Read Paul Berman's article 'Al Qaeda's Philosopher' in The New York Times Magazine this last weekend.

It provides a wonderful explanation of how the philosophy of Islam differs from Christianity and Judaism. The current winds of frenetic terrorism began as smoldering embers in the mind of an Egyptian Islamist, Sayyid Qutb, who was jailed for over 10 years and eventually executed in 1966. His masterwork, 'In the Shade of the Qur'an', is a highly detailed study of the Koran and was written while Qutb was imprisoned under horrendous conditions. This piece of literature has been used as the 'blueprint' for Al Qaeda's belief in martyrdom for the cause of Islam. Berman's examination of this work and the ideas it advocates clearly gives us a picture of WHY there is such a gulf between the Muslim world and West.

I HIGHLY recommend this article to anyone who truly wants to move beyond rhetoric into understanding.

If Berman's interpertation is true, on any level, we will have to brace ourselves for an enormous wave of terrorist activity directed at the West. This is not an idle supposition, anyone with a pulse and half a brain will recognize that the world is in for a prolonged period of war, both internal and without.

By the way, where IS Osama bin Forgotten?

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