Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Choosing the Battlefield

It's a maxim of military strategy that the side that dictates where a battle will be fought has a distinct advantage over its foe. And right now, radical Islam is establishing the arena of combat in the war on terror. Not the physical location of any one engagement necessarily, but that of a broader battlefield.

Al Qaeda and its ilk say they stand squarely behind Mohammed and the Q'uran. However twisted and tangled a knot they have made of the message of mainstream Islam, they believe -- with the devotion of martyrs -- that all mankind must accept that there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet and that any method is acceptable in pursuing this goal. We, the sworn enemies of Al Qaeda have developed -- as we must -- a counter position. But the position we seem to be taking is not liberty vs. tyranny, but Yahweh/God vs. Allah. Our God is bigger/better/righter than your God, so shut up and let us at the oil.

It seems to me a better battleground would be to fight (truly) for freedom, support of family/tribal/community/national bonds and tolerance for all willing to follow the rule of law.

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