Bgile wrote:Hammy,
I'm curious. You obviously don't think things are being handled properly now by western governments and I supect the US and the UK government in particular. Is there anything they could do that you would approve of?
Perhaps if we all converted to Islam? Maybe that would do it.
The West needs to either get much harder , or get out altogether . As I posted elsewhere , earlier , there was a golden opportunity to get hard in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks , to tell the assembled Islamic world that they then had an immediate straight choice - to become civilised and progressive nations willingly , or to declare their emnity and see their states and civilisations destroyed , their governing establishments removed or made helpless , their personal riches stripped away , and their resources ( oil ) taken over by armed force and the future earnings arising disbursed soley under the control of the occupiers .
I do not think such an action is possible now .
Equally , the West could have made a stand at the time India and Pakistan declared they had tested Nuclear weapons .
We could have said " HOW DARE YOU waste your money on this when you hold the begging bowl out continuously for your teeming poverty-ridden millions ! " and insisted on the immediate comprehensive dismantling of their programmes under international supervision , and the handing over for trial of both their ruling regimes as criminals to their own peoples -- Alternative - Immediate war .
Again , the issue was ducked , and it is our failure to draw lines in the sand that causes us greater problems later on .
The Islamic world is a collection of disparate peoples , cultures and faiths , many of whom are at deep emnity with each other ( and jolly lucky it is for us ) . The opportunity is still there , had we the will to do it , to grip the more immoderate nations by the throat and force them to behave , and in doing so cow others .
In the case of the maniac in Libya it took one weak bombing raid .
Alternatively , we should withdraw from contact altogether , and perhaps use that marvelous line from the film Lawrence of Arabia , and tell them that we do this because they are " a little people , a silly people , barbarous , primitive and cruel ."
Unfortunately , as we are addicted to their money , we will do neither .
Converting to Islam wouldn't do it . The jihadist terrorists kill far more of their fellow muslims than anyone else .
Besides , in the west we are now in general in belief in a post religious era , generally prioritising our personal benefit , and with morals/behaviour codes arising out of humanistic good manners . Islam is just incompatible with that , you can be one or the other , but never both .