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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| America's Good Sense
By Antonio C. Abaya Written Nov. 12, 2006 For the Standard Today, November 14 issue All men and women of goodwill must congratulate the American people for having had the innate good sense to repudiate the dead-end policies of the Bush administration by humiliating the Republican Party at the midterm elections last Nov. 07. By voting in the Democrats into majority position in the House of Representatives, a thin but defining lead in the Senate and most of the state govenorships, the American people sent a clear message to the bewildered occupant of the White House that his unrepentant policy of �staying the course� in Iraq had overstayed its welcome. With more than 2,800 American servicemen dead, and anywhere from 150,000 to 650,000 Iraqi civilians equally dead, and a humongous price tag of $300 billion, George W has little to show for that human and financial bloodletting other than Saddam Hussein convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. Having said that, however, I find resonance with President Bush�s campaign challenge to the Democrats, �What�s your plan (about Iraq )?.� In truth, the Democrats do not have one. They certainly do not intend to �cut and run.� Nor will they announce publicly a timetable for withdrawing American troops from that unfortunate country. Both steps would be considered demeaning to America�s honor as a superpower and would likely embolden its enemies to strike elsewhere, especially between now and 2008, since they know that the lame duck George W. Bush has been effectively rendered harmless by his Party�s humiliating defeat. In 1968, after the Tet Offensive convinced most Americans that the war in Vietnam was un-winnable and forced the unpopular (Democrat) President Lyndon B. Johnson to abandon plans to run for a second term, (Republican) Richard M. Nixon won the presidency on the campaign pledge that he would bring the troops home under �peace with honor.� But �peace with honor� took more than four years in coming, and more Americans and Vietnamese were killed after 1968 than before 1968 - and the war spilled into neighboring Cambodia - as diplomats from all four sides (American, South Vietnamese, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese) wrestled with each other in Paris over the details of that �peace,� including the shape of the negotiating table. In the end, �peace with honor� did come in 1973 but the last images of that war did nothing to save American honor: thousands of Vietnamese civilians who had worked for the US government storming the US Embassy in Saigon and jostling their way up the steps to the helipad in a panicky scramble to get on board the last US helicopters from Vietnam, as the victorious North Vietnamese Army rolled southward down the coast, entering Saigon in 1975. Will there also be �peace with honor� in Iraq four or five years from now? And does that mean that another 2,800 American servicemen and another 150,000-650,000 Iraqi civilians will die before that �peace� finally comes? That remains to be seen. A bi-partisan Iraq Study Group has been convened to weigh options available to American policy makers, which would have been superfluous when George W was insisting on �staying the course.� Before Nov. 07, some Democrats were openly talking about moving US troops to neighboring countries, while the Iraqis sorted out their problems themselves. But which neighboring countries? Before 9/11, the presence of 4,000 US troops � including female soldiers in short shorts! � on standby in Saudi Arabia was precisely what inflamed Osama bin Laden to proclaim his jihad against the �Crusaders,� for defiling land sacred to Islam. Lebanon , the most westernized country in the Arab world? The fundamentalist Hezbollah, genuinely popular for having stood up to the mighty Israeli military, seem to be preparing to topple the pro-western Lebanese government and to take full control of that country. Turkey ? Jordan ? The presence of thousands of US troops will create problems for the sitting pro-western governments as Islamic fundamentalists agitate against it, as they did in Saudi Arabia . So also in the various family sheikdoms in the Persian Gulf with their gaudy and glitzy schizophrenic pretences that they are somehow immune to the region�s endless turmoil. The only Middle East country where the American presence would be genuinely welcomed by the bulk of the population is Israel , as they would likely see this as their guarantee against being exterminated by Iran and its proxies, the Hezbollah. For the US , where the security of Israel is a bipartisan domestic concern, supported by both Republicans and Democrats, this is probably the most attractive option. But it would be totally unacceptable to the Muslim world and would inflame Islamic passions even more. It would be vindication of Bin Laden�s worst fulminations about the �Crusaders� , in the very land that the original Crusaders occupied a thousand years ago. . So there does not seem to be any solution to the Middle East, and it is doubtful that the Democrats can come up with a workable plan of their own, short of a total withdrawal by the US from the Middle East and its