Body Parts

Jihadism and Revolutionary Communism

Some writers have argued that contemporary Jihadism has its near roots in the Muslim Brotherhood's esteem for European Marxism and fascism (see Paul Berman, Terror and Liberalism). With that in mind, read Scott Burgess's translation of the Islamist document, discovered in Switzerland, "The Project: Towards a worldwide strategy for Islamic policy (Points of Departure, Elements, Procedures and Missions)". The fourteen page document is a policy plan for Muslim conquest. We need to try not to dismiss this document as the pathological product of a lunatic group; we need to see this document as threatening. One way to do this is to read it and substitute "Marx" for "Allah", "international revolutionary communism" for "Islam". So read, it evocates the pre-WW2 international communist movement, which had barely more success at that time than Islamism does today (I haven't forgotten Russia--think Iran). Remember how successful that movement was? Wouldn't the Islamicists take heart from its success?

The Koran is the 'Mein Kampf' of Islam

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch attended a recent lecture by Oriana Fallaci, in New York, where she was presented with the Annie Taylor Award from the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. Fallaci, an Italian journalist, has fled to the protection of the U.S. for ringing the alarm bells about fascist Islamism. Spencer provides a wonderful quotation from her lecture:

Then Fallaci threw down the gauntlet to the multicultural, politically correct, and fearful. “There is not,” she asserted, “good Islam or bad Islam. There is just Islam. And Islam is the Qur’an. And the Qur’an is the Mein Kampf of this movement. The Qur’an demands the annihilation or subjugation of the other, and wants to substitute totalitarianism for democracy. Read it over, that Mein Kampf. In whatever version, you will find that all the evil that the sons of Allah commit against themselves and against others is in it.”

Pew Opinion Poll on America's World Role (3)

Part 1 of this series is |here|. Part 2 of this series is |here|.

General Public Questions

The Pew Center's questions for the general public are often less specific than the questions for influentials. They are less specific in the terms of approval or disapproval of the President. They are less specific in terms of the issue being examined. It is not clear why the questions are written this way.

Here are example questions and (partial) responses. The purpose of these examples is only to illustrate the kind and variety of questions asked, not to characterize the content of the questions.

Q.aF1... eF1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling [the nation's foreign policy/ the economy/ the situation in Iraq/ terrorists' threats/ the nation's immigration policy].

• Nation's foreign policy: approve 36%; disapprove 51%
• The economy: approve: approve 36%; disapprove 56%
• The situation in Iraq: approve 37%; disapprove 57%
• Terrorist threats: approve 52%; disapprove 40%
• The nation's immigration policy: approve 24%; disapprove 54%

Q.4F2. What is America's important INTERNATIONAL problem today? [Recording first problem mentioned.]

(Specific responses)

• Situation in Iraq: 22 (mentions)
• Terrorism/ International violence: 16
• Don't know: 11
• Energy/ oil crisis: 7

(Categorized responses)
The Pew Research Center grouped responses into general categories, with the following aggregated mentions.

• Maintaining Peace/World Unrest: 47
• US leadership role: 10
• Social issues: 8
• Economics: 6

Q6F2. Now I will read a list of some stories covered by news organizations this past month. As I read each item, tell me if you happened to follow this news story very closely, fairly closely, not too closely, or not at all closely.

Listed news stories with responses are:

• a.F2. Reports about the constitutional referendum in Iraq: very closely 19%, fairly closely 34%, not too closely 23%, not at all closely 24%
• b.F2 The earthquake in Pakistan: very closely 22%, fairly closely 39%, not too closely 23%, not at all closely 16%
• c.F2 The outbreak of bird flu in Asia and Europe: very closely 22%, fairly closely 33%, not too closely 24%, not closely at all 20%, don't know 1%
• d.F2 The outcome of the German presidential election: very closely 4%, fairly closely 12%, not too closely 21%, not closely at all 62%, don't know 1%
• e.F2 The recent terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia: very closely 13%, fairly closely 31%, not too closely 26%, not closely at all 29%, don't know 1%
• f.F2 The high price of gasoline these days: very closely 67%, fairly closely 23%, not too closely 7%, not closely at all 3%
• g.F2 The impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: very closely 69%, fairly closely 24%, not too closely 5%, not closely at all 2%

Q7 Now thinking about some groups and organizations...Is  your overall opinion of [INSERT ITEM] very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly UNfavorable, very unfavorable?

