Ja: WTD for Jamaica -- men of spine, like ANR and GWB

In an otherwise interesting essay on Jamaica's history as a temporary refuge for deposed leaders/dictators, there's this sweet little gem that makes me wonder; who would've thought that the rude bwoys are really soft men?

P J Patterson may well have saved us from tragedy as happened in Spain recently. He differed publicly with the United States of America on the matter of invading Iraq....In standing up to the USA, Patterson might have prevented a bomb or two.

The answer to Michael Burke's absurd thesis that terrorism is a state of affairs between the U.S. and jihadis, and that not being allied with the U.S. will prevent a nation's citizens from being murdered by Islamic terrorists is this, and this, and this, this, and this which concludes with what Osama bin Laden himself has stated:

Al-Qaeda's end goal is a pan-Islamic state, a new "caliphate", a Muslim empire where sharia holy law reigns supreme. So those who want to follow Spain's path of appeasement should also be ready to ... convert to Islam.

Michael Burke, who professes to know and understand history, apparently is wilfully ignoring history. If he thinks that the Caribbean need not fear coming under the Islamic sword of terror, as long as it does not side with the U.S., then he should remember T&T in 1990. The coup in T&T was intended to impose Islam on the republic, whether or not the citizens wanted to have their butts in the air five times a day. Would the Islamic horde have stopped at T&T? No. Not when there were reinforcements coming in from the Mid-East and Suriname, one of whom I saw at Piarco myself ? he was fully decked in Islamic gear and was prostrated on the ground with a soldier's boot on his neck, a huge gun at his head.

While I fully understand the desire of Burke not to have bombs added to the arsenal with which the everyday Jamaican must cope, he would be better off preparing himself and Observer readers for the coming war. For, come war will. Just as the U.S. did not seek a war with Islamists, neither has the rest of the world, including Caricom countries, but war is what we have all got because of who we are. We are Jews, Christian, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Orisha/Santeria, whatever. In sum, we are Western; we are not Muslim Arabs.

Moreover, the subtext of Burke's piece is that the U.S. deserved what it got September 11th, 2001, and so will any of its allies in the future. Given the liberal way Islamic terrorists have bombed countries around the world; given Islam's official attitude to non-Muslims, it is just a matter of time before bombs begin to explode in Kingston. Surrendering before the bombs fall will not prevent their occurrence. Converting to Islam will not either, unless one converts to the brand of Islam the terrorists promote, and one lives ones life the way terrorists want one to.

If Burke believes that Spain will no longer be bombed because of the cowardice of its people and the craven attitude to terrorism of its new prime minister, let him rest assured; it is just a matter of time before terrorists bomb the hell out of Spain again. It's just a matter of time before terrorists bomb the hell out of Jamaica. It's just a matter of time before terrorists bomb the hell out of Caricom countries. It is just a matter of time before terrorists bomb the hell out of any country that wants to appease rather than take the fight to them. It's just a matter of time before terrorists try to bomb the U.S. and its allies again. However, the U.S. and its allies won't roll over and play dead. Instead, we will fight back and never surrender.

To Michael Burke, and all those who think like him, when the bombs of Islamic terrorists start killing your people, deal with it. Don't call the U.S., we'll be too busy killing the terrorists, who want to kill us, to bother with you.