Left/Right/Fiddle/Burn

Too much is being made of our military action in Iraq, and not enough of the action in Afghanistan or on the mis-named "war." That is a grave deflection of attention from the future we face.

We are not at war with terrorists; we are at war with Islamic extremists.

If President Bush had finished the job in Afghanistan, the premise of this war would be more accurate . By diluting the attention of the nation from the Islamic jihadists onto a secular despot, Mr. Bush has embroiled the U.S. in a Sunni-Shi'ite centuries-old struggle. While this sectarian strife might be in our interests down the line, it is taking up too much of our energy; and it is not the true enemy. It is a symptom, but not the disease.

The Islamic Brotherhood of Egypt and others of its nature are small, but deadly. They pledge to "struggle" until Islam is the only religion in the world.

Thus, the United States must expand the "theaters" of the war to include ideology and education. The ideas in "holy" writings which allow for mayhem and murder in the name of a Supreme Being must be purged.

Focusing only on military encounters is delaying our inevitable success over the jihadists.

Until the leadership and those who influence opinion in the United States face this Islamic jihadist threat, we will gain no ground. While these influential persons fiddle away their influence hurling deprecations at each other, the "Rome" of our 21st Century war of ideology burns.

The U.S. battle may be against "terrorism" in Iraq, but the war is against the ideology of religious extremism.

Success in Iraq will only open the way to the next battle, for which we are not, nor does it seem that we will soon be, prepared.

Pundits
War on Terror
Religious Extremism

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