Issue Date: 2/8/10
Conservatively Speaking: A jersey for the opposing team
By Dan McCarthy
Possibly the most infuriating aspect of my previous descriptions of war, peace, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry and Chargers fans in general is that I assume, often incorrectly, that I can drop the term "enemy" and everyone will nod in unison with a solid grasp of what I mean. Certainly it's not a one-size-fits-all title; there are various degrees of formal antagonism that warrant an explanation, or at least an analogous face to a name.
Now sounds about the right time to pick up that residential block analogy I left you with last week.
With modern travel, trans-oceanic shipping and no shortage of funds heading to the most unscrupulous of folks, it's a known and widely accepted fact that a handful of citizens from an officially allied or neutral nation can, on their own power, bring war to your doorstep. It's just like the wacky guy down the street - the principle is the same, the only difference is in degrees.
The thing that's interesting is that in terms of motivation, intent and means to an end, the brazen neighbor bears a strikingly similar resemblance to a faction still prevalent in our house, but far from mainstream.
Back in 2001, "The West Wing" got the analogy about terrorism right in a one-off episode called "Isaac and Ishmael" - the United States is at war with the militarized, Muslim form of the Ku Klux Klan.
It's certainly interesting that people have taken this long to figure it out, but radical (insert ideology here) isn't that hard to fight once you stop thinking in abstractions and instead start putting names of ideas you know and understand in places of ones you don't. Both the Klan and Al Qaeda/the Taliban/Islamic Jihad/Hamas/Jihadist group XYZ follow a nearly cookie cutter pattern of social factors and group ethos which makes dealing with them as much a public relations endeavor as a combative one.
The similarities between the Klan and Muslim extremist groups are striking. Both promote an extremely conservative, narrow interpretation of their religious texts, racial and religious supremacy and foster an unbridled hatred for the groups deemed inherently sinful and blasphemous to their god. They tirelessly advocate a pure, untainted society basking in the divine glow of their deity of choice; they propagate violence to affect those ends (lynching, anyone?).
Now sounds about the right time to pick up that residential block analogy I left you with last week.
With modern travel, trans-oceanic shipping and no shortage of funds heading to the most unscrupulous of folks, it's a known and widely accepted fact that a handful of citizens from an officially allied or neutral nation can, on their own power, bring war to your doorstep. It's just like the wacky guy down the street - the principle is the same, the only difference is in degrees.
The thing that's interesting is that in terms of motivation, intent and means to an end, the brazen neighbor bears a strikingly similar resemblance to a faction still prevalent in our house, but far from mainstream.
Back in 2001, "The West Wing" got the analogy about terrorism right in a one-off episode called "Isaac and Ishmael" - the United States is at war with the militarized, Muslim form of the Ku Klux Klan.
It's certainly interesting that people have taken this long to figure it out, but radical (insert ideology here) isn't that hard to fight once you stop thinking in abstractions and instead start putting names of ideas you know and understand in places of ones you don't. Both the Klan and Al Qaeda/the Taliban/Islamic Jihad/Hamas/Jihadist group XYZ follow a nearly cookie cutter pattern of social factors and group ethos which makes dealing with them as much a public relations endeavor as a combative one.
The similarities between the Klan and Muslim extremist groups are striking. Both promote an extremely conservative, narrow interpretation of their religious texts, racial and religious supremacy and foster an unbridled hatred for the groups deemed inherently sinful and blasphemous to their god. They tirelessly advocate a pure, untainted society basking in the divine glow of their deity of choice; they propagate violence to affect those ends (lynching, anyone?).
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