Who (Or Where) Is the Enemy?

Sometimes it seems that Islamists are Islam's worse enemies. This is particularly true at times like right now when a crew of unoppressed, non-poor, apparently unalientated young men, including three physicians, is implicated in three failed attempts to use fuel-air explosives on civilian targets in the United Kingdom.

The Geek could enjoy getting his emotional gonads up and running over these escapades in London and Glasgow. Dang! It would be just so much pure fun to go on a rant that would hope to match those on Gathering Storm or Jihad Watch. It would feel mighty fine to let go with some good, down home, insult spouting.

But, it wouldn't be honest. Worse. It wouldn't be right. Even worse, it wouldn't be productive. It wouldn't lead to the twin goals of defeating Islamist terrorism and not losing in Iraq.

With a tinge of regret, the Geek proposes to put aside the joys of virtual character assassination in order to look beyond the near horizon of another terror attempt fortuitously averted in order to seek the farther horizon of what must be done if we, the Americans, are going to ever have a hope of living without security alerts, photographs of New York cops carrying CAR 16's, journalists and other talking heads fretting about dirty bombs or bioweapons, and the other paraphernalia of recent times. Even to avoid losing in Iraq, it is necessary to consider topics far beyond the usual, beyond improvised explosive devices, mine resistant vehicles, Baghdad body counts, "surges," "milestones," and the other favorites of the chattering classes.

The farther horizon, the necessary horizon for navigating the coast of our collective future contains some definite but quite unexpected landmarks. Among them are such features as religion in the American public square, the content of American made films and television shows, the nature of American society and--most importantly--how these are perceived by members of traditional societies with an emphasis on the 1.5 giga-Muslims.

It is hard to look at ourselves as an outsider would. Worse. Doing so can be downright unpleasant. The view from the outside is never quite as flattering as that from within. (The Geek is reminded of this whenever he sees a photo of himself. Where's the studly hunkboy with the suave presentation? Just who is that skinny nerd?)

Now, before he starts, the Geek feels an obligation to say a bit about his own political and social views. It's a necessary part of the context.

First: The Geek is not a part of the "blame America first" crowd that is so prevalent on American university campuses. While he is unwilling to take second place to anyone in his capacity to identify undesirable aspects of the American social, cultural, economic or political landscapes, he is unwilling to compromise truth by laying blame for everything that has gone wrong in the past two hundred years on the back of Uncle Sam.

Next: The Geek is pleased to associate himself with the comment made by the great French mathematician and theoretical physicist, Laplace, who answered Napoleon's question regarding the role of the deity in the origin of the solar system, "I had no need of that hypothesis, your Majesty." This association does not mean that the Geek in anyway disparages the importance of faith in the lives and activities of others. As a historian he took great pride in doing something which made him highly politically suspect in the eyes of fellow professors. The Geek continuously pointed out that Protestant Christianity in particular was an ideological driving force throughout the majority of American history. In short, he demonstrated from the historical record that the characterization of the US as a "Christian nation," was accurate.

Finally: The Geek is an anti-authoritarian personality by nature. Politically, he is a Nineteenth Century Liberal, a follower of J.S. Mills' view of limited government and maximum individual liberty without regard to race, sex, creed or anything else. His political mantra is, "Act as if you deserve anarchy."

Now the decks are cleared. It's time to run out the guns. Search the sea for targets of opportunity. Shading his eyes against the glare of historical ignorance, the Geek spots---