So the hard left and the Islamists have established a coordinating committee, according to  Douglas Davis of the London Spectator.  In Britain
the steering committee of the Marxist—Islamist alliance consists of 33 members — 18 from myriad hard—Left groups, three from the radical wing of the Labour party, eight from the ranks of the radical Islamists and four leftist ecologists (also known as 'Watermelons' —green outside, red inside). The chairman is Andrew Murray, a leading light in the British Communist party; co—chair is Muhammad Aslam Ijaz, of the London Council of Mosques.

In other words, the war on terror is to be a continuation of the old war, the war between capitalism and its various discontents that was waged throughout most of the twentieth century.  Norman Podhoretz is right.  This is World War IV.

But few people want to admit it.  Ever since the Enlightenment people have believed that war would soon become the aberration and peaceful cooperation the norm.  Even though the Enlightenment culminated in the warlike and unpeaceful French Revolution, this idea seems to be dying a very slow death.  And it is not just utopian socialists that believe in it.  Conservatives, ancient and modern, believe in the power of the rule of law and right reason to corral the Bull of Heaven, and the left still believes in the revolution that will end all oppression and usher in an age of peace and justice.  Surely, war is going out and peace is coming in.

That was what people thought at the turn of the twentieth century in the run—up to World War I, and again in the 1930s during the appeasement of Hitler's Germany.  They believed it even as the titanic struggle between capitalism and communism that we call the Cold War raged around them.  And they believed it during the Islamist raids of the 1990s: the first World Trade Center bombing, the Khobar Towers bombing, the USS Cole bombing, the East African embassy bombings, and, for the conspiracy—minded, the Oklahoma City bombing and Flight 800.  The 'why do they hate us' crowd are still at it.  We all need to believe in a rosy future purged of struggle and strife.

When Lee Harris interpreted the war against terror as a moment in the confict between the western 'team' and the 'eternal gang of ruthless men' in Civilization and its Enemies his argument seemed overdrawn, for it scorned the idea of perpetual peace and interpreted the human condition as an eternal conflict.  But events support his analysis.  The punctuations of the terrorists in exhibitionist bombings, the bombastic declarations of the Daily Kos that 'we will be ruthless' against George W. Bush, the now formalized coalition between the hard left and the Islamicist raiders are sending us a message.  The war against the western team continues.

The team concept goes all the way back to the Greek farmers, the hoplites who first fought as disciplined heavy infantry in shock battle.  When combined with Alexander's Companion heavy cavalry the team army routed the Persian Empire, and it has been just about unbeatable ever since.  From time to time the eternal gang of ruthless men has succeeded in harnessing the western team to assist their ganglike predations, most notably when the Nazis used the German army, the team built up by Scharnhorst, Moltke, and Seekt, to lay waste to Europe.  Fortunately the ruthless men fail to understand that the team army is but a part of the integrated western team concept.  It is the relentless power of citified western teams measured against tribal gangs—in economic, political, religious, and cultural affairs—that provides the motive power for the world—beating western team army.

Our western media do not understand the importance of the team concept either.  They have been raised to a faith in creativity and a belief in the transforming power of the creative artist to break the constricting bonds of narrow middle—class conformity.  They love the rebellious outrages of the terrorist gangs because they are directed against the same object as their own rage, the western middle—class team.

Still, the formal coalition between the hard left and the Islamists is a shock.  It is difficult to believe that the secular left could really find common cause with religious fundamentalists of any stripe.  But we should remember our history.  In World War I, progressive souls sympathized with the German effort to humble the capitalist nation of shopkeepers.  In World War II, progressives were indifferent to the fate of the European democracies until Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.  In World War III they actively cheered for the Soviets although they denied the right of anyone to complain about it. 

It makes complete sense that the left's first act in the twenty—first century should be to form a coalition with a new anti—western force.  The war against democratic capitalism continues.

Christopher Chantrill (mailto:chrischantrill@msn.com) blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com.  Read about his forthcoming Road to the Middle Class here.