Justice and Morality

Submitted by Edward Halper (United States), Jul 3, 2007 at 09:46

Bush was right when he said after 9/11 that the perpetrators were evil. He is also right to think that the rise of Islamism creates an internal struggle within Islam, and that its resolution depends ultimately on moderate Muslims who are able to accommodate the religion to modernity. Hence, I'm not bothered by his visit to the mosque and his other efforts to encourage the moderates, including the emissary to the OIC and I don't think you should be either, Dr. Pipes, given your earlier columns. It seems to me that he has some of the right rhetoric for this task.

What bothers me is that Bush's not speaking about justice and morality. Islamists delude themselves into thinking that murdering innocents is an act of justice. This way of thinking needs to be opposed at every turn. I'm afraid that Bush is deterred by critics who condemn our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and equate them with the acts of the Islamists. He should not be. The two are not morally equivalent. We are indeed fighting evil. Bush should be saying so,

His continued moral condemnation would further encourage Muslims in the west to reject Islamism.

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