War War or Jaw Jaw?

Douglas Murray has made an interesting and thought-provoking speech on neo-conservatism and the current cultural war being waged. The basis of his argument is a familiar one - that the enemy, aggressive and expansionist Islam, is being militarily defeated at every level. Whenever the forces of the West and Islam meet in open battle, the result is a rout. The defeats the West has suffered, the Lancet, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, are self-inflicted with the harshest blows coming from internal anti-war voices. In other words, the most dangerous enemy is the enemy within, since this has the power to transform victory into defeat. For an example of this, Murray cites the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, now widely recognised as having destroyed the Viet Cong, but at the time considered as a military defeat by anti-war protestors at home.

Murray's ire is especially directed at those in the West who state that there is no difference between the opposing forces. This cultural relativism weakens the West at home, and strengthens hostile forces at home and abroad. So what do we do? As Murray states, identifying the problem is not enough, solutions must also be sought. Murray's are as follows:

1. All immigration to Europe from Muslim countries must cease. Immigrants currently in Europe should be 'persuaded' to return to their countries of origin.
2. Immigrants who 'take part in, plot or condone' violence against the West should be deported to their country of origin (or, if necessary their grandparents').
3. Europe should be 'absolutist' in the defence of European culture, supporting it without compromise
4. The war abroad should be extended to Iran, Syria and any other regime that supports terrorism

"In a tape-recording played at his recent trial in Milan, Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed was heard, amid his celebrations of the murder of Nicholas Berg, to say:

Rome, we are entering Rome, Rome, if God wishes we are entering, even entering Rome… Rome, Rome, we are opening Rome with those from Holland. Rome, Rome, if God wishes, Rome is opening. It will be. It will be.

There is, I suggest, only one answer to that – which is to say: Not an inch:

The gates of Rome will not open an inch. You will not get Rome, you will not get London, you will not get The Hague or any other city that is ours. On this there is no room to give, no compromise, no discussion to be had.

Only when we make it clear where we stand will our enemies - and those who have come to Europe who are our friends – know where they stand too."