May 27,
2008: The sharp reduction is Islamic
terrorist violence in Iraq over the last year, is mirrored in other parts of
the world as well. In short, Islamic terrorism is on the decline. You don't get
that impression from the news media. That's because, for competitive reasons,
the news must emphasize negatives, rather than accurate statistics that
revealing positive news. Terrorism is up in Afghanistan, Gaza, Pakistan and
Algeria, which appear to be the four places the remaining Islamic terrorists
are moving to.
The
decline is largely the result of Islamic terrorism killing so many of the
people it purports to protect. This has long been a major problem for Islamic
radicals. Precisely targeted attacks, that only kind that will not anger the
general population, are very difficult to carry out. In the past, some Islamic
terrorist groups have tried to do this, but it proved impossible. In Iraq, al
Qaeda deliberately sought to kill lots of civilians, despite pleas from its
Sunni Arab allies that this was not going to work. It didn't, and when the
Iraqi Sunni Arab terrorists turned on al Qaeda last year, it came as no
surprise to those who were following events carefully.
The
slaughter of so many Moslems (Sunni and Shia) by al Qaeda in Iraq served to
make Islamic terrorism unpopular throughout the Moslem world. While many
Moslems went along with the idea of killing infidels (non-Moslems) and
establishing a world-wide Islamic dictatorship, they were repelled by the
killing of fellow Moslems. Al Qaeda justified this as necessary "involuntary
martyrdom." That never caught on with the general Moslem public.
It's
important to remember that many Moslems are still OK with the concept of
killing infidels for the cause. If a Moslem terrorist group comes up with a way
to do this without killing Moslems, you will see this sort of thing celebrated
throughout the Moslem, especially the Arab, world, just as the September 11,
2001 attacks were.
