Resurrecting Christendom: A Blueprint

Historically the Holy League was an alliance of the 16th Century’s Christian powers (Spain, Venice, various other Italian states, to oppose the serious threat of the Ottoman Empire to continue to expand to the west, and dominate the entire Mediterranean.

Although the League did not achieve all of its immediate political and military objectives (which included the relief and liberation of Cyprus), it did gather a large fleet (still outnumbered by the Ottoman fleet) and decisively defeat the Islamic force at the battle of Lepanto (1571). Lest you think the threat to Europe at the time was overblown, Vienna itself was repeatedly attacked and besieged by the Ottomans…the final time as late as 1683, when the timely intervention and assistance of Jan Sobieski’s Poland was all that saved the day.

Historically, as noted by Baron Bodissy’s GATES of VIENNA blog, our current situation with regards to the 21st Century’s militant Islamofascism, is merely the latest chapter in a 1300 year struggle of Christianity to maintain its independence if not its existence in the face of Islamic aggressive and violent proselytizing. (The Baron notes it thus: “At the siege of Vienna in 1683 Islam seemed poised to overrun Christian Europe. We are in a new phase of a very old war.” The Chief concurs!)

This piece by Dr. Timothy Furnish (Ph.D in Islamic and World History, is a former U.S. Army veteran and college professor, now working as an editor for Praeger Publishing) suggests the possibility of a sort of revived Holy League…and models its policies on what is described as a “Gondor Strategy”…taken from J.R.R. Tolkien’s LOTR Trilogy.

Again, as Pinkerton points out, the purpose of the majority-Christian parts of the planet uniting against the Muslim world would NOT be to impose democracy or in any way to change that civilization—much less to wage a new “Crusade” (although we’d better inure ourselves to that inevitable charge): “not conquest, not occupation, not ‘liberation’” but rather “feasible strategies of containment, even quarantine.” A cordon sanitaire would be created around the Islamic sandbox until Muslims learn to play nice and stop inflicting both their near and far neighbors with anti-democratic, anti-women, anti-tolerance, and anti-modernist ideology—not to mention IEDs, assassinations and plane-bombs. And until that violent minority of Muslims obsessed with creating a global caliphate is eliminated, or at least convinced of the fruitlessness of their quest—hopefully by their own co-religionists, backed up by the resolve and non-interventionist support of the larger Christian world.

Pinkerton calls this the “Shire Strategy”—but there’s a better analogy from Tolkien. Other than four hobbits who rode off to help in the war against the arch-expansionist Sauron, the Shire folk stayed home—fat, happy and clueless about the serious and deadly conflict being fought to protect them. Even Frodo, the hobbit who eventually destroyed the Ring of Power, would never have been able to do so had not Men—dedicated survivors of the destroyed Kingdom of Arnor (called, fortuitously by Tolkien, Rangers!) and committed soldiers from the extant kingdom of Gondor—engaged Sauron’s legions in both covert and overt ops. As Boromir put it at the Council of Elrond: “it is by the blood of our people that your lands are kept safe.” Rather than Pinkerton’s Shire Strategy, we should envision the rather more muscular Gondor Strategy, which would entail setting a “Watchful Peace” upon the bloody borders of Islam, as in Tolkien the most poweful human kingdom did against Sauron’s land of Mordor.

The Chief isn’t totally sure that the approach WOULD work…but it probably COULD. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting concept, and one that ultimately may become much more of a necessity that it seems to be at present. Well worth checking it out further and giving it some thought!

H/T on this one to the above noted GATES of VIENNA.

Senators slam lack of Arab support

In spite of all the brouhaha about the war, etc., this shows a singular lack of sympathy to a hands-off response to the problems of trying to find Arabs truly in support of Middle East peace – al long as Israel still exists.

Close to 80 senators – including all those running for president -signed a letter calling for greater Arab support for the peace process ahead of the international conference the US is planning for November.

The election’s coming, and the smell of Jewish votes is in the air! (Or is this just TOO cynical? In some cases yes, in all too many other cases, nah, not nearly cynical enough.

“The success of such a meeting, and ultimately the peace process itself, will depend on the cooperation we receive from the larger Arab world, particularly from those Arab states with close relations with the United States who have not yet signed agreements with Israel,” read the letter, in an apparent reference to Saudi Arabia. It was due to be sent to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later Tuesday.

The letter also calls for Arab countries to “recognize Israel’s right to exist and not use such recognition as a bargaining chip for future Israeli concessions” and to “pressure Hamas to recognize Israel, reject terror and accept prior agreements, and isolate Hamas until it takes such steps.”

What’s the upshot of this? Probably not much, given that so-called “moderate” Arab groups are already displeased that anyone has the nerve to expect some form of real behavior from the Saudis.

But those very stipulations would derail the effort to get the Saudis on board by setting preconditions and criticizing Saudi efforts at mediation between Fatah and Hamas, the Arab American Institute argued on its Web site.

The letter also calls for Arab countries to “recognize Israel’s right to exist and not use such recognition as a bargaining chip for future Israeli concessions” and to “pressure Hamas to recognize Israel, reject terror and accept prior agreements, and isolate Hamas until it takes such steps.”

Humph! The NERVE of the Senate to impose pre-conditions, little things like letting Israel continue to exist, and rejecting terror. This apparent offense to the Arab American Institute of these simple concepts of Israel existing and no terror shows their true colors, and they ain’t red, white, and blue!