vast oil reserves, and leaving the Israelis to fend for themselves, which is not likely to happen. Whether they realized it or not on Nov. 07, the American electorate were actually repudiating the strategic vision of the neo-conservatives or neo-cons, who had hijacked the defense and foreign policies of the Bush administration even before George W was sworn in as president in January 2001. In an article in the Sept. 06, 2003 issue of The Guardian, titled �This War on Terrorism is Bogus� � and archived in the Reference Material Section of www.tapatt.org - British Member of Parliament Michael Meacher wrote that a blueprint for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan was contained in a document titled �Rebuilding America�s Defenses,� prepared in September 2000 � one year before 9/11 � by the neo-conservatives led by Dick Cheney (who became Bush�s vice-president), Donald Rumsfeld (who became his defense secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (who became Rumsfeld�s deputy, since kicked upstairs to the World Bank), Lewis Libby (who became Cheney�s chief-of- staff, since forced to resign.), and Jeb Bush, George�s brother and governor of Florida. Meacher wrote that in the neo-cons� blueprint for Pax Americana, �even should Saddam Hussein pass from the scene, US bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will remain permanently,� lynchpin of the strategic goal to establish full US control of the Middle East�.Plans for military action against Afghanistan and Iraq were on hand well before 9/11�.and that �the process of transforming the US into �tomorrow�s dominant force� is likely to be a long one in the absence of �some catastrophic and cataclysmic� event like a new Pearl Harbor..� Fortuitously for the neo-cons, 9/11 came along and provided that �catastrophic and cataclysmic� new Pearl Harbor.. Meacher suggests that 9/11 was deliberately allowed to happen, despite several warnings from various sources that something like it was imminent, so as to whip up American public opinion into supporting the pre-programmed invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq . The first casualty of the Democrats� victory was Rumsfeld, who was made to resign one day after the elections. The Democrats have also announced that John Bolton, another neo-con, would not be confirmed by the now Democrat-led Senate as US ambassador to the United Nations. But Cheney remains vice-president and cannot be fired. He has more than two years to rally the many remaining neo-cons, especially in the Defense Department, to their militarist vision of Pax Americana. Especially if the Democrats fumble in Iraq .. It remains to be seen if America �s innate good sense will prevail in the medium and long terms. ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles since 2001 in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
| Reactions to � America�s Good Sense�
How about the Philippines ? How do we repudiate present governing? Thank you for sending me stimulating articles prepared for the STANDARD. I remember a Professor Antonio Abaya who fired my patriotism when I was doing my BS (academic BS) in Diliman. Are you a relation? I am hoping that leading newspapers will start a campaign to look for the "right", though unknown Filipino, to govern our country. Pura Flor Isleta, [email protected], Nov. 14, 2006 MY REPLY. My late uncle, Hernando Abaya, taught in UP. He must have been the professor who fired your patriotism. I�m a clerico-fascist from the Ateneo de Manila. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, The acuity of your perception notwithstanding,.you forget that although Cheney and Bush cannot be fired, they can be impeached .... and should be.. Angie Collas-Dean, [email protected], Eugene, Oregon, Nov. 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, The recent election results in the U.S. can never be duplicated in the Philippines. Why? (Who said they can be duplicated in the Philippines, in the first place? ACA) In the U.S., there are two kinds of people. The "Government" people and the "Private" people where the "Private" people have two voting powers. If the "Private" people can not vote out a corrupt member of the "Government" people through the "Ballot Box" they accomplish their other votes in the "Jury Box." The vote in the "Jury Box" is what the corrupt "Government" man or woman fears most and so he is forced to shut up if he loses and avoid once and for all the judicial tactics to delay proclamation of the winner otherwise he will be digging his can of worms (or his own grave if somehow along the way the cheater committed some serious crimes such as murder, kidnapping, etc). There is no such thing in the Philippines. The "Government" man or woman loser is instead "Gloriafied" with dagdag votes by the (P)ET. There is no such "Jury Box" in the Philippines, as you know. When a "Government" man or woman is voted out, the PET will still recognize the dagdag vote in favor of a cheating "Government" man or woman. To think otherwise is nothing but wishful under the Philippine Justice System. Kindly visit the web site below and read the opening paragraphs of the article therein: http://anticorruption.homestead.com/JuryConcept.html Marlowe Camello, [email protected], Homestead, California, Nov. 