Israel's fight is our fight

America and Christians are certainly next on the Islamist enemy list.

By EARL COX
Too many Christians and too many Americans view the conflict between Israel and the Arab-Muslim forces surrounding it as a Middle Eastern (regional) problem. They fail to grasp the reality that Islamist terrorism constitutes a global war. Israel and the Jewish people are undoubtedly Islam's key enemies, but America and Christians are certainly next on its list. Muslim leaders have often declared that Israel is the "Small Satan" while America is the "Great Satan." Jews and Christians alike are negatively characterized as "infidels," and therefore they deserve to be killed for the honor of the Muslim god. Allah insists that Islam is divinely authorized to rule the entire world. According to the Muslim super-authority, the Koran, anyone or anything that stands in its way must be eliminated. Jewish and Christian values dictate freedom of religion as the national policy in Israel and the United States. But does the Islamist trend within Islam deserve this special privilege? Everyone should know by now that that branch of Islam is more than a religion. It is also an authoritarian political system with a militant terrorist wing. And since it is no secret that its intent is to destroy other political systems such as the democracies in Israel and the United States, why do Israel and the US tolerate this traitorous policy under the guise of religious freedom? Why shouldn't those Islamists be legally arrested and incarcerated or deported as traitors and enemies of the state? We understand that our Judeo-Christian values, which are based upon the Ten Commandments and other laws given to us in the Torah and the rest of the Bible, dictate that we be kind to Muslims even though we know they are commanded to hate us and either convert or kill us. Our God-given values, however, command us not to kill, not to steal and not to lie. We are also challenged to be kind, loving and helpful to our neighbors - and even to our enemies. Certainly, both Israel and the US have employed these values to a great extent in our relations with Arabs and Muslims. And since Islamist values are diametrically different from Judeo-Christian values, all the kindness and helpfulness shown to the Arab and Muslim nations by Israel and the US has not produced any noticeable gratitude or any softening of their negativity and hatred toward Jews and Christians. The Muslim interpretation of all this kindness offered to them is that is signifies weakness. If you are not tough and mean, they reason, you are not strong. So it is no surprise that the current wave of violent Islamic jihad has spread worldwide with the power and momentum we've seen. WE SHOULD not forget that history has demonstrated how Islamist military and cultural expansion has been resisted, stopped and pushed back when it has been met by strong, organized and effective action. Such defeats have proved to be devastating, humiliating and demoralizing to Muslims, who believe that their victory over "infidel" societies is divinely ordained and, therefore, inevitable. Each time, they ceased their violent aggression when they realized they were on the losing side. Someone has said that the only thing devout Muslims understood in these instances is that "might makes right," and somehow the "might" had deserted them. It is true that today both Israel and the US have the capability of a "big hit" - a powerful attack that could stop, push back and demoralize Muslim terrorism and violence. In the same way that the US put an end to the war with Japan, either Israel or the US could halt the Islamist aggression with a few well-placed "big hits." Why, then, do Israel and the US keep on toying with this enemy and allowing it to continue causing so much devastation and death, when they know they could stop it tomorrow? A few well-placed "big hits" would most likely drive al-Qaida, Hamas and even the Islamic jihadists in Europe back into their cowardly dens for another generation or so. Osama bin Laden stated shortly after the Muslim 9/11 attack on the US that the world is looking to follow the "strong horse." But appeasement of Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere has only served to reinforce the growing belief in the Islamic world that the West is a "weak horse" - ripe for conquest. Of course, the stronger and more widespread this belief becomes, the harder it will be to overcome it. IT'S SAD to believe, but recent statements and actions by new US President Barack Obama seem to indicate that he does not recognize the global ramifications of a defeated Israel or an empowered Islamic jihad. Obama seems to believe that appeasing the Arabs and Muslims trumps the security and well-being of Israel and her people (and, ultimately, every other nation also). He doesn't seem to realize that Islamist ideology has taken on the traits of the old Nazi fascism - so much so that many are now calling it "Islamofascism. New Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was completely right, I believe, when he stated some time ago that the struggle in the Middle East is not about a Palestinian state. As he said, such a state could have been a reality long ago. But the centuries-old Arab-Muslim hatred of the Jews is the real core of the conflict. Don't expect it to end tomorrow, no matter how many battles are fought, won or lost. Until the Arab peoples accept the values of the God of Abraham - from whom they, also, are descended - their children will continue to be brainwashed with the destructive values of hatred, cruelty, discrimination and victimhood. Netanyahu also truly stated that Islamic jihad is not just Israel's problem: It is a serious threat to the entire world. And don't expect it to end tomorrow, either, unless the West does something strong and decisive like a "big hit." The writer served in senior level positions in the administrations of four US presidents. In February 2003, he launched Front Page Jerusalem Global Radio Network heard on hundreds of Christian stations. Together with his wife Kathleen, Cox devotes most of his time advocating for Israel