Submitted by Steve, Nov 13, 2006 16:20

It's not as bad as Steyn says, it's really much worse. Beginning with the incomparably narcissistic Jimmuh Carter, we have been tested by the Muslim world and been found wanting. From Teheran, to Beirut to Mogadishu to Aden and now in Baghdad, the Jihadis have discovered that we much prefer to give them a pass than to discomfort ourselves by complete the job. Since they have patience and we've been socialized to solving problems within the confines of a 60 minute (make that 47 minutes if you deduct advertising) drama, they know that they can beat us simply making a thousand cuts while we argue that its not so bad since if we wait they will civilize themselves.

Meanwhile we bleed impatiently while they prepare a few hundred thousand more fanatics for a better life in the hereafter. Moreover, most of us still don't believe anyone can be so silly as to want to replace western civilization with a 6th century Koranic mandate. We are like the Romans blithely dismissing the intentions of those who openly say they want to destroy us. I'm sure there were many Senators arguing in the Roman forum that the Huns were an unwashed irritant that would fold when faced with Roman power or offered Roman incentives (some baths, a modern sewage system and regular bloody entertainment)

Our inability to understand the power of religiously based millennial motivation is a product of a society that is largely secular. It's no wonder that the religious right is most committed to fighting this war. They at least understand the potency of a religiously focused militant Islam and the threat that it represents.

It's much worse than Steyn says because the contest between China and the US will never begin. We will have shown that we are too feckless to do what is necessary. By that time Europe with be thoroughly dhimmified and we may be too alone and too decrepit to face any vigorous civilization that seeks dominance.

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