“The imperial notion, by its very definition, posits the domination of one ethnic, religious, or national group over another, and the Ottoman Empire was no exception.” –Ephraim Karsh, from Islamic Imperialism Turkey’s history, together with its present political footwork in regards to ISIS, represents, for me, everything bad about Islam. I remember reading somewhere years […]
The People Will Waken And Listen To Hear
“In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoofbeats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere.” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The best thing about Donald Trump’s message, in my opinion, is that its promotion of old fashioned prudence has awakened the American […]
The Ideology of the Cancer Cell
The mass murder in San Bernardino, California—a terrorist attack the most prudent of us expected and saw coming—is proof that, no matter where Islam takes root, no matter how moderate and benign the perpetrators of these mass murders previously projected themselves, there remains for every Muslim a jumping off point: the option of jihad. As […]
I In Mine Own House
“I in mine own house am an emperor And will defend what’s mine.” –Massinger, The Roman Actor [1629] Sir Edward Coke wrote, “The house of everyone is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defense against injury and violence as for his repose.” I believe the same can be said of […]
Silence Is the Sovereign Contempt
Silence is the sovereign contempt. – Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve Jews are being stabbed to death in broad daylight, in Israel, by Arab Muslims and the Western world suddenly grows silent. Of course, there are always those wilfully sciolistic journalists avowedly reproving both Jew and Arab Muslim, as though Jews are also guilty of the violence—the […]
The Tables of Our Enemies
“…by defining modernity, progress, trade, consumption, and even pleasure as Western assaults on Islam, al-Qaeda left little on the table for themselves.” –Lawrence Wright, from The Looming Tower (al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11) In their book Kingmakers, Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac refer to a certain William Gifford Palgrave and his warning, […]
Fanaticism: The Moderate Version
“Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.” – George Santayana I would not say that the apologists for Islam, even the most shameless, have forgotten their aim. I think one of their highest hopes is that we, the opponents of Islam, forget the aim of these apologists, which is to […]
Skobelev’s Principle
“I hold it as a principle that the duration of peace is in direct proportion to the slaughter you inflict on the enemy.” –Gen. Mikhail Skobelev, 1881 General Mikhail Skobelev’s words above were in reference to his defeat of the walled citadel of Geok-Tepe and his army’s complete depredation of the Tekke Turkmen, “a fierce, […]
It’s The Way We Live
“The mystery is not the way we die, it’s the way we live.” — Martin Cruz Smith, from Red Star When Jews begin warning the world about apocalyptic possibilities, the world should listen. When we are told that Iran is a much too dangerous country to be interested in nuclear weapons capability, we should take […]
A Strange Turn of History
“In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up.” –President Barack Obama, 2009 While reading Philip Taubman’s book The Partnership, a story about “five Cold Warriors and their quest to ban the bomb,” I was amazed by how he […]