WW II Germans refused to follow Hitler's persistent order to burn Paris. Today’s radical Islamists flagrantly torch the city.
“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”– Sir Winston Churchill
In March 2004, Al Qaeda terrorists bombed early morning rush hour trains in Madrid. Occurring just 72 hours before the start of Spain’s general election, the massacre achieved its intended result: the toppling of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar’s government, which had supported the United States in the Iraq war. He was supplanted by a socialist who immediately made good his promise to withdraw troops from the coalition forces.
Today’s crocodile feeder is French President Jacques Chirac. While reaching too far into its mouth with the delicacies of appeasement, his arm appears to have been bitten off.
Ever-smug as he previously compared the “more humane, less racist” French to American scoundrels, Chirac is now confronting a second week of vicious riots outside Paris. Failing to integrate its immigrant community, France is faced with marauding gangs of Muslim youths on a rampage; shooting at police and firefighters. Thousands of cars have been torched, schools and a post office set ablaze, as terror reigns in the streets of the Muslim suburbs. Both the United States and Russia have warned their citizens to avoid the urbane French Capitol.
Erring badly in placating the French Islamic community, Chirac's opposition to the Iraq war appeared largely founded in fear of Muslim reaction. His habitual criticism of both the United States and Israel has the same root cause. He should understand that governing from a position of trepidation is a losing proposition.
Assimilation has not occurred in these impoverished and crime-ridden quarters. Led by mostly foreign radical clerics, the approximately five million Muslims are showing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Inflamed against western lifestyles in their mosques, fundamentalist Islamic teachings further intensify the social, economic and racial complexities that drive the violence. France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe.
Generational joblessness and welfare dependency undergirds the discontent, with unemployment at a staggering 30 percent in the Muslim sectors where the riots began two weeks ago. Rioting has now spread to nearly 300 French towns and neighboring Belgium.
Unless bold steps are taken to overt similar eruptions, other Western European nations have little hope of avoiding the devastation facing France. Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands are also confronting growing Muslim populations. Turkey is now predominantly Muslim.
A major component of immigration must include assimilation and a common language. Cultural clashes do not bond people to their adopted country. And, unchecked immigration without adequate employment to support the influx is a recipe for disaster. The question to ask is, “How much immigration is enough?”
In a post 9/11 world, we Americans should be keenly aware of the dangers posed to our way of life by followers of Islam. We have yet to hear repudiation of violence from the hierarchy of the faith. Yet, the “religion of peace” spew continues from high ranking administration officials, beginning with President Bush, who often sings the praises of Islam. Recently, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke at a dinner marking the end of Ramadan. Calling Islam a “Religion of love and peace,” she enthused, “We in America know the benevolence that is at the heart of Islam. We’ve seen it in many ways.”
Regrettably, that is undeniably true. Such “love, peace and benevolence” was clearly evident as faithful adherents of the “religion of peace” commandeered commercial airliners, flew them into the World Trade Center and attempted to target the Pentagon. The needless deaths of 3000 American citizens on a clear autumn morning should serve as a potent reminder. The actions of nineteen loving, peaceful Muslims turning buildings into infernos on a quest for virgins in the hereafter, speaks more clearly than any words uttered by the delusional Secretary Rice.
When crocodiles are trolling the murky waters, people of logic and reason must recognize the disastrous results of appeasement. Such vacuous attempts never triumphed in the past and offer no hope for the future. It is time to acknowledge that western civilization is in peril and the “religion of peace” has shown itself to be our adversary.
Carol Turoff is a former two-term member of the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. During her eight years on the commission, she participated in the selection of four of the five current Arizona Supreme Court Justices as well as 17 judges on both Division I and II of the Arizona Court of Appeals. Appointed by two governors, Turoff served with three chairing Supreme Court Justices.
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