Humiliation

There have been many suggestions of what we must do to triumph in this war against Islamofascism, ranging from a total war of annihilation to acceding to the demands of the Arab world. In this article from the Asia Times, Spengler proposes another strategy - humiliation.

"Radical Islam has risen against the West in response to its humiliation - intentional or not - at Western hands. The West can break the revolt by inflicting even worse humiliation upon the Islamists, poisoning the confidence of their supporters in the Muslim world."

Spengler goes on to make a point that I would disagree with, namely that the West may withdraw because our populations will be horrified at the scale of the destruction that we may cause - Vietnam being given as an example. Times have changed a lot since that war and many people see this as a war of survival for us, especially given the numerous attacks on the US and its allies, whereas Vietnam was one of choice.

According to Spengler, a small example of the start of the humiliation that the West must impose on Islamists is Bush's support of Sharon's plan to keep the West Bank settlements, and his open rejection of the Palestinian "right of return".

"A host of Western commentators attacked President George W Bush for taking the Israeli side over settlements and the Palestinian right of return, on the grounds that it humiliated the Arab world, and a plethora of Muslim voices bemoan their humiliation at the hands of the United States.

Much, much more is to come. The "rope-a-dope" tactic Dr Mansoor cites can work both ways. Israel offers many things to Washington, including Arab-language translators, intelligence operatives, and tactical expertise in urban search-and-destroy missions. But its transcendent value to American strategy lies not in what it does, but what it is, namely an ever-present source of humiliation to the Muslim sense of self-worth. The price of recalcitrance, Bush has told the Palestinians and indirectly the Arab world at large, is that some part of the Dar al-Islam has fallen to Jewish hands for the indefinite future."

If the West can continue to humiliate the Islamists, their supporters will eventually lose faith in that ideology, and the West will have triumphed. This will require the abandonment of our "political correctness" toward Islam, because if we don't we will never be able to convince our enemies of our determination and their powerlessness.