Mark Steyn is brilliant. Not just in his column in yesterday's Washington Times, but all the time. How one man can see so much so clearly is beyond me.
Did you see that video of the two Fox journalists announcing they had converted to Islam? The larger problem, it seems to me, is that much of the rest of the Western media have also converted to Islam and there seems to be no way to get them to convert back to journalism.
He discusses the contortions the media puts themselves through, trying to avoid labeling Muslim or Middle Eastern men as Muslim or Middle Eastern men. They hide the identity of criminals when those criminals (or terrorists) might be Muslim. It's a detail that could help the public be on the lookout for dangerous people, but journalists allegedly don't want to offend.
It makes me wonder, though if it's really a matter of not wanting to offend. I suspect there might be a measure of not wanting to be killed. Better safe than sorry, and all that.
Journalists can finger Christians or redheads or sometimes even blacks when describing perpetrators. But they shy away from naming Muslims. If it's not fear, then why?
Is it "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" syndrome? Certainly, President Bush is considered the enemy by much of the left-leaning media, so since the Jihadis are Bush's enemies, that makes the Jihadis the media's friend. And it's best not to draw a target on your friends.
Or is it more a case, as Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld quoted Churchill last week (and I'm paraphrasing here), of hoping the Jihadist crocodile will eat the journalists last?
It's hard to say. I don't know any journalists. But from what I read in the media, journalists as a group don't seem to believe in much of anything beyond the stupidity/evil of Bush/Rove and the journalists' own importance. And that's what brings Mark Steyn to his closing point:
[F]or the Fox journalists and the Western media who reported their release, what's the big deal? Wear robes, change your name to Khaled, go on camera and drop Allah's name hither and yon: if that's your ticket out; seize it. Everyone'll know it's just a sham.
But that's not how the al-Jazeera audience sees it. If you're a Muslim, the video is anything but meaningless. Not even the dumbest jihadist believes these infidels are suddenly true believers. Rather, it confirms the central truth Osama and the mullahs have been peddling -- that the West is weak, that there's no core, no bedrock, nothing it's not willing to trade.
It doesn't matter how "understandable" Mr. Centanni and Mr. Wiig's actions are to us, what the target audience understands is quite different: There is nothing we're willing to die for. And, to the Islamist mind, a society with nothing to die for is already dead. (emphasis added)
That's the key. We are not the kidnappers' target audience. The Muslim world is.
6 comments:
I've been reading Mark Steyn for many years. I wish I had his ability to clearly articulate the obvious.
The fact that these men, (wink wink nod nod) converted to islam isn't the point. It shows the larger jihadi viewer that we're not willing to die for OUR faith or anything for that matter. They represented all of the western world in their mock conversion.
Charlie,
By failing to make obvious connections between Islam and terrorism, they are hoping to calm us all down.
You're right that they want us calm (and not voting for Republicans), but calm is the last thing we need right now. Resoluteness coupled with a passion for defending what we are (and an understanding that America really is a great nation worth defending)--that's what we need.
Janice,
They represented all of the western world in their mock conversion.
That was the point I forgot to make when I was writing up my post (I hate it when I'm brilliant, but only for a moment and then it escapes me again. I have to rely on my friends to bring the brilliance to my blog--thanks!).
It wasn't just that the jihadis used Centanni and Wiig as representatives of all of us, it was that in the eyes of the jihadis these men are us. Reporters are what they see of us on their TVs over there. Reporters represent us when they interview Palestinians. And in their countries, where the state usually controls the press, reporters are believed to be government tools.
So, you're absolutely right. These men's willingness to capitulate tells the jihadis that the West is just as willing to capitulate. It's just a matter of time and a big enough gun to our heads.
And Iran's working on that big gun...
I was wondering if the arab world or me for that matter, saw the interview claiming the conversion was fake? I think I heard Centanni say he has a great respect for the islamic faith..... and then nothing.
Since I was in the void that is Las Vegas for a week, I didn't see them revert back or denounce the conversion. Was there a denouncing of islam by the two journalist?
Janice,
You heard as much as I heard. Centanni respects the Muslim faith. Then nothing. If he said more or renounced the conversion, I haven't heard.
For safety's sake, I imagine he's laying low.
Peter, Paul, Steven or Daniel he's not.
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