tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33424426.post8675463020275984623..comments2023-09-01T07:04:13.381-07:00Comments on Reflections on Faith and Culture: I have to share this . . .Gil Bailiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04481878663941134090noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33424426.post-19212690847357036882010-02-11T20:50:22.424-08:002010-02-11T20:50:22.424-08:00Ahh! And today Shaun Waterman of the Washington T...Ahh! And today Shaun Waterman of the Washington Times reports as much: <i>"Patrick Poole, a counterterrorism consultant to government and law enforcement agencies, said the documents reveal a "culture of willful blindness that continues to grow" within senior levels of government.<br /><br />"For our military, intelligence, and homeland security agencies to continue to ignore the short- and long-term strategic threat from jihadist groups, and the radical Islamic ideology that fuels them, is nothing less than a dereliction of duty," Mr. Poole said."</i><br /><br />and<br /><br /><i>"A U.S. military report produced in 2008 by a special unit of the U.S. Central Command criticized the federal government for not properly identifying the nature of the Islamist terrorist threat.<br /><br />"We must reject the notion that Islam and Arabic stand apart as bodies of knowledge that cannot be critiqued or discussed as elements of understanding our enemies in this conflict," said the internal report by the Centcom "Red Team," a unit that provides contrarian views for the combatant commander.<br /><br />"The fact is our enemies cite the source of Islam as the foundation for their global jihad," the report said. "We are left with the responsibility of portraying our enemies in an honest and accurate fashion." "</i><br /><br /><a rel="nofollow">http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/12/violent-extremists-but-not-islamists/</a>Mike O'Malleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03786963522098086259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33424426.post-38416115754161806342010-02-11T20:38:35.376-08:002010-02-11T20:38:35.376-08:00Thank you Gil. IMHO Robert Spenser does excellent ...Thank you Gil. IMHO Robert Spenser does excellent work and yes Groundhog's Day comes every day.<br /><br />Over at The Religion of Peace . com : <a rel="nofollow">http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/</a> the current report for this Groundhog's Day "2010.02.11 (Cotabato, Philippines) - Muslim extremists shoot a man to death as he is riding a motorbike to work.<br />2010.02.11 (Bannu, Pakistan) - Fifteen innocents are blown to bits in a double bombing by Islamic militants."<br /><br />Just last Tuesdays 2/9/10 Bill Gertz of the Washington Times reported:<br /><br /><i>"Almost two years before the deadly Fort Hood shooting by a radicalized Muslim officer, the U.S. Army was explicitly warned that jihadism — Islamic holy war — was a serious problem and threat to personnel in the U.S., according to participants at a major Army-sponsored conference."</i> and that those timely warnings were ignored at the cost of 13 lives. <br /><br /><a rel="nofollow">http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/09/army-warned-about-jihadist-threat-in-08/?feat=article_top10_read</a><br /><br />Sadly, at times this all but ubiquitous refusal to admit the reality of Jihad seems as willful as it is without doubt pathological. :-(Mike O'Malleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03786963522098086259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33424426.post-39481504203255004752010-02-02T09:57:03.655-08:002010-02-02T09:57:03.655-08:00Gil, it is true that this sort of thing has happen...Gil, it is true that this sort of thing has happened whether exactly like you predict here or similar enough to be sad and horrible. And we should condemn the sinful and damaging actions. But it seems to appear not in keeping with good ethics to project sin and damaging acts on another person or persons, condemning them for those acts when they haven't done them yet.<br /><br />Better, I think, to recount the horror they have done, and there is plenty to recount, and ask questions like this: Hasn't it become groundhog day every day? Shouldn't we do more to prevent it and also be more prepared for the next time which certainly may come, and come again, and again? <br /><br />You are an upright man. You could make the same point you made in your post without getting into the ethical --and moral-- broccoli.Robert Mooneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13043865704815295594noreply@blogger.com