Just a few more days

So in a few days is 9/11. I don't think about that day any more. But, many of us, not then born, remember Pearl Harbor. I will remember 9/11 for the rest of my life.

That day was a wake up call to the West that some elements within Islam, not all of Islam by any means, but a large proportion, had declared war on our culture. This war continues. It is not something "made up" by the Republicans, it is not just a few wild eyed crazies in the caves of Afghanistan. No, the Islamic world resents us. They still recall the days of their glory. They still recall the time, centuries ago, when their armies marched in triumph across the face of the Mediterranean world, Byzantium, India, right up to the doors of Vienna. They recall when their physicians, philosophers, scientists, poets and artists were far beyond anything that barbaric Europe could muster. These days are long gone now. They chafe under the knowledge that even with their oil wealth, their culture has stagnated and fallen far behind the West. They, like children, blame us for their failure.

No amount of war, no amount of terror, no amount of savagery will restore their former glory. They must, if they are to survive, cast aside their 14th century shackles and bring Islam and the Islamic world into the community of nations.