More email from Stuart

After responding to Stuart's first email, I recieved a second one today. It read:

I see that I opened a hornet's nest. I don't know about Communism vs. Democracy. I thought that was all done. I don't know about "the left" either. If memory serves, it was John Q. Adams who argued almost 200 years ago, when asked to support the Greek struggle for independence, we favor it, but we don't go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. In any event, look at the timing of the events of which you speak. When was the first attack on the World Trade Towers? Just after the Gulf War.

Yes! I believe that Aragon and Castille, Ferdinand and Isabella threw the Moors out by 1492. I also believe that Christian crusaders invaded the Middle East about a thousand years ago? Am I wrong? And so what if Osama says this or that. He is a dog baying at the moon. By the way, it's Andalusia, a lovely area with beautiful monuments to the Moors--architecture.

My response:

You don't know about Communism vs. Democracy? China, North Korea and Cuba are still alive and kicking, although only China and North Korea pose a threat out of those particular three. Are you saying that the DPRK poses no threat?

John Q. Adams made his statements when it took several months to travel from Europe to America. It now takes several hours. The threats from Adams' day have ceased to exist for the most part, while challenges that Adams could have never even dreamed of confront us now. While the prevailing thought behind Adams' remarks still remain valid, the circumstances to which those remarks apply have changed. Ignoring that simple fact is done only at your own peril.

Yes, the first attack on the WTC was after the First Gulf War. However, the attacks on Marines in Beirut was in 1984. The Iran Hostage Crisis was in 1979-1980. The murder of Israeli Olypians in Munich was in 1972. The Yom Kippur War and Seven Day War were before that. All these events were perpetrated by Muslim extremists, or in some events entire Muslim governments. Stop cherry picking events to try to prove your point, because it does you no favors.

The Crusades that you mention were a defensive war, all hyperbole aside. They were a response to the Muslim invasion of Spain and Eastern Europe. Have you ever stopped to think about why we have mosques in Budapest, but there's nary a christian church to be found in Saudi Arabia? The Ottoman Empire was rolling it's way west through Eastern Europe at the time of the Crusades, prompting a counter attack from Western countries. While the following crusades may have been invading the Middle East, they were prompted by the invasion of Europe by the Muslim Turks. At one point the Ottomans controlled Europe from Constantinople (which was then changed to Istanbul by the muslims) all the way to Vienna, as well as Spain, Portugal and the Southern regions of what is now France. I suggest you read a book titled "What Went Wrong" by Bernard Lewis. It's a bit dry to read, but it presents information in an unbiased format. Get yourself an education in that area's history.

Bin Laden may now be a dog baying at the moon, but until we removed the Taliban from Afganistan and started capturing or killing Al-Queda leaders, he was a big dog with huge financial resources and the will to use them. Or have you already forgotten that Bin Laden was the man behind September 11th? And what about the rest of the imams and terrorists who quote him almost verbatim in their speeches. Do you honestly think that a figurehead like Bin Laden is powerless? If so, I pity you, because you obviously have a lot to learn.

And my mispellings of Andalusia nonwithstanding, the whole reason it's "a lovely area with beautiful monuments to the Moors--architecture" is because the Moors invaded through the Strait of Gibraltar and held that area for hundreds of years. To this day the Spanish language has many Islamic influences due to the muslim presence during that time. You missed the point of that reference: It's an example of just how far the terrorists will go to justify their actions. Getting the USA out of the Middle East will in no way lessen the likelyhood or severity of terrorist attacks. If they can blame their problems on something that happened centuries ago, what makes you think they'll stop blaming us if we just go away? They won't. Andalusia and the USA are simply convienient targets to blame. What they want, and what they have always wanted, was the reinstation of the Caliphate and Shari'a law world wide. Barring that the utter destruction of any person who will not convert will suffice.

And don't worry about stirring up a hornet's nest. I always enjoy sharing knowledge with those who need it.

I couldn't resist that last snark, although I probably should have. Think I was too harsh?

Nah, me neither.