Say Anything Blog

by Vasko Kohlmayer

The dramatic events of the last few years have made it plain that the West is in a fight for its life. The terrorist attacks on New York, Washington, Madrid and London have demonstrated with ample clarity the enemy’s commitment to his stated goal of our destruction. The situation could not indeed be more dire, since never before have we faced a foe so dogged and fanatical. Whether we want to admit it or not we are in a war to the death, for the enemy will not relent until he either accomplishes his objective or is himself destroyed in the effort. Given the stakes, it is vitally important that we understand who this enemy is, because only then we’ll be in a position to formulate an effective strategy for the struggle ahead.

Contrary to all appearances, radical Islam—that militant form of Islamic fundamentalism—is not a religious movement. That this is generally not recognized is not surprising given the movement’s exploitation of religious rhetoric and symbols. But a closer look at its modus operandi shows that it is virtually indistinguishable from that of fascism and communism. The striking similarities should alert us to the fact that radical Islam is at bottom a political ideology along the lines of the great totalitarian ideologies of the past.

Like communism and fascism, radical Islam is intrinsically utopian in that it offers itself as the answer to all great problems of man. This feat is to be accomplished by eliminating the root cause from which all human trouble ultimately derives—the lack of true faith. The solution, then, is the conversion of peoples to Islam and the subsequent conforming of their conduct to Shari’a, a God-inspired body of law.

Since Shari’a is the expression of God’s perfect will, societies where it reigns supreme must inevitably experience prosperity, justice and righteousness. Thus in a way, Islamists promise to deliver a kind of paradise on earth. This ambition they share with fascists and communists who also proposed radical measures to stamp out that which they believed was the source of mankind’s all ills. To communists it was social class and private property and to fascists Jews and racial degradation. Doing away with these, they argued, would once and for all set things aright.

Like fascism and communism, Islamic fundamentalism fails to deliver when put into practice. Instead of achieving prosperity and harmony, all Shari’a-dominated societies invariably experience poverty, backwardness, and corruption.

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It is vitally important for us to realize that we are facing exactly the same threat we faced in WWII, and that it needs to be dealt with in the same way.