the bounds of the "laws" of war by fighting from Mosques, using them
to store weapons, broadcast propaganda, and use minarets as signaling towers.
The mosques are legitimate military targets, but we're not allowed to touch them
without approval from the highest levels. That approval comes sometimes, but
very rarely. In the meantime, the enemy uses them all for their
puposes.The Shiites have been
especially free to wage war. From the earliest days, the Iranian backed Mehdi
"militia" has operated with impunity. Like a bunch of morons, we have refused
to deal harshly with them, and on the rare occasion where we have been forced to
fight them, we have been pulled back just before their entire destruction. That
seems to be the trend in wars fought by the Bushes. They know how to start
wars, but not how to win them.We will
get nowhere if we do not start learning the importance of winning. We are too
caught up in ivory tower theory on how to make people love us, and are ignoring
that just like with our personal lives, you can't make people love you, and
begging for love only breeds
contempt.
But
most of all, how can we expect the Iraqi people to live by the rule of law if
there is no incentive to do so? When we allow "militias" and tribes to have
power, why would they submit to law?
Coalition forces need to go in and
destroy these shiite thugs. Until that happens, the sunni thugs will continue
to recruit into their militias. And the killings in Baghdad will continue.
The enemy have finally learned how to win this war. Killing Americans in Al
Anbar was ineffective because the American press wasn't there. The American
press is all in their safe little zones in Baghdad and the American press isn't
that sympathetic to military deaths. By killing civilians, and doing it close
to the American press, they have found a winning combination.
We need to stop being afraid of Islam.
That is our enemy, and our refusal to recognize them only gives them strength
and allows them to survive any military actions that they suffer.
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