Friday, May 01, 2009

War Is Over (If You're An Idiot)

From Jihad Watch:

Leading analyst: The global jihad is over, we won

"West Has Already Won War with Islam, Says Leading Geopolitical Analyst," by Aaron Task inNewsmakers, April 30 (thanks to Freckles):

With the Taliban on the march in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden still unaccounted for, attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq rising again and Afghanistan a quagmire, it would seem the war against jihadist Islam is only accelerating in intensity.

But what if it's already all over but the shouting?

"It is debatable whether the U.S. has actually won the U.S.-jihadist war - but it has certainly achieved its strategic goals," - preventing another 9/11 and avoiding jihadist uprising in the Arab world, George Friedman, founder of STRATFOR, writes in his latest book The Next 100 Years. "The U.S. has succeeded, not so much in winning the war as in preventing the Islamists from winning and, from a geopolitical perspective, that is good enough."

Friedman expands up this theory in the accompany video, where we discuss the following:

* What he calls the "fundamental weakness" of the Muslim world.
* The likely endgame in Afghanistan, where he says the U.S. "cannot win."
* The potential for a jihadist uprising in Turkey, which Friedman sees as one of the great regional powers of the 21st Century.
* The likelihood of Pakistan falling into Taliban control, if it hasn't already.
* The "real" meaning of Iran's rhetorical threats.
* Whether Bin Laden is better captured and put on trial, dead, or alive and isolated. And whether Al Qaeda is still able to carry out major terrorist attacks today.

12 comments:

Damien said...

Pastorius,

"The global jihad is over, we won!"
If only that was the case. I'm not sure that people who believe that are idiots or just hopelessly ignorant. Either way, they are dead wrong.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Christine said...

Oh sure, right. Hello no it's not over! It won't be over til their all dead. This war has been going on since, well forever.

They're just "fattening up" on the spoils of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

They'll be back. With Iran's help.

Bet on it.

Always On Watch said...

The war is over? Over?

God, has the world gone mad or something?

Epaminondas said...

I would have thought that strategic victory in this war would mean something like ..."The rejection of violence, racism, and belief that any document is the word of god as a tool for the spreading of religion, or political system based on religious imperatives"

Hey but what do I know?

And if anyone is wondering how Iraq's relevance squares with that ..no 9/11, no invasion of Iraq, and that is why this STILL goes on.

NOTHING
HAS
BEEN
SETTLED

Only force defends us.
We are a garrison state, although our troops who are STILL BEING KILLED, remain outside our borders.

That is NOT a definition of victory.

STRATFOR has always had interesting facts, but I've never been in love with they do with them

Anonymous said...

Well, although it is at a much "lower" level, Irshad Manji has a piece in Newsweek online (link below) and she does not seem to think it is "over." She describes some hopeful signs in Indonesia, for example, but gives a pretty good explanation of why "moderate" Muslims (who do not speak against Salafism / radicalism) are just enabling recruitment into the jihad for the caliphate.

(The most chilling bit to me is when a girl says she has to lie to her dad so he won't "hate" her.)

She probably has better insight as to what is going on "on the ground."

The waste radical Islam is making of so much human potential - even when it is not actively persecuting and killing people is really sickening.

Ro

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195490?from=rss

Pastorius said...

Ro,
I love your comments. They are always extremely rational, filled with information, and a breath of fresh air.

Thanks for contributing here.

Anonymous said...

Wow - that was nice. Thanks.

Ro

Epaminondas said...

Actually, Ro, you make a good point.

When Irshad Manji is acceptable to people like Tantawi, the war will be over.

Anonymous said...

Your ally, Pakistan, may soon be under new management! Our old buddies, the Taliban, are knocking on the door of the Pakistani nuclear weapons office and demanding the keys to the place. What's even more disturbing is that it looks like the current management may be willing to just turn them over and walk away. At least that's what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton believes might happen.

Taking a page from the the Palestinian playbook, the Taliban promised the government of Pakistan that if it would allow them to have control of the Swat Valley region (including the formal institution of Sharia Law), they would be satisfied and lay aside their weapons and political ambitions. They would become model citizens, maybe even farmers and teachers and small business owners. They might open nail and beauty salons, coffee bars, bookstores and libraries, and let their women and daughters live life as humans rather than chattel. So Pakistan said, "Okay."

Things went so well for the Taliban that they decided to offer Pakistan some more 'land for peace.' Now, they've pushed their way into the district of Buner -- just 60 miles from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad -- where they're proposing to set up the same kind of utopian regime. Pakistan has politely declined the offer, but the Taliban is insistent.

The old saying goes that "what goes around comes around." Remember what resulted from Jimmy Carter turning his back on the Shah of Iran? Had President Bush not insisted that our old reluctant ally, Pervez Musharraf, give up control of the military while he was Pakistan's president, this story might not even be in this week's news!

You know, if the Taliban gets control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, the world will encounter a whole new set of problems and headaches. The late Mister Rogers might have put it this way: "Can you say EMP?"

Pastorius said...

My ally? Our ally? To what are you referring?

Damien said...

Epaminondas,

You wrote,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Irshad Manji is acceptable to people like Tantawi, the war will be over.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I doubt we will live to see that day. But I would love it if some of us could. At the very least when people like Tantawi are in such a small minority, that they have no power, than the war will be over as well. I hope at least a few of the people here, will be alive to see either of those things happen, but don't get your hopes up too much.