Mr. Pipes and Mr. Qutb

Submitted by Mitch (United States), May 8, 2006 at 10:43

As one who is actively involved in State Department exchanges I am afraid that Mr. Pipes is making the same type of mistake as Mr. Qutb. I can tell plenty of anecdotes about exchange programs involving people from all over the world that could give people the impression that such programs are ineffective or even worse. The fact is though that my people have had far more positive experiences and positive impressions of America than negative. There are always problems with even the best visitors because culture clash is just part of this world. There is no perfect way to weigh and measure these things because too much happens over the course of the time people are here.

I've had Muslim community leaders who have enjoyed every minute they've been here. I'm sure there have been others who have not. No two people are exactly alike and no two people who come here on exchanges have the same attitudes or approach to things. That's true no matter what part of the world you are talking about.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".