Excellent analysis. But as usual, I think more ordinary Americans are aware of the threat and it is only the politicians and the media elites who either don't see it, or don't want to discuss this if they do.

I think a great deal of the dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq is not because we are failing there as the critics would say. I think a BIG CHUNK of the American people is angry that we still have not taken it to the enemy directly in Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. In other words, the people would support much more than a surge in Iraq, as long as we all saw an effort being made to smash the enemy in a big way. I think the American people are more responsibly hawkish than they're given credit for.

Jake:

Thanks for the comment. I wish I could be as opitmistic as you. I see no evidence that the American people truly comprehend just how long this war will take, or how deadly it will become. I pray you are right.

I think we need a Seraphic field trip to Nebraska. We'll have to go incognito, but it could be fun. It's the only way to find out the truth.

Jake:

Beeen to Nebraska. Research for a film. It was, um, very flat. Could not find a minyan.

That was a very interesting analysis of the situation.

The article of the Charter that I harp on is twenty, which explicitly denies the historical connection between Jews and Israel. This is one of the tenets of Palestinian nationalism. Jews are Europeans who encroached on the indigenous land of the Palestinians. (Of course how indigenous the Palestinians are is a different matter. Islam is a religion of the Arabian peninsula, so historically, Muslims in Israel are occupiers, aren't they?)
Still there's been this disturbing tendency - especially on the Left - to discount the importance of the Charter. I know I read several times that the Charter was a dead letter and no one believes those things anymore. And of course there are those who pretend that the silly hand waving excercises in April 1996 and October 1998 had any meaning. The denial of the Jewish claim to Israel is a fundamental principle of Palestinian nationalism. That's how Arafat, even after holding two bogus votes to abrogate the Charter, could still tell Clinton that no Temple ever stood on the Haram! When something a deeply held belief a simple vote doesn't automatically erase that belief.
But here we have folks who impute goodwill to a cause that is devoted to destruction and made a pariah out of a movement that seeks to build.

Jack:

Thanks so much.

Soccer Dad:

The idea that the PLO Charter is a dead issue is an infamous lie. One only has to look at the textbooks used in every classroom in the areas controlled by Fatah and Hamas for evidence. No map of Israel shows Israel—only Palestine.

Every article in the PLO Charter is taught and hammered home to Arab children so before too long they have become educated to become rabid Jew-haters, and enthusiastic terrorists.

As for the votes to abrogate the Charter, well, it's the old double flag game the PLO always played. Make cosmetic concessions to the west, but behind the scenes continue with the same old terrorism. Arafat was the master of this deceitful ploy—another tactic of 4th GW.

Robert:

I find the concept of 4GW very interesting. However, the notion that there is an organized worldwide effort by Muslim fanatic jihadists to continue this festering war very difficult to comprehend.

I assume that AlQaida/Iran/Hizbulla/Hamas/PFLP/etc. are all involved in this consorted effort to topple western democracy. But what bothers me is the ability for these terrorist regimes to centralize their efforts and coordinate a global scale war of attrition against the west.

I have no doubt that Iran is the most influential player in this scheme, but can we honestly believe that they have the abiity to independantly put forth such a grandiose plan?

With the recent Syrian/Russo alliance I tend to wonder what part the old Soviet gaurd has played in this new world challenge.

Anyway, the writing was on the wall over a decade ago when Israel made the fatal mistake of unleashing Arafat. It was with his example that the modern day Islamo fanatic was truely born.

David:

You make an excellent point when you express skepticism about all these group neatly aligned against the west with a coordinated battle plan.

In fact, I plan on writing about just this subject in a forthcoming chapter of the "Lack of Clarity" series.

Briefly, this is my response:

There is no centralized command of Islamic jihadist forces that attack the West. What we do have is a dangerous stew of state and non-state players.

Al Queda mounts its own operations, and franchises out other attacks to smaller groups who seek funding and logistical support from Al Queda

There are hundreds if not thousands of decentralized terrorist groups all over the world. In terms of fighting quality, they range from the completely ineffective to truly adaptable and dangerous terrorists.

And while these groups do not coordinate their efforts they are all aware of and use 4GW tactics, which they learn on the internet, in their local mosques, and in training camps in Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Gaza, Sudan, North Korea and a host of other rogue nations.

The importance of the internet cannot be overstated.

Thus, while there is not central command center, Islamic terrorists all share a common desire to:

1. Destroy Israel.
2. Destroy Europe, and America.
3. Outlaw Christianity and Judaism and any other religion that is not Islam.
4. Abolish women's rights.
5. Install Islamic states with Sharia as official law, restore the Caliphite.

