Winning the battle against terror, losing the war of ideas

[kskiska]

The Bush administration is good at bombing terrorists back to the Stone Age, but terrible at bringing Arabs and Muslims into the modern age.

By Ferry Biedermann

The Bush administration's invasion of Iraq has revived debates not heard since the end of the Cold War. America's leaders, and those Americans who support them, see the war on terror in general and the invasion of Iraq in particular as a necessary battle against evil, like the fight against Communism. Much of the rest of the world, and the American left, see Bush's crusade as simple-minded to the point of hysteria -- the same critique they leveled against Reagan-era anti-Communism.

In fact, neither side is right. These Cold War-era categories and battles are no longer relevant in addressing the issues posed by Islam, terrorism and the politics of the Middle East, and they obscure the real issues at stake. A further distraction are the passions, positive and negative, inspired by George W. Bush: Those who despise him are unable to accept that anything he does could be defensible, while his acolytes are equally myopic about the dangers and errors of his policies.

By insisting that the war on terror is a moral stand against evil, hawks elevate terrorism to a unique category that it doesn't deserve. They scare citizens into giving up freedoms -- undercutting America's credibility as the defender of freedom. They blur distinctions between different types of threats and risk demonizing Islam itself -- a dangerous development that is already sharply felt by people in the Middle East.

But leftists who rightly reject the vision of Islam as the enemy tend to dismiss its links to terrorism, underdevelopment and repression in the Middle East and outside it. And they are unable to understand how the invasion of Iraq -- despite the fact that it was sold under a false guise -- could and can move the region forward.

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http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/01/09/ideas/index.html

[CHIMO]

1. If You

Don't look at history then you are doing it all over again.

When others see it happening then they will do their best to protect themselves from it.

Some continents have more direct knowledge than North and South Americans have about this issue.

Thus they will be better positioned to protect their society.

[DarkSim]

2. Islam

is not the reason for terrorism. I've read the Whole Koran (Finnish spelling of "Koran" I'm void of the American one)and it speaks nothing of "jihad" or "killing of the infidels" it is actually very beautiful in its thought and very much like Christianity.

The reason people fear Islam is because they don't understand it. I Suggest you make all your anti-Islam friends read the Koran. It is truly a remarkable piece of work.

Unfortunately it has been twisted by clerics and others into what it is now.