Inflating the Threat of Radical Islam

[Michael Tee]

<<If ten percent of the worlds Catholics believed that blowing up abortion clinics was justified, you people would be calling for every Catholic church to be abolished from this country.>>

Ridiculous.

[gipper]

It is at least potentially the most pressing issue facing our nation. The risk of unfavorable alignments or actual threats coming to fruit is heightened by the degree of harm that could be caused. A rogue Pakistan, for example, is many foreign-affairs specialists' nightmare. Define it as you will as to importance -- leaving present strategy and tactics out of the mix -- and I suggest you have a Number One priority.

[Richpo64]

>>Yet, is this priority #1? I hardly think so.<<

If 70 million people who want to cut your throat isn't a priority, what is?

[Michael Tee]

If they were REALLY concerned about "70 million people wanting to slit their throats," they'd start re-evaluating their foreign policy, particularly as it relates to te 40-year military occupation of the West Bank and the gradual ethnic cleansing occurring there, which has to account for a very large part of the Arab world's hostility to the U.S.A.

[Universe Prince]

Let's round this number off, if you don't mind. I had always heard it was ten percent anyway.

10 percent of 1 billion is ... 100 million.

Just out of curiosity, where did the number one billion come from?

[Universe Prince]

The bywords should be vigilance, respect, but unmitigating pressure on the bad guys in concert with moderate Islam, all the time using the "right tools."

The question then arises, what are the right tools? I think we need to reevaluate our aggressive foreign policy because that is evidently not one of the right tools. But that is only part of a solution. What else should be done?

[Amianthus]

Just out of curiosity, where did the number one billion come from?

Roughly 20% of the world's population is Muslim.

http://www.islamicpopulation.com/

[Universe Prince]

Ah. Thanks, Amianthus.