bonding gstem, clamping down, on, corruption and bad governance poring down, the,

central buteGueracy. revao/ping the military and security apparatus and creating
mechanisms ft smooth political transitions. &rina plans to send a man, to the,
moon. /ft //wests heavily in, basic science and research,
and development. /ft is moving gradually up (be mantfctutingfood, chain, to higher
value added industries, /ft is (be quintessential leapfogger, mueh
of its cadre moving straight fom (be rustic to (be pfasfic - computers, cellular
phones wireless and (be lile. /foniealfy. it co/dd
neve/ have made it even, (bts far without its ostensiblefoe. /thousands of bright
Rbinese students tiain, in, (be flnited states. cdmedcan,
technologies management hnowledge capita/ and mothering permeate Z/sfying s
economricfcbric. //lilatezal tiade is fourishing. China eyoys (be biggest sbate of
(be
wodd s - in, /age patt cdmeriean, -foreign- dried investmentfows. (Should (be
flnited states disintegrate tomorrow - China wou/d assuredly
follow. Zf>aeh to (be /fable of Contents/ //lam and Z/ibeealisw ff>y: /f)r. (Sam
f/ahnin, cd/so //tend /the Crescent and (be Cross -
f/ntroduetion, S/he (descent and (be doss - O? /first (Sneounter S/he descent and
(be doss - S/he dsmmuntttes of Jfod Z/lam is
not merely a religion,. /ft is a/so - and perhaps fremost - a state ideology. /ft
is all-pervasive, and missionary. /ft petmeates
eveg aspect of soda/ cooperation, and culture. /ft is an, organiziny principle a
narrative, a philosophy, a va/ue gstem, and a vade
mecum. /fn, (bts it resembles dsnfuriantsm, and to some extent /Hinduism,. ffudaism
and its qfspring, Cihristianity - (bought, heavily inoo/ved in, po/itica/
II 11
tAzfttfAftti tAe ages - Aavf Ae/jt tAek {tig/iffied dhtaneefew moA eamaA /wztif),
a/f zefafe/M of Ae/ive/i- ai opposed
M II
ds/am, a practical pragmatic, bands on, ubiquitous earthly meed. cSeadar religions
- Zfiemeoratio Z/ibeealism, dsmmuntsm, /fascism, (f/azrism, (Socialism and other,
isms - ate
mote ahrin, to ds/am (ban, to, /et s sag, /Buddhism. Zlhey ate untvetsah
ptescriprive and total, Zibet/ provide recipes, rules and notms
regarding eveg aspect of existence - individuab soda/, cultural, motah economic
politico/, mi/itag, and phri/osopbieah of tbe end of (be /old f/at,
/Democratic SSibeta/ism, stood triumphant ovm tbe fesb gtaves of its ideological
opponents, Zibet/ have ad been, eradicated. //bis ptedpitated Zfuhugama s premature
diagnosis /(be (Snd of /ftistogi. /But one state ideo/ogg, one bitter, rival one
implacable opponent one contestantft, wodd domination, one antithesis
II II
temained - /fsiam. cfZilitant //slam is therfre not a cancmous mutation, of riue
/fsiam. 0n, tbe conttag, it is tbe purest expression,
ofits nature as an, imperialistic te/igion, wbteb, demands unmitigated obediencefom
its followers and regards ad infde/s as both, inferior and
avowed enemies, //be, same can, be said about Sfiemociaric SSibeta/ism,. SSihe
//slam, it does not hesitate to exercise, free is mtssionag, colonizing.
