An Asian view on radical Islam and terror

Such negativism is tempered however, by the belief in Asia that there is good in Western civil society.

Blessed in yesteryear with visionary and selfless statesmen, a system that empowers the people has evolved in Judeo Christian civilization that is the keystone of hope for billions around the world. Western civil society must urgently recognize and take responsibility for their utopian governments. Asians believe that it is Western civil society that will, when confronted by life threatening events, rein in their Governments that have prioritized gratifying the unbridled greed of Western capitalism and the political lust of government functionaries for global influence and an egotistic place in history, over their security.

Asians share the grief of Westerners for the tragic loss of innocent lives to terror activities in Europe. That grief is however diluted with mixed emotions of hope and trepidation for ourselves. On the one hand we see those tragedies as a life line for the rest of mankind. There seems to be nothing else that can possibly galvanize lazy Western civil society into examining the hitherto unsupervised immoral foray of their Governments in far away lands on some vague assertion that it is crucial to Western economic interests. Asians feel that Western civil society will take responsibility for its treasonous leaders and bureaucrats only when confronted with the reality that the trade off for economic colonization without contributing to the aspirations of Asian civil society, is a sustained threat to national security and the lives of their citizenry.

On the other hand, we fear that apathetic Western liberalism may yet be fooled and will not connect irresponsible governance with the rise of violent radicalism not only in the Middle East but in Asia and elsewhere. The Middle Eastern gravy train for Americans and Europeans has been stopped in its tracks by decades of civil unrest and military operations by Western powers. Asians realize that America and Europe now have their sights on South East Asia as a substitute for the resultant economic deficit from their disastrous outing in the Middle East. Asians pray that Western civil society will finally comprehend that although we do see benefits in economic association, it cannot and must not be by supporting the beastly regimes that nurture terrorism directly or indirectly as a means to deny democracy to its citizens; and which is the primary impetus for emigration to the West.

The panorama of radical Islam has caused a crisis in Western domestic policy. The fact that terrorists are already lurking within the borders of the West is indisputable. The Western authorities are obviously struggling to isolate and eradicate the threat. It seems that Western society is crippled by its own altruism and conscience in dealing with the fact that the threat is preeminently - Islam. God forbid that they be seen to be bigoted! Many in Asia were watching the live televised debate in the UK House of Commons about the need for the UK to engage in military action in Syria. There were chuckles all round when David Cameron suggested that the enemy should be referred to as "Daesh" in keeping with the terminology adopted by France and other allies, presumably to distinguish them from other Muslims. Apparently, Westerners should not be fooled into thinking that the enemy is Islam or Muslims. This is nothing short of a politically correct lie. It suggests that there is an identifiable enemy when in fact they have no clue who is Daesh and who is not. The enemy is an ideology. That ideology is rooted in Islam. For all intents and purposes, the only certainty is that the enemy is more likely than not, to be Muslim.

The paucity in Western domestic policy has been, and continues to be, disproportionate liberalism. Dangerously disproportionate to the threat that Islamic radicalism poses, sinfully disproportionate to Christian doctrine, shamelessly disproportionate to the need to preserve conservative values, and even scandalously disproportionate to the tenets of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. In the context of Islam and the threat to internal security, there is an inherent schism in liberalism.

Western liberals seem oblivious to the fact that the foundations of Islam are completely at odds with liberal democracy. Islam is rooted in conservatism, as is Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and most world religion. They are however, at various stages of social and religious evolution. The disparity between Islamic ideology in its present stage of evolution and Western liberalism cannot as yet be bridged. The conceited notion that Western liberalism is a "one size fits all" concept is absurd. Imposing infinite diversity in a society is simply a recipe for the disastrous disintegration of that society. The micro correlation would be corporations, professional associations, cooperatives and even the family unit, whose lasting cohesion depends on harmony.

Western liberals imagine that something they quaintly refer to as "integration" is the key to fusion between them and Muslims. This can only be a euphemism for the indoctrination of Western values in Muslims or conversely the indoctrination of Islamic values in Western society. Asians ask bemusedly, "So, how's that going for you guys?!" Since there is no viable interface between the two ideological schools, it cannot possibly be a happy compromise of the two. Europe has been receiving Muslim migrants for the better part of half a century.

You would have thought that the fact that "integration" has been largely non-existent would have provided some clue about the futility of such delusions. Asians have been living amongst both, liberal and radical Muslims for generations, and we can tell you that this notion of "integration" is as about as likely as suicide bombers being blessed with 72 virgins in the hereafter. Western liberals in an effort to assuage their conscience about the rape and plunder of the Third World cannot, and should not be allowed to demand that Western civil society sacrifice its security and way of life for the sake of their bleeding hearts. Instead, they should demand an end to Machiavellian manipulation of Third World dictators to enrich Western capitalists. Asians are by nature entrepreneurial. We will welcome mutually beneficial economic cooperation but only if accompanied by meaningful diplomatic, political and even military reinforcement for the removal of oppressive regimes and the establishment of accountable and fair governments.

Liberal Western pomposity, hailed by the globally pervasive Western media as providing the right solutions, creates expectations of the rest of humanity. We, in Asia, have no illusions about the viability of Western liberal attitudes to addressing threats to our way of life. Already there is clamor by segments of society within our borders, that Asia should emulate the misguided policies of the West and open our arms to the very source of terrorism. It gives terrorists the impression that the imposition of their will through violence can and will work and validates their actions with their supporters. Asians pray, that Western civil society will demand a paradigm shift in foreign and domestic policies that will enable us all to get on with our lives, safely, in our own countries; complete with our culture, religious practices, ethnic values and, with the dignity we deserve.