Monday, September 11, 2006

Five years on from the day that changed the world


I can remember that day with extraordinary clarity- at work we downed tools and spent our time rushing between TV sets in two different buildings, checking the news coming in from the BBC and CNN. No one wanted to even change channels as we tried to get as much information as possible about what was going on. I still can't believe how much the world has changed since then- Afghanistan and Iraq liberated in the blink of an eye, while the jihadis have been forced out of the shadows to fight the freedoms given to those people. And countless people have been made aware of the doctrine of the Islamist terrorists, with no little thanks sites like Jihad Watch and Little Green Footballs. Since then we've witnessed carnage committed on a daily bassis in Iraq, the terorrist attacks in Madrid and London, and the horror that was Beslan. Not to mention the attacks against the people of Israel. The Religion of Peace total for Islamic terrorist attacks since 9/11 is currently at 5,801.

So soon after 9/11 I am also struggling to deal with the fact that people who actually lived through that terrible day have begun to question the cause, preferring to believe that an arch-conspiracy committed by their own government murdered nearly 3,000 people rather than the evident truth of a terrorist atrocity. Even now after video has been shown of Bin Laden meeting with the architect of the despicable attack, somehow it's more comforting for them to believe that their own government wants to murder its own citizens than accept the fact that Islamist terrorists are prepared to carry out mass murder of innocent people going about their daily business. Even though there's ample evidence of just that behaviour from all over the globe. A generation on I could maybe understand such revisionist history, but for it to be going on right now is just astonishing.

We are still at war, a war that for most of us thankfully takes place largely far away. While mainstream moderate Muslim groups in the UK and America moan and complain that foreign policy is driving some Muslims to become extremists, the simple fact of the matter is that the brave men and women of the armed forces are fighting the jihadis in Iraq and Afghanistan; not on the streets of Luton or Chicago. Fighting, killing and winning; the terrorists there are kept constantly on the back foot by the mere presence of professional soldiers and marines willing to put their lives on the line. I don't seem to recall any of those same moderate Muslim groups complaining that it is the activities of the jihadis in Iraq and Afghanistan that are forcing coalition troops to remain in those countries. Wouldn't it be something if CAIR or the MCB issued a statement calling on the jihadis to be good, peace-loving Muslims (they do tell us it's a religion of peace afterall) and lay down their arms, ensuring that there was no need for British or American troops to stay in Iraq to keep the peace?

So where are we five years on? The battle lines have been clearly delineated- a death-mongering, totalitarian, oppressive cult of extremists versus Western, liberal democracy. But there's another line too- one carved through Western society between those who would appease an enemy that wishes to see our entire culture of freedom and tolerance destroyed, and those who would fight that enemy. It's the same in America, the UK, Europe, Australia and elsewhere- a Red State-Blue State division writ large. While a relentless, merciless enemy who thinks nothing of murdering women and children in cold blood in the name of religion tries to destroy us, we're busy fighting one another too over how best to respond. 9/11 and the nearly six thousand terrorist attacks since have apparently not been enough to convice some people that we're even facing a very real threat. And that, I fear, could be our undoing.

2 comments:

ziontruth said...

Spot on, Jay.

You know, I'm not a big fan of Internet thingies. I often curse online life for replacing real life for so many people. I didn't like blogs at all, back when I thought they were only good for self-obsessed diaries.

And yet, in the heat of the last Lebanon War, I realized the media war was more important than the physical one. I saw how the enemy's propaganda was having Israel's lunch. And I knew there was no changing the official TreasonMedia (the Left-dominated MSM), so there was only one choice: the blogosphere. It was then I started my blog.

That's true not just for Israel, but for this whole global war: military victory is worth little if we're being defeated on the media front. The war of hearts and minds--and I'm talking only about the kafir world now, not yet about taking it to enemy territory--can't be Left (double-take intended) to the likes of Big Brother Corporation.

The blogosphere is the real McCoy. Away with the thoughts of "no one reads my words" and "I don't believe I can make a difference"--daily reality clearly shows every media effort counts. LGF has managed to topple the credibility of Reuters for many people. Fjordman has been masterfully dissecting the gears that make the Left-Islam unholy alliance tick, and I owe him so much for inspiration. Steven Plaut pulls no punches in exposing all the Jewish quislings (Chomsky et al). We do make a difference, and the soldiers on the battlefield need our backing.

Keep it up. Keep going. Don't stop. Don't tire.

Pastorius said...

Great post, JayMac.

The conspiracy theories do seem to be gaining ground. However, I have a feeling that that is mostly due to desperation. At the same time, I think more people are becoming more convinced that there are very few "moderate" Muslims with whom we can actually have a relationship of trust.

I think what we are seeing is the battlelines are being drawn more and more clearly, as people dig in and proclaim, "Here and no further."

I must admit, the fury the fight is taking on does seem indicate we may be headed toward actual violence.