Did Osama, Inc. mis-calculate?

I’ve always been in awe of Bill Buckley’s vocabulary. Frequently I wonder what the hell he just said, or wrote. And sometimes I wonder if even he knows for sure. That’s why I read his column only occasionally.

This one I liked. He reins in his knowledge of the English language and offers a good, IMO, analysis of al-Qaida, the Jordan bombing and our situation in Iraq.

Our attempts to analyze/understand/figure out what the hell fanatics think/believe, accomplish nothing. They can not be ignored or run away from. They are not interested in negotiating. Their vision of the world is not like any I care to live in. Somehow, someway, they’ve got to be stopped.

So far, the only means of stopping them, that I’ve seen, is eradication. It’s not going to happen soon or easily - it‘s a messy business. How we do it can be argued/discussed. But the longer we argue/discuss, the worse the mess gets. Constant battling among ourselves only helps them. They know it.

<ul type="square"> the column[/list]

[PoBoy321]

I think that one of the major flaws in the "War on Terror" has been that it tried to define an enemy. This is not like in WWII where we were fighting the Germans, and as soon as we conquered Germany and they surrendered, it was over. We are fighting an ideology, a mindset, a conviction. People do not strap bombs to themselves and walk into a crowded restaurant and blow themselves up over some kind of misguided patriotism. They do it beause of a deepseeded belief that what they are doing is right.

As much as many on the right try to ignore this, and as much [censored] as I'll probably get for saying it, most terrorists are not crazy people. They are not stupid. Many are highly educated, very sane people who have a deep-rooted belief that by killing themselves in the name of a religious war, they are not only achieving personal, spiritual gain, but are furthering a movement (radical Islam) which they believe in.

Until we stop and accept the fact that terrorism stems from a mindset, we won't be able to defeat it. So long as we ignore the fact that every day, twice as many people are turning to radical Islam as are being won over by Western ideals, we will have an ever-growing threat agaist us and our way of life.

[Darryl_P]

100% agree.

But I'm surprised that someone with such rare insight into the issue doesn't see the extreme male chauvinism vs. extreme feminism element in it too. You could even say that's the crux of it if you think about all the ways the two mindsets affect everyday life. I know, I know, bold claims without proof. It's my own theory and one that wouldn't get much air time in the western world, so I doubt there are too many studies on it. The first study to break the ground for the main study would have to be on why there are so many taboos in a supposedly free society.

I just ask rational, objective thinkers to think about it deeply and draw their own conclusions. I'm confident many will agree with me.