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A tipping point on Islam?
Jim Geraghty, blogging from Turkey, wonders if we're seeing a tipping point in Western attitudes toward Islam. Geraghty collects a lot of quotes, and writes of "my sense that in recent weeks, a large chunk of Americans just decided that they no longer have any faith in the good sense or non-hostile nature of the Muslim world."What's interesting -- and what supports Geraghty's point -- is that Democratic politicians who have generally opposed "racial profiling" are nonetheless opposing the ports deal because, basically, the company involved is an Arab company. It's funny that it's the Bush Administration that has -- not least because it's traditionally been too friendly to the Saudis -- been very careful not to cast the current war as a war against Muslims or Arabs. (It was forever before Bush even admitted that his war against terror was actually a war against fundamentalist Islamic terror.) Obviously, however, the Democrats, and judging by the polls, a lot of other people, feel otherwise. I think that's unfortunate. Osama and the Islamists want to see an all-out war between Islam and the West. If this happens, Islam will rapidly become a tiny remnant of its current self. You can worry about port security if you want (I did, though I feel better about the port deal now -- though in part because it appears that port security in general is so very bad that this deal can't make much of a difference) but casting this in terms that suggest that we're at war with all Arabs, or all Muslims, just buys into the Islamists' apocalyptic scenario. I don't like to see people in America, by pandering to stereotypes, doing that. Folks at Rantburg are a lot more informed than the average Joe, so much of this isn't news to us. But I also sense a change here as reflected in the, shall we say, more kinetic nature of comments and the mods increased use of the sink trap indicate. The cartoons episode has shaken a lot of Americans confidence that our current strategy of fighting terrorism while avoiding outright confrontation with Islam can prevail. Comments by the Vatican over the weekend indicate that Benedict has limits on the number of cheeks to be turned also. Perhaps this is a tipping point of sorts on the way to the confrontation the Muslim world sure seems to be asking for. Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-27 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=143937 |