While it's tempting to use these 200 words to express my profound disenchantment with the Left, or to rage over the hypocrisies of George Galloway and his ilk, ultimately that is just a form of navel-gazing-dwelling on the footnotes, not the real issue.
There are probably hundreds of reasons why the natural fundamentalism within Islam has produced the pathological philosophy we're dealing with today. Some may be the fault of American policies; some may arise out of Islam itself. We can and will continue to disagree on causes, but if we're ever to defeat this philosophy we must agree on one fixed point - terrorism is never justified. It cannot be tolerated as a form of political or moral expression by anyone, anywhere - by Muslims, by Jews, by Christians or by Hindus. It is not justified by Al Qaeda's insane quest to destroy western culture. It is not justified by the decision to invade Iraq, or by the abuses at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. It is not
justified by the suffering of the Palestinians. It is not justified by the repression of the Tamils. It is not justified by the history of bloodshed between Pakistan and India. It is not justified because one feels marginalized by European society or by globalization. If we in the West regard everyone as our equals - as indeed we must - then we must also hold everyone to this standard. To expect less is racism and, ultimately, defeat. |