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, It is foolish and ridiculous for Bush to ask the Dems if they have a plan in Iraq. Bush does not have one considering the fact that he is the commander-in-chief. If Bush is charged with the full responsibility to execute a war, he must have a plan to win a war and an exit strategy as well. If war has a beginning, it must have an ending too. There is no such thing as a war without an end! Too much blood and treasure have been wasted in Iraq. American voters, for one thing, are impatient for results. The results of the mid-term elections (local and national) attest to the voters' dissatisfaction in the conduct of the war. Because Bush started the war, he must at best convince American voters that he could finish the war or end it. Obviously, he can't and he won't. Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, [email protected], New York City, Nov. 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww It is a time for Thanksgiving, so let us give thanks. Reynaldo Gonzales, [email protected], Nov. 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: Right after the debacle of November 7, answering a question posed by a reporter in a Press Conference at the White House, President Bush said that he got the clear message the American people sent via the polls: that they wanted a change in the strategic policy for Iraq. To another question, Mr. Bush said that his goal for Iraq was still to achieve "victory," which he defined as that time when the Iraqi government could "stand up" on its own and thus enable the U.S. forces to "stand down." Did it occur to Mr. Bush that he was engaging in a very serious contradiction when he admitted that he got the clear message the American people sent him on November 7 and yet, in practically the same breath, declared that his goal for Iraq was still to achieve "victory" as he had always defined it? Apparently not! Iraq is now in the throes of a bloody civil war between Sunnis and Shiites which is compounded by rampaging jihadists; both are taking their heavy daily toll in U.S. and Iraqi lives. Tens of thousands of middle-class Iraqis have fled and found refuge in neighboring countries. The democratic sovereign government of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki, on whom Mr. Bush depends so much to achieve his seemingly unalterable goal of "victory," is obviously helpless under the circumstances. So far, safely hidden in the fortress called the "Green Zone," Mr. al-Maliki's government has not shown that it is capable of securing Iraq, let alone governing the whole country. What are the U.S. military forces now doing in Iraq? Given the ongoing civil war, U.S. military forces are practically helpless, and are thus relegated to the role of bystanders and onlookers! They cannot very well side with either the Sunnis or the Shiites. Given the situation on the ground in Iraq, serious observers and commentators seriously doubt whether "victory" as President Bush defines it is still possible. This must be the reason why the top U.S. military leaders--Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Casey, the top commander in Iraq, and Gen. Abizaid, head of the Central Command--are reported to be in favor of a review of the military strategy for Iraq. These military commanders know, deep down, that a military solution is no longer possible in Iraq. Only a political solution appears to offer the best chance of getting Iraq out of the mess into which it has fallen. Reports are to the effect that the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group will be recommending a Middle East summit, including Iran and Iraq (which are said to be involved actively in the Iraqi civil war now), in an attempt to find a comprehensive solution to the conundrum that is Iraq. What is the attitude of the U.S. Congress toward Iraq, now that the Democrats have regained control of the Senate, albeit a tenuous one, as well as the House of Representatives?. Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, who will chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has taken the position that the Iraqi constitution should be amended to provide for a Federal system of three autonomous regions: one Sunni, one Shiite, and one Kurdish. Democratic Senator Carl Levin, incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is for setting up a timetable for the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, which will have the effect of pressuring the Iraqi government to do what it needs to do to secure Iraq using its own military and police forces which presently number around 300,000. What President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress will ultimately decide regarding Iraq remains to be seen. What is clear as of now is that military "victory" as Mr. Bush defines it stubbornly is realistically no longer possible, and that therefore his "stay the course" and "not cut and run" strategy to achieve his primary goal has to yield to what the circumstances demand, which is a fundamental change in both the goal and the strategy. Mariano Patalinjug, [email protected], Yonkers, New York, Nov. 