Monday, January 21, 2008
This is just a quick link to follow -- an "aside." These are links to interesting things that, for one reason or another, I didn't place into a full posting. Click the link to visit the full article. Go to the blog index for a regular listing of posts.
Melvin E. Lee: The Fallacy of Grievance-based Terrorism - 'The fundamental premise of much scholarly examination and public discourse is that grievances with U.S. policies in the Middle East motivate Islamist terrorism. Such assumptions, though, misunderstand the enemy and its nature. In reality, the conflict is sparked not by grievance but rather by incompatibility between Islamist ideology and the natural rights articulated during the European Enlightenment and incorporated into U.S. political culture. Acquiescing to political grievances will not alter the fundamental incompatibility between Lockean precepts of tolerance and current interpretations of Islam: Only Islam's fundamental reform will resolve the conflict...'
Captain Lee,
Sir, your article, The Fallacy of Grievance-based Terrorism, is absolutely tremendous. Outstanding. A benchmark. It provides the reader a thoroughly researched historical and religious context that other authors have merely scratched the surface of in their combined works. Your article should be required reading for all, but particularly the current generation of American political leadership. Towards this goal I wish to reprint it in full, with full attribution to yourself and MEQ, on both the Northeast Intelligence Website and our blog for further reader comment. Bravo Zulu!