Our Enemies are Willing to Play Until They're Ready to Declare Playtime Over

Written by Roger Kimball of "The New Criterion" blog, this article smacks a useful idiot (one Mr. Walker, a UPI writer) upside the head with a mighty swing of the cluebat...this kind of writing ability makes me jealous and gives me something to strive for in my own scribblings.

The writer Mr. Kimball refers to is one of a disturbingly large group of people (many of them squishy media types) who think that the massive Islamic infiltration and stealth takeover of Europe is nothing to worry about, because they will be changed as much by European culture as European culure will be changed by them. Umm, yeah, sure, you go with that, just don't forget to pay your jizya there little dhimmi when Mohammed's homeboys take over your block and outlaw the sale of croissants because they are in a shape that "offends" Islamic sensibilities. Juicy morsels are provided below, and read it all if you'd like...it's good stuff.

"Mr. Walker soothes us with the thought that the clash between radical Islam and the West is not "foreordained." So what? The Second World War wasn't foreordained, either. But as the 1930s wore on and the pusillanimous men of good will bargained, negotiated, accommodated, and appeased the Nazis, it became more and more likely. There was nothing "foreordained" about Hitler's Panzer divisions rolling into Poland on September 1, 1939. I doubt that provided much consolation to the denizens of Warsaw. The lack of necessity offers no protection against the imperatives of actuality.

Mr. Walker's essay belongs to that large and growing genre of fiction, the political fairytale. The aim of such works is not to put its readers to sleep, but to soothe them into acquiescence. This it does in two ways. First, it tells people what they want to hear--the threat of radical Islam is overstated by irresponsible purveyors of hysteria. Second, it flatters their moral vanity: you, Dear Reader, are a good liberal and know that there is no political problem that cannot be solved by good will and a willingness to negotiate and see the other chap's point of view.

But wait: What is the other chap's point of view? I have always admired this frank observation by Hussein Massawi, a former Hezbollah leader: "We are not fighting so that you will offer us something, We are fighting to eliminate you." Point noted. ...

Mr. Walker's talk of "Europe's Mosque Hysteria" is on a par with the criticism of "Islamophobia." A phobia is an irrational fear or dread. But dreading the effects of the incursion of radical Islam into Western society is eminently rational, as the events of 9/11, 7/7, the Madrid train bombing, the Bali nightclub bombing, the murder of Theo van Gogh, the wave of embassy burnings in the wake of those Danish cartoons of Moahmmed, and a hundred other incidents show. Like Rodney King, Mr. Walker wonders why we can't all get along. Neville Chamberlain tried the same wheeze. Adolf was only too happy to play along. Until, that is, he decided the time for playing was over."