Militants

Less than 72 hours after still another major terrorist attack, and we’re beginning to hear left-leaning journalists, academics, and other apologists for the Jihadist cause use moral equivalence to justify the events in Mumbai. Using comments like “India’s Moslems are discriminated against” or “Israeli bombs kill women and children too” or America’s imperialism is the new crusade against Islam” they subtly defend the “militants” (a word that softens the murderous intent and the barbarity of the people its applied to) while giving lip service to a condemnation of violence.

Whether it's a subway in London, an office complex in New York, a train in Madrid or a hotel in Mumbai, the intent of the Islamofascists who perpetrate barbaric acts of terror is clear—to murder and maim in a way that (in their delusional mindset) will cause the West to capitulate and submit to their brand of Islam. Melanie Philips comments:

The atrocities demonstrated with crystal clarity what the Islamist war is all about – and the western commentariat didn’t understand because it simply refuses to acknowledge, even now, what that war actually is. It does not arise from particular grievances. It is not rooted in ‘despair’ over Palestine. It is not a reaction to the war in Iraq. It is a war waged in the name of Islam against America, Britain, Hindus, Jews and all who refuse to submit to Islamic conquest. … The Islamists want to murder as many Americans, Brits, Hindus and Jews as possible. That is because they are waging all-out war against civilisation.

And for those who are impressed with the “military precision” with which the murderers performed their heinous acts, consider that their intent was not to make demands but rather to commit mayhem. Worse, they did not simply kill, they tortured their victims (and please spare me imbecilic comparisons to Abu Graib in which no one died or was permanently injured and in which everyone involved was a combatant). Rediff India Abroad reports:

Doctors working in a hospital where all the bodies, including that of the terrorists, were taken said they had not seen anything like this in their lives.

"Bombay has a long history of terror. I have seen bodies of riot victims, gang war and previous terror attacks like bomb blasts. But this was entirely different. It was shocking and disturbing," a doctor said.

Asked what was different about the victims of the incident, another doctor said: "It was very strange. I have seen so many dead bodies in my life, and was yet traumatised. A bomb blast victim's body might have been torn apart and could be a very disturbing sight. But the bodies of the victims in this attack bore such signs about the kind of violence of urban warfare that I am still unable to put my thoughts to words," he said.

Asked specifically if he was talking of torture marks, he said: "It was apparent that most of the dead were tortured. What shocked me were the telltale signs showing clearly how the hostages were executed in cold blood," one doctor said.

The other doctor, who had also conducted the post-mortem of the victims, said: "Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks. It was clear that they were killed on the 26th itself. It was obvious that they were tied up and tortured before they were killed. It was so bad that I do not want to go over the details even in my head again," he said.

Militants, huh? Freedom fighters for the oppressed, no doubt? One word covers this behavior and although it's impolitic, I'll state it—evil.

In the relatively long periods between major attacks, too many of us forget who we’re dealing with and the barbarity of their actions. In a few months many of us will forget Mumbai, until the next major terrorist event causes us to shake our heads and look for answers that have been there all along.

Update (12/01/08):

In an article today, Ralph Peters sums up the "answers" rather nicely:

You can't reason with faith-drunk sadists. The terrorists who attacked New York City and those who struck Mumbai want to kill people. Slaughter is the only thing left that validates their faith.

All the complexity of counterterror operations comes down to three essential requirements: Superb intelligence, ruthless determination and tremendous patience.

Intelligence helps you find the enemies you need to kill; determination means you kill them - and patience means accepting that even a successful fight will take decades, if not generations.

The horrific attacks in Mumbai had nothing to do with the Bush administration. They didn't even have anything to do with India's current government. Those horrid strikes were about the catastrophic, homemade failure of the cultures that produce Islamist terror and the blood ecstasy to which terrorists are addicted.