Family Security Matters Briefings - Week of 11/10/08

Where Does the Fight Against Islamism Go from Here?
By M. Zuhdi Jasser

As President-elect Barack Obama and his administration begin the transition process from the Bush administration, anti-Islamists cannot help but be concerned. Those of us dedicated to stimulating and facilitating long overdue reform within the Muslim consciousness against the growing threat of political Islam cannot help but feel more adrift now than ever before with little legitimate "hope for change" in our policy against Islamists then we have ever had. The long and arduous two-year campaign negligently spent little to no time laying out what the policy of the Obama administration would be toward Islamists, both foreign and domestic. While the Bush administration understood the basic need to promote liberty as an alternative to oppression in Muslim lands, they were unable to translate that into an effective policy with a critical engagement of Islamists. They did not seize the opportunities they had to counter political Islam by fostering grassroots movements for freedom against Islamists. If the Obama campaign is any sign of what is in store, we seem to be headed even further back into a retreat from any perceptible contest of ideas against the ideology of Islamism. [more...]


Finding Honor
By Colonel David F. Bedey (U.S. Army, ret.)

This month all around America and the rest of the world, U.S. Marines are gathering to commemorate the founding of their Corps in 1775. And I had the good fortune to be invited to celebrate the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball in the small town in western Montana that I call home. My hosts graciously overlooked the fact that I had been a career Army officer; it was enough that we share a bond of fellowship born of military service to our Nation. [more...]


Obama and Iran - Tough Choices Face the Next President
By Joel Himelfarb

One of the silliest analyses of Barack Obama's victory came from New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. Foreign readers e-mailing his NYT blog on Election Night were delighted about Obama's win, leading Kristof into fantasy land. "In Switzerland, an American was bathed in compliments comparing the election to the fall of the Berlin Wall. An American in Kenya named Tom wore an Obama T-Shirt and found that his walk to work took more than an hour because so many people stopped to congratulate him and celebrate with him," Kristof wrote. "The outpouring suggests that the United States will enjoy an Obama dividend of global good will in the coming months, a chance to hammer out progress on common threats. 'Barack' means blessing in Swahili, and this election feels like America's great chance to rejoin the world after eight years of self-exile." [more...]


Goliath-fighting Davids
By Maj. W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

President Abraham Lincoln said, "Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure." The president of course was referring to heroes and heroism in the purest sense of the words. When Lincoln uttered the phrase in the 19th century, an action deemed "heroic" was not nearly as interpretively subjective as it might be today. It didn't need to be. It was clear to all what heroes and heroics were, because "heroism" was defined then as "distinguished bravery or gallantry; noble disregard of danger; and intrepidity." Today, unfortunately, "hero" has been diluted to include "a person noted for special achievement in a particular field," and the word itself has become often synonymous with "star" and "celebrity." [more...]