October 17, 2006
"There is no use in giving concessions. The more you concede, the more generous you are, the more it is seen as weakness and they will attack you again to get more concessions." - Tawfik Hamid, former Muslim extremist
In recent years we have witnessed horrendous acts of violence in the United States, Britain, Spain, Iraq, Israel and elsewhere at the hands of Islamic terrorists. With each new act of horror and destruction we are faced with a series of heart-wrenching questions: Why do terrorists target civilians? What is their motivation? What can be done to stop them?
The answer is simple, but nonetheless chilling. Alan M. Dershowitz, a criminal law professor at Harvard Law School and the author of The Case for Israel, once said "The primary cause of terrorism is not occupation, humiliation, or desperation... The primary cause of terrorism is that it works. And it works because the craven international community gives into it and rewards it. It also works because too many Islamic leaders praise it and too few condemn it. Terrorism will continue as long as potential terrorists believe they will benefit from using that tactic."
After September 11, 2001 a number of persons spoke out and blamed the terror attacks on America's foreign policy. America was attacked because of its support for Israel, they said. On July 7, 2005, four suicide bombers succeeded in killing dozens of people in London, and Britain's foreign policy was blamed. Britain was attacked because of its support of America in Iraq, they said
We long to understand what motivates terrorists. We believe that if we understood their reasons, we could fix the problem and ensure peace. This logic argues that if September 11 was a direct result of America's foreign policy, then America should change its policy. The people of Spain used this logic after ten bombs ripped apart commuter trains in Madrid on March 11, 2004. The bombings, they reasoned, were due to their participation Operation Iraqi Freedom, and so they voted in a new Prime Minister who would pull Spanish troops from Iraq.
History has shown, however, that appeasement never satisfies terrorists. More often that not it encourages more terrorism, because the men behind the bombs see that terrorist tactics bring results. French President Francois Mitterrand offered a friendly hand to the leaders of terrorism in the 1980s, including Yasser Arafat, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, and Iran's Khomeini. Yet, for all Mitterrand's willingness to address the terrorists' alleged grievances, Paris department stores and restaurants were bombed by Iranian Lebanese extremists in 1986.
The cause of Islamic terrorism is not the quest for social justice. It is not freedom for a specific group of subjugated people. The goal of Islamic terrorism - ultimately - is to bring the whole world into subjection to their version of fundamentalist Islam. No amount of appeasement will stop them. They do not want peace unless it comes with the world's submission to Islam. That is why they hate Israel. It is a Jewish state in the middle of an otherwise Muslim-dominated part of the world. That is why they punish Muslim states that are moderately friendly to Westerners - like Egypt. They are at war with the non-Islamic world.
"Fight and slay the pagans (infidels) wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war." – Koran, Sura 9:5
Ultimately, the war with terror is a religious battle. More importantly, it is a spiritual battle. The souls of millions of people, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are at stake. Only by prayer and reaching out in the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit will these people come to know the Prince of Peace. It is at the feet of the One True God that they may find the hope of eternal life.
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