Since September 11, 2001

Anniversaries come and they go - most are memorable for one reason or another, otherwise they wouldn't serve as memorials to events. The decade since the 9/11 atrocities have certainly seen a changed world come into focus. A decade of time lapsing anywhere invariably translates into changes because nothing is static in this world. But the changes that occurred were costly in terms of lives lost, and the expenses related to the express and emergency mounting of protective offences against further attacks.

The attacks that followed - in Britain, in Spain, in Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq- sent the very same message, emphasizing that Islam had issued from among its volatile faithful dire warnings that it would not be trifled with any longer. The Islamist agenda of threats, contempt, jihadist training camps, violence and mass murder ensued.

The free and democratic countries of the world bent over backward in assuring Muslims they were not to be held accountable.

Muslims living in the West nonetheless felt themselves unfairly targeted by suspicion and concerns respecting their true intentions and trustworthiness. Not helped one iota by succeeding events that saw young male Muslims born in various countries of the West, and educated there, turning against what they knew best in favour of the carnage and fear they could engender as jihadists.

And a strange thing occurred; while resentment simmered among the Muslim populations who hissed "Islamophobia" at every opportunity, they were indeed for the most part, trusted. That trust invested in them opportunities to continue intermingling with the rest of society, attaining positions of responsibility and trust in the political, social, educational and military spheres of the free and democratic countries they inhabited.

Another mystifying thing occurred: even when all the signals of malignant malcontent were obvious they were never recognized simply because no one wanted to recognize them for to do so was to be labelled a bigot, surely the most insultingly derogatory term in Western society. A case in point is the Fort Hood atrocity when responsible authorities shrugged off the obvious and overt threats represented by a major in the U.S. army.

A man trained as a psychiatrist, no less, Nidal Hasan, born and educated in America, chose to dedicate himself to violent Islamism, shouting "Allahu Akbhar" as he murdered thirteen fellow Americans and wounded 20 others. The signals were all there; warning the infidels surrounding him that they would burn in hell and in any event, deserved to be beheaded. A psychotic psychiatrist.

In the wake of that horrific event which could have been averted as so many others had been but was not, the President of the United States intoned "We cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing", and the U.S. Army's chief of staff warned against rushing to judgement and implicating Islam, despite the achingly obvious. The administration was cautioned to be mindful of the need not to place blame.

For fear of implicating and disturbing the peace of mind of American Muslims. Despite that, as occurs elsewhere, in Canada for example, Britain, France and throughout the rest of Europe, mosques have proven to be breeding grounds for radical Muslim ideology, through the cultivation and appeal of calls to the young and the restless to fulfill their duty to Islam by jihad.

Inculcating in inductees to Islamism the glory to be had in becoming a martyr. For nothing less than that ultimate sacrifice was required of them, as devout Muslims. And, as devout Muslims, their duty was to Islam, to avenge the contemptible attitude of other religions toward Islam, to assist in the mission to bring terror to the hearts of non-Muslims (and Muslims alike); to bring democratic governments to their knees.

That mission has partially succeeded. For terrorism breeds terror. And the fear of terrorism spurs governments with the anxious consent of their populations to spend ransom-treasury on protective mechanisms. To initiate new and more elaborate security initiatives, programs and institutions. To inconvenience countries and their populations as much as possible, is to induce them to cowering fear.

With the inauguration of a new political era in the United States of America, the world witnessed a new president of immense popularity embark on a series of international visits where he could, primarily, address the Muslim world with sincere regrets for whatever it was that America had done to infuriate that Muslim world. And to assure the Muslim world that he would bring humble change.

A beacon for peace worldwide, no less. One who, on behalf of all his countrymen, extended an appeasing hand in friendship to the menacing tyrants of the world, who took great pleasure in slapping down that hand in disdain and derision. But which brought to him great acclaim and the Nobel Peace Prize.

As for Islam, it has yet to make any strides let alone recognition that it must, to heal itself.