|
|
|
In a concise and timely book, Tony Blankley issues a clarion call to action over what he believes is the very real and imminent threat of radical, insurgent Islam taking over Europe and thus threatening the United States. As editorial page editor of the Washington Times and a respected political commentator, Blankley believes that the danger is as grave as that posed by the Nazis' attempted takeover of Europe in the 1930s and '40s. Indeed, he compares the methods of the jihadists to those of the Nazis: targeting children for indoctrination, using small groups of ruthless believers to cow countrymen into submission, and hearkening back to a collective mythology while cleverly modifying it for modern use. Europe's native population is in decline. Religious belief has steadily lost ground to secularism. Multiculturalist theories with their insidious effect on morale, and the decline of nationalism in general, have left Europe emotionally prostrate at the same time that a fanatical, ruthless foe increases in number. Already, Europe's radical Muslim population is affecting European foreign policies. Ironically, Europe's greatest potential weapon, an overwhelming superiority in science and technology, has been turned against it by jihadists who have made the internet their new training ground for terror. The openness of European society provides innumerable soft spots for attack. In a sense, the West's relative lack of response has arisen from a failure of imagination - an inability to understand the scope of the threat. Blankley compares the situation to that of the American Indian in the 1700s and 1800s. The Indians had far superior numbers and control of most of the land, but did not comprehend the strength of the enemy. Blankley finds some hope in popular outpourings of feeling against immigration and multiculturalism that have recently surfaced in Europe. The brutal murder of Theo van Gogh has galvanized this movement even further. The globalist elites who created the explosive environment are now being forced to listen to their populations as they awaken to the threat at (and inside) their doors. Although the West has begun to respond, Blankley believes that far stronger measures are necessary. He expresses grave doubts that the wartime powers traditionally asserted by the President - but which have not been yet asserted - will be enough. He believes that our borders must be locked down - now. He thinks that amendments to the Constitution may well be necessary, which will result in more safety but less freedom.. Blankley believes that the West can win this fight. But it will take years, and possibly decades, of sacrifices not yet comprehended by Europeans or Americans, and a ruthlessness that must match that of an implacable adversary. Blankley hopes things will turn out all right, but leaves the reader with a question: have we put ourselves on a true war footing? Our enemy has. (Regnery Publishing, 2005, 198 pps, $27.95) |
Blankley is normally no alarmist. That such a sober analyst would write this book is a good indicator of the magnitude of the threat that faces Western civilization.
