September 11, 2006: Al Qaeda's September 2 videotape, the one mostly consisting of an American Moslem preaching, in English, was interesting mainly for the way it was misinterpreted by Western media. Perhaps the most important thing missed is how this tape completed the three steps righteous Islamic warriors must complete before the Moslem world makes war on unbelievers. First, you must give the enemy multiple warnings that you are going to attack. That's already been done. Second, you must offer a truce. That was done last year. Third, you must call on the heathen enemy to convert to Islam, and avoid the catastrophe that is going to befall them. This is what the latest tape did, in English.
To most Westerners, this all appears rather absurd. But not if you understand that al Qaeda videos, even those in English, are directed at Moslems as well. It is a serious business, or at least what happened on September 11, 2001, and subsequently in Afghanistan and Iraq, has demonstrated. Remember that the phrase, "they wouldn't be crazy enough to do that" was often muttered in the 1930s, as the Germans and Japanese proudly and publicly announced their schemes for world, or at least regional, domination. Hitler wrote a book outlining his crazy ideas, and Japanese speaking Americans had a hard time convincing the folks back in Washington that many Japanese believed the outrageous things the Japanese government was promising to do.
So here we are again. Another bunch of nuts with guns pledging to conquer the world, or die trying. Don't think it hasn't happened before. And don't pretend ignoring it will make it go away.