The Analysis

Submitted by John R (United States), Dec 29, 2006 at 17:38

The following is a real humdinger. I agree 250%.

Islamists deploy formidable capabilities, however, that go far beyond small-scale terrorism:

A potential access to weapons of mass destruction that could devastate Western life.

And the disinclination of Democrats, the American public, and perhaps some Republicans as well (in this case because of the bloody, stagnant, mess of the Iraqi war), to go to war in general makes it worse. I just wonder what a Democrat president will do if Iran or an Islamic country is able to possess nuclear weapons. After all, it is a Democrat presidential nominee, John Kerry, who said "terrorism is a nuisance".

So our safety might be on the chopping block if a Democrat becomes president. People complain about Bush over and over again, what if we put a Democrat in the White House? Certainly we almost had one with John Kerry.

A religious appeal that provides deeper resonance and greater staying power than the artificial ideologies of fascism or communism.

You bet.

An ideology capable of appealing to Muslims of every size and shape, from Lumpenproletariat to privileged, from illiterates to Ph.D.s, from the well-adjusted to psychopaths, from Yemenis to Canadians. The movement almost defies sociological definition.

Abso-bloody-lutely.

A non-violent approach – what I call "lawful Islamism" – that pursues Islamification through educational, political, and religious means, without recourse to illegality or terrorism. Lawful Islamism is proving successful in Muslim-majority countries like Algeria and Muslim-minority ones like the United Kingdom.

Lawful Islamism. Is that something Moderate Muslims do? Not in my Moderate Muslim definition. Probably you mean non violent Islamists. What I think now is that Islamists, as you define it, practice true Islam whereas Moderate Muslims, in general, do not. Moderate Muslims believe in Islam but refuse to practice or follow or believe it 100%, those who even go to the mosque but only follow the teachings and the Koran partially. Those Islamist you mention are the ones who are most dedicated to Islam.

A huge number of committed cadres. If Islamists constitute 10% to 15% of the Muslim population wroldwide, they number some 125 to 200 million persons, or a far greater total than all the fascists and communists, combined, who ever lived.

Yes. I've been saying the differences of the Islamic threat and communist and fascist threats all year, that the Islamic threat is more serious because it is fanaticism by religion. The conviction in this case, because of religion, is stronger.

Cool beans, Dr. Pipes.

John R

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".