World War III – We Are Fighting It Now!

World War III – We Are Fighting It Now!

© David Burton 2014

Know your Enemy The Enemy
 

     We fought two devastating world wars in the 20th century. Most believe that we have now made it more than one decade into the 21st century without the outbreak of World War III. But I contend that we are fighting World War III – and we fighting it now! In fact, we have been fighting World War III since the previous century. We here in America, along with rest of the world, are locked in a brutal and deadly war with radical fundamentalist Islam! We won’t admit it because we don’t want to face the truth. We won’t admit the truth that we have been repeatedly attacked in dastardly fashion by the dark and sinister force of jihadist Islam. We won’t admit that we are at war because our mortal enemy, radical Islam, is not a single nation or a group of nations – it is a religious cult with no national base, no capital city and no single geographical location where its center of power resides. We won’t admit that we are at war because the war thrust upon us by the religious zealots of Islam is like no war in which we have been previously engaged. We may not recognize that we are war, but make no mistake, we have been attacked, we are being attacked and we will continue to be attacked until we wake up and decide to fight and destroy once-and-for-all the forces that are attacking America and the rest of the world.

     In December of 2005, I wrote: “The United States has been at war for over thirty years. Over that period of time American service men and women, along with U.S. civilians have been repeatedly attacked by Muslim fanatics or, as I prefer to call them, Islamofascists. These Islamic fundamentalists are indeed the modern-day fascists. Their objective is world conquest and the imposition of their version of Islam on all humanity. They ruthlessly murder Americans, non-Muslims and those fellow co-religionists who do not follow their version of Islam.
     “Are we really at war? You need to be blind to think that we are not. America, look at the facts.” (Ref. 1)

     I then proceeded to list more than 160 attacks on Americans and America that were perpetrated between 1970 and 2005. The number of attacks committed against other citizens of the world over that period of time and the number of attacks committed since 2005 is countless. The number of deaths and injuries at the hands of Islamic radicals is now well into millions. No region of the world is immune to the attacks of the jihadists. They are waging a world war – World War III!

     A more recent compilation of attacks on the west lists over 200 such attacks that have occurred between 1968 and 2012. Not included in this listing are: Islamic attacks on Israel, India, and the former Soviet Union; attacks by Muslims on Muslims inside the West; the vast number of failed plots; many minor attacks; Islamic attacks on Western bases, people, embassies, etc., if those attacks take place outside the West; hijacks that started outside the West; the large number of honor killings that have taken place in the West; all Islamic domestic violence; the immense amount of Islamic violence outside the West, that has killed millions from 1968 to 2012. In other words, Islamic violence is much greater than it appears from the number of attacks listed above. (Ref. 2)

     This war is not limited to far-way countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria or Israel. The objectives of the Islamic extremists are not limited to the middle-east region of the globe or simply to the destruction of Israel. Their goal has been clearly delineated – it is the subjugation of the entire world to their concept of Islam. They want to establish a global caliphate under the most rigorous and brutal interpretations of Shari’a law – stoning, beheading, flogging, and other extreme measures being accepted means of punishing the non-believers.

     What is meant by a “global caliphate”? A worldwide or global caliphate refers to the actions by "Islamic extremists" as part of an effort to overthrow all political systems in favor of a single theocratic one-world government, i.e., no freedom of religion. Islam or else! According to Islamic extremists, all Muslims should unite in a caliphate to ultimately conquer the non-Islamic world. A worldwide caliphate is central to the goals of radical Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are waging an uncompromising war to achieve a global political order in which all humankind will live under Muslim rule as either believers or as subject communities - effectively as slaves. They believe that all free, male, adult Muslims must engage in struggle to achieve this end. This is their interpretation of “jihad”. Consequently, all parts of the world that have not yet been conquered by Islam are to be involved in permanent conflict which will only end with Islam's eventual triumph. This “permanent conflict” is today’s World War III – it is being fought now and throughout the world.

