”…for a very long time I've been impressed by the importance of moderate Islam and I suppose that partly starts with the sense that if there's going to be peace between Arabs and Israelis there have got to be Muslims who see the value of peace.
“…part of what was so engaging about it was the very open-minded, tolerant attitude towards a lot of things including religious matters. There's a large Christian minority which is very influential and very comfortable. They're not quite as good about how they deal with Chinese. The Chinese are the real minority. But even so you have, I remember prominent Muslim leaders in Indonesia who spoke out against persecution of Chinese. I found that a very moving and powerful example.”
…I think both those two countries (Indonesia and Phillipines) and quite a few experiences with others including Arabs makes me convinced that -- and I can't say this is based on polling data. It isn't even necessarily based on the current state of mind, but I think most of them really would like nothing better than to be able to live in a free democratic, prosperous country."
If these views are not based on polling data, or even on the current state of mind in the Muslim world, what, I wonder, are they based on?