Reflections of a stormy petrel

Leave us to worry about Sicily. You have clearly not understood the nature of this conflict. There is no army to be defeated in battle: time and time again, the enemy has proved itself unable to withstand any modern army - not even that of Ethiopia, let alone that of the US. But there are a minimum of one billion Muslims. Each of them may at any minute become a jihadist, without consulting anyone except the books of his faith; just as any of them can become as selfless and heroic a person as my beloved friend kikei. The religion allows for both. But the jihadist can happen anywhere, any time, without need of organization. And we cannot kill them or hope to restrict them to a Muslim reservation out of which they are forbidden to go. No, they will live among us. And that being the case, the name of the game is endurance. We must steadfastly apply the laws, refuse fear and flattery, continue in our belief that our society is better than theirs, defend our ways in everything we do in our ordinary life. That is what defeated the Soviet Union, and that is what will defeat Islam - not, alas, in a year or two. But fantasies of facing and destroying big univocal enemies in grand battles are really escapism, attempts to avoid the enduring and grinding effort that awaits us.