How come westerners are not radicalised by terror?

Question

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/28092006/344/iraq-war-radicalised-muslims.html

But shouldn't westerners be the ones getting radicalised?

So far people, you're quite brilliant on this topic. :-D

Answer 1

Europeans are too laid back & forgiving...the Brits just couldn't be bothered enough to become 'radicalised'.

Answer 2

Some have been. The rise of the Christianist Right in the USA is frightening, especially when you look at how well-organised it is. Here in the UK it's less obvious what's happening over there, unless you go to some trouble to look at Fox News or Patrick Henry College (a tertiary 'education' institution whose avowed aim is to placed radicalised Christians into government, and they get far more internships in the Washington machinery than statistical expectations would predict).

I guess that one of the differences in the way radicalisation manifests itself is that the so-called 'war on terror' is an asymmetrical war: that is, those who call themselves Islamic radicals don't have the machinery of a State available to them (mostly) and so use methods like suicide bombing and the classic techniques of guerilla warfare, whereas the West's response comes - like it or not, and usually ineptly - by means of the State's resources.

Also: please, let's be fair; most Islamic people simply want to live a good a secure life by their own lights and we shouldn't judge all of Islam by its extremists, any more than we should judge Westerners by their extremists.

Answer 3

They may not be radicalised yet but it may come. Radicalisation ususally has to be seeded by childhood indoctrination into a particualry faith. If those seeds aren't planted then there is nothing for the radicalisation process to root itself in. There are certainly radical Christians who are waging a war against the Islamification of Europe but they have power and wealth and so do not need to resort to terrorism which is the only recource for disenfranchised minorities. They use Shock and Awe, the Mother of All Bombs etc, which is a form of terror none the less. Particulalry if you are only a child when they drop it on you.

Answer 4

Beause we think we are all high and mighty, and that becoming terrorists would just make everything worse, when we could just sit at home at watch innocents being bombed on the TV, with a nice cuppa and a bacon sandwich.

The countries and faiths with radicals have seen terrible things done to their people ,we don't see that, the people dying everyday with bombs from other faiths being dropped on their head,s we know it happens, but not so much here. We don't have a lebbanon and an israel, though we do have northern ireland, and some of them were getting a bit radical, but we just don't have that segregation, and hate for toher religions, as they do in some parts of the east.

Answer 5

For one thing, if you take a pulse of the public opinion, there's been plenty of western radicalization going on. A sizeable percentage of Americans are all for overthrowing virtually every government in the middle east, or alternatively, nuking the whole region 'til it glows.

Of course, most of the radicalized westerners do little aside from talking and voting. Radicalized middle easterners (especially Iraqis) take up arms. However, note this important difference: the fighting is occurring in their backyard, not ours. If the battles were fought in the United States, you can be assured that a lot of us in America would be taking up arms.

Answer 6

Radicalized by terror?

Your definition of radicalized and mine may be totally different.

My defintion would mean a person or persons who are drastic, excessive, immoderate and potentially could become violent in an extreme kind of way.

Should we be radical against terrorism? Absolutely not and we shouldn't be labeled as such.

*If* the West (and I am assuming you are primarilly speaking of the US when you say west) were becoming "radicalized" then the MiddleEast as a conglomeration of individual countries would cease to exist. We wouldn't be trying to help Iraq form it's own democratic government. We wouldn't be attempting to get Iran to comply with the resolutions set forth *unanimously* by the United Nations in regards to their nuclear program. We wouldn't be sitting back allowing a piss ant country like Syria to interfere by aiding and abettng terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. If we were radical all we would have had to do is stroll into the region and say everyone out.... we are the proud new owners of your countries.

Instead our men and women are putting their lives on the line trying to bring freedom and democracy to the people of the region. If they didn't want that freedom and democracy then 6 million plus and 12 million plus people would not have voted in the elections in both Afghanistan and Iraq. So when 18 million plus people are willing to put their lives in jeopardy by the radicalized Islamic extremists who wanted to stop them from voting are we wrong to be assisting them?

To suggest that the "west" should be labeled as "radicalized" is just plain ignorant and unfair of you.

Answer 7

The Westerners are and were more radicalized by terror MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE. Who were all the good old stories about mobs, mafias, drug traffickers, Robin Hood, Buffalo ... , all these used to happen in the wild wild West. To today, Timothy McVeigh, his partners.. come on I can keep the list on and on. All TERRORIZED people and KILLED.

Answer 8

Terror is a tool that the Government is trying to use, to get people to accept measures of control that no intelligent person would ever accept under normal circumstances.
In the USA, more people died as a result of collisions with large animals, and more people drowned in their baths in 2001, than died as a result of 9/11. But did we see measures to obliterate large animals from the USA? did we see security people standing beside every bath tub? oddly enough, no we did not, because there is no mileage in it. But TERRORISM on the other hand can be used to make people accept all manner of loss of freedoms and rights!
I'm glad most people are not fooled by government lies.

Answer 9

the govt does our dirty work we no longer know whats going on We can onl get "fired up" about issues such as abortion or high gas prces and then only barely We no longer care We are confused due to ignorance and constant bombardment w/propaganda stating the govt's stance as the only one acceptable and patriotic. we stifle whatever dissent there is by spying on peace groups and casuing trouble to activists. We pacify and lull people with TV alcohol drugs so no one can fight back.

Answer 10

we dont have any reason to get radicalised, we are the bullys on the world stage and one day we will be knocked off our perch