[Steve Van Doorn]

”Steyn credits the Islam of Osama with the power to sway every Muslim to that way of thinking.”

Iran is a good example of what Steyn is saying. Iran’s people have become very western thinking yet it has been taken over by the extremist. The populations of most Muslim countries become complacent due to the fact they seem agree with part of the extremist thinking thus the majority doesn’t do anything about the extremist.

[Simo Hayha]

I don't know enough about Iran or any other Islamic country to argue whether or not Steyn's argument holds water. I was under the impression, at least up until the last year or two, that Iran was becoming more....progressive, for lack of a better word.

But Steyn is predicting the downfall of Europe and western civilization. Someone raised the question earlier, around #51 on this thread or another echo like this one, that a Europe with a high unemployment isn't very likely to import more workers for jobs that don't exist. Additionally, life expectancy is rising--so many people are continuing to work longer before retirement.

Seems to me that those who see some kind of prophetic vision in Steyn's piece are, by association, arguing against success in Iraq. Steyn says that Europeans will be reluctant to give up the perks they have gotten--why would they be any less reluctant to give up perks, or liberties for that matter, if there is a larger population of Muslims on the continent?