Brain Fertilizer

A while back (exactly 2 months ago, actually) I wrote a little article about what the beheadings really signified. It received little attention from the blogosphere at large.

Today, Michael Ledeen brings it up the beheadings again. I think there is a similarity in our understanding, in that we both think the beheadings are directed more toward other Muslims than to try to intimidate Westerners. But I thought it was a good moment to revisit the idea that the Global War on Terror is a battle against a meme rather than against a people. Sure, that's been pointed out before, but I'm not sure how often it has been stated in the terms I used: Every atrocity they commit is an attempt to show they have Allah's favor, as a way to counteract the confidence- and reputation- deflating defeats they take from our military on a weekly basis.