Bush—still clueless after all these years

Pointing to signs that the Muslim world is resisting the Islamic radicals, President Bush said in his speech:

After the attacks in London on July the 7th, an imam in the United Arab Emirates declared, “Whoever does such a thing is not a Muslim, nor a religious person.” The time has come for all responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends, and defiles a noble faith.

Now of course the line, “People who do such things are not Muslims,” is one of the stock phrases used by Muslims to deny that the terrorists have anything to do with Islam. It represents the opposite of taking responsibility for fighting the terrorists within the Islamic community. Yet our president foolishly imagines that the statement shows that Muslim leaders are rejecting the terrorists in their midst. No, Mr. President. When that imam declares that the terrorists are not Muslims, he is not opposing the terrorists, he is saying that it’s not necessary for him, or for any real Muslim, to do anything about them.

So the imam and Bush, for their respective Islamic and liberal reasons, are singing in perfect harmony. Both Bush (to avoid attacking Islam as such) and the imam (to exculpate Islam as such) deny that the terrorists are genuine Muslims. It’s a lovely example of civilizational ecumenism, also known as dhimmitude.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 06, 2005 03:14 PM | Send