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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (126277)	3/17/2004 12:48:15 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 281500

re you predicting the Islamists will continue to bomb Spain, after Spanish troops are off Muslim soil? Sure... maybe not immediately because the militants first want to consolidate their power within the mid-east (which requires ousting all hints of western culture), but eventually they will seek to expand their "influence" onto the European continent by way of the extensive muslim population that lives there.. Europe is going to have to make a decision... Deal with extremist Islamic factions now, enlisting the support of Muslim moderates in the process (because it truly is a Islamic cultural war), or face cultural and political blackmail in the years to come as the militants gain increasing leverage through intimidation and terror. And what about the people who thought they could (quickly, at little cost) turn Iraq into a secular America-loving democracy? Any naivete there? Quite a bit... I've never said it would be instant, or even easy.. But every work of art starts with the first step.. The hardest parts are deciding to start that task, and whether to complete it, or settling for something less than a perfect job. In this case, the task is to try and sculpt a different economic and socio-political vision for the mid-east, one that respects human rights and freedom, or to settle for exchanging on repressive regime for another, even if less repressive.. We can fail... We may have waited too long, given the pent up intolerance and economic and demographic pressures in the region.. But if we don't even bother to try and alter the inevitable, then it certainly will come to pass. And there will be far more bloodshed down the road.. Somewhere the European political leaders are going to have to realize that paying off "protection money" to terrorists (gangs) is going to only encourage these groups to demand even more.. Because after all, no militant faction/gang has shown itself capable of properly operating an economy. Thus, they will need to extort "tribute" from those societies who have the wealth.. Upon pain of further violence.. Hawk