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Tony. I know that you are not a man of faith. And you will laugh at the simplicity of my solution. But the solution to the Middle East problem is simply spiritual or moral if you prefer. If only the Americans, the Arabs and the Jews would learn to forgive each other and love each other, then there would be peace. As long as they hate each other, and refuse to share their land, riches and blessings with each other, there will never be peace. You mentioned that the USA spent $300 billion on the war. If they had used the same money for the development of more impoverished Muslim nations, just think how much the Muslims would love America. If only USA was not so greedy to get the oil of Iraq, then they would have never invaded Iraq. If only Israel would recognize the Palestinian nation, then the other neighbors would be more understanding. God bless! Bobby Tordesillas, [email protected], Nov. 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Tony. Further to my comments. We need ambitious goals to galvanize the Filipino people to move them; to excite their imagination and inspire confidence in them. Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of man can achieve. (Did the Soviet Union attain Communism in 74 years? Communism was conceived by the mind of man. And millions of people believed in it. ACA) I am sure you have heard of that quotation from Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone. The country needs more positive thinkers like Henry Sy, the owner of Jollibee, Joe Concepcion, and Gokongwei who all have set ambitious goals and attained them. No goal for a country is too hard to achieve if its people as a nation sets its mind to it and works together to attain it. (First World status by 2020, as promised by Gloria Arroyo in 2006, is impossible to achieve, as it requires an annual GDP growth rate of 15% for the next 14 years. Name me one country that has done that. On the other hand, Malaysia�s goal of becoming a fully industrialized country by 2020, first set in the 1980s, is achievable. Not every goal set by every politician is achievable. Hitler promised that the Third Reich would last 1,000 years, but it lasted less than 10 years. ACA) Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Bobby Tordesillas, [email protected], Nov. 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thank you for sharing your insightful thoughts on "Pax Americana's" less-than-prudent, if not outright reckless adventurism in the Middle East, One has to take into consideration, however, that someone or some entity should put in check another type of fatal adventurism perpetuated by barbaric, despotic self-styled "leaders" in that part or in any areas of the world. Needless to say, consensual and concerted cross-national endeavors must be the guiding principles of whoever is to yield the "stick" of world order I remain, Cong. Amang R. Magsaysay, [email protected], Nov 15, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Greetings. Thanks for sending me emails of your articles. I really enjoyed reading them especially your comments on the 2006 U.S. Midterm elections. Like the headlines of most Filipino newspapers, I have "religiously" followed U.S. news especially the recently concluded elections. Aside from this, I also update myself with U.S. politics (c/o CNN, Comedy Central's Daily w/ Jon Stewart and Michael Moore's website). With regards to your comments on the midterm elections, I am not sure if you are aware of this but several weeks prior to the November 6 elections, the entertainment/political magazine Rolling Stone wrote an interesting and outstanding article about the nature of the pre-midterm U.S. House of Representatives. Here is the link: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/worst_congress_ever You may also want to check the site on the 10 worst U.S. Congressmen in this site too. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12054520 I hope to get feedback from you. Though the article was held in a different context, it bears similarities to the pathetic state of our current House of Representatives. In addition, it would be interesting if I could read an article like this if it were held in a Filipino context It would also be enjoyable to see who are the 10 worst congressmen in the Philippines . Sincerely yours, Max Tan, [email protected], , Nov 17, 2006 P.S. I checked the Tapatt.org website and learned you graduated from Ateneo had a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Northwestern University . I'm also a B.S. Chemistry graduate from the Ateneo. