Who’s the baddest?

Once again the world is witness to a deadly contest between Muslims who would be the chief leader of “Jihad against the West.” Since the days of the Crusades, there has been many a Muslim leader who wanted “the mantle of Saladin” – the Muslim warrior who is credited with the final defeat of the Crusade armies – to be put upon his shoulders.

Such illustrious Muslim leaders of modern times as Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt, Hafez al-Assad of Syria, the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Muammar Khaddafi of Libya, Osama bin Laden of Saudi Arabia, et al., have all dreamed of being dubbed “the great liberator of Muslim lands.” Each of these leaders has aspired to lead the jihad that would drive out every vestige of Western culture and influence from the Middle East.

The ultimate plan is to replace the Judeo-Christian-based world order of the West with an Islamic-based world order. It is interesting that most people of the West do not see our world order as based on Judeo-Christianity, but the Muslims do – and that is what counts. The plan known as “The Grand Design” was formulated in Iran at a conference they hosted. It calls for a complete defeat of the West and the replacement of the present world order with an Islamic one.

The two present contenders for the Saladin legacy are Yasser Arafat and Osama bin Laden. Osama has currently captured the publicity lead in the world media as the baddest Muslim on the block. This has caused no end of frustration and jealous fits of wrangling for Yasser. But it appears that Arafat has decided to get back in the forefront as the ultimate leader of jihad against the West. Here are some excerpts from the DEBKAfile’s report on this:

For one of his most bellicose speeches in months, Arafat gathered in his office in Gaza the political activists of all the Palestinian groups – Fatah-Tanzim, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front, Hamas and Jihad Islami. Under the caption, “Facing the Challenges,” he placed the Palestinian struggle at the center of the Muslim scene and in the context of the war in Afghanistan.

Certain phrases, for which he [Arafat] raised his voice, drew loud cheers: “The Palestinian struggle is al-Qaida (literally ‘The Base’)” or “Palestine is the true al-Qaida. Those who don’t agree can drink the sea water of Gaza.” And: “The day will come for us to liberate ALL the mosques and churches of Jerusalem and unfurl the Palestinian flag over our capital city, Jerusalem.”

Arafat, by reiterating the name of Osama bin Laden’s terror network, al-Qaida, was throwing down a symbolic gauntlet.

DEBKAfile’s Palestinian experts interpret him as saying in effect that the Palestinian cause was the true basis for the Islamic struggle – not bin Laden, but the Palestinian people and their leader were the authentic fighters on behalf of Islam.

He was not trying to discredit bin Laden’s terror campaign against the United States, which has been lauded in Palestinian demonstrations which Arafat’s police suppressed violently. He drew cheers from his audience by declaring that the campaign was just, but at the same time the Saudi-born terrorist had done the Palestinians and their leader a grave injustice by usurping their rightful place as the original instigators of the struggle.

This was Arafat’s way of answering Osama bin Laden’s televised address shortly after the U.S. launched its war in Afghanistan. Bin Laden then embraced the Palestinian cause and sneered at depraved Arab leaders, among them Arafat, for betraying that cause by being corrupt.

Like two wolves in the wilderness, Osama and Yasser are frantically lifting their legs to mark out their territory. Each one wants to be recognized as the chief hero in the Pantheon of Muslim attackers of the West.

In the meantime, is anyone in the leadership of the West awake to what is going on? These jackals are out to destroy us. The sooner we recognize it, the better chance we have of surviving the coming onslaught. We are not just under attack by a few renegade Muslim fanatics, but by a jihad of all fundamental Muslims. And that amounts to about 500 million fanatics intent upon replacing the current world order of which we are the leader.