It's not over - Link to Cal Thomas Column

[Rick Nebiolo]

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20021029.shtml

[andyfox]

"While the Beltway sniper suspects may have acted independently of any known terrorist organization, it is not necessary to be commissioned by a foreign national in order to effectively carry out the wishes of America's enemies."

Sounds like Joe McCarthy to me: if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it is a duck.

I agree with Thomas that America's enemies are among us.

[B-Man]

Good column. I wish more writers and broadcasters would have the sense to issue this message rather than criticize the upcoming war against Iraq.

We are already at war, and we are suffering from intermittent attacks; liberals just don't seem to realize that. The jihad against the U.S. is not going to stop on its own; it's going to continue until we do something about it. Where is the outrage that was present after 9/11? Most people have already lost their passion about defending this country, I'm glad Cal Thomas hasn't.

If we don't do anything, sooner or later it is going to be a mushroom cloud above NY or Washington. We should do absolutely everything in our power to prevent future attacks against the U.S., particularly attacks with weapons of mass destruction. If that means going to war, so be it. Better that we fight on our own terms rather than be sneak-attacked again and suffer 3,000 (or more) casualties.

[Chris Alger]

Why do you find this interesting? This is the guy who issues blanket condemnations of Islam as “a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him” (repeating Ashcroft’s mean lie), and calls upon leaders to follow the will of “the real God” instead of the “violent, vengeful deity” a billion Muslims worship. Thomas is a crude bigot that stands for nothing more than jihad against the followers of a wrong religion under the guise of self-defense, just like bin Laden.

This column is particularly fatuous: Thomas “knows” that “America’s enemies are among us” and “here to kill us” because he read an anonymous internet post on a Chechen website that makes no reference to the United States or Americans. It consists of a Koranic justification for killing prisoners, apparently in reference to the Moscow theater terrorists. From this, Thomas discerns what “they” (who?) say “about themselves,” employing nothing but anti-Islamic prejudice to connect it to the Maryland sniper. Thomas asserts that the post contains the “theological precepts apparently practiced” by the Moscow terrorists – or “at least some of them” (Thomas making it up as he goes along) – as if Chechen terrorists, being Muslims, were incapable of being motivated by the same things that motivate other terrorists, such as a violent homeland upheaval, and in fact believe that “[a]nyone who is a Christian or a Jew, or insufficiently fundamentalist, is fair game.”

It’s worse when he tries to write the obligatory “good Muslim” paragraph. Since he can’t deny that peaceful Muslims exist, he concedes just that, nothing more (“there are peaceful Muslims”). But are the vast majority of Muslims in America inclined toward terrorism? Far be it from Thomas to undermine the hatred he’s trying to foment. The only ones he can think of that “decry murderous acts done in the name of their religion” are, note the triple qualifier, “some” Muslims in “politically active” “groups,” the disorganized non-activist majority apparently being suspect. After all, he asks (without irony), “how does one tell the difference” between “peaceful Muslims” and “the ones with the guns and the explosives?” How indeed can one tell the difference between environmentalists and the Unibomber, or patriots from the likes of Timothy McVeigh?

[Rick Nebiolo]

Chris,

I just posted the link on a whim to see what you guys thought. The part I believe is of concern is that there will probably be a lot more of this type of thing not necessarily organized by an outside group such as Al Queda (sp?) but instead inspired by a deep seated hatred of America based on a radical Islamic world view held by some of those that already live among us.

Regards,

Rick

[andyfox]

A lot more of what type of thing? The Maryland sniper? How do we know his rampage was inspired by a deep hatred of America and a radical Islamic worldview? I don't see the connection between Al Qaeda and the sniper. If one is established, then we have a whole different situation.

To accuse someone of ties with Al Qaeda without evidence (by virtue or what, his last name?) is what reminded me of McCarthyism. When McCarthy of his followers couldn't definitely establish Communist Party membership, the fact that someone was very liberal was good enough.

Our enemies are indeed among us. Thomas and people like him who would subvert our democracy with the flimsiest of evidence and the sloppiest of reasoning are our biggeset enemies and the greatest allies of those who truly do hate America and what it stands for.

[B-Man]

To quote Ann Coulter (I'm sure you love her):

"To review recent events, last year, 19 Muslims slaughtered thousands of Americans on U.S. soil. Since then, one Muslim tried to blow up a U.S. commercial jet with a shoe bomb and another Muslim shot up Los Angeles airport. The Religion of Peace has also been active abroad, decapitating an American journalist and blowing up a French tanker. In the last few weeks alone, Muslims bombed a nightclub in Bali and were narrowly prevented from slaughtering hundreds of theater-goers in Moscow."

If you don't think we have a major problem with Islamic terrorists, you are living in denial.

[Rick Nebiolo]

Andy,

We don't know what inspired these men but IF a pattern emerges there may be a return to something like McCarthyism in the future. That would be horrible of course.

The article by Thomas did not imply that the snipers had links to Al Queda as far as I could tell.

Regards,

Rick

[andyfox]

"America's enemies are among us. They are here to kill us. The two men arrested in Maryland are the first wave following the 9/11 airplane hijackings. Surely others will follow, because their religion and history commission them to kill all infidels. Anyone who is a Christian or a Jew, or insufficiently fundamentalist, is fair game. They intend to hunt us down like deer in their scope sights."

Is he not linking the two men arrested in Maryland with the 9/11 hijackers?