Understanding the enemy...

Submitted by J.S. (Canada), Sep 11, 2007 at 15:59

With regeard to understanding the enemy, I'm less than optimistic. On the one hand there are people like Rabbi Yoffie -- the ones who want to "dialogue" with Hamas and Hezbollah. I notice CNN is advertising Amanpour's segment on Islam with a question aksing viewers "After 9/11, how much do we really know about Islam?" as if Amanpour would provide an accurate answer to that question. Her "answer" is the same heard by the EU, the United Nations, and in the media, universities, etc.

On the other side, as Dr. Pipes notes, there is a split. Thus, the right is fractured and divided. (I suspect that this split can be amplified and exaggerated by certain ultra-right wing groups, such as the BNP, and others in Europe, which is potentially as bad as the Islamists. The ultra-right could have its ranks grow and they, too, could pose problems...in terms of civil unrest, violence, disorder.) (Looking at the past hisotry of human beings -- hmmm -- no, I'm not particularly optimistic. There's that toxic mix of irrationality, religiosity, and violence...the voice of moderation under such circumstances is almost always silenced/ drowned out.)

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