Friday, December 23, 2011
Naming Radical Islam - The Heart Of The Matter
There is a psychological term some of you may have heard me mention before known as 'category error'. It refers to the inability to solve a problem because of the inability to name it correctly, deliberately or unconsciously.
A good example can be seen here in this exchange yesterday between California Congressman Dan Lundgren, Republican Chairman of the House Administration Committee and part of the Homeland Security Committee and Paul Stockton, President Obama's Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs. ( h/t Vlad Tepes, via long time Joshua's Army member Louie Louie)
In spite of Lundgren's continued questioning, it's obvious that Stockton would prefer to have his fingernails ripped off with pliers rather than seriously say the words 'radical Islam' or deal with what that implies.
Islamic fascism continues to be treated as the 'he-who-must-not-be named' of American policy, just as Lord Voldemort was in the Harry Potter series. It's easy to see where such a policy ultimately leads, although unlike some commentators, I'm convinced that it will eventually be dealt with successfully. But the longer we wait, the higher the cost.
Assistant Secretary Stockton is wrong when he states that we're 'not at war with Islam.' Whom we aren't at war with is all Muslims, but we are definitely at war with a certain and not insignificant portion of Islam and its adherents, whether we realize it or not. A percentage approaching a majority of non-American Muslims openly feel that we're at war with Islam according to the Pew Trust polls and the percentage of American Muslims that agree with them is growing. And they wouldn't agree with Rep. Lundgren that their views are 'radical' at all, leaving that PC nonsense to gullible infidels. This is especially true of the younger demographic exposed to hard line Wahabist and Muslim Brotherhood run mosques, madrassahs, websites and imams here in America that are funded overseas.
As our old friend Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman once said, there's no such thing as 'radical Islam', only Islam and not Islam. There are many Muslims who agree with him entirely.
This disturbing trend is exactly what Rep Peter King's ( R-NY) hearings on Islam were about, and the amazing thing is that they weren't held years earlier.
Assistant Secretary Stockton is by no means a stupid man, by the way. He's an Ivy League product by way of Dartmouth and Harvard and an academic with an impressive list of think tanks and teaching positions under his belt.
Assistant Secretary Stockton undoubtedly thinks he is rendering service to his country by taking the position he's taking. Unfortunately, he isn't.
His experience, his political orientation and his education have so indoctrinated him along certain lines that either he isn't able to acknowledge this truth or is afraid to do so because of the risk of the accompanying damage to his career and his livelihood. Perhaps both.One doesn't get to his level in government or academia without going along to get along.
Until we create a climate that encourages the Paul Stocktons in Washington to see things as they are and either evolve or quietly remove themselves from positions of influence, this is going to continue until something game changing like another 9/11 occurs.
Hopefully, it won't take something as devastating for that very necessary wake up call.
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