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I appreciate reading your perspective and much of what you said is, alas, true. Historically, it sure always seems to take awhile for the country to respond to the wake- up calls! And the situation had to deteriorate to this point - but we are so relieved that democracy still works, even if it's hobbling right now. Two years is a very short time fuse before the national elections to try to repair the damage and accomplish the noble goals the Democrats have set - especially with such a narrow lead in both houses and the President's still powerful veto pen poised to "kill." The good intentions seem to be there - let's hope they can really work together to put a plan without self-interests tainting their agenda. Cayo Marschner, [email protected], Moraga, California, Nov. 17, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww About Books Hi Tony, I am lazy about reading, or meetings, unless it�s something I am really interested in. Your articles are always on target as you usually say what I feel. I guess this comes from having been teethed on the bible and all the sermons in my earlier years, and finding the other side of the coin more interesting and illuminating. I read through a couple books you indicated in your articles. There are two interesting books I picked up in my travels. FUNDAMENTALISM by Malise Ruthven, and THE JESUS PAPERS by Michael Baigent. You can see where my mind has been moving, and am always searching for the "facts of life." Thanks for emailing your articles. I got them in the States and here. Jack Sherman, [email protected], Nov. 11, 2006 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony Abaya: Excuse the grammatical violations. This is email for my classmates and is only lightly edited or corrected. Tony Anciano, [email protected], Nov. 10, 2006 We are All Stardust [quote from Boojie] This very same intelligent people assert that certain stardusts exploded themselves by accident into a very intelligent human beings.[unquote] This gives me an excuse to relate how true it is that we are all stardust. If one does not have background in astrophysics or cosmology, the above statement would not make sense. Read, relax, and find new interesting knowledge. It is about where we come from. A caveat. Boojie's quoted statement above is a corrupted version of what I wrote earlier. Boojie had no idea of what I was talking about. The lesson is not to use a statement of others that one does not understand. STORIES Some 30 years ago, Dr. Carl Sagan produced a TV series called "Cosmos". I still remember him on TV saying to the effect that: "We are stardust, made from starstuff". Sagan was an astronomer and cosmologist. It was his early books that introduced me to the subjects in more detail. My earliest brush with the cosmos was with a Time-Life book series on natural sciences. I devoured them all. When I was about 30 years old, I had lunch with a group of 4 geologists and geological engineers on a makeshift table on a muddy rainsoaked ground on the Bondoc Peninsula . PNOC was drilling an oil well on the site. I asked the geologists: "where does the uranium or gold found with earth ores come from?" The geologists of PNOC Exploration Corporation looked at me with blank faces except for the smartest of them, Bernie Tolentino. Bernie gave a limited but correct and professional answer. He said and I quote: "The metals are juvenile constituents of the earth." Much later I told a Senior Vice-Pres. of PNOC, Ed del Fonso, whom I knew was fond of esoteric English phrases. He could not immediately make sense of the phrase, juvenile constituent. The phrase simply means that the metals were already there when the earth was formed. SO WHERE DID URANIUM AND GOLD COME FROM? We might as well ask the same question for oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, and sodium which are the more plentiful elements in the human body. These elements are mentioned in the order of their abundance. Oxygen and hydrogen is easily recognized as water and the body is 70% water. Carbon is the next most important element. Humans are carbon based organisms which is why our bodies turn black when burned. The body also contains traces of many other heavier metallic elements. Briefly, elements in the universe come from the following sources or source events: 1) The big bang event or expansionary impulse of the universe produced mostly hydrogen and helium. Thus, this is how the two most plentiful element of the universe arose. 2) A Type I supernova star produces all the other lighter elements up to oxygen. 3) A Type II supernova produces all the other heavier elements from iron to the heaviest element 118, aside from generating also lighter elements. Here we can easily see that the primary creators of the universe are the initial big bang and the supernovae stars. Exploding stars created the elements that compose living organisms from the microbes to the largest whale, including humans. Without supernova explosions, the more than 25 elements that compose the human body and make it function properly could not exist. It is therefore correct to say that supernovae created life. It would then be a figment of the imagination to say that God created humans and life on earth. The statement simply cannot be supported in any logical fashion. God as creator is merely belief that was invented by insecure human minds. FORMATION OF THE EARTH AND EVOLUTION When supernovae or catastrophic stellar explosions take place, they expel star material in a massive shock wave towards neighboring nebulae. The seeds of life and new stars and planets that come from the star explosion get mixed up with nebula gas which would be mostly hydrogen. The shock wave sets the nearby nebula into a new motion. Sometimes the new movement make possible the formation of new stars due to gravitational accretion. These new stars that were born from the effects of a supernova explosion (especially the Type II) are called second generation stars. Our sun is a second generation star. That is also the