The Islamic Caliphate - coming to a country near you - from....the Washington Post!?!

Reunified Islam: Unlikely but not wholly radical
Restoration of Caliphate resonates with mainstream Muslims

Now, I'll be the first to say that this is the exact type of reporting that lacks any kind of depth that I always complain about when the media write about things I don' believe in. The basing of a global opinion based on scattered interviews, or the quoting of a poll or two, etc. However, it's interesting to see a mainstream media source present an article that plays to the "fears" of many on the Right - even though it kind of tries to blame Bush in the end for ideas that were born in the 1920s.

The goal of reuniting Muslims under a single flag stands at the heart of the radical Islamic ideology Bush has warned of repeatedly in recent major speeches on terrorism. In language evoking the Cold War, Bush has cast the conflict in Iraq as the pivotal battleground in a larger
contest between advocates of freedom and those who seek to establish "a totalitarian Islamic empire reaching from Spain to Indonesia." The enthusiasm of the extremists for that vision is not disputed (ed. - really?***). However unlikely its realization, the ambition may help explain terrorist acts that often appear beyond understanding. When Osama bin Laden called the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon "a very small thing compared to this humiliation and contempt for more than 80 years," the reference was to the aftermath of World War I, when the last caliphate was suspended as European powers divided up the Middle East. Al Qaeda named its Internet newscast, which debuted in September, "The Voice of the Caliphate."

Yet the caliphate is also esteemed by many ordinary Muslims. For most, its revival is not an urgent concern. Public opinion polls show immediate issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and discrimination rank as more pressing. But Muslims regard themselves as members of the umma, or community of believers, that forms the heart of Islam. And as earthly head of that community, the caliph is cherished both as memory and ideal, interviews indicate.

***Here's just a sample of how the Left ridicules Presdient Bush's mentioning of the restored caliphate....I'm not judging the validity of either argument here - just pointing out the ridiculousness of the statement made above.

From James Reston on NPR - Bush Administration Misuses the Word Caliphate

From the NY Times - White House Letter - Watchword of the Day - Beware the Caliphate
"Islamic specialists say the word is a mysterious and ominous one for many Americans, and that the administration knows it."

From the Toronto Star - Muslim Conspiracy to Rule World Just Nonsense

The chances of a caliphate coming are zero. But raising its spectre helps keep Americans scared.

In Israel there's a bunch of nuts that want to take over the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem to build the "Third Temple" for Judaism. Every year they try to march to the Dome and every year the Israeli police come out to stop them. These people, though small in number are taken very seriously. It's a shame some on the Left still don't understand the radicals of the Muslim faith seriously even after the slaughter they've performed in so many countries to reach their goals. Theys till think what drives the fight is "poverty" and "lack of opportunity".