Quote from Madison:
an interesting essay - a more direct statement of the neoconservative theory, based on a fundamental racist belief in middle-eastern inferiority, coupled with egotism, materialism, and nationalism.
There is nothing remotely racist about Den Beste's analysis, in my opinion. I'm not sure whether you read the entire essay, but, even in the excerpt, Den Beste goes out of his way, as AAA notes, to ground the discussion on objective factors that, in his view, have prevented the countries of the Arab world from keeping up with the rest of the world economically, scientifically, militarily, and politically - yes, mainly in "Western," material terms, but that's Den Beste's point. Much of what he observes has been noted by Arab intellectuals and researchers. Den Beste also directly addresses accusations of racism in the notes that appear near the end of the essay.
I've seen commentaries from the left - such as an essay from the GUARDIAN (where else?) recently posted by msfe - that come much closer to outright bigotry, depicting the Arabs almost as making up some pyschotic Islamist hive mind eternally incapable of coexistence with and practical understanding of Western values and institutions.
but one question: if, as declared, there are a billion same-thinking savages, boiling with dumb rage and hatred over their pitiful failure and insignificance before the superior US, dreaming of nothing but destruction and death, why have only 20 of them actually attacked?
"A billion same-thinking savages" and "dumb rage and hatred" are, of course, your phrases. Your question otherwise suggests that you believe 9/11 was the
only incident of anti-Western extremist violence to emerge from the Arab world, and that it was the work solely of the (almost) 20 individuals who actually did the "job." There are thousands of airline passengers, European tourists, Kenyan and Tanzanian embassy employees, US and British diplomats, Israeli citizens, US Marines and Sailors, and non- or anti-extremist Arabs, among many, many others, who would strongly disagree with you - if only they were still among the living.
surely even savages know that it takes more than 20 people to "tear down a mountain." where is the evidence to support such a broad assignment of intent?
No one is arguing that
all 1 billion Muslims aim to destroy the West beginning with the US. As for the intention to make war on and convert the West, the evidence includes, but is certainly not limited to, several "fatwas" issued by Bin Laden and associates declaring war on the US, Israel - governments and citizenry - and all who support or associate with them.
The evidence extends to the ever-ready flag-burning placard-wielding mobs that produce such impressive pictures for the evening news, to regular incitement by Islamist clerics, and to statements that regularly are featured on editorial pages and satellite TV shows throughout the region. Not all or even very many of these demonstrations and statements call explicitly for the destruction of the West - or for the mass conversion of non-Muslims - but even those that merely concentrate on outlandish accusations and uncompromising rejection of all Western influences and values help create an environment that nurtures suicide bombers and other terrorists. And do I need to point out that in today's world it doesn't necessarily take a huge army to inflict catastrophic damage on an enemy people?
Charles Johnson has made a point of collecting extreme anti-Western material of this type for some time now - though the term "extreme" may be innacurate if interpreted as also meaning "rare" or "isolated." If you care to review it, and are capable of getting past your ideological prejudices, you can always take a look at his weblog at
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php. I must say, though, that, if you haven't yet noticed sufficient evidence of intense anti-Western hatred and rage emanating from the Middle East, you have either not paid much attention to world events of the last forty or so years, or you're so politically correct that it has affected your eyesight and sense of hearing.
