Imperial Hubris

Taken from the Hardback edition, ‘Though US leaders try to convince the world of their success in fighting al Qaeda, one anonymous member of the US intelligence community would like to inform the public that we are, in fact, losing the war on terror. Further, until US leaders recognise the errant path they have irresponsibly chosen, he says, our enemies will only grow stronger. According to the author, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat is to believe–at the urging of US leaders–that Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do. Blustering political rhetoric “informs” the public that the Islamists are offended by the Western world’s democratic freedoms, civil liberties, inter-mingling of genders and separation of church and state. However, although aspects of the modern world may offend conservative Muslims, no Islamist leader has fomented jihad to destroy, for example, participatory democracy, the national association of credit unions or co-ed universities.

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