     To most people, war simply means armed conflict between two or more nations. Such definition is too constricted with respect to the ongoing struggle between the Islamic extremists and the rest of the world. One must think, not in terms of past, narrow definitions, but in terms of a much broader definition of war. Islamic fundamentalists have been doing this since the time of Mohammed – it’s long past the time when the modern non-Islamic world understands this fact and comes to its senses before it’s too late. The time for global mobilization in this war is now. The enemy is ruthless and merciless. To the enemy, there are no innocent civilians, no non-combatants. If one does not submit to Islam and Shari’a law, the jihadist believes he has the God-given right, and even obligation, to kill or enslave the non-believer.

     America has been fighting the Islamic militants even before the attack on U.S. Soil that occurred on September 11, 2001. It was sometimes called the "War on Terror" or really the "War on Militant Islam." This war has been fought against Islamic fundamentalists who “all adhere to an ideology we have come to know as militant Islam, a minority outgrowth of the faith that exudes a bitter hatred for Western ideas, including capitalism, individualism, and consumerism. It rejects the West and much that it has to offer (with the exception of weapons, medicines, and other useful technologies) seeking instead to implement a strict interpretation of the Koran . . . and shari'a (Islamic law). America, as radical Muslims see it, is the primary impediment to building an Islamic world order.
     “Accordingly, militant Islam directs its venom towards America and the West. . . .” (Ref. 3)

     It can be argued that the Third World War actually began in Egypt in 1928 with the establishment of the radical Islamic organization, the Muslim Brotherhood. ” This organization became the cornerstone for most of today's Islamist movements.” (Ref. 3)

     Another stage in the radical Islamic war against the west occurred in 1969 when Mu'ammar Qaddaffi came to power in Libya. Qaddaffi financed various terror operations against what he perceived to be an imperialist West and arguably became one of the largest financiers of militant Islamic terror.

     Perhaps America's first introduction into World War III came in 1979, “when Islamic extremists seized the U.S. embassy in the Iranian capital of Tehran. For 444 days, the militants held 52 Americans hostage. After a botched helicopter rescue attempt, America agreed to release nearly $8 billion in Iranian assets to free the hostages. . . .” (Ref. 3)

     While many Americans felt the nightmare had ended, in fact, it was only beginning. For many years, Lebanon had been the scene of a bloody civil war between Christians and Muslims.

     “When American soldiers arrived in Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission, militant Islam struck again. There were two deadly attacks against Americans in 1983. The first was the April 18 bombing of the American embassy in Beirut. Six months later came a suicide attack on the U.S. Marine barracks on October 23 that killed 241.
     “The suicide attack was America's first experience with this kind of terror. In time, it was learned that the attack was sanctioned by an Iranian-backed guerrilla movement called Hizbullah (Party of God).” (Ref. 3)

     America’s involvement in the war against Islamic terror, what I refer to as World War III, has been ongoing ever since. And, this war has spread to just about every other part of the globe – the Philippines, Russia, China, Africa, England, Spain, Yemen, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, etc. etc., etc.

     With the 9/11 attack in America in 2001, many people concluded that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were our enemies and that once they were defeated, the war with Islamic terrorism would end. They were sadly mistaken. In reality, the war was and is with global Islamic radicalism. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were only part of the global Jihadist army waging World War III.

     The objectives of the global jihadists, as delineated by the “goals of al-Qaeda, are three-pronged. First, the organization seeks to overthrow what it sees as the corrupt and heretical governments of today's Muslim states, specifically bin Laden's home country, Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden sees the Saudi regime {as} American lackeys, .... Accordingly, al-Qaeda views the U.S. as the primary enemy of Islam, and seeks to destroy it.
     “Finally, al-Qaeda seeks to bolster the efforts of jihad groups throughout the world. . . .” (Ref. 3)

     Those who think only in terms of the outdated concept of war, focus on the great powers of the world and the potential conflicts that can lead to their definition of World War III. For example, we read the following: “If the next world war is to happen, it will most likely be in Asia and feature a clash between the incumbent hegemon, the United States, and the principal challenger, China. The good news is China does not want war now and in the foreseeable future, primarily because Beijing knows too well that the odds are not on its side. But if we look ahead 20 years from now, in 2034, the circumstances will have shifted significantly.” (Ref. 4)