reason why the sun has different types of planets and plenty of moons. Complex lifeforms have also developed in one of the planets, Earth. The rich remnants of the supernova that made possible the birth of our sun also provided the elements that life needed to get started. In a first generation star or solar system, earthlike lifeforms would theoretically not be possible because the star system would not have the diversity of elements needed by lifeforms. A first generation star is one that formed from the original hydrogen mass from the big bang. It does not have much carbon, oxygen, iron and the other heavier elements. Once the earth formed which is now estimated at 4.6 billion years ago, the stage was set for life. The earliest known single celled organism found is dated at 3.8 billion years ago. More complex lifeforms, however, appeared on the fossil record during the Cambrian era or about 650 million years ago. The Cambrian witnessed the explosion of life in the oceans. From the Cambrian to our present Quaternary era, there have been 5 mass extinction events on earth. Life, however, is stubborn and resilient. Life gets killed and the survivors evolve into new and more varied forms to fill the void. Evolution is opportunistic; it hates a vacuum. The link below seems to be the best theory I have found on how life got started on earth some 3.8 billion years ago. http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/lab/2948/orgel.html Tony Anciano wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (The following article was emailed to us) The Islamization of Europe .. By Abdullah Al Araby Undated It has been said, " Those who ignore the lessons of history are bound to repeat them." Another famous quote says, " History repeats itself." The moral is that people often have short memories. Whether we observe bad things happening to other nations or experience such ourselves we seldom learn the needed lessons. As time passes, all is forgotten and the same mistakes are repeated, over and over again. When the topic of the serious ramifications of the Islamic invasion of America comes up, few people register sufficient concern. They underestimate the potential threat because they view the USA 's current Muslim population of 1%-2% as insignificant. The danger is that, like some Europeans nations, we will wait till the percentage figures doubles, triples or even quadruple before it dawns on us that we have a problem. Our government and our entire population would be wise to look, listen and learn from what countries in Europe are suffering as the result of unchecked Islamic population growth. If we don't heed the warnings that their problems represent, we will be sentenced to duplicating them. There are many similarities between life in America and that in the Christian countries of Europe . The difference is the homelands of Muslims are much closer geographically to Europe and therefore the immigration invasions began much earlier. The Muslim population of Europe is now estimated to be around twenty million strong. That represents about 5% of Western Europe 's total inhabitants. France 's Islamic population presently ranks as the highest as it has raced to about 10%. The price tag for naively permitting that degree of growth has proven to have dire consequences. QUEST FOR DOMINION Naive and goodhearted Americans often complain and cite various reasons for rejecting any suggestion that the growth of Islam should be a point of concern. They figure, why criticize other religions? Why can't we all just live and let live? Surely, civilized societies should pride themselves on tolerance towards those of other beliefs and grant freedom of religion to all citizens. No one should care about how or what others worship, as long as they worship peacefully. Another test is whether or not a religion infringes on the rights of others. Islam misses on both counts. It's not peaceful because at various junctures it infringes on the rights of others to worship as they choose. Once it gains dominance, it is totally intolerant of other religions. Such concerns might be invalid if they pertained to adherents of most any world religion, other than Islam. The thing that makes Islam different is the fact that it is more than a religion. Islam is a political, social, and economic way of life, cloaked in religious garments. Islam's strict observances and regulations are imposed on all Muslims and affect every area of their lives. These shape their attitudes and responses towards those of other religions. Full compliance brings the promises of rewards in this life and in the hereafter. Noncompliance dictates harsh punishments both here and in eternity. As a result many Muslims are willing to kill and to die for the cause of religious fervor. These factors, combined with Islam's inherent tendency to violence, make it difficult for it to co-exist in society with other religions. Islam is never satisfied to be one religion among many. It has to be supreme; the one and only. " the (only) religion (acceptable) before God is Islam." Surah 3:19 Within Islam, freedom of religion is never an option. Allah says, " If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him." Surah 3: 85 Domination is the name of the game. Islam's objective is to obtain influence