Osama, too good to be true. Part 3.

Al Qaeda is not a terrorist organization in the sense of regularly committing terrorist acts with its own cadres. Rather, Al Qaeda is a venture firm engaged in seed financing, superfluous training, PR, and logistics. In return for those services, Al Qaeda shares in the terrorist acts committed by its client groups. Sometimes, Al Qaeda claims participation; that’s mostly happens when grassroots terrorists without an organization of their own perpetrate the attack. More often, Al Qaeda merely lauds the terrorist act, as happened with 9/11, without hijacking the laurels. Osama might be fearless, but he is a not a soldier - merely a rich Arab who brought the concepts of Western capitalism into the field of anti-Western terrorism. Let’s look at details.

Hollywood horror movies endow aggressors with bizarre features; media treat terrorists similarly. But they are not bizarre exceptions from human mentality. They are normal religious nationalists willing to die for their cause but not seeking death as members of some death cult; Osama evades American assassination attempts. In regular armies, soldiers undertake practically suicide missions defending their comrades and country; terrorists operate similarly. People who strongly identify with ideas might die physically but continue living in their ideas; shahedeen die, but live on as part of the ummah. Neither are terrorists monsters; thinking of 9/11 civilian death toll, recall fire-bombings of Dresden and Tokyo. The absence of mass following among Muslims doesn’t prove Osama wrong: John Brown failed to rally a significant number of slaves but nevertheless greatly advanced abolitionist cause.

Westerners despise Osama for barbaric intolerance. Civilized, affluent people are afraid to show intolerance because it endangers their lifestyle: the victims of their intolerance can strike back. The people preoccupied with pursuit of material wealth abandon the fight for moral values and rationalize their cowardice by abandoning moral absolutes. But the entire human system of values is calibrated with moral values. People who don’t pursue moral imperatives, pursue the other things even less. They want welfare rather than work, submission to government rather than responsibility.

Osama is highly responsible. Westerners seek to enjoy every moment of their lives, and grow impatient. They want all policies to bring immediate results. Osama, in the service of eternal God, is very patient – not because he is superhuman, but because he cannot change the political situation immediately. Neither are his means outdated. Westerners launched massive wars in Algiers, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq but believe the age of war is over. The inhabitants of pax Romana and Peace of Westphalia worlds thought similarly; Jews in 1939 thought that ethnic or religious wars are unthinkable anymore. Osama is way more realistic.

Taking the fight into America is not apocalyptic lunacy, but the only viable way to win the war. The Soviets lost the war in Afghanistan despite their cruelty because mujahedeen had safe havens in Pakistan; they could regroup, rearm, and relax. Israel similarly loses against the West Bank terrorists by allowing them safe havens in Jenin and elsewhere. Osama has to attack America if he is to deny his enemy a place to relax; continuous strain breaks the will to fight.

Osama is not a genius who rallied Muslim nations. The Muslim community is too huge, diverse, and dispersed to feel communal bonds. Other Muslims didn’t help their Indonesian coreligionists hit by tsunami, and few Muslims came to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet invaders. The seventh-century jihad was waged for spoils rather than religion, and since then Arabs showed no religious zeal to fight. Arabs want the US visas rather than Palestinian statehood. Osama attracted into his ranks one thousandth of one percent of the world Muslims. Many more admire him as a symbol with no intention of joining him. Osama draws adventurers rather than Muslims. That’s not Osama’s fault, but human. Rabbi Kahane similarly failed to gather a significant number of American Jews to confront Russia over the emigration restrictions on Soviet Jews. Osama was even less successful in garnering worldwide Muslim support for Palestinian insurgency. He repeatedly condemned Muslim governments and clergy for their failure to channel military support to Palestinians, and his early darling Hamas proved a disappointment unconcerned with global Islamic struggle.

Ray Bright Subscribed to comments via email

It is true that Muslims want American and/or European visas.
Unfortunately once in their new countries, they try to revert their new host country into 7th century barbarity.
CAIR (Consul for American Islamic Relations, has declared that Islam is not in America to co-exist with other religions. It is to become *the* religion of America, and Muslims will one day rule the White House. Sharia will replace the American Constitution. Surprisingly there even is a special Muslim version of the “pledge of allegiances” used as oath when Muslims become American citizens. (This should have never been allowed!)
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In Europe situation is much worse. Majority of Muslim emigrants, their children and grand children are rapidly forming alternative country within country. A huge percentage of Muslims are living on welfare and unemployment benefits. Huge crime, and a general hatred of their host country. They receive welfare as a new form of Jyiza tax, their crime against the non-Muslim citizens of their countries is expression of their Muslim patriotism. Raping is part of their holy war: They are over 183 times more likely to commit rape than the non-Muslims.
This is in contrast of Chinese, or the Hindu immigrants who are loyal members of their host countries.

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