Radical Islam: Denial won't help

Here’s Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby:

Is Radical Islam connected to terrorism?

Notable British voices spoke out on that subject after Britain's recent terrorist near-misses -- the two unexploded car bombs in London's West End and the fiery SUV rammed into the main terminal at Glasgow's international airport.

Consider what four of those voices had to say:

One declared that the word "Muslim" must not be used in connection with terrorism, and insisted that even the phrase "war on terror" should be scrapped.

The second likewise cautioned against pointing a finger at Islam, contending that in London, "Muslims are . . . less likely to support the use of violence to achieve political ends than non-Muslims."

The third, asked whether Muslim extremists might be responsible for the attempted atrocities in London and Glasgow, counseled: "Let's avoid presumptions. . . It can be the work of Muslims, Christians, Jews, or Buddhists."

By contrast, the fourth noted the resemblance of the latest terror attempts to "other recent British Islamic extremist plots," pinpointed "Islamic theology" as "the real engine of our violence," and described British jihadists as "mindless killers" who have "declared war upon the whole world."

The first three statements, disingenuous but quite politically correct, were made respectively by

(1) Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown,

(2) London Mayor Ken Livingstone,

and (3) Daud Abdullah, deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain.

Just days before the second anniversary of the deadly 7/7 London transit bombings, and less than a year since 24 British Muslims were arrested for plotting to blow up passenger jets over the Atlantic, the three men spoke as if they had no inkling that Britain is a battleground in militant Islam's global jihad -- as if only a boor or a bigot could imagine that Muslims might somehow be linked to the car bombs in London and Glasgow.

And the fourth statement?

Those were the blunt words of Hassan Butt, a onetime spokesman for the radical Islamist organization al-Muhajiroun, who has renounced his former life.

In an essay published last week in the Daily Mail, Butt emphasized that jihadists are motivated not by opposition to British or US foreign policy but by a fundamentalist theology that seeks to subject the entire world to "Islamic justice." (emphasis added)

Radical Imams teach their followers that they must fight for Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam) against Dar al-Harb (the House of War -- i.e., infidels to be defeated). And "in Dar el-Harb, anything goes, including the treachery and cowardice of attacking civilians."

The rest of Jacoby's column is here.

Radical Islam is an enemy every bit as terrible as the Nazis.

There is no appeasing such people which is something Winston Churchill would tell PM Gordon Brown.

What's caused the Terror War is not anything the West has done, but what the Radical Islamics believe.