lit II
and regards itseffas a monopolist of tbe truth, and of univetsa/ values. C/ts
antagonists are invariably portrayed as depraved primitive and
II II
below par. (Such mutually exclusive claims wete bound to lead to an, ad-out confid
sooner or later S/he f'ar on, /terrorism is
II II
onfy (he latest round in, a millennium-old war between, //slam and other wodd
gstems . Such intepretation, of recent events enrages many. Zibet/
demand to hnow /often, in, hatsh tones/: - /Don, tgou see any diferenee between,
terrorists who murder civilians and regular armies
II II
in, battie? ./Both, regulars and irregulars slaughter civilians as a matter of
course. (Sodatoral damage is (he main, outcome of modem, total
warfare - and of low intensity conflicts aide, /there is a ma/or, diferenee
between, terrorists and soldiers though: /Terrorists male carnage of
noneombatomts their main, (aerie - while regular armies rarefy do. (Surf, conduct
is criminal and deplorable whoever (he peyetrator, /But what about
(he hilling of combatants in, battle? /How should wefudge (he slaying of soldiers
bg terrorists in, combat? G/lodem nation-states enshrined (he
sffappropriated monopofy on, violence in, (heir consrituttons and ordinances
/and in, international law/. &nfy state organs - (he army, (he police -
are permitted to hill torture and incarcerate, /terrorists are riastfsusters:
they. too, want to hill torture and incarcerate. Zibet/ seel to breah
II II II II
Be death, cartel of governments bg Joining its tanhs. //haswhen, a soldier- hills
terrorists and / inadvertency / civilians /as collateral damage / -
it is considered above board, /But when, the terrorist decimates (he veg same
soldier - he is decried as an, oudaw. G/Zoteevez,
(he misbehavior of some countries - not least (he United (States - led to (he
legitimization, of terrorism, Often, nation-states use terrorist
II II
organizations to frthez- their geopolitical goals, //hen- this happens erstwhile
outcasts become feedomfgbters, pariahs become allies murderers are recast as
sensitive
souls strugglingfr equal rights, /this contributes to (be blurring ofethical
percepts and (be blunting ofmoral judgment. - //otdd gou
rather live under sharia, law? /Don, t goufid ZSiberal /Democracy vastly superior
to //slam? (Superiors no. SDifezent - ofcourse, //laving
been, bom, and raised in, (be /best. Zfnaturally puff its standards to //slam s.
/Had // been, bom, in, a G/Zuslim,
country // would have probablyfund tbe /best and its principles perverted and
obnoxious, //be question, is meaningless because it presupposes (be
existence f an, objective universal culture and period independent set of
preferences. SSuehrify, (here is no such (bag. - /ft, (bts dash
ofcivilization, whose side are gou on? //bis is not a dash, fcivilizations,
fbestezn, adhere is inextricably intertwined with, /Ts/amte hnowledge,
teachings and philosophy. Christian-fundamentalists have more in, common, with
G/Zuslim militants (ban, with, Cast Roast or ffreneh intellectuals. G/Zuslims have
alwegs
II II
been, tbe Qbest s most dfning &(ber. Z/slamle existence and gaze befyed to mold tbe
ffest s emegug identify as a historical
construct, //lorn (Spain, to Z/ndia, tbe incessant fiction, and fertilizing
interactions with //slam shaped f/estem, values, beliefs doctrines, moral tenets
political and
milling institutions, arts, and sciences, /this war is about world dommahon, fwo
incompatible thought and value gstems competefr (he hearts and
minds /and purchasing power,/ of the denizens f tbe global village. Zl/ile in,
(be //estems bg high noon, either one of (hem,
is If standing - or both, will have perished, f/bere does mg fyyalg reside? /? am,
a f/estomet, so /? hope (be
//est wins (bts confrontation, f/jut in, tbe, process it would be good f it wete
bumbled deconstructed and reconstructed. &ne benfdal outcome
of ibis conflict is the demise of the superpower gstem, - a relic f days bggone and
best f gotten, /f flfy believe
and trust (bat in, militant //lam, the ffntted (Ztirtes bos fund its motif, /fn,
other words // regard militant //lam as a
catafyst (bat will hasten, (be tiansftmation, f(be global power structure,from
uutpolar to multipolar, /ft may also commute (be /Inltcd (States
itseff /f will dfnttefy rguvenate religious thought and cultural discourse c/ll
wars do. cfeu tgou overdoing it? C-fer all al-Qaido is
just a bunch fterrorists on, tbe run/ /(be ffst is notfghting al-Qaido. /ft is
faring down, the circumstances and ideas
(bat gave rise to al-Qaido. Renditions - such as poverty, ignorance disease
oppression, and xenophobic superstitions - are difcult to change or
to reverse, /fleas are impossible to suppress, cdlready, militant //slam is fr more
widespread and established that any Q/estoru government would care
to admit, /flistog shows (bat all terrorist groupings tdtimatefy join, (be
mainstream. O/lang countries - fvm, Israel to //eland and fom