Point of View

By Gerard Meister

At this point in time, Western Civilization - our civilization - is facing a critical juncture in the Middle East. Yet some pundits would have you believe otherwise; i.e., that the current upsurge in violence in both Iraq and Saudi Arabia is nothing more than an Islamic reaction to the ignominious toppling of Saddam Hussein coupled with America's unwavering support of Israel, particularly in light of President Bush's recent pronouncements favoring Prime Minister Sharon's plan for a unilateral disengagement in Gaza. The corollary to this view is one prevalent in some schools of thought in this country (and parts of Europe), namely: the United States has only to mend its ways and everything will be honky-dory.

But listen to what the terrorist leaders have to say about that: in Saudi Arabia the violence ratcheted up last spring when a message from al Qaeda's de facto leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri called on his followers to seize power in the oil-rich kingdom by toppling the house of Saud. Subsequently, a string of terrorist actions ensued culminating in two major bombings in Riyadh in May and November that killed fifty-two people. And in April of this year at least eleven Saudi policemen and security agents were killed in the ongoing wave of terror, with, no doubt, more to come.

Interestingly, chapter and verse on the reasons for Zawahiri's demand for action was clearly spelled out last September in a posthumously published book by Yussuf al- Ayyeri, al Qaeda'a chief ideologist (who was killed in a gun battle with Saudi police in June). Al-Ayyeri identified Iraq and Saudi Arabia as the "final battlefields" in the war of Islam against "kufr" (unbelief) embodied by the United States.

Clearly, the Islamic terrorists know exactly where they are going, but so too does George W. Bush. Our president, together with his chief advisors, understands full well what the stakes are in this war - really our civilization's war - with al-Qaeda. Nothing less than the American way of life is at risk.

And may God continue to bless America and those brave men and women standing in harm's way to protect us.