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Originally Posted by Jim in CT
Spence...
"religion being a factor, but it's not necessarily the root cause."
How can you say religion isn't the root cause? Ask any Islamic jihadist what his motivation is, and do you really think the answer is not "Islam"? If Osama Bin Laden says religion is the root cause for his actions (which he has said), why do you deny it?
It baffles me, it's just incomprehensible to me, why some folks refuse to admit such obvious truth.
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As I said, some are just zealots and religion could be considered a root cause. I also said that religion is often a "factor" but
might not be the "root cause."
But even Bin Laden (certainly a fanatic) has clearly stated that the moral justification for his actions comes largely from issues like Palestine, Chechnya, the US/Saudi relationship etc.. which are quite political/cultural in nature and where sympathy is found among many Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Was 9/11 a product purely of religion (they hate us for our freedoms) or was it purely a product of post-Cold War geopolitics?
If the answer is simply "Islam" I don't think it can be both. The point being, this is a lot more complicated than just focusing on a religion. While the threat of terrorism today is primary Islamist in nature, the reasons behind this can be quite varied and might often not be driven by dogma alone.
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How can you begin to defeat an enemy, if you won't admit to yourself who the enemy is?
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We can certainly identify Islamists who are a threat and eliminate them. But to do so is moot unless someone can work to keep disenfranchised Muslims (or in some cases even non-Muslims) from going down the slippery slope.
To the later, if the best strategy is by winning "hearts and minds" or "peace through strength" is a different argument.
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What would you have done after Pearl Harbor? I can hear you know..."Let's not be too hasty, Admiral Nimitz...Just because we were attacked by Japanese pilots who took off from a Japanese air craft carrier, and just because Japan has declared war on us, I'm not sure who the enemy is here. Let's look at Luxemberg first, to see if they were behind this."
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I'm not sure that's an appropriate analogy. Japan was a defined state and we knew who attacked us.
-spence