With these goals in mind, disparate radical Islamic groups work separately to create stomach churning levels of public fear, and grind down the will of the West so that the national will to fight will be eroded.

Islamic websites constantly refer to America's surrender in Viet Nam; America's withdrawal from Lebanon, American withdrawal form Somalia. Israel's withdrawl from southern Lebanon also boosted Hizbullah status in Lebanon enormously. They claimed an historic victory over the IDF and they were right.

And now Israel, refusing to recogine that her mistake in Gaza emboldened the jihadists is still discussing withdrawal form parts of Judea and Samaria.

All this sends a clear message:

1. Terrorist violence is effective.
2. America does not have the will to fight a long war.
3. It's easy to whip up anti-war fervor in the US.
4. Some Jews agree philosophically with Islamic terrorists that Jews are not allowed to live wherever they want. The judenrein policy that is in effect in the Arab world was supported by the government of Israel.
5. Judea and Samaria will serve as the next front for Israel in the "land for peace" phantom.

In fact, the jihadists benefit from this loose structure. With no head to decapitate, the West finds itself, for the meantime, fighting the tail of the snake, over and over again.

However, there are fatal weaknesses to this terrorist structure, and I will be dealing with them in a future posting.

Robert:
Thank you for your response. I tend to agree with your theory of 'centralized decentralization' regarding the jihadists modus operandi for destabilzation and global terror.

However, despite my earlier comment I do believe that the enemy has recently become more centralized than we would believe. It would be naive to assume that these terror cells can operate largely through internet sites or local mosques without a guiding entity providing funds and training.

I feel that there is a coordinated effort by Islamic extremists within Iran/Pakistan which in affect are the head of the snake. They in turn train and fund several large terror groups(Hamas,Hizbullah,Fatah,Al-Qaieda) which then use a form of trickle down dessimination of terror throughout the globe.
The internet and local mosques are essentially the medium used by these major terror groups to spread the jihadist doctrine. The local splnter groups(depending on hierarchy) formulate their own terror actions. However, large scale terrorist actions can almost only be coordinated by major groups which have huge finacial resources.
It must be noted that not all of these terror cells use violence to achieve their goals.
The jihadist have become very savvy at using a multiple of techniques to implement their extremist values witin other non-muslim countries. Through political coercion,media,antisemetic propaganda Muslim extremists are propagating their doctrine successfully.

David:

Thnaks so much for the input. This debate about centralization/decentralization is quite widespread. I believe the ground is constantly shifting, and there are so many state and non state actors at this point thst one really has to stop talking in generalities and pretty much speak to specifics when you get past theory.

That being said, I agree that specific states are funneling huge amonts of cash and resources to jihadists. The obvious players are: Iran, Syria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.

I agree completely that the jihadists are savvy at spreading their doctrine. It doesn't help that the MSM in the west enable much of this propaganda.

Democracies are always slow to figure out when and how to fight the enemy. But once they do, and the proper will is summoned, democracies are historically brutal and unrelenting.

The time will come when the West will strike back with such ferocity that Hiroshima will look like a pin-prick.

Robert:
Thanks for the response.
I hope the west awakens soon.
I thought 9/11 would have been the wake up call.

Apparently the jihadists understand us better than we thought.
After 9/11 when we attacked Afghanistan/Iraq the jihadists did not reciprocrate with enhanced terror.
Rather, they understood that if the war could be protracted long enough with a high casualty rate the society in the US would demand that the war be ended.
Of course if the jihadist had continued to perpetrate terror acts on US soil the American people would now be fully behind the war in Iraq.

I felt that the aborted terror act last year( the attempted downing of multiple jetliners over the Atlantic) would have given Bush added backing to continue the war. I was wrong.

I'm very confused on this issue- I can't seem to understand the American peoples inability to perceive the big picture when it pertains to the Jihadists long term goal of global domination.

Only time will tell

David:

It is very true that 9-11 did not properly serve as a wake-up call to America. Too many people simply misunderstand what it meant and promised for the future.

It is also very true that the jihadists understand us far better than we understand them.

This is not surprising. We are an open transparent society. Many jihadists have lived in America or in Europe where they learned to hate western values even more—not as some would argue become more westernized.

The Muslim/Islamic world is harder to penetrate. And when we in the west do glimpse the beast at its core many recoil for it is so very frightening for we realize:

People are not the same.
All religions are not the same.
Some cultures are superior to others.
Some societies are dysfunctional and the blame lies squarely on the members of that society—not outsiders.
Some wars are necessary.
Many people need to be killed not understood.

Admitting these truths is almost impossible for many in the west. It brings into question their most cherished liberal values.