By Captain Dave Funk
A friend of mine from Pakistan wrote this immediately after the latest attack in London:
…My heart goes out to the victims of the London attack, may these terrorists rot in the deepest hole in hell. Every religion and race and nation needs to unite against these b*stards and eradicate them from this planet. Please note that these terrorists did not go around asking people their religion before driving the van over them or stabbing them, they simply were out there to spread terror. More Muslims have been killed by these people [than] Christians or people from any other religion put together, everybody knows that. So it’s not a war between religions. In fact this is exactly what the terrorists want. They want to spread hate and divide us and in doing so they want more people to be radicalized and join them.
It seems that his words, along with many others throughout the Muslim World, are having some affect on 130 Muslim Imams in the United Kingdom. Those Imams are calling for the refusal to preform the funeral prayers for the recent London attackers. This release by the Muslim Council of Britain; http://www.mcb.org.uk/over-130-imams-religious-leaders-from-diverse-backgrounds-refuse-to-perform-the-funeral-prayer-for-london-attackers-in-an-unprecedented-move/ could be the beginning of this Sea Change.
In order for any insurgency or terrorist group to function, they must have either the active support of the local population, or at least the silence of that same population. Hopefully those who have previously lived in fear of the Islamist have had enough and no longer agree to remain silent.
I’ve worked as a DOD Contractor in the SandBox; I can tell you my friend’s opinion expressed above is more of the norm throughout the Middle East than the silence (often due to fear of reprisal) we have seen throughout that region for terrorist actions. Just a few days ago Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the UAE severed ties with Qatar, over Qatar maintaining close ties with the Iranians and the Islamist terror network.
From 41,000 feet, we can now see two data points; hopefully, it’s a trend in the right direction.
photo credit: dolbinator1000 View From The South Bank via photopin (license)
