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

To: cnyndwllr who wrote (130503)	4/29/2004 5:52:30 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Of course how do you change an ideology? Wouldn't it be easier to do something more within our control; say change our own ideology to an Islamic one? Now that sounds kind of silly to me, just as silly as the concept of changing theirs sounds. Mass conversion of Europe and America to Islam and acceptance of a Taliban-style sharia would indeed be one way to go. Since, as you say, that sounds pretty silly, we still have a problem - they ARE out to change OUR ideology, and they DO feel entitled to kill us, including nuclear 9/11's, whatever they can manage, to do so. This describes the basic nature of the problem. Our ideology of liberal democracy and theirs of Islamism cannot coexist peacefully. Maybe we should stop digging that hole? Maybe we should try to find commonalities with the large majority of Muslims and act in ways that belie the extremist's characterizations of our nation and our people as anti-Islam? Didn't Israel try? Do you remember the years 1994 - 2000? Again, the trouble is that the Islamists' demand is the destruction of Israel and the genocide or at least driving out of all the Jews. Nothing less will do. Again, something's got to give, and when one side has an ideology that won't compromise, the issue will be settled by violence. Also, America is trying very hard to find commonalities with the large majority in Iraq. But the Arab "wall of lies" undermines all efforts. The extremists create violence, which generates a US response of necessity; then Al Jazeera covers the screen with 24/7 dead innocent Arab children, real if available, invented if not. To listen to Arab reports, either of Iraq or Israel/Pal, the Arabs are ALWAYS innocent lambs suffering unprovoked aggression, except when they manage a sucide bombing, which is not aggression but a "glorious martyrdom operation" (Al Jazeera's standard term). It is very hard to improve anyone's perception of anything when things are reported like that.