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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: Ilaine who wrote (41175)4/28/2004 2:53:51 AM
From: Dennis O'Bell  Read Replies (1) of 793936
 
Think Again: Al Qaeda

There are things I take issue with in this article. For example :

“The Militants Reject Modern Ideas in Favor of Traditional Muslim Theology”

No. Although Islamic hard-liners long to return to an idealized seventh-century existence, they have little compunction about embracing the tools that modernity provides. Their purported medievalism has not deterred militants from effectively using the Internet and videocassettes to mobilize the faithful.

I strongly disagree on this point. Modernity has to do with fundamental idea changing advances such as the elaboration of quantum mechanics, or the double helix, not some laughable use of commonplace off the shelf "technology" like the Internet or videocassettes. Islamists are so far out of phase with what is taking place in the world around them that they're simply doomed. The only thing we can do is try to minimize the damage the demagogues among them can do to humanity.

I'm not too sure I want to "calm down" about these individuals possibly getting their hands on WMD either. If this were really the small risk the writer implies, I'd be more than happy to simply buy mideast oil and let the occupants of that region go on killing each other like they've been doing for thousands of years. This WMD risk may seem many sigmas out to the point of it being only an abstraction, but it is very real nonetheless and would probably be far worse than a serious earthquake along one of the California fault lines.
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