superior to that of all other religious groups. Its long-term agenda inevitably includes complete dominion over a nation. In free societies, as in America , they make no effort to hide such agendas. Omar M. Ahmed, chairman of the board of CAIR ( Council on American- Islamic Relations ) said once at a banquet, " I urge Muslims not to shirk their duty of sharing the Islamic faith with those who are on the wrong side." He added, " If you choose to live here, you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam. Islam isn't here to be equal to any other faith but to become dominant." The plan for the conquest and domination of Europe has been at work for some time. Giueppe Bernardini, the 72 year old Italian Archbishop of the archdiocese of Izmir , Turkey , said something startling. " The dominion has already begun with the petrodollars, used not to create work in the poor North African or Middle Eastern countries, but to build mosques and cultural centers in Christian countries with Islamic immigration, including Rome , the center of Christianity." Perhaps, there might be some European Muslims who are simply satisfied to enjoy the prosperity afforded them in their adopted countries and therefore don't mind accepting the status quo. However, there is a host of others who strive to see the traditionally Christian societies that welcomed them conform to the rigorous demands of Islamic society. The result is that Europe is undergoing a gradual transformation into a society in which Islam is not just equal to other faiths; it is the dominant player. This may not even be merely dependent upon increasing numerical strength. It may be solely driven by Islamist's innate desire to control societies. It is a strategy of Islamic leaders that is carefully thought out and concisely executed. THE ISLAMIC INVASION OF EUROPE Muslim Arabs were invited to Europe from Africa and Asia in the 1950's and 1960's to meet the labor shortages of Western Europe 's booming postwar economies. Subsequently, Muslim refugees seeking political asylum to better their lives drastically increased those numbers. The trend continued into the 1970's. The waves of Muslim immigrating from North Africa and the Middle East began to change the demographics of Europe . Muslim birthrates soared. According to U.N. statistics, the Islamic population of Europe doubled between 1989 and 1998, representing approximately 2% of the population. That number had again more than doubled by 2005, representing about 5% of all Europeans. TROUBLED FRANCE France has the largest concentrations of Muslims in Europe , about 10% of the total population. Its situation is a clear example of the influence of Islam on European societies. The French actress, Brigitte Bardot, laments the Islamization of France in her book, " A Scream in Silence ". A court accused her of "presenting Muslims as barbaric and cruel invaders, responsible for terrorist acts and eager to dominate the French to the extent of wanting to exterminate them." She states in her book, "There are many new languages in new Europe ; mediocrity is taking over from beauty and splendor. There are many people who are filthy, badly dressed and badly shaven." France has about 5 million Muslims. The younger generations of French Muslims seem to have a problem with identity. About half of them are almost indistinguishable from other non-Muslims. However, the other half poses a serious problem for France . They don't view themselves as French and they also reject identifying with their families. They see themselves solely as Muslims. About 70,000 young Muslim women are subjected to forced marriages every year. Every year, 35,000 girls undergo Female Genitalia Mutilation/circumcision, or are under threat of the same. You can't miss seeing Islam's influence if walking along many French streets. Parts of Paris look and sound more like an Arab country than they do European. Marseilles is racing towards becoming the first European city with a non-European majority. The future is not promising. It is estimated that within 25 years, one in four residents of France will practice Islam. In an effort to maintain France 's traditional character, its government is strongly asserting the nation's secularism. In doing so, a fierce struggle with the Islamists has ensued. Towards that goal, parliament banned Muslim women from wearing Islamic scarves ( hijab ) in public institutions. This decision is causing uproar from Muslims, not only in France , but all over the world. France is Burning Night after night, youthful Muslims blitzed through the outskirts of the poorer sections of French cities. From late October and into November of 2005 much of France was set aflame by Muslim rioters aged 13-24. At least 350 cities were attacked. Police intelligence sources indicate that the Jihadists minded gangs plan to import the mayhem to the main streets of France 's primary cities, including Paris . Unquestionably, the authorities lost control of the nation and a form of marshal-law was enacted to restore some semblance of order. The sparks from those riots ignited embers of Islamic discontent in neighboring Belgium and Germany . The riots were triggered by the deaths of two Muslim teenagers who were attempting to elude the police and were accidentally