July 16, 2007

Infidel : Summer Reading

[This article is by guest poster, Shawn Steel. Steel is the former President of the California Republican Party, co-founder of the Davis Recall, and is currently Director of the Club for Growth. - VR.] 

One of the most remarkable women today is former Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Her biography is an unrelenting page turner. Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali 2007, Free Press.

Ali is one courageous author, witness and political leader to confront the Cancer within Islam.

All great religions and ideologies always contain seeds of its own destruction. Islam is no exception. Given that America is one of the most tolerant societies is recorded history, many of our citizens still cannot understand the violent and extreme phenomena called Radical Islam.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells the story of the growth of the Radical Cancer in her homeland Somalia. Her father was a revolutionary working against the Marxists who seized Somalia in the early 80's. American's most unsuccessful President, the fall of Somalia was part of  Carter's legacy when the last gasps of the Soviet conquests extended from Afghanistan, Angola, Cuba, Nicaragua, Grenada and many more.

Her family was clan based with a heavy dependence on Islam. She learned early on  that Islam considered women inherently inferior. Despite her education, academic success, multiple language skill [six]  and courage, when she personally rescued many family members from war torn Somalia, the men in her family still considered Ayaan a lesser human.

Ultimately she was ordered to marry a Somali man who migrated to Canada, because too many Somali girls were "corrupted" there. Ayaan was ordered by her father to submit to Allah's will and marry a man she didn't know. Instead, while traveling to Canada via Europe, she escaped to Holland and claimed political refugee status. She learned Dutch and in no time was elected to Parliament.

But when she began to publicly debate the growing menace of Radical Islam in Dutch society she became quite famous and attracted serious murder threats.

After she helped write a film called Submission, directed by Theo van Gogh [ yes, the grandson], about the cruel lives of many woman forced to lived marginal lives in radical Islamic communities,  Theo was murdered for his work.

The murder itself was an effective metaphor for the seriousness, the outrage and insanity of Radical Islam.   Van Gogh while riding on his bicycle was shot eight times by Mohammad B. a well off Arab who benefited from Dutch society.  Mohammad cut van Gogh's throat nearly decapitating Theo. Mohammad then  plunged two knives into van Gogh's chest. A five page note was thrust into van Gogh's heart with a written pledge to kill Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Ayaan's story is not to be missed. It timely, important and a brisk read. To learn more about Ayaan, who recently, moved to the US to continue the war against Radical Islam, her book is crucial.

Standing Up for GWB

With many Conservatives criticizing GWB these days, it's worth remembering his substantial successes to date:

• We haven't suffered a major terrorist attack since 9-11.
• We showed the terrorists that despite their famous strategy - "you don't know which country attacked you so you can't touch us" - there will be major repercussions for them from a terrorist attack on the U.S. - specifically, the loss of nation-states that had been supporting them.
• The economy is enormously successful and has been for years, following the installation of the GWB tax cuts.
• The huge move to replace gasoline with ethanol - reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and reducing the moneys we pay to those who want to destroy us - is due to a GWB initiative.

Per William Kristol in the Washington Post:

Why Bush Will Be a Winner

...With the new counterinsurgency strategy announced on Jan. 10, backed up by the troop "surge," I think the odds are finally better than 50-50 that we will prevail. We are routing al-Qaeda in Iraq, we are beginning to curb the Iranian-backed sectarian Shiite militias and we are increasingly able to protect more of the Iraqi population.If we sustain the surge for a year and continue to train Iraqi troops effectively, we can probably begin to draw down in mid- to late 2008. The fact is that military progress on the ground in Iraq in the past few months has been greater than even surge proponents like me expected, and political progress is beginning to follow.

...What it comes down to is this: If Petraeus succeeds in Iraq, and a Republican wins in 2008, Bush will be viewed as a successful president.

I like the odds.

In many cases, even Conservatives have fallen for the never-ending drumbeat of biased reporting from MSM, and have come to the conclusion that he's a disappointment.  

On the plus side, in this environment - in which MSM continuously feeds the public a biased view of the news - it may help the next Republican presidential candidate get elected, to distance himself from GWB.

But it appears to me that in 20 years, GWB's presidency will be held in very high regard.