Reply #35: A lot of ideas to chew on in the speech

[beachmom]

I tried to read it from the perspective of the Iraqi bloggers and Arabs, in general, and he showed total respect for them, and what they can accomplish. But . . . Islamists are winning elections -- most notably, in Iraq and Palestine -- and what JK is talking about will take time. A lot of time. The Iraqi bloggers that I read are for the most part either secular or moderate Muslims, who want democracy. They do not despise the West, although many have had bad experiences with the U.S. forces (which is bound to happen in any occupation). But it was completely universal, their disdain for the Danish cartoons, and several talked about boycotting Danish products, and even said they understood the rioting in the streets. So what does this all mean? From left to right, you've got secular democratic Muslims, moderate democratic Muslims, conservative only lukewarm democratic Muslims (they'll vote, but want Sharia law), radical but nonviolent anti-democratic Muslims, and radical, violent, anti-democratic Muslims. Throw in the mix, of course, the secular, Baathist, anti-democratic, violent Iraqis as well. I think it is dangerous to get all excited about the vote when the third group (conservative) is winning the most votes. In the end, if Sharia law is not imposed, they will become anti-democratic. But what they all have in common is a desire for the West to respect them. They suffer from low self esteem as a group which can explain the rise in radicalism.

JK talks about creating secular institutions to counteract this radicalism. I endorse that idea wholeheartedly, but unfortunately, it will take a generation or more for the benefits of those investments to be realized. In the mean time, I think that there will be more war. Because there are only two groups who are on "our" side, and we keep thinking we can count on the third group, but they would abandon us in a minute if their idea of a strict society isn't imposed on all.

When the Danish cartoon controversy hit (and I do think JK is talking about this without specifically saying so), I had a knee jerk, RW reaction. This was because I felt the West was being threatened by radical Islamists who want to dismantle our core values, like free speech. But I realize now that the universal Muslim reaction was to say -- oh, yes, the West doesn't respect us, as usual -- something we cannot afford right now. We need to keep the secular and moderate Muslims on our side, and start to reach out to the conservative Muslims that true democracy can work for them, too. The other groups we will have to write off as unpersuadable.