Thursday, August 04, 2005
Fatwaaaassssup?
For twenty years now, Mohammedans have been striking at American and European interests in the West, without any apology or protest from the allegedly 'moderate side' of that religion.
Suddenly we get heaping helpings of unconditional no-buts apologies and anti-violence fatwas all over the place.
Some trusted experts say that the fatwas are fatuous, but we'll leave that aside for the moment.
What's changed? Why now? The London bombing wasn't the biggest attack by any means, nor the only one that killed fellow Mohammedans.
Polistra has an answer, and a plea to American authorities, in musical form:
Karaoke, anyone?
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Later (8/5 morning) It's being reported that the International Assn of Police Chiefs is endorsing shoot-to-kill as well. The story as given on TV is a bit misleading, though .... turns out the Assn. actually recommended shooting kamikazes before the London bombings, and they were following the lead of the DC Capitol Police who recommended the procedure a year ago. So the idea began here, oddly enough. Still remains to be seen if any US city police forces will publicly join the crusade. Here's a well-organized collection of stories on the subject.
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Benchmark: July 2005 will be remembered as the moment when WW4 was really joined by the West. Up till now, this war has been asymmetrical. Mohammedans in Western countries have mounted a crescendo of attacks for 20 years with no direct response. When we responded at all, it has always been in the Middle East. The London 'shot heard round the world' marked the first symmetrical answer by civilization, the first return fire directed at the local savages. Until now, we were throwing our bullets elsewhere in a peculiar form of lethal ventriloquism.
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Yet another irrelevant addendum: Just realized that my own mindset has been changed. Until now, I appreciated the ant analogy: easier to kill the nest than to stop the ants from entering the house. Now that I see the dramatic results of killing ants just before they sting, I'm more inclined to favor the latter method. ¶ 11:05 AM
Suddenly we get heaping helpings of unconditional no-buts apologies and anti-violence fatwas all over the place.
Some trusted experts say that the fatwas are fatuous, but we'll leave that aside for the moment.
What's changed? Why now? The London bombing wasn't the biggest attack by any means, nor the only one that killed fellow Mohammedans.
Polistra has an answer, and a plea to American authorities, in musical form:
Karaoke, anyone?
----
Later (8/5 morning) It's being reported that the International Assn of Police Chiefs is endorsing shoot-to-kill as well. The story as given on TV is a bit misleading, though .... turns out the Assn. actually recommended shooting kamikazes before the London bombings, and they were following the lead of the DC Capitol Police who recommended the procedure a year ago. So the idea began here, oddly enough. Still remains to be seen if any US city police forces will publicly join the crusade. Here's a well-organized collection of stories on the subject.
-----
Benchmark: July 2005 will be remembered as the moment when WW4 was really joined by the West. Up till now, this war has been asymmetrical. Mohammedans in Western countries have mounted a crescendo of attacks for 20 years with no direct response. When we responded at all, it has always been in the Middle East. The London 'shot heard round the world' marked the first symmetrical answer by civilization, the first return fire directed at the local savages. Until now, we were throwing our bullets elsewhere in a peculiar form of lethal ventriloquism.
-----
Yet another irrelevant addendum: Just realized that my own mindset has been changed. Until now, I appreciated the ant analogy: easier to kill the nest than to stop the ants from entering the house. Now that I see the dramatic results of killing ants just before they sting, I'm more inclined to favor the latter method. ¶ 11:05 AM
