Newt Gingrich, Pamela Geller, and the rest of the Islamophobes need to get together with the Taliban and al-Qaeda and get their gang war on clash of civilizations over with. From the gray lady:
Evan F. Kohlmann, who tracks militant Web sites at the security consulting firm Flashpoint Global Partners, said supporters of Al Qaeda have seized on the controversy “with glee.” On radical Web forums, he said, the dispute over the Islamic center, which would include space for worship, is lumped together with fringe developments like a Florida pastor’s call for making Sept. 11 “Burn a Koran Day.”
“It’s seen as proof of what Awlaki and others have been saying, that the U.S. is hypocritical and that most Americans are enemies of Islam,” Mr. Kohlmann said. He called the anti-Islam statements spawned by the dispute “disturbing and sad” and said they were feeding anti-American sentiment that could provoke violence.
And from the Journal:
Jarret Brachman, director of Cronus Global, a security consulting firm, and author of the book Global Jihadism, said al Qaeda and other groups have long used imagery from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to recruit new members. But the U.S. position has been that those wars are not against Islam and that the U.S. has Muslim allies in the fight.
Anti-Muslim rhetoric in the U.S is different, since jihadists can use Americans’ words to make the case that the U.S. is indeed at war with Islam. The violent postings are not just on al Qaeda-linked websites but on prominent, mainstream Muslim chat forums, Mr. Brachman said. (Emphasis mine)
They want a war so badly they’ll stir one up themselves. The Islamophobes insist Cordoba House is a provocation when in fact they are provoking Islam. Like the ruling party in Orwell’s infamous novel, they desperately need an enemy to hate. The reactionaries of the Muslim world are happiest when their hate gets fed, too.
Now they’re feeding on each other.
Nor do I accept the simplistic view that it would all go away without religion. The folks at Cordoba House are Sufis, which makes this episode of the culture wars extremely agonizing for a Rumi fan like me. It’s the most harmless, intellectual branch of Islam — as close to Unitarian Universalism as you can get.
