Muslims underestimate the danger because they overestimate the patience of the U.S. Street

Submitted by Sully (United States), Aug 16, 2006 at 01:02

Your comment about nuking Mecca sounds extreme to most people who merely read the U.S. press and talk to U.S. intellectuals. However, in the days after the 9/11attack I was surprised to hear 3 out of 11 middle class Americans at a dinner party very calmly advocate nuking Mecca at the height of the Haj as the appropriate response to the attack even after one of us made the point that such an action would probably result in a war to the death with the world's more than one billion muslims.

Since that dinner party I've followed the opinions of those 11 Americans. As of getting the news about the recently thwarted plot in Great Britain the count is 4 out of 11 in favor of nuking Mecca.

It's fashionable for pundits to talk of the anger of the Arab Street and the Muslim Street. My own opinion is that so called moderate Muslims are making a very dangerous mistake in ignoring the quiet anger of the American Street. Muslims also mistake the weakening of traditional religions in the U.S. as a mark of weakness. Perhaps they should reflect on how the weakening of religious belief also reduces the bonds of moral restraint and how that will work once public opinion goes over the top and crystallizes on the conclusion that Islam represents a real threat.

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