Archive for September 12th, 2002

Thought for the Day.

Given that the objective of Al-Qaeda is to start a massive war between Islam and the west, if Al-Qaeda does come into possession of a nuclear weapon, what would be the most valuable use of such a bomb?

Would it be in blowing up New York, another major western city, or Mecca?

Blowing up New York would certainly be a coup, but the at least somewhat heightened security of the U.S might present too much of a risk in smuggling the bomb or its components over here.

Blowing up a European city is probably easier, but from a strategic point of view it might be best to leave the Europeans alone. They don’t appear very likely to join in the WoT in any active sense, and it could be argued that Europe is already well on its way to being conquered.

One of these concludes with a warning about the Muslim fundamentalist groups, which say, “They aim to make France an Islamic Republic by the year 2015,and Britain year 2025 through conversions, immigration and high Muslim birth rates.

What Al-Qaeda expected to happen after 9/11 was that the Muslim world, upon seeing the success of the attack, would rise up as one and join the jihad. Obviously they’ve been disappointed. So what happens if they switch tactics and, instead of trying to rally the Muslim world by means of a famous victory, antagonize it with a horrific atrocity, like a nuclear explosion in Mecca?

Yes, it’s obvious to us that the West would never do such a thing, but we’re not the intended audience. The intended audience are people in the Arab street like those who believe that 4000 Jews didn’t show up for work on 9/11. Frankly, that’s the majority of the Arab street. Al-Qaeda need not say anything at all. The automatic assumption for most followers of Islam would be that we did it.

Update: Tim of When Worlds Collide objects to the link about Muslim demographics because it’s an offshoot from an English white supremacist site. While I was aware of the author’s more regrettable tendencies, I wasn’t really concerned with them, as all I wanted was a link to someone ranting about Muslim demographics. A closer look reveals that’s he’s citing someone else in the quote I excerpted, so I went looking for the original source, which accoding to other sources is this group.

The Aim of Hizb ut-Tahrir

Its aim is to resume the Islamic way of life and to convey the Islamic da?wah to the world. This objective means bringing the Muslims back to living an Islamic way of life in Dar al-Islam and in an Islamic society such that all of life?s affairs in society are administered according to the Shari?ah rules, and the viewpoint in it is the halal and the haram under the shade of the Islamic State, which is the Khilafah State.

So the original link came from a racist nut who was bitterly arguing against some religious nuts. I’m going to call it a wash.

Philosoblog on the Limits of Libertarianism
The first limit is found when we notice that there is a duty to help the very unfortunate. The limit may be found in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan sees that he has a duty to help a severely injured person by the side of the road. Libertarians handle the case by admitting that there is a duty to give aid but that no one may be forced to fulfill this duty. The idea is that there is a duty to aid others, but the duty may not be enforced. However, this is not correct. Consider a case in which someone will plummet to his death unless he leans, without getting permission, on a nearby stranger?s shoulder in order to regain his balance. The stranger has no right to pull his shoulder away. The fact becomes clearer when we consider the following case. Suppose the Good Samaritan, having no water, were unable to help a man dying of thirst through no fault of his own. Suppose a third party passing by had plenty of water, enough to waste, yet would not offer any to the dying man. It would be permissible for the Good Samaritan to take a serving of water from the third party in order to save the dying man. If resisted, the Samaritan would have the right to apply force. Hence, taxation of the rich to support a minimal welfare net may be compelled by force.