It is easy to see why the fanatics always get it wrong; it's
that they begin with a preconceived mental image of what the beast should look
like. When they have a clear image of it in their heads, they start looking for
the parts which, when put together, will create a picture-perfect replica of
the beast they have imagined.
This is what Clifford D. May does in the article he wrote
under the title:”Defeating the mortal enemies” and the subtitle: “It's going to
require more determination than the West has so far demonstrated.” It was
published on July 28, 2015 in the Washington Times.
Rather than follow the normal process of observing the
situation on the ground, analyzing its parts and synthesizing the whole into a
coherent theory, Clifford May picks a thin sliver of the monumental work that
Bernard Lewis spent a lifetime putting together. On that sliver, May hangs
parts of arguments made by others, and parts of conclusions arrived at by still
others, to stitch together a picture-perfect replica of the image he had
imagined long ago out of dogma and fanatic belief.
But he does not mention Bernard Lewis until the second
paragraph. Instead, he starts his presentation with a quotation from what the
American Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter had told his troops. He said then
that the barbarians are always defeated by civilization. Of course, Carter had
in mind the Nazis and the Fascists of Europe, as well as the Imperialists of
Asia who were defeated by the allies during the Second World War.
But May dismisses all that, brushing it aside with this:
“regrettably [this] is not supported by historical evidence.” He then praises
Bernard Lewis who, somewhere inside the mountain of work that he constructed,
noted that the Roman Empire and the medieval
Islamic Empire “were conquered by less civilized but more vigorous people.”
This is exactly what May was looking for to argue that the conquest was “made
possible [because] things were going badly wrong within the society.” Upon
this, our author begins to stitch together the image he had formed in his head
long ago.
He begins his work with a question: “Would anyone argue that
things are going well in America
and Europe today?” He follows with two more
questions, one designed to show that Western societies are not as vigorous as
they used to be; the other designed to show that the Muslim kids who savagely
wage jihad are. He quickly draws the Islamic Republic of Iran into the picture
to say that even if its people know how to smile for the camera, and know which
forks to use at elegant Viennese restaurants, they still do bad things.
One of those – in fact, the first bad act that the Iranians
committed against America
– occurred in 1979, he says. That's when students seized the American embassy
in Tehran and
held the diplomats hostage for more than a year. Clifford May now invokes Mark
Bowden's remark to the effect that this moment was “the first battle in America 's war
with militant Islam.” He leaves Iran
for a second to say that “today, militant Islamic forces are engaged in battles
across the Middle East, North Africa and
beyond.” He then gets back to saying that “of late, a battle has been fought
and won by Iran 's
rulers.” And he explains in subtle ways that he means the nuclear deal.
May now feels he has put together a complete picture of a
Muslim beast that's vigorous and doing battle with a West that lost its vigor …
and getting worse. The proof is that “American leaders continue to shrink the
armed forces Secretary Carter oversees.” To show how bad the situation is, May
grabs another part and adds it to the picture he is drawing. This time it is a
quote from Mackenzie Eaglen who said that the U.S. military is today “smaller
than it was before 9/11.”
His point is that the military should be beefed up. To
buttress this conclusion, he questions the wisdom of Secretary of Defense
Ashton Carter: “Does he seriously believe the road we're now on leads to the
defeat of the enemies? If so, his belief is based on faith or wishful thinking
– not fact, experience or precedent.” Thus, armchair admiral Clifford D. May
summarily dismisses the fact that Carter was talking from experience to his
troops based on the precedent of current and previous wars he studied at the
war academies or participated in as soldier and commander of forces that
engaged in real combat.