'It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than any of the great military conflicts of the last century - a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by "tolerance" and "accommodation" but is actually spurred on by such gestures, which have proven to be, and will always be taken by the Islamists for signs of weakness. "
The linchpin of liberalism, here and abroad, is a basic misunderstanding of human nature. Their naive assumptions about good and evil enable the worst kind of behavior. It's always curious to me to see how they react with shock and irrationality whenever cold reality intrudes on them personally. Their "all moral ideas are equivalent" philosophy is grounded on selfishness, and they react bitterly whenever, and only whenever, their own personal well being is immediately threatened.
I think we'll see the leftwing Euros react harshly and disproprotionately when they have their own 9/11... without apology for all of their prior criticism of the US' restrained actions in the WOT, of course.
The era of trying to reconcile Islamic values with Enlightenment values has ended, at least in Europe.
The exemplar of Europhile, democratic socialists has come around.
The only question is, when will his successors follow suit?