Spencer: “End Muslim immigration to the U.S.”

This past June 9, Robert Spencer finally took a definite stand on restriction of Muslim immigration, saying that we should cease all immigration of Muslims from Muslim countries, which I had been calling on him to do for years. He also abandoned his screening idea, admitting something I had pointed out repeatedly, that there is no practical way we can distinguish between jihadist and non-jihadist Muslim immigration applicants. (See the VFR discussion from June 9 on this cheering development.)

A gap in Spencer’s June 9 position was that he did not say that immigration of Muslims from non-Muslim countries should cease. But in an interview with the Liberal Institute posted today at Jihad Watch, he seems to take that important next step:

Liberal institute: The American government speaks of today’s worldwide struggle as “the long war.” What do we need to do to quickly win it?

Spencer: It cannot be won. It can be managed, and not lost. Initiate a Manhattan Project to find alternative energy sources, and free us from foreign policy dependence on Saudi Arabia. Realign our alliances with Egypt, Pakistan, etc., so as to make foreign aid contingent on their actively working to restrict the preaching of Islamic supremacism in their mosques. End Muslim immigration to the U.S., since there is no reliable way to distinguish jihadists and potential jihadists from peaceful Muslims. Reclassify American Muslim groups as political groups, subject to all the scrutiny and accountability of political groups, unless they renounce political Islam and Sharia definitively and clearly, and back up their words with actions.

“End Muslim immigration to the U.S.” This is too brief and casual an utterance for us to be sure that he really means that we should cease all immigration of Muslims from all countries, period. Nevertheless, on the face of it, that is what he is saying.

I also agree with Spencer that we cannot “win” any war against Islam, because, so long as Islam exists, it will always be a danger to us. Since it is not within our power to defeat or destroy Islam, I do not call for a “war” against Islam in the full sense of that word, but rather for the rollback, isolation, and permanent containment of Islam, which is within our power.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 06, 2007 06:02 PM | Send