As you say, thousands of Muslims in the US military. As a conservative I chose to judge people based on their behavior as individuals, not on their group identity. To do otherwise would make me no better than a liberal. President Bush has been emphatic in his rejection of the notion of judging all Muslims based on the behavior of some and I see no reason not to follow his lead.
I choose to judge individuals when possible. But how do you do that for millions of people? Its a tender notion, but its partially unrealistic. Having said that, any judgments of large numbers of people I try not to set in stone. Im willing to have my mind changed.
As far as Bush, you could chalk it up to diplomacy when he says stuff like that. He just doesnt want all this mistrust getting out of hand. And hes right to do that. Plus he'd be labeled a bigot by his enemies.
Well, I sure do!
My eyes, my ears and my common sense.
On this issue, not even the Pope can claim infallibility...