• a. The United Nations: very favorable 9%, mostly favorable 39%, mostly unfavorable 15%, very unfavorable 24%, never heard of 1%, can't rate 12%
• c. Business corporations: very favorable 8%, mostly favorable 37%, mostly unfavorable 16%, very unfavorable 29%, never heard of *, can't rate 10%
• g. The military: very favorable 44%, mostly favorable 38%, very unfavorable 4%, mostly unfavorable 8%, never heard of 0%, can't rate 6%
• h. The Republican Party: very favorable 12%, mostly favorable 30%, mostly unfavorable 24%, very unfavorable 25%, *, can't rate 9%
• i. The Democratic Party: very favorable 14%, mostly favorable 35%, mostly unfavorable 15%, very unfavorable 26%, *, can't rate 10%

Q22 Regardless of your feelings about the original decision to use military force, do you now believe that the U.S. will definitely succeed, probably succeed, probably fail, or definitely fail in establishing a stable democratic government in Iraq?

• 12% Definitely succeed
• 44% Probably succeed
• 29% Probably fail
• 8%  Definitely fail
• 7%  Don't know/Refused

Saddam Hussein's WMD

More evidence is being released about Hussein's WMD all the time. Read Weekly Standard for updates.  And add this: account of a member of the US survey team (headed by David Kay)on their discoveries. (Thanks to discarded lies.)

Collapse of Canadian Liberal Government

The collapse of the liberal Canadian government is the latest political rejection of liberalism since 9/11--following Germany and French rejection of EU constitution. Spain's rejection of a conservative government will probably prove to be temporary. The London bombings have reinforced Blair's liberal government's conservative posture and policies.  The American and European electoral publics, under threat of Islamic terrorism, are speaking. President Bush's Global War on Terror, including the War in Iraq and the policy of encouraging democracy in the Middle East, will be seen as this century's decisive political acts of leadership. Liberal politicians have failed the test of history.

The Impossibility of Honesty

An honest man will have no friends.

Half a Cat

When my wife went out this morning to retrieve our newspapers and let Bear pee, she found a cat lodged under the wrought iron gate at the western end of our yard. I should say, half a dead cat. During the night we had briefly been awakened by a sharp piercing shriek. When silence returned, we went back to sleep. Now we could guess what happened. A coyote had pursued a cat into our back yard off the arroyo above which our house sits. The cat tried to escape by crawling under the gate. It managed to get its head and front legs under the gate, when the coyote caught up with it. The coyote tore the body apart from the front legs back. Then ate out the cat's innards. It must have carried off the rear body, because there was no blood or debris. The cat was frozen in its moment of death, front paws scrambling ahead to pull it through the gate. The carcass, now stiff, had been completely hollowed out, up to the head--as far as, I assume--the coyote's mouth could reach.

There must be a political parable here, somehow.

Saddam Hussein Trial

We can begin to see the problems of trying Saddam Hussein for his crimes against the Iraqi people and against neighboring states. I am not referring to the drawn out circus surrounding the trial with the Western dead-end Left trying to de-legitimize the trial or crypto-communist Ramsay Clark trying to free him. I am not referring to the formidable security problems of protecting court-appointed attorneys to defend him. I am referring to the fact that as Saddam continues to live, even in custody and in trial, he is a symbol of resistance to a free Iraq and a potent cause for Baathists to try to set him free, to re-establish themselves as the ruling party, and re-establish his dictatorship. His continued existence sustains Baathist hopes that somehow they can return to power and that they should not end their resistance or cooperate with the new, free, elected parliamentary government. The recent arrest of a cell of eight Baathists who conspired to spring him from jail is proof of this. It would have been better for the US and for the new free Iraq if the "Lion of Iraq" had been machine-gunned down as he crawled out of his hidey-hole.

The Tone and Voice of Prolegmena

I re-read my "Prolegmena to Any Future World". It made me curious whose tone and voice appeared in my words, since it now seemed more than I had written. Then it struck me: Auden in the 1930s! At least, the sense of suspension in the world, of anticipation and concern. I did not write the prolegmena with any sense of foreboding; to the contrary, I felt a nearly religious sense of opportunity opening. But on re-reading, that is not the only tonal quality to the prose-poem. If you wondered. Such is cultural memory.

Overheard in Dairy Land

"A dairy cow can produce 5 gallons of ice cream per day." (Hobby Farms, Nov/Dec 2005, p. 36.) Only in really cold weather, I assume.