electrocuted in a poor suburb of Paris . The violence subsequently spread to other areas of France . More than 6,400 vehicles were torched and one man has been killed. More than 1,600 rioters were arrested. Schools, government buildings and churches were firebombed by the predominantly Muslim gangs. Though it was portrayed as race riots caused by official discrimination, it was in fact nothing less than a French intifada by French Muslims against France . Historically, France has been the most accommodating and liberal country in Europe towards Muslim immigrants. Its reward is exactly that which I have depicted in this volume, civil troubles. Innately Islam, the Quran and Islamic policies are predisposed to attempt to rule any nation that is foolish enough to extend overly liberal policies to them. Unfortunately, this is not likely to be an ugly isolated and passing incident. The riots bear every indication of being the initial skirmishes of what will turn into a long war. These Muslim bands might retreat; if so, it will only be temporarily. They will likely fervently regroup later under the banners of experienced Islamic terrorists who will gladly inspire them. EUROPE IS BECOMING EURABIA Bat Ye'or is a history expert on the subject of "dhimmitude; " how Islam treated the People of the Book, Christians and Jews, throughout history. She originated the term "Eurabia" to underscore the growing influence of Islam in Europe . In a recent article titled, "How Europe Became Eurabia," she states: "Beyond a fleeting awareness, the overwhelming majority of Europeans and Americans do not understand the new Eurabian entity, which is only the first step in a steady progression toward its Arabization and Islamization. Europe has evolved from ... a Judeo-Christian civilization, with important post-enlightenment / secular elements, to a 'civilization of dhimmitude,' i.e. Eurabia: a secular-Muslim transitional society with its traditional Judeo-Christian more rapidly disappearing." The Islamization of Europe becomes more obvious as time goes by. Thanks to the Saudi funds, beautiful mosques are erected in large cities. Many Imams and staff personnel of those mosques are paid by Saudi funds. All over Europe , the picture is not pretty: Sweden 's third largest city is Malmo and for all intents and purposes is ruled by violent Muslim gangs. Some of its Muslim residents have lived there as long as 20 years and still cannot read or write Swedish. Muslims succeeded into turning a first world city into another third world, like the countries they came from. Britain 's Muslim population is estimated to be between 1.6 and 3 million. A substantial segment of young Muslims in the United Kingdom does not identify with Britain , but only with Islam. Such young men were behind the terrorist attack of July 7, 2005 . In some areas that have large concentrations, Muslims are targeting churches for arson and their clergymen for physical attacks. The objective is to cleanse such areas of any non-Muslim presence. Muslims are demanding that names of local districts be changed from traditional British names to Arabic Muslim names. Spain 's Muslims have expressed their plan to recapture the Mosque of Cordoba. The building was originally a church that was turned into a mosque after the Islamic conquest to Spain . After the Muslim invaders were put to flight, it again became a Catholic cathedral. Reports from Italy state that doctors are treating Muslim wives who have been flogged by their Muslim husbands. In Finland , some imams preach on the Islamic duty to ... kill Muslims who convert to other religions. The Netherlands has recently turned from tolerance of Islam to the exact opposite. The change of mind followed ... the brutal killing of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a young Muslim in November 2004. The preceding were just a few glimpses from the big picture of present-day Europe 's landscape. The indications are that what was once tranquil and peaceful Europe is beginning to boil. The fire is fueled by the undisputed ultimate goal of Muslims to Islamize Europe. Some Christians dismiss concerns about the possibility of Europe becoming Islamic before the end of the century as unrealistic and pessimistic. It must be remembered, however, that most Islamic countries of the Middle East were once Christian. Christianity was completely eradicated from many of these countries, while some still have just a symbolic presence. It is rather naive to presume that the same could not happen to Europe . There is a lesson that America must learn from Europe 's experiences with Islam. Surely, it is indicative for us to understand something. That which is happening to our brothers and sisters across the Atlantic is subtly in progress at this moment in America . For information or comments, write to [email protected] wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, A well-presented and interesting panorama of views. You have a way of getting people to think on important, vital, subjects. Your columns are enlightening. You also introduced me to authors who contributed so much to understanding myself and other. Thanks Tony, and please keep it up.....! Jack (Sherman), [email protected], Nov. 29, 2006 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |