As I am directly mentioned I will respond briefly:
[quote=“jaboney”]TC’s into the minutia of things military in a way that I am not.[/quote]As this has not precluded you from posting baiting comments and insipid rhetorical questions, this is not really much of an explanation. “The devil is in the details” or so it goes.[quote=“jaboney”]I treat the Canadian military in the same manner that I do the American.[/quote]You post next to nil re:the Canadian Military and/or their mission and experiences. Since you are a Canadian your obsession with things negative about the US Military and US governmental actions in general is worthy of comment, IMO. I merely suggested that it might be more useful of your energies, and perhaps mentally more balanced, if you would consider devoting some time and energy to the Canadian side of things. Lets see what your native Canadian POV can bring forth. Perfectly logical. Anyway - more than enough of that.
Here is an article related to the OT of this thread. Might be a good read for some.
[quote]An Uncertain Road: Muslims and the Future of Europe
Download the complete report (444k .pdf)
Introduction
Throughout Europe today, it is not uncommon to see women wearing headscarves and men with skull caps and beards. On many European streets, shops now sport signs in Arabic and other Near Eastern languages and sell an array of exotic looking products from the Middle East and other parts of the Islamic world. Indeed, in the space of a few decades, whole neighborhoods in cities like Birmingham, Rotterdam and Paris have been transformed. Streets that have witnessed hundreds of years of European history are now playing host to a decidedly non-Western people and culture.
This is the new Europe, one in which a rapidly growing Muslim population is making its presence felt in societies that until recently were largely homogeneous. Muslims are still very much minorities in Western and Central European countries, making up roughly 5 percent of the European Union’s total population. But a number of demographic trends point to dramatic change in the years ahead.
Islam is already the fastest-growing religion in Europe. Driven by immigration and high birthrates, the number of Muslims on the continent has tripled in the last 30 years. Most demographers forecast a similar or even higher rate of growth in the coming decades.
The social impact of this growing population is magnified by a low birthrate among native Europeans. After a post-World War II baby boom, birthrates in Europe have dropped to an average of 1.45 children per couple, far below the 2.1 needed to keep population growth at replacement levels. The continent that gave the rest of the world tens of millions of immigrants and Thomas Malthaus’ dire predictions of overpopulation is now faced with a shrinking populace.
Amid these demographic shifts lies a host of social challenges. While many European Muslims have become successful in their new homes, many others do not speak their host country’s language well, if at all, and are often jobless and poor. Moreover, segregation, whether by choice or necessity, is common, with large numbers of Muslims living in ghettos where the crime and poverty rates are high.
For Europeans, too, Muslim immigration poses special challenges. Unlike the United States – a land of immigrants with no dominant ethnic group – most nations in Europe are built around a population base with a common ethnicity. Moreover, these countries possess deep historical, cultural, religious and linguistic traditions. Injecting hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of people who look, speak and act differently into these settings often makes for a difficult social fit.
But the growing size and importance of the Muslim population in most European countries is forcing the continent’s governments – even those with established immigration policies – to focus more intently on trying to bring this community into the mainstream. Recent efforts have ranged from new laws aimed at hastening the pace of assimilation, such as the recent French headscarf ban, to proposals to assist in creating a more homegrown, European brand of Islam, as is happening in the Netherlands.
The successful integration of European Muslims is crucial to the future of Europe. Prognosticators may disagree on the community’s ultimate demographic and social impact, but all believe that Muslims at the very least will be a significant and sizable minority that will play an important role in shaping the continent’s future.
Download the complete report (444k .pdf)
pewforum.org/docs/index.php?DocID=60[/quote]
As demonstrated, Moslem imigres are not assimilating into their host countries culture. This coupled with poverty and high birth rates is reason for concern.
Good article.
