Jihad: London

The only original commentary I can make about the jihadist eruption in London is the information that Mary spent the morning on the phone and all our relatives are accounted for and unharmed.

Otherwise, I've only been mentally nit-picking the commentaries of others. The first irritant is the use of the terms "terrorism" and "war on terror". It would seem to me that wooly names and definitions do not aid the cause: "Terrorism" doesn't exist. There is no belief in terror as a philosophy or ideology. Terror is a method of warfare. It's like being against cavalry. Or perhaps a more apt analogy would be that it is like being against nuclear missiles. Terror, like nuclear missiles, are very unpleasant and it would be impossible for a civlized person to love either one. But neither is an "ism" or a self-defining movement. Both are used by people in very different sorts of movements or organizations. In the instant case, we are in a war, like it or not, with militant Mohammedans. If only we could bring ourselves to say so.

One of the more useful sites for following the jihadists is, appropriately enough, Jihad Watch which has been on the blogroll for a good while now. Recommended.

Essential background is also found in Srdja Trifkovic's The Sword of the Prophet. Mohammedan history, theology, and current practice concisely covered.