Speakin’ of the surge, I saw on CNN (of all places) that there’s a U.S. Army rock band in Iraq called … yup, you guessed it, “The Surge”. How perfect is that name?

Tony737 on February 24, 2008 at 10:28 PM

That’s awesome!

Mister Ghost on February 25, 2008 at 8:12 AM

Agreed. Which is why I want to see us get the hell out of there.

No more democracy-building projects.

As for building a secular Islamic state over there: They are not like the “Muslims” in Turkey or the Balkans. Not too likely. So whereas we are unable to wage a “War on Fundamentalist/Jihadist Islam,” this is about the best we can hope for–weaken them up with democracy so they don’t get as good of a shot at us, while we still get the oil.

And to suggest that you can use MOAB against AQ [certain small] strongholds with any good outcome is just so patently ridiculous that it’s not worth getting into the details.

Igor R. on February 24, 2008 at 11:46 PM

I almost missed that.

Anyone who disagrees with me is just so patently ridiculous.

Like WOW, what a great argument, now that’s a real big winner too. More LOL.

Yet again, Mark Twain said it much better, but unlike you also, he was not being serious. At least I don’t think he was being serious. No, he was Mark Twain after all, so he was just joshing.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion my adversaries are insane.
- Mark Twain

Anyone who states that AQ in Iraq isn’t “real” AQ is ignorant or Barack Obama.

BillINDC on February 25, 2008 at 12:50 AM

Anyone who disagrees with me is ignorant.

Now that’s a real winner. LOL.

Mark Twain said it much better, but unlike you he was not being serious.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion my adversaries are insane.
- Mark Twain

2001 Obama is protective of civil rights for Muslims in the U.S., saying, “In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging,” he laments. “I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”

2001 Obama sponsors Illinois Senate Bill 750 creating the “Halal Food Act,” providing for inspections by the Department of Agriculture to ensure that all food labeled Halal is prepared according to Islamic law.

Islamization — here’s how it works and why Halal food plays a role [link in the original].

2003 Obama calls the Iraq war “a botched and ill-advised U.S. military incursion into a Muslim country.”

2007 On April 8th, Obama shows his Muslim/Palestinian solidarity and sensitivity, by telling Muscatine, Illinois Democratic party activists that he supports relaxing restrictions on aid to the Palestinian people.

He said they have suffered the most as a result of stalled peace efforts with Israel. “Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people.”

2008 On January 31st, Obama told a French magazine in an interview that if he wins office, he will hold a summit with Muslim countries to better the United States’ image in the world.

“Once I’m elected, I want to organize a summit in the Muslim world, with all the heads of state, to have an honest discussion about ways to bridge the gap that grows every day between Muslims and the West.”

There are about 3500 of them left from a peak of about 12,000.

Anyone who states that AQ in Iraq isn’t “real” AQ is ignorant or Barack Obama.

Too bad I have to leave now,(got to get up early), this could get interesting.

jerrytbg on February 25, 2008 at 12:35 AM

Enjoy the night-time sea!

I don’t know. What is the breaking point? What will it take for Western non-Mulims to say “Enough!” and set about reversing the Islamisation of the Western world?

aengus on February 25, 2008 at 12:34 AM

We will not defeat them until we hate them more than we hate ourselves. Collectively, of course. We will not defeat them until we can say things IN GENERAL that are contrary to the “generally accepted beliefs” that all cultures are equally deserving of support and understanding, and we will not be able to say that until everything the left has been trying to teach will be shown to be a travesty. That’s the role of Obama. It will be a painful lesson though. If this were Germany, this would be 1933. Only a terrible loss can cure the disease.

What’s interesting is that if Obama is elected he will create such a nightmare that political correctness may go out the window. It will become a lot easier to say that Islam is evil without too many qualifiers.

Igor R. on February 25, 2008 at 12:20 AM

I don’t know. What is the breaking point? What will it take for Western non-Mulims to say “Enough!” and set about reversing the Islamisation of the Western world?

Slam to the mat, 2 points!!

Greetings.

jerrytbg on February 25, 2008 at 12:29 AM

Ahoy sailor!

Your capacity for empathy is a credit to your character and you are one of the most intelligent and thoughtful commenters on the Gates of Vienna blog.

However, I maintain that Muslims must leave the West (the sooner, the better) because they do not belong here. Their presence is an existential threat not just to us but also to them. We risk losing our historic nations to an influx of hostile aliens, they risk realising that their deepest beliefs are illogical and irreconcilable with reason and established scientific notions of reality.

Greetings.

I’m sorry but….does the phrase,”to the shores of Tripoli” mean anything to you, where it came from and why?? Does the word caliphate play in your reasoning?

1) The West will roll over and die without a fight.

2) The instinct for self-preservation will reassert itself among the Western peoples and then there will be hell to pay.

aengus on February 25, 2008 at 12:17 AM

What’s interesting is that if Obama is elected he will create such a nightmare that political correctness may go out the window. It will become a lot easier to say that Islam is evil without too many qualifiers.

I am not unsympathetic to them

I am a little unsympathetic to them.

aengus — your solution is not politically practical. We can’t even muster the political will to listen in on Osama’s conversations from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia without a court order beforehand, and immunize telcos from trial lawyer led lawsuits.

It might not be practical, politically or otherwise, yet I maintain it. It will have to be implemented. I reject the idea that alien immigrants, in their expansion, can simply vote the Western world out of existence. Muslims can riot and rampage all they like but when it comes down to the crunch I’ll have some rioting and rampaging of my own to do.

One of two things will happen:

1) The West will roll over and die without a fight.

2) The instinct for self-preservation will reassert itself among the Western peoples and then there will be hell to pay.