Michael Yon: Jihad: The lust for self-destruction and someone to blame
The only common thread to all the violence described in this dispatch is militant Islam. Not Islam. Militant Islam. Militant Muslims around the globe are waging war against anything different, be it the Buddhistsâ?? carvings destroyed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Hindus burned alive on trains in India, or Sunni against Shia in Iraq. This is not about Islam; this is not rooted in even a most fundamentalist reading of the Quran.
The cauldron of the Israeli conflict is flaring, scalding the surrounding desert. The hands stoking the fire underneath belong to militant Islam. Jihad has different meanings, but the only meaning that concerns us today is â??Holy War.â?Â
Omar, at Iraq The Model
All previous wars between Israel and Arabs were of a pan-nationalist nature and used feelings of Arabism to push the people to war. Of course religion had a role too but now religion is going to push Arabism aside and be the dominant element in Iran’s planned war because of the failure of pan-nationalism to retain its influence in the region after a long history of failures.
Iran’s dreams in exporting the Islamic revolution were stopped by the once strong pan-nationalism in last quarter of the 20th century but today we’re facing a renewed project of exporting the Islamic revolution in an attempt to fill-and taking advantage of-the vacuum left by the fading pan Arab nationalismâ?¦And with liberalism still not strong enough to face such a challenge, I think the future of the region is in big danger.
Peter Beinart: The Good Fight: Why liberals and only liberals– can win the war on terror and make America great again
Al Qaeda’s ultimate goal is not to expel the United States from Islamic lands; it is to establish a new caliphate that ushers in God’s rule on earth. And the many enemies of that effort –non-Muslims, apostate Muslims, liberated female Muslims, gay and lesbian Muslims–would still blemish the Islamic world, representing jahiliyyah in its myriad sinful forms.
Peter Beinart will be our guest on Pundit Review Radio Sunday, August 6th at 7pm est.
My milblog reading also took me to Op-For, where I read tomorrow’s news today, so to speak,
Op-For Nails It
July 16, 2006 12:51 PM
John Noonan at Op-For, Prepping the Battlespace
What we are witnessing in southern Lebanon is concurrent with actions designed to prep a battlefield for the insertion of ground forces. So far, Israel has relied on its dominance in sea and air forces to isolate Hezbollah, rather than focusing their brunt of their superior forces on actual enemy positions. By blockading the coast, neutralizing Beruit’s airport, and damaging roads and bridges into and out of Lebanon, the IDF has cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by land, sea, and air, and blocked all lines of escape.
These isolation actions are eerily similiar to Coalition movements prior to Operation Hail Mary during the first Gulf War, where allied aircraft severed supply lines to foward deployed Iraqi Army units.
The end result is a battlespace that traps the now ill-equipped enemy force, the ideal environment for Israel to crush Hezbollah forces.
July 20, 2006, 06:36 PM
Associated Press
Israel Hints at Full-Scale Lebanon Attack
Pitched battles raged between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the border Thursday, and Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee southern Lebanon “immediately,” preparing for a likely ground offensive to set up a buffer zone.
John Noonan from milblog Op-For will be our guest on Pundit Review Radio Sunday, July 30th at 9pm est