Dissimulation Exposed

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Dissimulation on Display

The Western World is in a tragic state. When confronted with a direct threat from a murderous Islamic movement, we equivocate. We try to excuse their brutality by appealing to arguments of moral equivalence; by enumerating the many legitimate and illegitimate grievances as insisted by Muslim apologists.

This is precisely what our enemies hope -- and expect -- we will do. The idea that the West is being justly punished by an enemy David finally lashing out at a brutal Goliath is the main thrust of al Qaeda statements prepared for consumption in the West. But the statements al Qaeda prepares for its fundamentalist allies and potential recruits deliver a far darker, more insidious message. It is the message of unending, offensive jihad.

Raymond Ibrahim skillfully explains this duplicity in his article The Two Faces of Al Qaeda. Therein, he cites former jihadi Hassan Butt's article I was a fanatic[...]".

These articles are required reading for those who wish to defeat the lie that many in the West believe, that -- as claimed by bin Laden in his "Why Did We Not Attack Sweden" speech -- if we only left the Middle East the West would be free of this threat.

This dissimulation must be exposed, for if we surrender, our enemies will not let allow us to live in peace. As intrepid journalist Michael Ware reports from Iraq:

"You [an insurgent] once said to me [Michael Ware] if the Americans left, your war was over. What now, if the Americans leave, what will you do?" He [the insurgent] looked at me straight back and said, "If the Americans leave now, I must follow them wherever they go."