Christians are mostly harmless.
However, the rise of pan-Islamicism in the Middle East and southern Asia necessitate a reaction against it.
Unlike Christianity, Islam frequently has very specific social, legal structures, many of which are fundamentally incompatible with their secular counterparts. Combine that with the concept of defensive (and offensive) jihad and we have the ground ripe for an increasingly uncompromising force. One that will, if it gets it's way, sow the ground for a confrontation of Islamic values against Western values.
The dark future aside, to focus on the present issues in Western-Islamic relations, the primary motivator for the current mujaheddin is purely to get non-Islamic interests, policies out and away from their lands. While essentially the same in nature with a purge, the majority of the population believes in it and is being increasingly swayed by the rhetoric of the like of bin Laden, who, against the prevailing incorrect and dangerous Western views of him, is a very intelligent, patient and calculating foe and is more viewed by the Muslim world as a Robin Hood-type hero, standing up to the goliath of Foreign Interests.
It also helps that bin Laden rails against the oppressive and, by his terms, apostate governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait et al, which routinely profess religious virtues while hypocritically charging off to luxurious and decadent pursuits. To the everyman in the awful place the Middle East is, a man who stands up against corruption and holds piety is inspiring.
Current source (supplement):
Anonymous. "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is losing the War on Terror". 2004.
The above comes from an anonymous HQ analyst involved in managing and analyzing intelligence gathered from numerous groups (a step below the high level guys who interact with senators), who published an earlier book that compiled the views among the Islamic world of foreign powers like the US (it isn't good compared to 15 years ago). An interesting note is the authors declaration of a (self evident) trend of ignoring unclassified material, ignoring "checkables" - laying out plans for gathering appropriate supplemental information to allow for planning, and high level cronies denigrating actual intelligence out of fears of ruining their own careers, political correctness and installing their own people.
Another interesting nugget is that the establishment of a western, secular government in Afghanistan is fundamentally impossible due to tribal affiliations, conservative trends, non-inclusion or elimination of the leaders and factions who fought against the Soviet occupation (Pashtuns mainly) and the xenophobic tendencies of the local populace.
However, the rise of pan-Islamicism in the Middle East and southern Asia necessitate a reaction against it.
Unlike Christianity, Islam frequently has very specific social, legal structures, many of which are fundamentally incompatible with their secular counterparts. Combine that with the concept of defensive (and offensive) jihad and we have the ground ripe for an increasingly uncompromising force. One that will, if it gets it's way, sow the ground for a confrontation of Islamic values against Western values.
The dark future aside, to focus on the present issues in Western-Islamic relations, the primary motivator for the current mujaheddin is purely to get non-Islamic interests, policies out and away from their lands. While essentially the same in nature with a purge, the majority of the population believes in it and is being increasingly swayed by the rhetoric of the like of bin Laden, who, against the prevailing incorrect and dangerous Western views of him, is a very intelligent, patient and calculating foe and is more viewed by the Muslim world as a Robin Hood-type hero, standing up to the goliath of Foreign Interests.
It also helps that bin Laden rails against the oppressive and, by his terms, apostate governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait et al, which routinely profess religious virtues while hypocritically charging off to luxurious and decadent pursuits. To the everyman in the awful place the Middle East is, a man who stands up against corruption and holds piety is inspiring.
Current source (supplement):
Anonymous. "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is losing the War on Terror". 2004.
The above comes from an anonymous HQ analyst involved in managing and analyzing intelligence gathered from numerous groups (a step below the high level guys who interact with senators), who published an earlier book that compiled the views among the Islamic world of foreign powers like the US (it isn't good compared to 15 years ago). An interesting note is the authors declaration of a (self evident) trend of ignoring unclassified material, ignoring "checkables" - laying out plans for gathering appropriate supplemental information to allow for planning, and high level cronies denigrating actual intelligence out of fears of ruining their own careers, political correctness and installing their own people.
Another interesting nugget is that the establishment of a western, secular government in Afghanistan is fundamentally impossible due to tribal affiliations, conservative trends, non-inclusion or elimination of the leaders and factions who fought against the Soviet occupation (Pashtuns mainly) and the xenophobic tendencies of the local populace.
