Thoughts On the Terror War

It has now been nine years since the tragic events of 9/11. In memoriam, a small protest group has threatened to burn the Koran. In response to this, U.S. political and military leaders are in a panic. Burning the Koran is going to cause violence. It will cost lives around the world. The entire Muslim world will be enraged.

We are talking about a handful of Americans who want to burn a book. For someone who loves books, for those that believe in due respect for friends and enemies, the proposed burning is rude. It is a sign of disrespect. One may disagree with Islam. One may worry that Islam represents a hostile and alien ideology; but disrespecting someone else's religion is not good manners. The fact is, America needs friends in the Muslim world. America as a country has tried to show friendship for Muslims. And yet, our freedom of speech must remain sacrosanct. It would be a serious breech of our own traditions to suppress those who would burn the Koran.

Muslims need to understand that American ways are different from Islamic ways. And we have been very generous, opening our country to Muslim immigration. President Bush went so far as to call Islam "the religion of peace." President Obama went further by apologizing to Islam for past mistakes. These verbal statements reflect a sincere desire for peace. After all, America has been an ally of the Saudi kingdom for the last sixty-five years. We have economic interests at stake as well.

But there is no symmetry in our relationship with Islam. They do not allow Christianity to be preached in Saudi Arabia, nor would they allow the construction of Christian Churches; but America allows Muslims to immigrate here and proselytize and build mosques. In this relationship there is no two-way street. And so, our freedom of speech is suddenly held hostage. We are in the following position: If a small group of Americans want to burn the Koran, we are threatened with an outbreak of Muslim violence. On the other side, if an Arab mob burns the American flag there is no threat of retaliation against the Muslim world. We are being bullied into giving up our principles which are no less disrespected by those demanding special consideration for themselves!

Do the Muslims understand that America is a free country, where people can criticize anyone or anything? To have peace with Islam must we abandon our own system of freedom? Apparently we are being pressured to do so.

What, then, are we asking in return? Is it oil? Is it the promise of some future peace? and even more disturbing: How can we suppose ourselves successful in the battle for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan when we are expected to limit our freedom here at home?

Already in Europe an expression of disrespect toward Islam is punishable. Hate speech is a category of crime in many Western countries. Take the case of Oriani Fallaci, the Italian journalist, who was charged with defaming Islam and ordered to stand trial by an Italian judge in 2005. She fled to New York to escape legal persecution because only America preserves the absolute right of free speech. But for how long will this tradition continue? I fear we are slowly moving toward a policy of appeasement.

Once again, the question must be asked: What are the Muslims willing to give us if we curb our free speech? Can we ask that anti-Jewish tracts, like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, be removed from circulation in Muslim countries? Could we ask them to stop reprinting Hitler's Mein Kampf -- which remains popular in many Muslim countries?

As I said before, our relationship with the Muslim world is not a two-way street. I doubt we will get Muslims to stop burning the American flag if we promise to punish those Americans who burn the Koran. We will simply give up our freedom and gradually find ourselves subservient.

It is indeed, I fear, a clash of civilizations. Our values are not their values. Conflict may therefore be inevitable and has already broken out. We would prefer peace. But there is no peace because there is no common ground. The alliances we have in the Muslim world are fragile. We want to preserve our Muslim friends; but how long before they fall away under pressure from their compatriots? How profitable then is all our bowing and scraping? And yet we are told to apologize, to ask forgiveness. Despite what happened on 9/11, in our own midst, there are those who may be described in the poet's immortal words:

"A steady patriot of the world alone,

"The friend of every country but his own."

About the Author

jrnyquist [at] aol [dot] com ()