The Amazing Shapiro



Ben's article is here. He predicts two terms for President George W. Bush, followed by two terms of Bill Frist, and then Condoleeza Rice. I guess Democrats should start preparing for the 2024 race, since that's the next one they have a shot at. Unless young Ben is wrong. But what are the odds of that?

Inching Towards War

War seems inevitable at this point. I expect in the next three months we will be at war with Iraq. It also seems clear that many on the right would like to see an ongoing war against Islam, despite the two articles mentioned yesterday. Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. published an article today condemning the Bush administration from backing away from their policy of regime change. He states, “If, on the other hand, Mr. Bush goes along with a redefinition of the meaning of "regime change," he will not avoid war between Iraq and the United States. If he allows the UN once again to trump sovereign American decisions about our security, he will simply be condemning this nation to a conflict with Saddam at some other time and under circumstances of the latter's choosing . . .” We must invade Iraq to protect ourselves, despite the fact that Iraq has taken no aggressive actions against us.

Cal Thomas, who, despite his wearing a sweater in his bio picture, is very conservative, suggests that Moderate Muslims must bring an end to Islamic Terrorism, or else. This proposition is about as practical as asking the Christian world to end organized crime. In truth, it is just a pretext for Ann Coulter’s famous policy; “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”

Arguments on the Left aren’t a lot better. Ramzy Baroud repeats the same tired argument in the Washington Post, reprinted at Commondreams.org, that the reason terrorists exist is that the West has not yet been generous enough in that region (or in any region). His article is a terrible mishmash of half thought ideas and vague questions.

This situation is driving me crazy. So I’ll leave a few questions for the reader.

1. Why is it important that we condemn Islam, given that Saddam Hussein is a secular dictator?

2. Are the values of Islamic Terrorists and the values of Western Secular Liberalism compatible?

3. Is the enemy of my enemy really my friend?

New Quote

For those who didn't notice--changed my quote up at the top of my Blog--hope you are having a nice day, write more later.

El Islam

Two good articles the last couple of days defending Islam. Both writers published at the Conservative Townhall.com. Both were responding to Pat Robertson’s comments of some weeks ago (that Islam is not a religion deserving any respect), as well as the increase of Islam bashing since the incidents in Nigeria. (For an example of Islam bashing, take the ever dependable Ann Coulter. "Recently, the Religion of Peace suffered a PR setback when Muslims in Nigeria welcomed the Miss World beauty pageant by slaughtering Christians in the street and burning churches to the ground.")

Pat Buchanan is the more famous of the two writers; he takes a more political view. His argument is that the Islamic world is undergoing a revivalist period, and that America’s best strategy is that employed during the Cold War. “. . . we can outlast this Islamist revolution. What we must avoid is a war of faiths, a war of civilizations between Islam and America. And those who propagandize for such a war are the unwitting or willful collaborators of Osama bin Laden.” I have to say that while I disagree with a lot of what Pat Buchanan stands for, on affairs in the middle east he has acted as a voice of reason.

Jacob Sullum takes issue with Pat Robertson’s statements that a proper reading of the Koran leads one inescapably to the conclusion that conflict between the Islamic and non-Islamic world is inevitable. Sullum points out that there are equivalent phrases in the Bible, calling for the elimination of “heathen nations.” Do such phrases make Christianity a violent religion? Or, to be more clear, do they require Christianity or Judaism to be aggressive against other nations?