     One aspect of this World War III (which I contend is now in progress) that is extremely unsettling is the jihadists' total disregard for the “civilized rules of war”, which most civilized nations tend to honor to some degree. Islamic militants honor no such concepts. There are no protected innocents to them. Mutual destruction is not of great concern to them – martyrdom and Armageddon are entirely acceptable. While “civilized” nations in the past have refrained from the use of poison gas and, to some degree, treated prisoners of war humanely, Islamic extremists do not do the same. They would have no compunction in the use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Syrian use of poison gas is a prime example. Iran pursuing nuclear weapons and threatening to wipe out Israel is another. ISIS forces executing prisoners in Iraq and Syria and Lebanon is still one more example.

     America and the world face some difficult decisions in order to win the Third World War. First and foremost, we must admit that we are engaged in a global war against the forces of fundamentalist Islamic terror. Militant Islam has strongholds throughout the world. The main challenge will be to find ways to destroy “the radical infrastructure and arrest or kill militants while simultaneously bolstering the influence of moderate Muslims. …
     “. . . The roots of militant Islam run deep and {will} take many years to eradicate.” (Ref. 3)

     The world must understand that this is a struggle against a radical, vicious ideology whose adherents who carry out violence in its name. It is unlike any other world war that has been fought. But, it is a world war! Defeat mean would mean the end the world as we have come to know it. Defeat would mean a retreat to the dark ages.

     So, if we are indeed fighting World War III and that war is against Islamic extremists, what about those Muslims that are not extremists? Consider the following:

     “My name is Bosch and I’m a recovering Muslim.
     “That is, if Muslims don’t kill me for leaving Islam, which it requires them to do. . . . But fortunately for us, Islam hasn’t been able to make every Muslim its slave, just as Nazism wasn’t able to turn every German into a Nazi. So there is Islam and there are Muslims. Muslims who take Islam seriously are at war with us and Muslims who don’t aren’t.
     “But that doesn’t mean we should consider these reluctant Muslims allies against Jihad. I’ve been around Muslims my entire life and most of them truly don’t care about Islam. The problem I have with many of these essentially non-Muslim Muslims, especially in the middle of this war being waged on us by their more consistent co-religionists, is that they give the enemy cover. They force us to play a game of Muslim Roulette since we can’t tell which Muslim is going to blow himself up until he does. And their indifference about the evil being committed in the name of their religion is a big reason why their reputation is where it is.
     “So while I understand that most Muslims are not at war with us, they’ve proven in their silence and inaction against jihad that they’re not on our side either . . . We just have to finally accept it and stop expecting them to come around, while doing our best to kill those who are trying to kill us.
      - - -
     “. . . There is nothing in Islam that stays the hand of Muslims who want to kill non-Muslims. If an individual Muslim is personally peaceful, it’s not because of Islam, it’s because of his individual choice, which is why I often say that your average Muslim is morally superior to Mohammad, to their own religion. The very rare Muslim who helps us against Jihad is acting against his religion . . .
      - - -
     “The Muslim world is where the true meaning of Islam can be found in practice. Islam – not any alleged deviant form of it – means misogyny, censorship, anti-Semitism, homophobia, wife-beatings, beheadings, honor killings, pedophilia/’child marriages’, murdering infidels, etc. This is evil, and Islam sanctions every bit of it, but we’ve been told that we must respect ‘one of the world’s great religions’ because it’s a religion. But 9/11 {came} from a religion. Whatever else 9/11 was, it was an act of faith.
      - - -
     “. . . Honesty is the best policy in general, and when it comes to war, it’s a moral imperative to find out the truth, to tell the truth and to act on the truth, no matter what sacred cow is killed in the process. And so a big part of why nearly 3,000 victims of jihad on 9/11 haven’t been avenged is because of respect for religion, even for a religion that calls for our destruction.
     “Muslims who really care about Islam are part of an organized effort to spread Islam, and I sometimes refer to this collective effort by Muslims as ‘Organized Islam.’ No matter the means involved, Muslims working towards a more Islamic world want the same thing the jihadists want. This organized effort includes Mosques, Muslim organizations, Muslim individuals writing books, blog posts, etc. And they all invariably engage in anti-Western, Anti-Israeli propaganda, at the very least.
     “I often hear that we should be working with the Muslim world. Working towards what? As Ayn Rand writes, ‘In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins.’ Any time we spend ‘working’ with a culture that calls for our destruction, we are working towards our own destruction, consciously or not.
     “While it’s true that jihadists don’t represent most Muslims, they do represent Islam. . . .
     “And while Muslims who blow themselves up in order to kill non-Muslims are a small minority, Muslims who would explicitly condemn them are an even smaller minority. And while I think that Muslims are mere sheep to their Jihadist wolves, there are also too many Muslim cheerleaders for jihad. . . .
     “Though we say we’ve been at war for over ten years, we haven’t even begun to fight the war the way we should be fighting it. And those calling for a change within Islam during this war would be surprised at how much Islam can be changed through an honest war on our behalf. You can’t make a violent religion like Islam non-violent by argument, only by greater retaliatory force against state sponsors of jihad terrorism. [emphasis mine]
      - - -
     “We can’t be both for Islam and for ourselves. This enemy is fully on their own side and fully against us and they’ve made themselves believe that they’re the good guys and that we’re the bad guys, and our actions have done nothing but turn their hatred of us into an ever-deepening contempt. Before we see the enemy for what it is, we need to see ourselves for what we are. Only then can we, with full moral conviction, make them pay for what they’ve done and move us towards victory.
      - - -
     “Our altruistic concern for the future and well being of the Muslim world has come at the expense of American lives and treasure. We’ve placed the well being of 'The Muslim World' above our own self-defense. We’ve placed today’s Big Lie, ‘Islam means peace’, above the truth we need to act on. We’ve placed the lives of Muslim civilians above the lives of our soldiers, placing them in absolutely unnecessary danger in order to protect innocent (or even guilty) civilians. Our Rules of Engagement might as well be renamed the Golden Rules of Engagement, as our soldiers have been forced to treat the enemy the way we’d like to be treated. And the enemy takes full advantage of that, as they do of all of the policies our morally vain politicians have concocted. We need to shift the focus onto our own well-being at the enemy’s expense for a change.
     “We’ve tried everything since 9/11 except real war. War is the answer to Jihad. [emphasis mine]
     “So who cares about Islam? Muslims, Jihadists, Islamophiles, Leftists who naturally side with anti-American ideologies, guilt-ridden fellow travelers who think America is usually in the wrong, and religionists who believe any religion is better than none. But since Leftists and Islamophiles usually know very little about Islam, who truly cares about Islam? Those who are at war with us.
     “In the end, I care about Islam and the Muslim world as much as the Muslim world cares about America and the West. This is war. We can’t be on both sides. I’m not rooting for Islam or the Muslim world.” [emphasis mine] (Ref. 5)

     So, let me repeat what I said at the beginning of this article. We are fighting World War III – and we fighting it now! We here in America, along with rest of the world, are locked in a brutal and deadly war with radical fundamentalist Islam! This is a war that we must win. And the sooner we commit to winning this war the better everyone - Muslin and non-Muslim - will be!
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References:

  1. When will America realize that we are at war?, David Burton, sonofeliyahu.com, 11 December 2005.
  2. Islamic terror attacks on the West, Mark Humphrys, MarkHumphrys.com, accessed 6 August 2014.
  3. At War With Whom?- A short history of radical Islam, Jonathan Schanzer, Middle East Forum, Spring 2002.
  4. Imagining World War III -- In 2034, Artyom Lukin, The World Post, 4 August 2014.
  5. Non-Muslim Muslims and the Jihad Against the West, Bosch Fawstin, frontpagemag.com, 2 December 2011.

 

  8 August 2014 {Article 198; Islam_14}    
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