World War IV, the term popularized by Norman Podhoretz, is appropriate to describe the next big conflict after the Cold War (WWIII). However, Islam’s struggle for supremacy began in 622 – 632 AD when Muhammad slaughtered the Jews of Yathrib (Medina) and declared eternal war on Christians, Jews, and mushricouns (non-believers). Like the animosity between dogs and cats, this conflict is forever.

The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) lasted 27 years. It pitted the Athenian Empire (The Delian League) against the Peloponnesian League headed by Sparta. During the Golden Age of Greece, Athens, home of the greatest thinkers of antiquity, amassed great wealth. By 431 BC it was the dominant power on the Mediterranean. By 404 BC Spartan warriors sacked the city. Athens never recovered.

How is it possible to maintain the support of free people for a war that drags on for 27 years? George Bush managed it for, oh … maybe two years. The Athenians and Spartans did not engage in military campaigns continuously. During lulls they built weapons, trained warriors, and maneuvered for advantage.

The Hundred Years War between Britain and France continued from 1337 to 1453 AD. Of course, it was not always ‘hot’ and there were prolonged stretches of political maneuvering. The war gave us the legend of Joan of Arc who in 1429 revived the French spirit and united her people behind Charles VII the future King of France. Joan was captured and burnt as a witch but thewar ended with the expulsion of the English from France.

The Cold War lasted for 44 years and was not always cold. It heated up frequently, in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba, Angola, Nicaragua, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and elsewhere. Millions of people died in battle during the ‘cold war’. It ended when Ronald Reagan’s brilliant strategy caused the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989.

Muhammad called his war Jihad and his followers call it by that name to this day. Western intellectuals can’t comprehend a war of such extraordinary length. They are baffled by the extensive ‘cold’ stretches, particularly after the industrial revolution gave the West a lasting economic, technological, and military edge. The infidels can call it any thing they want, but the Jihadis are still fighting the war that Muhammad launched so many centuries ago in the Arabian Desert.

Calling it what it is, the Jihad War, may suggest a winning strategy.