For the last four years in the US, I have worked to try to persuade colleagues who consider themselves liberals and progressives to understand the nature of the threat posed by terrorists who have subverted Islam for their own political purposes. The American left, by and large, has either ignored the threat, or sought to understand and explain it, in the hope that it could be countered by rational dialogue and understanding of reasons and motivations.of the this new form of islamo-fascism. Such attempts are noble, and important, but understanding is not the same as action, and in many cases, the left in the United States has, when given the chance, almost always chosen to vilify the US and its allies in the war against terror by focusing on the historical and contemporary transgressions of the latter, or blaming the US and the UK for the very acts of terrorists themselves. Within the context of contemporary academic life, ruled by the ethos of multiculuralism and relativism, it has become virtually impossible to make any value judgments and without such judgments, there can be no effective action against terrorism. United Against Terror is, in my opinion, the first decisive worldwide movement of left, liberal, progressive people who have finally understood that liberal democracy must be defended and the first line of defense is to recognize, as al Qaeda has, that we are at war and that we need to defend ourselves and take decisive action. United Against Terror is a vital first step in bringing those who understand this together in a strong coalition.
Thomas Cushman (Professor of Sociology, Wellesley College, USA, Editor, Journal of Human Rights) |
