George Rebane
The end of round one in Boston’s latest experience with pan-Islamic jihad brings to mind several observations before round two gets under way. My working name for round two is ‘Positioning for political justice’. But here I’d like to put down some thoughts about two aspects – the larger frame of the Boston bombings, and the mighty law enforcement response visible on Boston’s streets.
In our public square many (most?) of us are still hesitant to connect the dots from such acts of terror to what, hopefully, is finally starting to be labeled a part and parcel of a global pan-Islamic jihad. Some politically correct and evidence resistant pilgrims in public office continue to view incidents like Maj Hassan’s Ft Hood killing spree as “workplace violence” or some other equally inane appellation. Others, including members of Congress (e.g. Reps Louie Gohmert, Peter King), are beginning to call for added surveillance of our Islamic organizations to match what has already been going on in keeping an eye on the so-called ‘rightwing extremist organizations’ that now include tea parties and veterans associations.
Many students of history and current events know that Islam is not unified unto itself. Its 1.3B adherents come from many cultures all over Asia and Africa. After the prophet’s death, Islam quickly devolved into many sects, each considering the other apostate and launching murderous attacks on the other. About the only thing they all agreed on was that anyone not accepting their version of the prophet’s message deserved death, and that Islam was to rule the world by the sword and the Quran. Once Muslims left Mecca and conquered Medina, Islam no longer pretended to be a religion of peace, save in their practice of taqiyya.
In the 20th century as America became the world’s leading hegemon, devout Muslims of all hues correctly induced from observing their youth that the existence and spread of American and Western culture was inimical to the survival of Islam. This brought the hatred of the west and America as the Great Satan to be the third leg of common tenets held by all Muslim jihadists, no matter their sect or organizational membership.
Relevance. When I was young, America’s culture was like a bright beacon, crisp, clear, defined. It accepted and absorbed other cultures without itself fracturing (I joyfully subordinated my Estonian roots, painting them as red, white, and blue as I could.) You knew if you understood that culture and played by its rules, you would be accepted without question, and you would become a part of something that was encompassing, dynamic, and good – you would become relevant in and to your society.
Personal relevance to your surroundings has always been an important part of a young man’s maturing. Since time immemorial the sense of relevance to a society could be achieved by either taking satisfaction in building/defending it or changing/destroying it – being ignored by society as an expendable/ignorable cog has always been unacceptable. And of the two, becoming relevant through participating in change or destruction has always been the easier for self-vindication.
America’s cultural landscape began to change in the late 1960s. For a number of reasons (out of scope here) our cultural monolith began to shrink as schools started teaching that ‘all cultures are of equal worth’ and the relativism of good and bad. Multi-culturalism began to take a new shape and meaning. E pluribus unum began its retreat.
In this light, the Boston bombers followed a now well-trod path of their many hued Islamist predecessors. To most accounts (not mine), they are considered ‘home grown’ and therefore much harder to detect early. But I submit that they all have chosen their paths to cultural relevance in common with their terrorist forebears. Today there is nothing unique or exceptional about American culture, our government tells them that even before they set foot on our shore. America is like all other countries and places, somewhat more evil than most, and just trying to muddle through the best we can. No need to sign up for anything here, what you have is just as good or better (more here), go do your own thing. And it looks like they did.
My second takeaway from Boston at this time is the exposure to the might and muscle that the local police forces were able to instantly muster as their citizens trembled behind locked doors. Did you see entire platoons of troops out of nowhere all dressed in formidable military gear? And unabashedly displayed were these same troops being ferried hither and yon in some very scary looking combat vehicles. While these were technically not from the DHS inventory of the recently purchased thousands of MRAP (mine resistant, ambush protected) armored fighting vehicles, they were nevertheless vehicles of the same type, impervious to anything that a group of disgruntled citizens could muster to oppose the local constabulary (more here). The show of force to apprehend two then one lone gunman was daunting, especially when reminded that none of these were from our military or even the state’s National Guard.
The military uses of MRAPs have many critics and criticisms. The criticism most relevant to the planned stateside use of these vehicles by our non-military government agencies, is that their formidable appearance (especially the turret on top) and sealed exterior isolates the gun-toting folks inside from those on the outside creating “a greater disconnection between troops and the local population due to their massive size and menacing appearance”. But then maybe that’s the message that we’re supposed get when one of these comes rumbling down our street.
Postscript – And here’s a sample of some frustrated frothy fantasy fog from the frustrated Left as ably spewed by CS Kendrick on the Daily Kos – ‘Damn, why couldn’t it have been a lily-white Bible thumper veteran from a Kansas tea party?’ (H/T to reader)
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