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« Totten on Algeria | Main | Anbar Updates » October 02, 2006
The Malkin/Esmay Kerfuffle
Posted by Dorkafork I only want to address this indirectly, by adding to arguments made or highlighted by Bill or myself over and over and over again on the use of "Islamofascism" vs. "Islam." There is an argument that Islam is, by its nature, incompatible with democracy. This idea has popped up with unfortunate frequency on various right-wing websites, more often among the comments. (For example, here, here, and here.) There are, broadly speaking, 3 different approaches to the War On Terror: There are also 3 different views on Islam itself: Now how do these views match up? As far as approaches to the WoT, let's exclude the 3rd option. Both number 2's match up pretty obviously: if Islam cannot reform, and Islam is the source of terror, then to fight terror you're going to want to get rid of Islam. Both number 1's match up for similar reasons: if it is possible for Islam to reform, then you'll want to support that reformation. But I fail to see how to reconcile any combination of 2's and 1's. It would be odd to call for the extermination of Islam when one believes that Islam can coexist peacefully with the West. Similarly it would make no sense to promote democracy in the Islamic world if Islam is fundamentally incompatible with democracy. It would be a waste of time and effort. Trying to combine the third view of Islam with the different approaches to the War on Terror is where it becomes interesting. Combining the two number 3's is uninteresting. Now if someone is unsure whether or not Islam can be reformed, trying to promote reform would be a sensible option. Work with Muslim allies (as few as they may be) against a common foe. But what I do not understand is why someone who at least thought it was possible to reform Islam would jump to exterminating Islam. No matter how pessimistic, if there is at least some possiblity, why would you not at least try the democratic approach? It would be extremely odd coming from those who showed and continue to show optimism for success in creating a democratic Iraq. If Islam is truly evil, the root cause of terrorism, and cannot coexist peacefully with the West, there aren't many options to deal with Islam. Eliminating Islam would logically follow, which would entail converting all Muslims. Otherwise you'd be put in the position of saying "Islam causes terror but there's no need to eliminate Islam." It means you're either ok with a certain amount of terror or that you don't really think Islam causes terror and can coexist with the West. Even though the option of trying to convert all Muslims may sound more benign than violent alternatives, there's a major problem (besides the practical problem of converting all 1.3 billion practitioners of one of the world's largest religions). It becomes an existential war for Muslims. It makes it impossible for Muslims to support a war against their religion. It also becomes impossible to support moderate Muslims. How can there be moderate practitioners of an evil ideology? How would you talk to a moderate Muslim? "I support all you moderate believers in Islam, which by the way is an evil ideology. P.S. Please forsake your god. Thanks!" This has in practice actually lead to a lack of support for moderate Muslims, if their treatment by some right wing groups is any indication. For example, if you follow the link Bill gave previously, you come to an account of a moderate Muslim who tried commenting in the Ann Coulter Official Chat forums. Here's another example of how a moderate Muslim is treated in the comments of a right wing web site. This is why I have railed so often against using Islam interchangeably with Islamofascism. It turns moderate Muslims into the enemy. It is a mistake in rhetoric. Michelle Malkin has generally been good at making the distinction between Islamic fundamentalists and Muslims in general, but I was rather concerned when I came across this passage: Watch the video. Several readers have e-mailed that he sounded shaky and stumbly. At least he got the "I"-word in there. But I stopped using the terms "Islamic fascist" and "Islamofascism" a while ago, though, because they obscure rather than clarify. The views held by the Muslim jihadis who want to destroy us are not marginal views held only by a minority of "Islamic fascists." Read the polls: I was concerned because it was vague on what should replace "Islamofascism." "Islam"? "Jihadism"? I would only hope that Ms. Malkin will continue to make a distinction between Islam and Islamic fundamentalism, continue to support moderate Muslims, and continue to show the same optimism for the War On Terror that she has shown in supporting the war in Iraq. The only other criticism of Ms. Malkin that I would make is that I don't see much utility in a "debate... about the incompatibility of fundamental tenets of Islam and liberal democracies, and about the prospects for reform in the Muslim world..." This will require some explaining. There's an argument to be made that if Islam is, indeed, incompatible with democracy, then we should know about it. But how well can we "know" this? The debate about Islam and democracy is essentially a prediction of what Islam will be in the future. How confident are you of your predictive powers? I don't know about you, but I am not sure enough to advocate increasing our opponents in the War On Terror from 300 million by another billion. Two noted experts, Daniel Pipes and Bernard Lewis, have both argued that Islam is capable of reform. And neither are shrinking violets in the War On Terror. This is not to say that Mr. Pipes and Mr. Lewis are the final word on the subject, but it is more than enough to give me doubts on the predictive power of the "Islam is Evil" position. That's why I described the debate as of little utility; I think that position is mainly a pessimistic view on whether or not we'll win the War On Terror. Posted by Dorkafork at October 2, 2006 08:30 AM | TrackBack (4) Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsDon't worry, I won't be long and annoying here, too! :) Posted by: JohnAnnArbor at October 2, 2006 02:42 PM Good post, good points..... Posted by: JohnAnnArbor at October 2, 2006 03:04 PM Oh sure, you use the kid gloves when Dorkafork writes a post ... Posted by: Bill from INDC at October 2, 2006 03:34 PM It's the rhyming nickname, I think. Posted by: JohnAnnArbor at October 2, 2006 04:17 PM gold! Posted by: matoko-chan at October 2, 2006 10:10 PM Bernard Lewis thinks that Islam and democracy are compatible. 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