Posted by
JP on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 10:57:42 AM
new @ ExileStreet
by Bruce Thornton [author] 2/5/08
The
war against Islamic jihad continues to be compromised in the West by
the dominant narrative that supposedly makes sense of the conflict. In
this scenario, the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful moderates,
while the jihadists exploit a distortion of Islam fueled by modern
discontents. To the left, these discontents are created by Western
neo-imperialist and neo-colonialist adventurism, oil-industry greed, a
culture-destroying globalization, irrational “Islamophobia” and
“Orientalism,” and continuing support for Israel’s “occupation” of
Muslim territory and thwarting of Palestinian nationalist aspirations.
To the right, a lack of political freedom and economic development
dashes Muslim hopes for a better life and leaves them prey to jihadist
propaganda. Both interpretations, however, are based on unfounded
assumptions.
The first assumption is the existence of large numbers of “Muslim moderates." [more]