A lot of people — some well-meaning, some clowns or worse — evidently want the American response to the Ft. Hood shootings to revive the post-9/11 “war of ideas” and “clash of civilizations” anti-Islamic discourse. It’s a jihad, they shout, demanding careful scrutiny of the loyalty of American Muslims. That’s what they seem to mean by the demand to throw away “political correctness” and confront the ideological menace. The overall effect of their recommendations, however, would be to revive the flagging al-Qaeda brand and to greatly strengthen the appeal of its narrative. And that’s exactly what we should not want.
I don’t think it’s going to happen. President Obama and his national security team clearly rejects such strategic misconceptions. They understand the importance of combining effective police work and international cooperation with a carefully calibrated rhetoric and strategic communications campaign. Americans have learned a lot since 9/11. And if the careful police work and investigation uncovers real ties to al-Qaeda, then I expect they will pursue those leads and carry out the appropriate response quietly and efficiently — but without inflaming public hostilities, scoring cheap political points, or fueling the al-Qaeda narrative.
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johnpi
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buzz
Deh putti di creetiores inna mi ear!
Need a laugh? Are you geek enough?
Kirk and super-Muslim Khan get it on I-talian style from Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken. Tutti Gusti!
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johnpi
Eboo Patel on the Pakistani Taliban.
Yesterday, the Taliban in Pakistan told their fellow Pakistani Muslims to evacuate their homes (and go where?) and declared war on their cities.
America can help, first and foremost, by quashing all of the counterproductive Islam-is-the-enemy, we’re-in-a-clash-of-civilizations nonsense. The Taliban kill far more Pakistani Muslims than they do American Christians. This isn’t a Muslim vs. Christian battle. It’s a battle between totalitarians and everyone else. And the people with the most to lose are exactly the ones who the totalitarians claim to represent, Pakistani Muslims.
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willow
