I think it’s only wise to discourage burning the Koran, just as it would be wise to discourage burning the Bible.
How do we “discourage” this, from a “libertarian” (small “l”) point of view, and within the confines of our Constitution?
A new federal law banning Koran burning? Make it a felony to show Muhammed on South Park, or in an newspaper editorial cartoon?
What?
Even if we take out this portion, we are still “not Islamic enough” for al Qaeda. We allow women to drive. Our laws aren’t based on Sharia.
If you read the foundation of the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda, Sayyid Qutb’s
Milestones, you will get an idea of why we are hated, and it isn’t just because we’re viewed as being “imperialists”.
In bin Laden’s own words:
(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?
(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam…
(i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation, grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives?
guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver
bbarrick:
We provide then with intel and direction to defend their borders and try use the wads of cash they are making off of us to protect themselves and that’s it.
In the meantime, al Qaeda attacks Saudi Oil installations, and kills civillian oil contractors (many of them foriegn)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/29_May_2004_Al-Khobar_massacres
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_(2004
And attacks foriegn military who attempts to train the Sauds (ours, and others attempts to help them “protect themselves” as you point out).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riyadh_Compound_Bombings
What you don’t realize is that al Qaeda and other Islamist organizations are at war with what they consider “moderate” Muslim regimes as much as they are at war with us. We are a target just by buying Saudi oil.
To me, Paul’s weak, battered-wife weltanschauung (we must have done SOMETHING to deserve getting hit! We brought it on ourselves! We’ll do our best not to provoke anyone, anymore! ) is missing the forest for the trees, and puts us down the inevitable slippery slope of continual appeasement.
I agree with even some of Paul’s ideas regarding scaling back our current bases (little chance of Soviet armor coming through the Fulda Gap), but I kinda like the idea of a carrier strike group being able to refuel in Yemen.
But the whole “they will love us if we love them” schtick to me is shortsighted at best, and at worst, dangerous. It also demonstrates an embarrassing lack of understanding of the danger radical Islam poses to Western civilization. We already have one president who suffers from such delusion; we certainly don’t need another.
