Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - UK's Blair cracks down on Islamist radicals

SFL Cat · 08-06-2005, 07:31 PM

I found a good editorial about this subject.

A War Defined

Islam And Terror: Tony Blair is doing what more Western leaders should—not only identifying the “evil ideology” bent on our destruction, but also asking Muslims to do something about it.

Ordinarily when we hear a president or prime minister call for an international conferenceon the evil of the day—be it hunger, terrorism, poverty or whatever — our first response is to say, call us when you have some real news. The last thing the planet needs is another gabfest, especially when the evil in question demands action, not more talk.

But Blair’s proposal last week for a meeting on Islamic extremism was different. This was not your typical subject for a global confab. In fact, it’s a topic that too many politicians in the West, including President Bush, prefer not to raise in public.

Led by a lazy spirit of tolerance and a certain amount of fashionable Christian-Euro-American guilt overpast wrongs, real or imagined, too few candidly answer the question of what exactly we’re fighting. Blair, to his credit, is not only naming the malignancy but noting its religious affiliation. Moreover, he’s been telling Muslims they must get their own house in order.

In the weeks since the 7-7 suicide bombings in London, Blair has repeatedly called on Islamic scholars and community leaders to combat the “evil ideology” — religious in externals, bloodsoaked and fascist at its heart — that has been flourishing on their watch. Last Tuesday, he made that point face-to-face in a meeting with two dozen British Muslim leaders.

He’s also taking the war of ideas abroad, pressuring Pakistan’s government to crack down on virulently anti-Western religious schools. Back home, his government is preparing measures to bar foreign nationals who encourage terrorism and to ban indirect incitement to terrorism, such as praise for suicide bombers by radical clerics.

Steps such as these may not be needed in the U.S., at least not yet. But our country could use more of the intellectual clarity that stands behind such steps.

Ideas do have consequences, and some ideas are too deadly to be ignored or tolerated. That goes for any destructive ideology, even when it wears religious garb.

That’s a hard truth for the traditionally tolerant West—especially in a nation, like the U.S., founded on religious tolerance—but it has to be faced and acted on.

Blair would clearly rather see British Muslims deal with the threat to his country through their own tools of teaching and discipline. We hope they rise to his challenge, but their record (and the record of the mainstream Muslim world generally) has not been promising.

Radical Islam should have been buried under a mountain of stern fatwas long ago. Its clerical cheerleaders should have been defunded and stripped of all rights to preach or teach in Islam’s name. But the moderates have clearly not made their point with sufficient force.

Now, especially in Britain, their failure to stand up decisively to the extremism in their midst puts them at risk of losing their religious freedom and facing reprisals from an increasingly angry and impatient British public. Blair is talking plainly to them for their own good.

08-06-2005, 07:31 PM	#23
SFL Cat College Starter Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: South Florida	I found a good editorial about this subject. A War Defined Islam And Terror: Tony Blair is doing what more Western leaders should—not only identifying the “evil ideology” bent on our destruction, but also asking Muslims to do something about it. Ordinarily when we hear a president or prime minister call for an international conferenceon the evil of the day—be it hunger, terrorism, poverty or whatever — our first response is to say, call us when you have some real news. The last thing the planet needs is another gabfest, especially when the evil in question demands action, not more talk. But Blair’s proposal last week for a meeting on Islamic extremism was different. This was not your typical subject for a global confab. In fact, it’s a topic that too many politicians in the West, including President Bush, prefer not to raise in public. Led by a lazy spirit of tolerance and a certain amount of fashionable Christian-Euro-American guilt overpast wrongs, real or imagined, too few candidly answer the question of what exactly we’re fighting. Blair, to his credit, is not only naming the malignancy but noting its religious affiliation. Moreover, he’s been telling Muslims they must get their own house in order. In the weeks since the 7-7 suicide bombings in London, Blair has repeatedly called on Islamic scholars and community leaders to combat the “evil ideology” — religious in externals, bloodsoaked and fascist at its heart — that has been flourishing on their watch. Last Tuesday, he made that point face-to-face in a meeting with two dozen British Muslim leaders. He’s also taking the war of ideas abroad, pressuring Pakistan’s government to crack down on virulently anti-Western religious schools. Back home, his government is preparing measures to bar foreign nationals who encourage terrorism and to ban indirect incitement to terrorism, such as praise for suicide bombers by radical clerics. Steps such as these may not be needed in the U.S., at least not yet. But our country could use more of the intellectual clarity that stands behind such steps. Ideas do have consequences, and some ideas are too deadly to be ignored or tolerated. That goes for any destructive ideology, even when it wears religious garb. That’s a hard truth for the traditionally tolerant West—especially in a nation, like the U.S., founded on religious tolerance—but it has to be faced and acted on. Blair would clearly rather see British Muslims deal with the threat to his country through their own tools of teaching and discipline. We hope they rise to his challenge, but their record (and the record of the mainstream Muslim world generally) has not been promising. Radical Islam should have been buried under a mountain of stern fatwas long ago. Its clerical cheerleaders should have been defunded and stripped of all rights to preach or teach in Islam’s name. But the moderates have clearly not made their point with sufficient force. Now, especially in Britain, their failure to stand up decisively to the extremism in their midst puts them at risk of losing their religious freedom and facing reprisals from an increasingly angry and impatient British public. Blair is talking plainly to them for their own good.